The Gilded Duology

Gilded

497 pages

Originally published 11/2/21

My review: 5 out of 5 stars

In Gilded, Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times bestselling author, returns to the fairytale world with this haunting retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue. Or so everyone believes. 

When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn't meant to be part of the bargain. Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.

This is the first book in the Gilded Duology by Marissa Meyers. I already know I love her books (see my reviews on the Lunar Chronicles). She just has a gift with taking a fairy tale and making it her own story. I listened to this in audiobook form and loved it. Couldn't wait to get my hands on the second book. Unfortunately, I had to wait almost a year for that one to be published! Oh the woes of finding a new release book you love. This story is a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. Serilda was cursed by the God of lies with the ability to spin stories that are "spellbinding and entirely untrue." Or so everyone believes. Then she gets the wrong kind of attention and ends up into a haunted castle surrounded by the creepiest of company. 

I just loved following Serilda through this story, seeing what was going to happen next. Listening to her stories myself and wondering how she could be so creative (oh yeah, God blessed, that's right!) Love, love, loved this book. Definitely will be giving it another read (or listen!) 

Cursed 

478 pages

published 11/8/22

My review: 5 out of 5 stars

Serilda and Gild attempt to break the curses that tether their spirits to Adalheid's haunted castle before the Endless Moon, when the Erlking means to capture one of the seven gods and make a wish to return his lover, Perchta, from the underworld. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear he doesn't want just one god—he wants to capture all seven, and force them to bring down the veil that keeps the Dark Ones separate from the land of the mortals. Serilda and Gild must try to thwart his plans, all while solving the mystery of Gild's forgotten name, freeing his younger sister who is trapped inside Gravenstone Castle, and trying to protect their unborn child.

Romance, adventure, and Serilda's journey to finding her power as a woman, a mother, and a partner make this a retelling that Meyer fans—old and new—will treasure.

I freaking LOVE Marissa Meyer! I will read every single one of her fairy tale re-tellings. I have re-read the Lunar chronicles three times now and I am sure this will be on my list to re-read again soon. This duology is written so well. You fall in love with the storyteller and even fall in love with the "bad guys." This story takes you on such a wild ride. You can vaguely see the framework of the "old" fairy tales in there, but she doesn't force herself into the box that was created by the original writer, she makes that story her own and I freaking love it. Keep at it Meyers! I will keep on reading everything you write! This is not only getting five stars from me, but I plan on buying the duology for myself (instead of just borrowing it over and over from the library). The narrator of the audiobook is amazing too. I don't think I would even know how to say half the names in this book and she did an amazing job putting the voice to these characters for me.

The Words In My Hands

Title: The Words In My Hands 

By: Asphyxia 

Published: November 30, 2021

My rating: four of five stars

I read this book to complete a prompt in the Story Graph Genre Challenge: A contemporary or literary fiction novel with disability rep. 

Part coming of age, part call to action, this fast-paced #ownvoices novel about a Deaf teenager is a unique and inspiring exploration of what it means to belong.

Set in an ominously prescient near future, The Words in My Hands is the story of Piper: sixteen, smart, artistic, and rebellious, she’s struggling to conform to what her mom wants—for her to be ‘normal,’ to pass as hearing, and get a good job. But in a time of food scarcity, environmental collapse, and political corruption, Piper has other things on her mind—like survival.

Deaf since the age of three, Piper has always been told that she needs to compensate in a world that puts those who can hear above everyone else. But when she meets Marley, a whole new world opens up—one where Deafness is something to celebrate rather than hide, and where resilience and hope are created by taking action, building a community, and believing in something better.

Published to rave reviews as Future Girl in Australia (Allen & Unwin, Sept. 2020), this unforgettable story is told through a visual extravaganza of text, paint, collage, and drawings that bring Piper’s journey vividly to life. Insightful, hopeful, and empowering, The Words in My Hands is very much a novel for our turbulent times.

This was a beautiful book, both the writing and the illustrations. 

If you borrow this book from a library (or a friend) make sure that you read either a hard-copy or read it digitally on a device that allows you to see the beautiful colors of these illustrations. I love how this story shows the importance of Deaf culture to a growing individual. You follow Piper who has been raised by a hearing mother who placed high importance on her learning to speak "properly" and learn how to lip read. 

