Two books in, and I'm still over here waiting for that Stephen King magic to hit me.

But let's talk about Carrie first. So this book has been on my TBR for ages. Every time I mention I want to try more Stephen King, this book always seems to come up. And now having read it, I get it. I can totally see why this debut would've put King on the map and marked him as a literary force to be reckoned with.

My predominant thought while reading this book is that it sure feels like a feminine rage story. But instead of being female empowerment, it's more like disempowerment. Every female in here is a corruption of their circumstances—Carrie's mother, the popular girls in school who bullied Carrie, even Sue and Tommy who tried to be nice to her. They all came together in a tornado of events and emotions that created and fed the monster in Carrie.

This is a relatively fast read, eschewing the more traditional chapter divide for three distinct parts. Every few pages, we switch from one point of view to another, which helps to keep things moving along. King is well known for his doorstoppers, of which thankfully this is not one of them, thus making it a less intimidating choice for a novice like me.

So why only 3 stars? Honestly, I think it just comes down to personal preference. For me, I like my horror to be a bit spooky or creepy. But here, the horror comes from how far these kids would go to bully and hurt each other, which is less spine tingling and more just sad. As for the telekinesis (the only paranormal element in here), I suspect it's something I would've found scarier in my younger days, but as an adult, it just doesn't raise the hairs on my arms anymore.

More crucially, I thought the structure of the story hindered rather than added to its suspense. Often during pivotal moments, we come into it already knowing what's about to happen, thanks to the preceding scene in which a witness was interviewed into spilling the beans. Not gonna lie, that kind of puzzled me. I thought you always want to take the reader unawares and surprise them, not tell them what's going to happen first, then spell out it out for them in long form what you already gave away.

This also leans heavily into Americana, with its setting of small town New England and its rituals of prom and locker rooms and cliquey antics. And this conjuring of high school nostalgia, in all of its good and bad, is a driving force behind the reader's connection to the story. But it didn't quite land that way for me, as it invokes a time I was navigating language and cultural barriers that perhaps shielded me from such unpleasantness. As a result, many of these elements in the story felt over the top to me, but I bet those who fully grew up here would beg to differ.

Maybe one last reason is that it felt dated to me. I know people call Stephen King's books timeless, so I apologize for having a dissenting opinion. For me, some of the female portrayals tended toward stereotypes and the dialogues during the interviews felt like conversations of a bygone era.

I can see why this book is still so popular after so many decades. It is a bold story told in an unapologetically striking manner, and it certainly keeps the reader engrossed throughout. I just didn't connect with it the way I hoped, but that isn't a knock on the story, just on my ability to get more out of it.

I'm still a Stephen King novice at this point. I know he's written like a bajillion books, but I've only read a paltry two. Neither have been homeruns for me, so my search continues.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

Well, what a pleasant surprise! You must excuse me for saying so, but I didn't think Lucy Foley had it in her.

But first things first. I think what you'll get out of this book largely depends on your expectations. Obviously, this isn't Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. How can it be? Christie was a marvel of the mystery genre, with a sharpness in writing and clarity of resolution that's hard to match, let alone imitate. But that doesn't mean someone else can't come along and borrow one of her most beloved characters and have a little fun with it. And that's exactly what Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel does.

The glorious, vintage setting, the wintry atmosphere, the effectively locked room all contribute to a murder mystery formula we know and love. The scene is set, the characters in play. What follows is what every good mystery must have—plenty of clues and twists, red herrings galore, and one dead body after another. And Miss Marple is there in the midst of the chaos, using her keen eyes and her deceptively fluffy appearance to unravel it all.

I honestly couldn't put this down once I started. I was thoroughly riveted. But was I ever confused into thinking I was reading vintage Christie there on the pages? No. Did I think Miss Marple had risen from the literary grave to laugh/knit one last time? Also no. In fact, there were many moments when I thought to myself, Miss Marple would never do or say such a thing. But for what it was—an homage to Agatha Christie with a modern twist, as well as a darn fun mystery—it did quite all right.

Everyone always wants to know about the reveal. Was it dumbfounding, gobsmacking, flabbergasting? Well, I think if you're an aficionado of the genre, I doubt you'll be taken completely unawares (and I wasn't). The story progressed in a specific way and I think you'll recognize it if you've read enough of these books. Also, in this case, the reveal lacked some of the crispness and clarity that Christie's has always been known for. But still, there were surprises to be had, and I can't complain too much when that's the case.

