Burn Our Bodies Down - Rory Power

Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot’s questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of. Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along.

But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for.

Margot’s mother left for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or was it to protect Margot from what’s still there?

The only thing Margot knows for sure is there’s poison in their family tree, and their roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she’s there, she might never escape.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars

This was super hard to put down! 

The story follows Margot, a seventeen year old girl living with her mother in a run-down apartment. Margot doesn’t have any other family that she knows of, and her mother isn’t what you would call maternal by any stretch of the imagination. One day Margot finds out that her mother does have a family and a hometown and sets off to uncover her mother’s past and the family she never knew existed, but it turns out to be more than she bargained for. 

I had an idea of what the twist entailed pretty early on, but that didn’t stop this from being engaging in the least. I had trouble putting this book down. It was fast-paced and super creepy. Highly recommend!

Burn Our Bodies Down will be available July 7th, 2020.

I received this advanced readers' copy from Random House Children's and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars

Collins successful manages to make you, in the beginning, empathize to a small degree with Coriolanus Snow and the hardships he and his family endured while simultaneously making you repulsed by his elitism and lack of empathy for most of the people around him. Facing facts, he still was 100% better off in their most dire situation than anyone in the districts. It quickly devolves into just reviling him because he is just the worst. 

Without giving too much away, I found it an interesting notion that Snow and his contemporaries were responsible for some comforts and compassion that were not given in the earlier games which is saying a lot because the 74th Hunger Games was awful, but as you’ll read, it was far worse in the 10th Hunger Games. And despite their humanizing the participants in the Hunger Games, the underlying goal was not compassion, but for the entertainment value it would bring to the residents of the capital as well as helping to solidify their allegiance to the Capital’s control.

If It Bleeds - Stephen King

If it Bleeds is a collection of four new novellas —Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and the title story If It Bleeds— each pulling readers into intriguing and frightening places.

A collection of four uniquely wonderful long stories, including a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider.

News people have a saying: 'If it bleeds, it leads'. And a bomb at Albert Macready Middle School is guaranteed to lead any bulletin.

Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency is working on the case of a missing dog - and on her own need to be more assertive - when she sees the footage on TV. But when she tunes in again, to the late-night report, she realizes there is something not quite right about the correspondent who was first on the scene. So begins 'If It Bleeds' , a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider featuring the incomparable Holly on her first solo case.

Dancing alongside are three more long stories - 'Mr Harrigan's Phone', 'The Life of Chuck' and 'Rat'.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone 

This was classic Stephen King: at first you are not entirely sure where it is going, but when it gets to it, you’re all wrapped up in it. I liked the use of modern technology with a paranormal twist. 

The Life of Chuck

This opens on society dissolving into a post apocalyptic hellscape and some oddly timed billboards that say, “39 great years! Thanks Chuck!” but this is only a layer of the story. This one reminds me a bit of The Egg by Andy Weir, and may well be my favorite from this collection because of the way the story builds in reverse order and ties together beautifully in the end. 

If It Bleeds

The titular story follows Holly Gibney, previously seen in the Bill Hodges trilogy as well as The Outsider. This story is a billed as a stand-alone story that occurs after the events of The Outsider; however, there are several references to The Outsider and the Bill Hodges trilogy, so I think it is easy to understand and enjoy if you have read those previous works. 

I love Holly’s quirkiness and am glad that we’ve continued to see her thrive. If It Bleeds is the same formula as the previous books in this series: mystery with a paranormal twist. It’s suspenseful and keeps you engaged. 

Rat

Solid spooky vibes from this one. A passionate writer sets out to write a novel despite the poor results of his last attempt. He decides to isolate himself at his father’s old cabin to write where he ends up falling ill after an encounter at the gas station. Things go from bad to worse when he becomes trapped there by a storm, and is where the story gets wild. 🐀

Overall a great collection of stories!

Parable of the Sower: Graphic Novel Adaptation - Damian Duffy & John Jennings

In this graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, by Damian Duffy and John Jennings, the award-winning team behind the #1 bestseller Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, the author portrays a searing vision of America’s future. In the year 2024, the country is marred by unattended environmental and economic crises that lead to social chaos. Lauren Olamina, a preacher’s daughter living in Los Angeles, is protected from danger by the walls of her gated community. However, in a night of fire and death, what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: a startling vision of human destiny . . . and the birth of a new faith.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars

I was first introduced to the incredible work of Octavia Butler when I took an African American Literature class in college and after that I was hooked. I'm a bit of a completionist when is comes to the work of some authors and Octavia Butler is one of those authors. She was a master of science fiction and a pioneer of speculative fiction. Of her collected works, I read Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents last, which ended up being very timely as there are many things about Parable of the Sower that reflected and still reflect the current state of the United States despite the fact that these books were originally published in 1993 and 1998 respectively. I mean, there is even a politician whose slogan is "Make America Great Again." 

via GIPHY So, of course, when I saw that Damian Duffy and John Jennings were teaming up again to bring this story into graphic novel format, I could not wait to get my hands on it. It definitely did not disappoint.  I feel like this was a really well-executed and faithful adaption of the story. I am very much looking forward to their adaptation of the second and final novel, Parable of the Talents. 

The Safe Place - Anna Downes

Emily is a mess.
Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.

Emily is desperate.
Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.

Emily is perfect.

Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars

Wow, this is a great debut novel by Anna Downes! I read a lot of thrillers, and I often find myself not able to give them five stars for one reason or another, but this one earned it. The writing is excellent and really keeps you hanging on every word, wanting to know more. The tantalizing way Downes manages to drop breadcrumbs slowly throughout the story without the story moving too slowly made this book hard to put down. You could feel the creeping unease, the feeling that something wasn’t quite right, throughout the entire book, which is exactly what you want with a thriller.


I highly recommend this book for fans of thrillers, and I certainly am looking forward to future books by Anna Downes. The Safe Place goes on sale July 14th, 2020.




I received this advanced readers' copy from Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review.

I'm Baaaack!

Some of you may know this blog started out as a nail polish blog, so long ago that I have lost track of exactly how long.


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Although I still love nail polish, my hobbies have changed, and I now split my spare time between reading and crocheting. I gave it a lot of thought as to whether I wanted to add blogging on top of that and I decided, why not?


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So, from now on, I will be sharing my reviews of the books I read here as well as on Goodreads. Just for some added fun, I'll also occasionally share what I'm crocheting while I am reading or listening to an audiobooks.


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You can also visit my various social media pages:

Crochet and some books here:
www.instagram.com/crochetedjess
Books here:
www.goodreads.com/yarnandbooks