When she meets Marley, the son of a deaf parent. He was raised learning to both speak and sign. As she spends more time with Marley and his mother, she begins to learn not only sign language but also how the Deaf community comes together and supports each other. 

During this whole storyline, there is so much more about food scarcity, political corruption and censorship. It makes for a very compelling story. One that had me up at 3 in the morning trying to figure out what was going to happen with Piper, Marley and their families.

A Guide To Being Just Friends

A Guide To Being Just Friends

by Sophie Sullivan
Narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon and Stephanie Willing
Published January 17, 2023

My review 4 stars out of 5

 
When Harry Met Sally meets 500 Days of Summer in A Guide to Being Just Friends, a playful and emotional romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It.

"Sophie Sullivan’s writing feels like a warm hug.” —Rachel Lynn Solomon, bestselling author of The Ex Talk

Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.

Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.

When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.

What could possibly go wrong?

Although I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own.

 
This is an adorable story about two people who vow to be "just friends." You know how well that always works out! I loved that you got to see both characters points of view. You start off with Hailey's point of view, staring her new salad shop "By The Cup" off the ground, trying to make it a success. Then you met Wes who seems to be all business.

I just loved both of them. The audiobook is just adorable. This is also book three in the series but you wouldn't know it because it is just a cute little love story all on its own. Planning to add the first two to my TBR list now!

We Are All So Good At Smiling

We Are All So Good At Smiling

By Amber McBride 

Audiobook read by the author

Published January 10, 2023 

My review 4.5 stars out of 5

They Both Die at the End meets The Bell Jar in this haunting, beautiful young adult novel-in-verse about clinical depression and healing from trauma, from National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.

Whimsy is back in the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. When she meets a boy named Faerry, she recognizes they both have magic in the marrow of their bones. And when Faerry and his family move to the same street, the two start to realize that their lifelines may have twined and untwined many times before.

They are both terrified of the forest at the end of Marsh Creek Lane.

The Forest whispers to Whimsy. The Forest might hold the answers to the part of Faerry he feels is missing. They discover the Forest holds monsters, fairy tales, and pain that they have both been running from for 11 years.

This entire book is a metaphor for the fight that one has with their mental health. It is a beautiful story and one I can see sharing with my daughters. We are all fighting some kind of battle, even if it isn't against an actual mental health diagnosis.

There were two quotes that jumped out at me from this story. They might not be transcribed perfectly as I was listening while working. The first one is from around 14% in the book:

A rough day, a bad year -- does not equal a bad life.

It is a good reminder to stick on your mirror or in your phone to see every day.

 
The second one was around 53% of the way through:

Faerry points at my neck, "Sorrow left its fingerprints on you, it always does, doesn't it?"

Another one that makes you think of your own life, of the things that leave fingerprints on you.

I listened to this audiobook read by the author. It has a great note after by her as well as some resources. I would love to take a quick look at a hard copy just to see it. It is a beautiful cover.

Brain on Fire

Brain on Fire: My Month Of Madness 

By Susannah Cahalan

Published November 13, 2012

My review: Four stars out of five

An award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity.

When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?

In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Cahalan tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen.

What Susannah went through is terrifying. I cannot imagine. Then to take a step back and look at all the things that had to go right for her to get the correct diagnosis, for her to be able to have a chance a healing, it is nothing short of a miracle. The idea that so many could be suffering with autoimmune problems that are being mistakenly diagnosed as mental illnesses is absolutely terrifying. This book opened my eyes to what could really happen if we had open access to not only the diagnostic tools and knowledge of specialists (no matter our insurance coverage, income or social status) but the ability to get the life-saving treatments, regardless of the cost. Susannah was beyond BLESSED to have the ability to pay that not many people would be able to do today. This book is eye opening for sure. Her book is written with help from her family, interviews with her doctors, hospital records and even journals from her parents from her month in the hospital. Gripping story you will want to finish!

When The Moon Was Ours

When the Moon was Ours

by Anna-Marie McLemore 

Published October 4, 2016

To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. Roses grow out of Miel’s wrist, and rumors say that she spilled out of a water tower when she was five. Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in the trees, and for how little anyone knows about his life before he and his mother moved to town. But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches. Now they want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin, convinced that their scent can make anyone fall in love. And they’re willing to use every secret Miel has fought to protect to make sure she gives them up.