So back to my initial reaction for a second. I haven't had the greatest luck with Lucy Foley. She tends to favor interpersonal drama and excessive foreshadowing in her mysteries, leading to what I can only describe as anticipation fatigue and a whole lot of ado over nothing. Not to mention, this project of taking such a beloved character, as well as the seminal style of the genre, and trying to make it her own must not be easy. But clearly, I was wrong to doubt here, and I'll be the first to admit it.

At the end of the day, I think if you're a true Christie purist, this probably isn't going to cut it. It's really hard to capture the exact magic and je ne sais quoi that made the Queen of Crime so special in the first place. But if you're like me and you've read all your Agatha Christies and there's no more to be had and you'll take anything you can get, then this is well worth a gander.

"I’m glad he’s dead. Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

Is there anything more fun than a murderous wedding? You add to that some horror and mayhem and a time loop, and well, my romantic heart just couldn't pass it up. So I tore into Kiss Slay Replay with glee and morbid fascination, certain I was about to have the time of my life.

Let's talk about the time loop first. Now I'm a big fan of that plot device, but if you're going to use it, don't dawdle. Since the time loop is never a surprise to the reader (it's usually heavily advertised beforehand, and in this case, it's printed right there on the cover), we already know going in that that's where the story's headed. So it's best to get there as soon as possible and have the protagonist be clued in, so we can get to the fun part of actually breaking the time loop. But if you drag that first part out, then it can start to feel a bit like slow going, and that's what happened here.

Speaking of protagonists catching on, Willa just isn't the brightest bulb in the shed. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, she's in denial. I get it. In real life, if I were ever to get stuck in a time loop, I would be in denial too. But this isn't real life, and reading about such waffling and wallowing just isn't that enthralling.

And even after she's clued in, Willa still remains stuck there. In crucial moments when she could be breaking the time loop or running the heck away, we yet again find her doing her makeup for hours or ruminating about her ex and gazing into his eyes from across the room. At one point, she was supposed to be hiding quietly from a group of rabid something or other, but instead she gets into a loud argument. I mean, what can you say about such ridiculous behavior?

To Willa's credit, she does get there eventually since the book does end. But it was an uneven journey, with her alternatingly gathering up her courage, then losing it again to indecision and inaction. There was even a moment she said to herself, "Help how? I'm frozen. I'm useless," and I thought to myself, Girl, no truer words have ever been said.

So apparently, this is what's known as bubblegum horror. But I must be living under a rock cause this is the first time I've encountered it. I think the tone threw me off for a bit there. It was light and frothy, but then every time we get to the gore and violence, it was brutal. There was definitely some whiplash, but I adjusted eventually.

That all sounds very mixed, but I did have fun here. I thought the concept was interesting, every iteration of the time loop different enough to keep my attention, and Willa's self awareness of her shortcomings added a comedic slant to every frustration. Even when we get to the time loop explanation (which turned out to be the most jumbly word salad of scientific terms I've ever heard), it was more funny than anything else.

Now obviously, if you're stuck in a time loop, I wouldn't use this book as a blueprint on how to act. But if you're looking for some high stakes fun and gore, and especially if you're a fan of time loops, this isn't that bad of a choice.

Readaroo Rating: 3.5 stars

Oh boy. Sometimes you have to wonder, when a premise is so eye-catching, maybe there's just nowhere more interesting for the story to actually go?

The idea of this forgetting pill is what initially caught my attention. Landon is shocked and devastated when he learns that the love of his life Rose has decided to erase their entire love story by taking this pill. She's now living in Edinburgh and has moved on with her life, but Landon cannot. So he goes there to try to recreate their love a second time.

The narrative is dual timeline and dual point of view. Now, if you're familiar with dual anything, then you probably know where I'm going with this next. And yes, one of the two is indeed more interesting than the other. Rose's point of view, where she rehashes their original love story, is honestly a bit dull, and there wasn't much there other than physical attraction. Now, nothing wrong with physical attraction (I'm a big fan of it myself), but it doesn't make for a riveting read.

Not only that, but Rose possesses traits that I tend to find very annoying in a book. She shows no remarkable (or even likable) characteristics, yet everyone she meets instantly falls in love with her, including Landon and Poppy. From then on, no matter how difficult or mean she is, they remain steadfast in their devotion to her, bending over backwards to accommodate her every whim while she doesn't really do anything back. In fact, in the lead-up to the falling out between the main characters, Landon is the one who had to constantly apologize even though Rose was the one in the wrong.

