The Chaperone - Laura Moriarty

Title: The Chaperone
Author: Laura Moriarty
Published: 2013 (first published 2012)
Pages: 402
Genre: Historical Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: Surrey Public Library

Description: Only a few years before becoming a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone, who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle, a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip, has no idea what she’s in for. Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous black bob with blunt bangs, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will transform their lives forever.
 
For Cora, the city holds the promise of discovery that might answer the question at the core of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in this strange and bustling place she embarks on a mission of her own. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of Cora’s relationship with Louise, her eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive.

Thoughts: I first read the book back in April 2013 and in the almost 7 years since I had read the book, I had forgot large portions of the book, but reading it brought back quite a bit of it back.  Reading it for the second time made me sympathize more with Cora and made me more aware of the actual story line than I had been the first time I had read it and I think I enjoyed it more this time around, but really did feel that the third part was too rushed and made little sense.

Bottom line: I enjoyed the book just as much as I did the first time around, but I empthetized with Cora much more this time around and would recommend the book.

Rating: 4/5

Providence - Caroline Kepnes

Title: Providence
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Pages: 384
Published: 2018
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description:
Growing up as best friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe are the only ones who truly understand each other, though they can never find the words to tell one another the depth of their feelings. When Jon is finally ready to confess his feelings, he's suddenly kidnapped by his substitute teacher who is obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and has a plot to save humanity.

Mourning the disappearance of Jon and facing the reality he may never return, Chloe tries to navigate the rites of entering young adulthood and "fit in" with the popular crowd, but thoughts of Jon are never far away.

When Jon finally escapes, he discovers he now has an uncontrollable power that endangers anyone he has intense feelings for. He runs away to protect Chloe and find the answers to his new identity--but he's soon being tracked by a detective who is fascinated by a series of vigilante killings that appear connected.  (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I had high hopes for this book.  Had heard from a podcast that this was one to read this summer and I honestly I wasn't really impressed.  Honestly I felt very confused with the plot of the book and even by the end of the book, I couldn't really figure out what the big mystery was or even what the book was about.  It could have been that I left the book for a couple of weeks before I finished it, but still I could never seem to figure it out what Jon's power was.

Bottom Line: Didn't really understand the plot of the book.  Maybe it was that the main characters were at least 15 years younger than me or maybe it was the genre.  I really don't know.  If you like urban fantasy/thrillers, you might enjoy it.

Rating: 2.75/5

Venetian Blood - Christine Evelyn Volker

Title: Venetian Blood: Murder in a Sensuous City
Author: Christine Evelyn Volker
Pages: 329
Published: 2017
Genre: Mystery
Edition: E-book
Source: Personal library

Description: To escape a failing marriage, Anna Lucia Lottol goes to Venice to visit an old friend-and becomes a suspect in a brutal murder echoing a gruesome homicide that happened decades ago. Fearful of foreign justice and hoping to prove her innocence, she gathers clues before the real murderer comes for her. At the climax of her journey, she discovers a secret that will change her life. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I really enjoyed the engrossing nature of the book, but for whatever reason I just was unable to connect with the book in a way that I really wanted to.  Partly I think it was that I felt that the beginning of the book happened a little too quick for my liking and I didn't like that there wasn't a set up for the murder.  As a result, I felt lost from the get go, even though by the end of the book I was able to connect better with the story.

As I read the book, I really struggled to understand what was going on and therefore I struggled at time to get through it.
Part of the reason that I disappointed with the book and had frustrations with reading it was that I had different expectations of the story that were clearly not there. 

But I did enjoy the description of Venice itself and felt as though I was there in the city myself, even though I have never been to Venice myself.  I also liked that it wasn't just your standard mystery; there was emotional depth to the book and created empathy for Anna and how she wanted to move on with her life and have the ghosts of her past disappear.

Bottom line: It was an okay read, as there were time that the book dragged itself along, but there were also times that the book was engaging.  I felt that the ending could have been a few pages shorter.  But overall it was a decent read and something that may need a re-read in the future.  Recommended.