My overall rating: three out of five stars 

As one of the books recommended to me for my 2023 facebook challenge by my friend Crystelle, this book was a bit out of my comfort zone. 

I enjoyed it overall, but it was a bit too much into the metaphors and magical thoughts and less into the story for me. 

When it was focused on the story, it really moved so quickly for me, but then you would get stuck in the thoughts in Miel's head or something and it would just drag for me... 

Loved the idea of a magical girl just appearing from the water tower. The people who come beside to help raise her. How they end up becoming her family. The community and how they react to this strange girl. It was different and I loved that part.

Stealing Home

Stealing Home: The Sweet Magnolias

By Sherryl Woods

Published 2007

For the Sweet Magnolias, friendship lasts a lifetime...

Maddie Townsend might live in a town called Serenity and have the best friends a woman could ask for, but her life is overturned when her husband leaves her for a younger woman. With her three children heartbroken from the change, Maddie has a lot to contend with. On top of it all, after years outside the workforce, she must dust off her business skills to take charge of her best friends' newest project--planning the town's only fitness spa for women.

When her son's developing anger issues begin to affect his passion for baseball, Maddie knows she must step in to help. She didn't expect to develop feelings for her son's coach, the handsome Cal Maddox, and to learn he has feelings for her, too. But gossip travels quickly in a small town, and Maddie and Cal's relationship may threaten both their reputations and careers.

Then again, he could be the one man in all of South Carolina who can help her find serenity after all.

My overall review is four stars. 

I thought this was a lovely romance story. Set in a small town it is a little bit of what you expect and a little bit what you don't. As Maddie had her heart broken by a cheating ex, it made it really easy for me to relate to her and even easier for me to simply love the book. The truth that is poured out in the emotion of this woman on the page is so very real. And then to have to contend with feelings of somthing new so soon after? It is a struggle! This character went through what I literally lived. 

I mentioned to the friend who recommended this book to me, Woods does an amazing job at voicing what a teenager would actually be saying and doing in this situation. Makes me wonder if she interviewed parents and kids of divorce to find stories of what they went through. 

You better believe I have the Netflix series, based on these books, on my "to watch" list. Planning to watch it just as soon as I finish reading these books (only 11 of them!) 

I also really love that this book has a solid ending, even though there are more books in this series. More authors could take lessons from Woods on this one. Just because your book is part of a series, doesn't mean your plot has to have a cliffhanger to keep people coming back for more. If your characters are interesting enough, readers will keep picking your books up. 

The Measure

The Measure 

Nikki Erlick 
Published June 28, 2022

My rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars

I read this book to complete the prompt in my Boise Public library Ultimate Book Nerd challenge: Read a book on a book list (NYT Best sellers ect). 

"A story of love and hope as interweaving characters display: how all moments, big and small, can measure a life. If you want joy, love, romance, and hope—read with us." —Jenna Bush Hager

A luminous, spirit-lifting blockbuster for readers of The Midnight Library.

Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.

It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out.

But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live.

From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?

As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?

The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.

Enchanting and deeply uplifting, The Measure is a sweeping, ambitious, and invigorating story about family, friendship, hope, and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest.

I thought this book was simply amazing. Listened to this as an audiobook and the way the characters are laid out is just perfect, seeing them come together, each separate person in this huge city, somehow weaving together into one beautiful story. Plus the concept is just something that makes you think about all the social issues that go on any day. What would you do if the length of your life could be known to you. Do you open your box? Just a crazy concept and I loved it!

Love & Other Words

Love and Other Words

By: Christina Lauren 

Listened to the audiobook

Finished 1/5 

My rating 4.5 out of 5

The story of the heart can never be unwritten.

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.

But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother...only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.

Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.

Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).

This story was simply beautiful. Heartbreaking but also beautiful. 

Told in alternating timelines of then and now, the story of Macy and Elliot weaves together. 

It starts out unclear... What exactly happened in their past to end their friendship? As the story of now continues, you keep hearing the story of then and learning more. 

I loved listening to this story. Heartbreaking and warming all at the same time. I loved how it made me feel all the feels <3

Cats Find You.

