Almost Midnight - by Rainbow Rowell

Title:              Almost Midnight

Author:         Rainbow Rowell

Published:   Nov 2, 2017

Rating:          3 stars

Synopsis:

Midnights is the story of Noel and Mags, who meet at the same New Year's Eve party every year and fall a little more in love each time . . .
Kindred Spirits is about Elena, who decides to queue to see the new Star Wars movie and meets Gabe, a fellow fan.

Midnights was previously published as part of the My True Love Gave to Me anthology, edited by Stephanie Perkins and Kindred Spirits was previously published as a World Book Day title.

I picked this book up from my local bookstore as at only 131 pages, I could see that it was going to be a quick read (and I managed to read it in roughly an hour, so I take that as a win for me).

These two short stories were cute and gave me the warm and fuzzies inside. My favourite of the two was the first one titled Midnights but I also liked the second titled Kindred Spirits, just not as much as the first one.

In Midnights, I really hope that they stay together (as friends or as lovers? You'll only know if you raed the book! I'm not giving away spoilers!). I'd give this one a 4 star rating.

In Kindred Spirits, I hope that all three of them remain friends and get to see many a 'Star Wars' movie together, even if it's just the three of them sitting at someone's house marathon watching them or something like that. I'd give this one a 3 star rating.

I adored the glittery cover too and also loved that the glitter didn't come off everywhere while I was trying to read but maintained the awesome sparkle!

Pay attention to the illustrator's name of this book as you may notice it somewhere in one of the stories; I did! The illustrations were amazing and I loved the way that both of these stories were set out with their chapter headings etc.

'I need you to be my person,' Mags said. 'I need to see you. And hear you. I need you to stay alive. And I need you to stop kissing other people just because they're standing next to you when the ball drops.'

Big Little Lies - by Liane Moriarty

Title: Big Little Lies

Author: Liane Moriarty

Published: 1 Apr 2015

Series: -

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

The internationally bestselling author turns her unique gaze on the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves every day and what really goes on behind closed suburban doors.
'I guess it started with the mothers.'
'It was all just a terrible misunderstanding.'
'I'll tell you exactly why it happened.'
Pirriwee Public's annual school Trivia Night has ended in a shocking riot. A parent is dead. Was it murder, a tragic accident... or something else entirely?
"Big Little Lies" is a funny, heartbreaking, challenging story of ex-husbands and second wives, new friendships, old betrayals and and schoolyard politics.

Trigger Warning: domestic abuse, bullying, sexual assault

This book was the Bookish Bean Co. book club pick for Nov 2020.

I know that this book has been turned into a TV series featuring actors like Reese Witherspoon and our  own Nicole Kidman (I know she wasn't born in Australia, but we've pretty much adopted her as our own), however I haven't seen it so I went into this book without being biased.

Overall, I didn't mind the book, however it did feel like it dragged on a little bit and I was usually more interested in Jane's back story and what was happening with __________. I was a little irritated that by page 100 out of 450+ I still didn't even know who had died, but I think that may just be a point to do with me in general and less about the book -- after all, isn't that the entire point of this plot?

'Let me be clear. This is not a circus. This is a murder investigation.'

Ed threatened to kill Nathan and frame Bonnie. Madeline threatened to kill Renata. Is Madeline dead? Or Celeste? Or maybe Jane? So many options!

At the start I was curious why Celeste wanted to 'put down her marriage', but the more that you read, the more the story unfolds and makes sense why she would say that.

I did like when Patricia Cromwell was mentioned and The Australian newspaper though as it brings a little of real life into the fictional story.

In regards to the bullying and the domestic violence warning at the start of this review: people need to remember that the victim is never at fault -- that's what makes them the victim. There are many reasons for people to stay in their situation, whatever that may be, but we all should do our best to notice the signs and help them out of trouble if we can!

I wouldn't have picked up this book on my own if it hadn't been one of the books that the book club picked, but I'm oddly glad that I did. It may not have quite been my pace, but it did deal with adult themes like domestic abuse and sexual assault in a way that impacted without sounding false.

Spoilers!

I did have a theory around page 160 where I wondered if maybe Ziggy had choked Jane before, or maybe an ex, and it turns out that I was right about the ex -- in a weird, twisted sort of way.

At one point I did also have a theory that maybe Juliette choked Amabella and that she blamed Ziggy as Juliette may have had a child with Saxon and seen the resemblance between her own child and Jane's -- but luckily that wasn't true.

I was surprised when we found out that Perry was Jane's Saxon Banks though -- that he'd used his cousin's name as his own when dealing with 'one night stands'.

End Spoilers!

2009 - by Aditya Koppula

Title: 2009

Author: Aditya Koppula

Published: 18 Jul 2020

Series: -

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

Just when everything is going normally, we all come across that "one year" that throws everything at us. "2009" is a poetic short story that explores the human reaction to opportunities, love, empathy and inner strength.

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

As I had previously read the author's other book, when I started reading this I thought that this would also be a poetry book for some reason. If I had looked a little closer at the front cover, I would have seen that it even told me it was a poetic short story. Whoops! Because of that I was a little confused when most of it turned out to be in short story format, but it was still a nice and quick read.

Many of us either have a relationship or a good career, and the lucky ones get both.

This story doesn't follow the story of the author, but an Australian character called Joanna. In the bio of the author on Goodreads, however, it does also state that the events in the book are inspired by true events.

