Wonderland Reader

Savour It   by Tarah DeWitt Published: 21st May 2024 by Piatkus I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I had heard of Tarah and some of her books before this latest one, and knew she was highly regarded within the Romance world, and now I know why! I loved the small-town setting of this, as always, and how the whole town managed to meddle in their budding relationship, but only because they wanted the best for them! I really liked that Fisher was brought into Sage's life to help her from being embarrassed about the ending of her previous relationship, and how he helped to boost her confidence back up, while Sage helped bring Fisher down to earth and build up his own confidence in being a parent figure for the first time. This felt more emotional than your average romance novel, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it, as it felt authentic that Fisher and Sage's respective circumstances led to a strong connection and r...

Kilt Trip   by Alexandra Kiley Published: 23rd May 2024 by Zaffre I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I'm really not sure how I feel about this book - it almost feels as if completely split into two separate halves, with my wildly different levels of interest on either side. I was completely gripped in the beginning by the premise of this, and the whole enemies-to-lovers thing that Addie and Logan had going on, but I just didn't fully believe in the build-up to their romance, or much of anything that came after. The switch from hating each other to feeling anything more didn't convince me, and my interest seemed to slowly wane after the beginning of their relationship, when normally it would be at its peak. I didn't find the writing hugely compelling, but it wasn't bad at all! I think the pacing just felt off to me, and the characterisation of the primary and secondary people wasn't at its stronges...

The Rule Book   by Sarah Adams Published: 2nd April 2024 by Headline Eternal I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. This book was so much fun! I would call myself a huge Sarah Adams at this point, as this is the 3rd book of hers I have read, and they have yet to be a disappointment. I absolutely adored her When in Rome duology (and secretly wish for more!), and so despite the fact that I haven't read The Cheat Sheet , which this is set in the same world as, I knew I'd enjoy it regardless. I always enjoy a good sports romance, but I didn't even mind that this hardly featured any playing, as the chemistry between Nora and Derek was so palpable that I didn't want to be distracted by any sub-plots. You could tell that they truly cared for one another, and just wanted the best for them, no matter what that looked like. I also really enjoyed the interactions between Derek and his friendship group, and the little gl...

Second First Impressions  by Sally Thorne Published: 7th April 2022 by Piatkus I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I feel like Sally Thorne is a huge name in the romance genre, so I was excited to finally be picking up one of her books, and for the most part, I was not disappointed! I really enjoyed the writing style of this, and although I couldn't hugely relate to Ruthie's personality, that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book at all, which I actually think is a huge testament to Thorne as an author, because I feel like this is hard to achieve. I thought the little community that Ruthie found herself in, with the two sisters, and her coworker, to be very endearing, and exactly what she needed. I did find the back and forth between Ruthie and Teddy to be too much at times, and once again, their huge blowout fight towards the end did just feel a bit ridiculous, but it didn't really take away from...

An Education in Malice   by S.T. Gibson Published: 15th February 2024 by Orbit I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. While not a superfan of the genre, I do enjoy a dark academia tale when it is done well, and I was hoping that An Education in Malice would be that for me. The premise of an intimate circle of female students in a small-town university interested me, but the story took a turn from this, and became much more focused on Laura and Carmilla, and their teacher De LaFontaine. The vampire twist to this story wasn't wholly unwelcome, but I didn't think it brought anything particularly new to that genre - it was mainly used as a vessel for the various love stories, and I did think it could be used for much more than that. I didn't love how Gibson introduced the older vampire's lover to the story as the main threat, and then proceeded to hardly have her in the book after that.  The writing in this wasn...

Yolk   by Mary H.K. Choi Published: 4th March 2021 by Atom I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I have heard great things about Choi's works, that they are introspective, and portray relationships in very realistic ways, and this is exactly what I found with  Yolk.  The sibling dynamic between Jayne and June was eerily relatable - the power struggle between older and younger sister, the resentment held towards their different experiences being raised by the same parents, but the overall underlying knowledge that both of them would do anything for the other, and that this is the most important relationship they have. Their closeness grows and wanes in equal measure, and their dependence on one another goes from virtually nonexistent to literally life or death, which I thought really forced the cracks in their childhood, and more recent years as young adults, to be examined and reckoned with. I certainly didn't...