Hope, Happiness and a Cat Called Sticky

by Chuck Hawley and Nadya Siapin

Published December 8, 2022

My review 4 out of 5 stars

I read this book to complete a prompt in the Boise Public Library Ultimate Book Nerd challenge: Read a book by a Pacific Northwest Author

Sticky the Kitty won the hearts of people around the world… But what is the deeper story behind this beloved cat?

When Chuck Hawley left his house on October 19, 2019, he could have never imagined a kitten was about to change his entire life. But change his life, it did.

Chuck believes that kindness keeps the world turning. Through the unconditional love of his grandmother and family, he learned the lessons that he now lives. In this powerfully personal memoir, he shares:
- The highs and lows of teenage stardom
- The struggles of single parenting
- Finding peace with himself
- How our actions create a ripple effect on the world around us

This story is about hope, kindness, believing you have a purpose, magic and even angels… but most importantly, it’s about you. If this random guy and this thrown away kitten can do all of this, what might you be able to do?

You might have heard the story, back on October 18, 2019, Chuck was on his way to work on a regular day when he found a kitten GLUED TO THE ROAD. After he took that kitten home and saved it, he became the hero the world needed. 

Chuck's story isn't just the tale of finding Sticky that foggy October morning, but the before and the after. His coming into fame and how he dealt with it. How the Sticky Foundation came to be and how he is using his influence to spread joy. 

This is really just an inspiring story of how one man used a good deed to spread good around the globe in a time when it was so desperately needed. Filled with many short stories of people who also touched his life (while he also was touching theirs). Plus, a cute kitty named sticky. What's not to love?

I found this story especially fun because I lived about 45 minutes from where Sticky was rescued. It was literally in my backyard and exploded into a global story. 

Numb to This

Numb to This: Memoir of a Mass Shooting 

by Kindra Neely

Finished 1/2/23

my rating 3.5 out of 5 stars

This searing graphic memoir portrays gun violence through a fresh lens, giving it urgency, humanity, and a very personal hope

Kindra Neely never expected it to happen to her. No one does. Sure, she’d sometimes been close to gun violence, like when the house down the street from her childhood home in Texas was targeted in a drive-by shooting. But now she lived in Oregon, where she spent her time swimming in rivers with friends or attending classes at the bucolic Umpqua Community College.

And then, one day, it happend: a mass shooting shattered her college campus. Over the span of a few minutes, on October 1, 2015, eight students and a professor lost their lives. And suddenly, Kindra became a survivor. This empathetic and ultimately hopeful graphic memoir recounts Kindra’s journey forward from those few minutes that changed everything.

It wasn’t easy. Every time Kindra took a step toward peace and wholeness, a new mass shooting devastated her again. Las Vegas. Parkland. She was hopeless at times, feeling as if no one was listening. Not even at the worldwide demonstration March for Our Lives. But finally, Kindra learned that—for her—the path toward hope wound through art, helping others, and sharing her story.

This is a difficult but important read. From someone who was at the Umpqua community college shooting, you get to see how she works her way through her feelings. All the feelings. Things like school shootings are too common and we need to have the voices of the people who have experienced them to help others who end up having to go through the same things. I loved the way this book followed Kindra through not only her before, but her experience and her after. The after is sometimes what we need to hear about most. I think so many people struggle with these symptoms but don't know where to go with them. I hope this book opens some doors to conversations that need to be had.

The Quarry Girls

The Quarry Girls 

Jess Lourey 

Amazon First reads pick October 2022 

Finished January 1, 2023

My review 4 stars out of 5

Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games.
Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears—the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.

Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can’t stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger.

She also knows she’s next.

Four stars out of five 

Set in the seventies, this one brings back the small town feel with a sinister twist. 

Just when I thought I knew what was going on, who dunnnit so to speak, there would be another twist. 

I fell in love with Heather and wanted to know what happened to her, what happened to her mother, what happened to their family. 

When things start happening in town, starting with the disappearance of a local girl, the questions start to outweigh my answers. In addition to just the feelings that come with growing up, Heather is dealing with the missing girl and a mentally ill mother and a mostly absent father (he works a lot!), she is basically raising her sister. It was just a really good book. A page turner to the end.