There were a couple of times where I thought there was a little too much description of something, but it didn't detract from the storyline too much. There were also a couple of times when the problems in another country were put into perspective right in front of your eyes which is good though as it gives you a little bit of a wake up call to what's truly going on in the world.

What happened towards the end of the book between Joanna and Ethan is something I wouldn't have predicted if you'd asked me at the beginning of the book. The author does describe the feeling of this situation very well though, and I'm sure everyone has that one bad situation which reading this may bring back feelings of anger or resentment about.

Overall, this was a good book to read as it was nice to follow along with Joanna's story with the odd poem thrown in about how she was feeling and what she was going through too.

We all have that one year that changes our lives forever. Mine was 2009. What's yours?

Romanov - by Nadine Brandes

Title: Romanov

Author: Nadine Brandes

Published: 7 May 2019

Series: -

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

The history books say I died.
They don’t know the half of it. 
Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them, and he’s hunted Romanov before.
Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are to either release the spell and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya has only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction to Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her.
That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

I received this book as an ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I also then purchased the book and listened to it as an audiobook.

While reading this book I was enjoying reading about the, at least slightly fictitious, life of the Romanovs as I've never really learned about them in my life -- only what I know from watching the Disney movie Anastasia when I was younger. I also adore the cover on this book! the reds and golds look stunning against the solid black

However, I was hoping that there would be a little more magic than what was presented throughout the book. Most of the time we either see relief spells or are shown/told about the Romanov doll.

There were a handful of times where I felt as if one or more of the Romanov children were forgotten about or simply glossed over. I understand that this wasn't a story from their point of view, but it would have been nice to hear more than just something like "Olga stayed behind to read to mother".

One romance I didn't mind seeing in this was between Evan and Maria and my heart felt for Maria when they were caught together during the surprise inspection and the consequences that came afterwards for them.

My three favourite characters would probably have to be Nastya, Alexei and Nikolai (their father). The bond between Nastya and Nikolai, and also Nastya and Alexei would never be broken in this story, my guess is -- only death could seperate them and even then their love would never disappear.

I may have only given this book 3 stars, but I wouldn't mind reading it again at a later date.

My favourite quote from the book is below:

"We are Romanovs. The bond of our hearts spans miles, memory and time."

Spoilers!

The romantic-type moments between Zash and Nastya weren't too bad and they were just subtle enough to make them believable -- especially when trying to stay unseen while portraying a severe Bolshevik soldier. Towards the end the romantic moments heightened though and I didn't get as into them as I did when the entire family was in the house in confinement. I would have been happy to just see the pair as friends in the end though.

End Spoilers!

Beneath the Sugar Sky - by Seanan McGuire

Title: Beneath the sugar Sky

Author: Seanan McGuire

Published: 9 Jan 2018

Series: Wayward Children #3

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

Beneath the Sugar Sky returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world.
Sumi died years before her prophesied daughter Rini could be born. Rini was born anyway, and now she’s trying to bring her mother back from a world without magic.

Sometimes that's all you can do. Just keep getting through until you don't have to do it anymore, however much time it takes, however difficult it is.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

In this book, we learn that in an alternate universe Sumi did have a child - but that child is slowly disappearing. In this book, if feels as if Rumi is definitely is Sumi's daughter and it's amusing - just how they're both so innocent and the way everyone reacts to the things they say (like when Rumi is in the duck pond!).

At the start, it is confusing to figure out what character the book is talking about as quite a few are mentioned, unlike the past books in the series. I think I finally decided that it's from the perspective of a girl named Cora, but about Sumi's daughter Rumi.

I kind of love Cora though. Like when she runs into Christopher on the porch and she stammers and blurts and seems nervous etc. It's a natural human reaction. I also loved that Kade simply looked up direction on Google Maps.

Cora: Why are you so happy? Everything here is dead people.
Christopher: That's why I'm so happy. Everything here is dead people.

My favourite thing about this book is probably that the kids at the school learned to be a little kinder to one another, or at least more careful about what they judge people on. I also like that it shows that fatter people can like to exercise and may just have health problems causing it, and that not every thin, lean person likes to exercise. Lots of learning in this book!

I still don't like Kade's parents from the previous books though. Simply because he wanted to change pronouns because he has gender dysmorphia (he was born a girl but he felt as if he was a boy) and his parents stopped wanting him because of that.

Worlds too and from info was vague, interesting but also confusing. However, I did like that the doors open for the utter need inter bones trying to get out. It's interesting that the only thing that they can bring back from their door world is something that has come out of their bodies like tears or bone or blood if you wanted some magic in the real world.

I did notice something though that I'm guessing was on purpose. The words that were on Jack and Jill's door from the previous book appears in this book too.

All she had to do was be sure.

Spoilers!

I was shocked when we found out that Sumi supposedly had a daughter. Especially after the previous book where she died!

I have questions about Kade driving though: How and why can he drive? When did he learn? Why is this the first time that we're hearing about the bus?

One downside of this book was that I basically forgot that Nadia only had one hand as it was only mentioned at the start of the book and at the very end.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | Every Heart a Doorway
    2 | Down Among the Sticks and Bones
    3 | Beneath the Sugar Sky
    4 | In an Absent Dream

4.5 | Juice Like Wounds
    5 | Come Tumbling Down

    6 | Across the Green Grass Fields

    7 | Where the Drowned Girls Go