Rating:  3/5

Wanderers No More - Michelle Saftich

Title: Wanderers No More (Port of No Return Book 2)
Author: Michelle Saftich
Pages: 303
Published: 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction
Edition: E-Book
Source: I chose to read this book after receiving a free copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Description:  The war may be over, but the fight to belong is just beginning.

Left homeless, starving, and almost killed by the Second World War, the Saforo family are refugees fleeing Italy for a better life. The shores of Australia are calling to them and they head off, packing dreams of jobs, a home and … soccer.

But from the moment they get off the boat, adapting to the Australian way of life is harder than it seems. Their family doesn’t speak right, eat right or even look right. As they struggle to build a simple life against the backdrop of 1950s racism, they start to wonder if they will be outsiders forever.

A true family affair, Wanderers No More will make you laugh, remind you of your family, and warm your heart.

Thoughts:  When I saw that there was a book for the sequel to Port of No Return, I knew I had to return to the loving Saforo family, who we last saw leaving for Australia at the end of World War II.

This book spans about a 30 year time span and shows the children of the Saforo family grow up and make their own way in the world.  It also shows the struggles of the family as they slowly rebuild their lives after the ravages of World War II and migrating to a new country, which has a different culture and language.

I liked that it was a heartwarming story of struggle and sacrifice of a family landing in a country in which the language and culture was different from their own.  It reminded me of my own family coming from Soviet Russia to Canada in 1926, as they struggled and sacrificed to make a new life in a new country.

While the family struggles to adjust to a new life in Australia, there are also tender and touching moments that make the story that much more human, especially when Nonna takes over the kitchen at one of the migrant camps.

Bottom line: I really liked how the author brought the story full circle in concluding the story of the Saforo family.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 3.75/5

Meet the Author:

Michelle Saftich resides in Brisbane, Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Business/Communications Degree, majoring in journalism, from the Queensland University of Technology.

For the past 20 years, she has worked in communications, including print journalism, sub-editing, communications management and media relations.
Born and raised in Brisbane, she spent 10 years living in Sydney; and two years in Osaka, Japan, where she taught English.

Her historical fiction novel, Port of No Return, was inspired by a true family story. It was published by Australian independent publishing house, Odyssey Books in 2015. Its sequel, Wanderers No More was released in August 2017. Michelle is married with two children.

Connect with the author: Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook

 

Path of Lucas - Susanne Bellefeuille

Title: Path of Lucas: The Journey He Endured
Author: Susanne Bellefeuille
Pages: 350
Published: 2015
Genre: Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: I chose to read this book after receiving a free copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Description:  
 Lucas Clarkson is a simple man, a family man, and a hard working farmer's son. From a small town in Eastern Ontario, the author, Susanne Bellefeuille, brings us on Lucas's journey through the trials and tribulations of his life. Lucas's path is not as simple as the man he's portrayed to be. From the days spent working on his dad's farm to becoming a successful mechanic, with a genuine heart and his incredible strength, Lucas faces many difficult decisions. The choices he makes may be the difference between realizing his dreams and keeping his family together. (via Goodreads)

 Thoughts: 
When I received The Path of Lucas, I didn’t know what to expect.  What I did find was a heartwarming story between Lucas and Isabelle, characters based on the author’s parents. 

Starting with Lucas and Isabelle’s courtship, the book navigates through the numerous choices that Lucas has to make between his own personal dreams versus the responsibility for his family.

While there is heartache, struggle and sadness, there is also happiness, love, and the devotion that one finds in Lucas and Isabelle’s life journey.   Life isn’t perfect, but the fact that they have each other seems to be all Lucas and Isabelle need.  By the end of the book I found myself crying a little bit.

Even though I enjoyed the book, there were a few criticisms that I had with the book.  The first one being that the author needed a better editor.  The reason for this was that the dialogue seemed to be silted, as did the transitions. The language seemed too simplistic and if there had been a decent editor, I believe that the grammar would have been much better than it was.  Another criticism I have was that there was no indication as to what time period the story was in and took me a bit to clue in. 

Bottom line:

Overall it was a good book, despite my reservations about the book. 