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982   by Cho Nam-Joo Published: 1st March 2020 by Scribner I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I have had this book for going on 5 years now, and that just felt like far too long without having read it! I really liked the sound of this, as a fan of both speculative fiction and works by Korean authors, and this was not an exception. I loved the length of it, as I find books with minimal plots to be very interesting, but can easily drag if they go on for too long, which this didn't. It was very interesting getting to witness Kim Jiyoung in all the aspects of her life, from her role as a wife and mother, to being an employee, and a friend, and how she seemed to struggle, at least to an extent, in each of these parts. I really enjoyed the footnotes within the story, providing readers with real data to back up how Kim Jiyoung was feeling, particularly towards the discrepancies in life she experienced as ...

Beasts of a Little Land   by Juhea Kim Published: 3rd February 2022 by Oneworld Publications I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I find Japan's control of Korea, and Korea's eventual independence, to be a very interesting, though tragic, aspect of history that I don't know enough about as it isn't a common topic of history taught in the UK, and in seeking out Beasts of a Little Land as a narrative interpretation of people's experiences during that time, I found out so much, and in such an approachable way. Although quite clearly fiction, the lived experiences of each of the characters portrayed how this time was experienced in such differing ways, from Jade's turbulent childhood to Jungho and his fight for his country's freedom. I did find the story to drag at times, especially when reading about the characters that I didn't care for as much as Jade, and I found the pacing of the story and ...

A Million to One  by Adiba Jaigirdar Published: 5th January 2023 by Hodder Children's Books I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I had no idea what to expect from this, but I was very intrigued by the idea of a heist set on the Titanic ship, especially one performed by teenage girls. Although this is the first book from Jaigirdar that I have read, she is a well-established YA author, and now I can see why! The writing was incredibly strong throughout, and I found it very impressive that she was able to write A Million to One from four different people's perspectives at times, with mostly equal amounts of depth and character development. I did find the first half of the book to be stronger than the latter half, and I also personally wasn't a fan of the pacing of some of the storylines involving the four girls and what happened to them, however. I felt that the heist plot became quite convoluted, and when added t...

Real Easy   by Marie Rutkoski Published: 18th January 2022 by Tinder Press I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. This felt like a real departure from what Rutkoski is known for writing - the popular YA Fantasy series The Winner's Trilogy  - but this venture into Adult Fiction was gripping, and shows her range throughout ages and genres. I feel as though the whole "strippers being murdered" storyline is one that can be done badly very easily, but Rutkoski puts the stories of the strippers at the forefront of the novel, allowing their lives the be the focus, and ultimately the heart of the story, rather than the killer or the detectives investigating the crimes. The sisterhood borne out of circumstance seen between the women in Real Easy , including the female detective, felt very authentic, in loving but not necessarily liking one another, but always protecting their kin. I was genuinely surprised by the twist ...

The Bright Spot  by Jill Shalvis Sunrise Cove #5 Published: January 16th 2024 by Headline Eternal Other works:  The Family You Make ,  The Friendship Pact ,  The Backup Plan ,  The Sweetheart List Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 I received a copy of this ebook from the publisher. This in no way affects my review. Synopsis Luna Wright is a lot of things, but sweet and trusting aren't on the list. However, she’s a sucker for the underdog and a hard-luck story. Adopted at birth, with scant knowledge of her biological family, she’s created her own inner circle, a motley crew which includes her bestie Willow, to help her run the struggling but charming Apple Ridge Farm.  With a farm-to-table café as well as a menagerie of rescued animals (complete with a baby goat who keeps escaping to the pantry to eat the secret stash of decidedly not organic potato chips), it’s the best home she’s ever known. But when Silas, the owner who they secretly call The Grinch, passes away...