Sigh. This tendency in recent contemporary novels to glorify the main female character while making everyone else around her bend to her will, however unreasonable or unlikable she may be, is exhausting. And so is the message that if one has mental health issues, it is perfectly okay to take it out on one's partner rather than go seek professional help (or even do some introspection). Both detract from what should've been a sympathetic protagonist, and both make me feel slightly uncomfortable while reading it.

But Landon's point of view wasn't all roses either (har har). While his storyline was more interesting, it did start to feel slightly icky as it went on. Because here is his beloved, having gone to so much trouble to forget and leave him behind, and he can't respect her boundaries. Could there be any circumstances in which that would be okay? But on the other hand, if one of our partners just one day up and vanished and forgot everything, would any of us really just sit back and accept it? I don't know, it's an interesting bone to gnaw on.

And so that gets to the crux of my biggest issue, which is that even though I got hooked on the premise, I probably should've thought about it a bit before diving in. Because if I did, I would've realized that while there are a few different ways the narrative could've play out, none of them were really appealing and some of them were quite problematic. And just like my imagination, it really did play out like that. The last portion of the story, as everything culminated and resolved, was quite a bit of a hot mess. It felt like the author didn't know where to go to wrap it up, so she tried to go everywhere at the same time.

This wasn't all bad. It did make me tear up in one place and there were a few passages that I thought were interesting. But for how emotionally charged the story was supposed to be, my investment felt lackluster. It wasn't that long of a book, yet I crawled through it, bogged down by my indifference to Rose and Landon.

At the end of the day, I think I just wasn't the right audience for this. If I were younger and just starting out on my adult life, maybe I would've found this to be profound. But I've long since aged out of that demographic, and now my cold, wizened heart just can't see past the characters to appreciate the speculative within.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

The second book in a stunning series, The Girl in the Tower is the chance to step back into the magical world of medieval Russia and reunite once again with one of my favorite literary heroines of all time.

What a joy it is to come face to face with Vasya. She is the embodiment of everything I adore in a female protagonist—clever, brave, strong of mind and spirit. We'd previously left off with her being forced to flee her village after saving her people from evil and being branded a witch in return. Now she intends to find freedom and adventure dressed as a boy for safety. But of course trouble finds her almost immediately.

And so we're off. Unlike the first book, which very much took its time to build out the atmosphere and the lore, this book didn't need such luxury. It took a few chapters to set the scene, and then we go right to the action. There is mystery and intrigue aplenty, with evil, villainy, and danger around every corner. And Vasya is right in the thick of things, never able to catch her breath once it gets going.

Watching Vasya grow and grapple here, as she matures into who she is meant to be, is a large part of this story's appeal. She's still the same feisty and courageous girl we've always known, but with age and experience comes confidence. There is so much adversity around her, yet she does not falter under its weight. In fact, she blossoms. When it comes to heroines you can cheer for, it doesn't get much better than this.

Katherine Arden has matured as a storyteller. Her lyrical, earthy passages bring this world into sharp relief, and her nuanced portrayal of Vasya's dilemmas and complicated relationships with those around her are the real emotional core of this book. Every time Morozko or Solovey enter the scene, they steal it with their quiet affection and steadfast loyalty to Vasya. In particular, the relationship between Morozko and Vasya is captivating, especially in the vast gulf of all that is unsaid and unrealized between them.

Which brings us to the romance. This series came out before the whole romantasy frenzy, before it had seemingly cannibalized the entire fantasy genre. And wow, was it a different world back then. Whereas now it often feels like fantasy must first and foremost be smut (and an excessive amount at that), back then the romance wasn't so in your face. It was more subtle, and as a result, more compelling. We feel so much yearning between Vasya and Morozko, yet the writing remained restrained and controlled. Every time these two characters were together, I couldn't help but want more (instead of cringing at the excess and hoping for less). And that's the way it should be.

There's something utterly enchanting about this series. Every moment feels like a dream, like a fairy tale of the most extraordinary caliber. To open its pages is to fall headlong into its magic, and I happily do so again and again.

Readaroo Rating: 4.5 stars

Horror has historically been a rocky genre for me. I feel like I always go in with such lofty expectations—excitement! creepiness! immersion!—and yet, what I get is hardly ever that. I find myself, more often than not, yawning my way through it, and so here we are again.