Rating: 2.5/5

The Princess Diarist - Carrie Fisher

Title: The Princess Diarist
Author: Carrie Fisher
Pages:257
Published: 2016
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager.

With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I quite liked the book.  It was a fairly quick read, but also informative.  I generally don't read celebrity memoirs but due to the publicity that the book got this past fall and the author's death this past December, I felt the need to read the book.  She clearly was a very good writer and with help from an editor, it became a well-received book.  I haven't read her other books, but clearly she had a talent for the written word.

Bottom line: If you enjoy reading celebrity memoirs, I would definitely recommend the book to you, if you haven't already.  If you haven't, you might enjoy this one.  Recommended.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware

Title: The Woman in Cabin 10
Author: Ruth Ware
Pages: 352
Published: 2017
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong… (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I thought it was a good read.  It wasn't Girl on the Train or Gone Girl by any means, but it was still tense enough to keep me reading at a fairly fast pace.  There wasn't exactly anything literary about the book, but it had a good pace to the book and things seemed to move nicely along.

Bottom line: A decent book and something that could be read quickly for most readers.  Recommended.

Rating: 3/5

The Truth According to - Annie Barrows

Title: The Truth According to Us
Author: Annie Barrows
Pages: 528
Published: 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck’s father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty.

At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotion—a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business that occupies her charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried. Layla’s arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns. As Willa peels back the layers of her family’s past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed—and their personal histories completely rewritten. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I read this as a library book club read and honestly while I liked aspects of the book, it was kinda meh.  Maybe it was that I had greater expectations of this book, but felt that the book took way too long to get any sort of momentum.  I personally liked Layla's storyline more than Willa's and wished more of the book focused on that.

Bottom line:  I found the book to be meh at least for me, but it could be for someone who enjoys these family drama books.  Overall, it was a pretty decent book,  not just one to my tastes.  Recommended.

Rating: 2.75/5

Ashes - Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Ashes (Seeds of America #3)
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Pages: 298
Published: 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: As the Revolutionary War rages on, Isabel and Curzon have narrowly escaped Valley Forge—but their relief is short-lived. Before long they are reported as runaways, and the awful Bellingham is determined to track them down. With purpose and faith, Isabel and Curzon march on, fiercely determined to find Isabel’s little sister Ruth, who is enslaved in a Southern state—where bounty hunters are thick as flies. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I quite enjoyed the book and thought it was a nice conclusion to the series.  Sorry for the lack of thoughts; its been a while since I read the book, but I thought it was well written.

Bottom line:  Recommended for young readers who enjoy historical fiction.

Rating: 3/5

You Will Not Have My Hate - Antoine Leiris

Title: You Will Not Have My Hate
Author: Antoine Leiris ; translated by Sam Taylor
Pages: 131
Published: 2016
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description:  On 13 November 2015, Antoine Leiris’s wife, Hélène, was killed, along with 88 other people at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, when three men armed with guns and suicide bombs opened fire on the unsuspecting crowd at a rock concert. Three days later, Leiris, a young journalist, wrote an open letter on Facebook addressed to his wife’s killers. Leiris refused to be cowed or to let his 17-month-old son’s life be defined by Hélène’s murder. He refused to let the killers have their way. ‘For as long as he lives, this little boy will insult you with his happiness and freedom,’ he wrote. Instantly, that short Facebook post caught fire. It was shared over two hundred thousand times and was reported on all over the world. In his beautiful and moving defiance of the terrorists who had killed his wife, Leiris became an international hero to everyone searching desperately for a way to deal with the horror of the attacks. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I don't know if saying that I enjoyed a memoir about a husband going through the early stages of grieving of his wife is appropriate.  It was definitely poignant, even though it was a short read.  I got a sense of him trying to make things as normal as possible for his young son, Melvil, who was about 17 months at the time.  I don't think words can really describe how it felt to read this book.

