Review: Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea

Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First of all, let me be clear. I would NEVER have survived 76 days at sea. I wouldn't have survived 76 hours. Possibly 76 minutes. Steven Callahan is super human, or blessed, or both. You know the saying, "God takes care of children and fools"? I believe this holds true here.

He sets sail alone. His boat capsizes and he somehow gets a lot of his emergency supplies (lucky!) and gets into his raft in one piece. And he survives by catching and eating fish, including the eyes. Blech. I would so not have lived. Pass. Steven, you are a strong, strong dude with an especially strong stomach.

Much like his journey, it gets a bit repetitive, and he gets rather maudlin about the fish by the end, but overall a good true survival story, which is my jam. Steven, glad you made it home. What a crazy story you have to tell! 3.5 stars.

View all my reviews

Review: The Sound of Gravel

The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, this book was upsetting.

I have a sickness for reading sad books, heart-wrenching sagas that make you appreciate your normal, mostly boring life. Most of the polygamist stories I have read have made me want to hug my kids, jump in the car, and start capturing the kids living in Colorado City. This book triggered that for me. I've lived in the Southwestern US for a long time. I've worked with polygamists, and while I don't understand why any woman would be a part of that world, I try to seek to understand. However, the kids are in bad situations, and it makes me so upset to hear their stories. Ruth's family was not the worst, by far, but that isn't saying much. Her step dad was awful, her mother was awful, and I wanted to cry, but I didn't, because I was in public.

This is a time for half stars, and I give this one 3.5. Ruth, glad to see you made it out the other side. You deserve happiness.

View all my reviews

Review: The Sound of Gravel

The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, this book was upsetting.

I have a sickness for reading sad books, heart-wrenching sagas that make you appreciate your normal, mostly boring life. Most of the polygamist stories I have read have made me want to hug my kids, jump in the car, and start capturing the kids living in Colorado City. This book triggered that for me. Ruth's family was not the worst, by far, but that isn't saying much. Her step dad was awful, her mother was awful, and I wanted to cry, but I didn't, because I was in public.

This is a time for half stars, and I give this one 3.5. Ruth, glad to see you made it out the other side. You deserve happiness.

View all my reviews

Review: Endless Night

Endless Night by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought I owned and had read every Agatha Christie book, but somehow I missed this one. It's quite unlike her other work. The first 3/4 of the book is about the main character's relationship, courtship, and marriage, then boom! Typically Christie plot twist. All of the pieces fell together. She really was the master of mystery.

This is seriously one of her most WTF books. Well played, Agatha. I'm still thinking about this one.

View all my reviews

Review: Jackaby

Jackaby by William Ritter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I went in expecting a paranormal Holmes & Watson type romp. I left underwhelmed, yet happy enough to read book 2.

Abigail Rook, newly arrived in America, stumbles into a position with RF Jackaby, observant mystery solver of the strange and paranormal. They make a decent team. I enjoyed Rook's point of view. She's smart, and in the end she saves herself, mostly, and I like that. No shrinking violets here. And there is a hint of romance to come in future books. Not with her boss, because Rook is not a cliché. A decent mystery with a few plot holes but nothing too objectionable. 3 stars.

View all my reviews

Review: A Night to Surrender

A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm glad this wasn't the first Tessa Dare book I read, because I was a little underwhelmed. It was ok, but not as great as her Castles Ever After series.

You have the historical romance tropes you would expect. Dominate man, woman determined to be independent and strong but secretly wants to be saved. He is a marshmallow inside as well, and just wants to be held in her loving arms. Barf. But it was very modernist in its view of "women are people too" and "equal rights" and "battle of the sexes". I didn't hate it, and I will probably continue on with the series, but Castles Ever After is better in my opinion.

Decent twists and ok characters, but I wanted more depth. 3 stars.

View all my reviews

Review: Onyx

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A bit of a disappointment after my love for the first book. I'm not a fan of love triangles, girls who slap, and teen angst. I am still a fan of Daemon, however, and I am a completionist so I will go on to the next book.

I listened to this one on audio, and I had been calling Daemon "Damon" in my head, but the narrator called him "Demon" and it threw me off. Every. Damn. Time. No one is called Demon, right? Am I right? Or am I crazy? Anyway...not enough to keep me from book 3, although Katy is far less annoying in print. Hoping there is a different narrator for the next one.

View all my reviews