I can't fault the premise. A ghost ship floating around for two decades with hundreds of souls on board, all of them dead, and no one could find this ship until now? For a space-loving gal like me, you might as well be waving catnip (spacenip?) in my face. But alas, the premise was pretty much the highlight of the whole thing, and it didn't really get better from there.

If I had to put my finger on the biggest issue here, it would have to be its overreliance on being inside the main character's head and using her ruminations and indecision and paranoia as a way to drive the story forward. Ah, you're thinking to yourself, but isn't that what domestic thrillers do? And you'd be right, except not only is this not supposed to be a domestic thriller, but I'm not a fan of that genre for the same reasons.

So I was forced to endure what I would've thought twice about picking up, had I known what it was going in. And the more time we spent in Claire's head as she waffled back and forth, second-guessing herself, reliving over and over the trauma of her childhood, the less appealing I found her. There's something about spending paragraphs and pages in her head that just made my eyes glaze over and my neck droop.

You add to that all the time spent with the crew arguing back and forth on what to do, the detailed descriptions of the spaceship they found, and their careful searching of every room on that ship, and you might as well have shot me with a tranquilizer dart. I frequently caught myself nodding off, only to rouse again to check how far into the book I was, convinced I'd almost reached the end, then being dumbfounded at the realization that I somehow wasn't even halfway in.

Also, call me crazy, but I'm a firm believer that not every story has to have a romantic subplot, and this book is the perfect example of that. The attraction between Claire and Kane was distracting and quite frankly baffling. Because what could he possibly see in her as she freaks out and waffles about? And so the precious few brain cycles I should've been using to think about the mystery surrounding the spaceship was instead being commandeered into puzzling over what's going on with these two nutters.

Between all the shenanigans in Claire's head and the equally silly shenanigans between Claire and Kane, by the time we finally get to the unraveling of the spaceship mystery, it somehow came across anticlimactic. Maybe I didn't buy into the explanation. Or maybe it just felt like it was quickly glossed over so that we can get back to more silliness. Either way, I was left unfulfilled.

Derelict spaceships is such a classic scifi horror trope, with so much potential and possibilities, that the fact that not much came of this was terribly disappointing. Readers more used to domestic thrillers may find the excessive ruminating to be on par for the course. But those hoping for predominantly scifi and horror elements will probably be hard pressed to find satisfaction here.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

A poignant and luminously hopeful tale about the joys, mistakes, and repercussions of growing up and falling in love, Sunlight Finds You took my breath away from the first page to the last.

I'm always drawn to a good coming-of-age story, especially one with a fierce female protagonist. Here we have Nora, seventeen years old, when she meets shy and clever Leonard at school. Soon the two of them are inseparable, but this was the 1950s. Social norms clash with the exhilaration of young love, and they are forced to break off their relationship. What follows is a series of decisions and actions that Nora must take, the consequences of which she will feel for the rest of her life.

I opened this book to the first page and was immediately captivated. Nora made for a compelling main character, with her strong personality, her love for her family, and the impetuousness with which she fell for Leonard and he for her. It was a tale brimming with the optimism of youth and the headiness of young love, and I couldn't help but be swept away.

There was something about the quiet and reflective prose and the fascinating characters that made me forget what I was reading was completely made up. I was so immersed in this tale, I often didn't want to stop. I wanted to inhale it in one go, to sink in and not surface for air until I had reached the very end.

It was clever to structure the narrative as a much older Nora looking back on her younger life. Not only did it add insight, but it also showed how resilient Nora was in spite of all that befell her. That resilience was a large part of the charm of this tale, with its tone of grace and buoyancy turning this story from one of sadness into one of hope and redemption.

The story seamlessly weaved in and tackled so many worthwhile topics—societal norms, family dynamics, parental expectations, class and gender differences, grief, regret, and forgiveness—all of it done with a subtle and deft hand.

Recently, I've been picking up books about women in suburbia set during this time period, only to be disappointed with the results. So many books seem unable to make up their minds about what they want to say, often walking back at the last moment what they've been trying to accomplish up to that point. I'm glad that wasn't the case here. There was no wishy washy, no attempt to walk Nora back from all that happened to her. In fact, her strength in the face of pain and adversity is the whole point of this book.

What an absolutely irresistible story this turned out to be. Everything about it was so masterfully done, I'm still dazzled and reeling in the aftermath. I can't believe this was the first I've heard of Laura Moriarty. It's clear there'll be no stopping me now from digging through the rest of her backlist.

Readaroo Rating: 5 stars!