Bottom line: A powerful, but short book and alters how we should act during a time that is becoming incredibly scary.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.75/5

Ghosts - Raina Telgemeier

Title: Ghosts
Author: Raina Telgemeir
Pages: 256
Published: 2016
Genre: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description:
Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake -- and her own. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I made the mistake of reading this after March, so I compared it to that book rather than judging the book on its own merit.  But trying not to compare it to March, which is so difficult to do, it was a really well told story.  I got freaked out during the course of reading the book, so I can see kids being freaked out with the content.  I liked the interaction between the sisters and could identify with trying to get your bearings in a community you don't really know.  I can only imagine how difficult it is for a teenager to adjust to a new town.  Highly recommended.

Bottom line: A really sweet story of trying to adjust in a new community and would recommend it for middle grade readers who have enjoyed Raina's previous works.

Rating: 4/5

March: Book Two - John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

Title:  March: Book Two
Author: John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
Pages: 192
Published: 2015
Genre: Graphic Novels, History
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description:
After the success of the Nashville sit-in campaign, John Lewis is more committed than ever to changing the world through nonviolence - but as he and his fellow Freedom Riders board a bus into the vicious heart of the deep south, they will be tested like never before.

Faced with beatings, police brutality, imprisonment, arson, and even murder, the young activists of the movement struggle with internal conflicts as well. But their courage will attract the notice of powerful allies, from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy... and once Lewis is elected chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, this 23-year-old will be thrust into the national spotlight, becoming one of the "Big Six" leaders of the civil rights movement and a central figure in the landmark 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I really liked this one as much as the first book in the series.  Liked how the authors incorporated the inauguration of Obama with past events.  While the book was fairly short, it felt longer due to the amount of information that was imparted to the reader.  Really get a front row to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.  Highly recommended.

Bottom line:  A really good sequel to the first book in the series. Would recommend the book to those that are interested in civil rights and some hope in a time in American history that seems less hopeful every day that passes.

Rating: 5/5

The Nest - Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Title: The Nest
Author: Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Pages: 353
Published: 2016
Genre: Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal

Description: Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the future they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. While the main characters were not the most likeable people in the world, they certainly did add a flair to the novel.  I enjoyed how you saw various points of view through out the book.

Bottom line: A nice enjoyable read.  Like the family dynamic between the siblings and even the non-sibling characters

Rating: 3.75/5

Dietland - Sarai Walker

Title: Dietland
Author: Sarai Walker
Pages: 272
Published: 2015
Genre: Contemporary
Edition: E-book
Source: Personal copy

Description:
The diet revolution is here. And it’s armed.

Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged. Or mocked. Or worse. With her job answering fan mail for a popular teen girls’ magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. Only then can her true life as a thin person finally begin.

Then, when a mysterious woman starts following her, Plum finds herself falling down a rabbit hole and into an underground community of women who live life on their own terms. There Plum agrees to a series of challenges that force her to deal with her past, her doubts, and the real costs of becoming “beautiful.” At the same time, a dangerous guerrilla group called “Jennifer” begins to terrorize a world that mistreats women, and as Plum grapples with her personal struggles, she becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: At first I thought this would be an interesting read and it was an interesting read no doubt.  But as I read the book, I found the main character to be rather narcissistic at times and a bit immature.  And as the book wound on, I really didn't want to read it and just wanted to slap the main character silly.

Bottom Line:  I thought it was an okay read.  There were times I liked how the book was going but there were times that I really got mad at the main character and her behaviour.  If you are attracted to a sort of chick-lit book with a feminist bent.  Overall, it was okay and wouldn't recommend it for everybody.  Recommended.

Rating: 2.75/5

Winter Stroll - Elin Hilderband

Title: Winter Stroll (Winter #2)
Author: Elin Hilderband
Pages: 263
Published: 2015
Genre: Christmas, Romance
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description:  Another Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn reflecting on the past year as he writes a holiday letter to friends and family. Though the year has had its share of misfortune and worry, the Quinns have much to celebrate. Kelley, now single, at least is on better terms with his first wife Margaret, who is using her celebrity to lure customers to the inn in record numbers. Their son Kevin has a beautiful new baby, Genevieve, with the Inn's French housekeeper, Isabelle; and their daughter, Ava, is finally dating a nice guy--her devoted colleague, Scott.

Now the Quinns are looking forward to celebrating Genevieve's baptism, welcoming Isabelle to the family, and enjoying the cheer of Nantucket's traditional Christmas Stroll. But just when a peaceful family gathering seems within reach, Kelley's estranged second wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island after souring on her relationship with the inn's former Santa Claus. Soon Kelley isn't the only Quinn entertaining a surprise guest from Christmases past as lovers old and new gather beneath the mistletoe. With jealousy, passion, and eggnog consumption at an all-time high, it's going to take a whole lot more than a Christmas miracle to get the Quinns--and the inn--through the holidays intact. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I actually enjoyed this one a little more than Winter Street, which I thought was a little too schmaltzy, especially on a second read.   I think what I liked about is that it came off as being a little more real than the first book in the series and felt a little more enjoyable.  I liked that it was a fairly light read on a day that I was recovering from the festivities of New Years and a fairly long day.

I liked that the book moved the story of the Quinn family nicely along and was a nice and fairly easy read for me.

Bottom Line: A fairly light read and would appeal to those who need something a little lighter to read during the holiday season.  Recommended.

Rating: 4/5

Loreena's Gift - Colleen M. Story

Title: Loreena's Gift
Author: Colleen M. Story
Pages: 350
Published: 2016
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Edition: PDF
Source: I recieved a free copy in exchange for a honest review.

Description: A BLIND GIRL'S TERRIFYING "GIFT" ALLOWS HER TO REGAIN HER EYESIGHT--BUT ONLY AS SHE FERRIES THE RECENTLY DECEASED INTO THE AFTERLIFE.

Loreena Picket thinks she knows herself. A blind young woman who lives with her uncle, a reverend at a small-town church, she's a dutiful niece and talented pianist for the congregation.

But they're both hiding a terrible secret. Loreena can kill people with the touch of her hand.

While her uncle sees her as an angel of mercy, helping usher the terminally ill members of his flock into the afterlife, Loreena has her doubts.

Torn between doing her uncle's bidding and the allure of the fleeting moments when her eyesight returns on the journey to the other side, Loreena cooperates with her uncle until her troubled older brother returns to town. When she reveals her power by saving him from a local drug dealer, she is drawn into a sinister and dangerous world that will test the true nature of her talent and force her to consider how far she is willing to go to survive.

An exciting debut that crosses fantasy and literary fiction, Loreena's Gift is a thought-provoking meditation on life and death and what ultimately lies beyond this world.

​

Buy the Book:  Amazon  ~  Barnes & Noble  ~  Book Depository  ~  Chapters Indigo

Thoughts:  I didn't know what to think of the book, but once I sat down and read the book, I thought it was a decent read.  I liked the early part of the book, but once I got into the middle of the book, I got a little confused as to what was going on. But despite the fact that I was little confused to what was going on in the book, I found it to be an engrossing read.

I liked how the author seamlessly made the transitions between Loreena being sighted and blind.  I also liked how Loreena took charge of a situation and didn't really feel sorry for herself and pushed on despite her blindness.  She seemed to take charge of situations rather than the situation take charge of her.  Despite the situation that she found herself in, she didn't really feel sorry for herself and tried to make best of the situation that she was in.

Bottom line: I quite enjoyed the quickness of the book and it really felt like you were by Loreena's side through out the book.  I would probably recommend the book for those that aren't quite into fantasy, but would like either a taste of fantasy or need something different in their reading.  Recommended.

Author's Bio:

Colleen M. Story writes imaginative fiction and is also a freelance writer, instructor, and motivational speaker specializing in creativity, productivity, and personal wellness. Her latest novel, "Loreena’s Gift," was released with Dzanc Books April 12 2016. Her fantasy novel, "Rise of the Sidenah," is a North American Book Awards winner, and New Apple Book Awards Official Selection (Young Adult). She is the founder of Writing and Wellness (writingandwellness.com) a motivational site for writers and other creatives.

​Connect with the author:  Website  ~ Twitter