Child of Fear & Fire

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve been wanting to read this book for some time. No idea why I put it off but I regret not reading it sooner!

We follow a young girl Eliza who is a servant girl at Norlane Hall. She is grossly mistreated and abused by the family. Eliza constantly lives in fear, though there is a darkness following her. The voices in her head feed off her dark thoughts and there’s a certain warmth to them. She doesn’t quite know if the voices are her own or something else. At the skirts of Norlane Hall lies a mysterious forest which remains untouched, until the young daughters of the house decide they want to explore it and manipulating Eliza to go. Little do they know, it’s about to change everything.

This is an atmospheric, dark and spooky read. Although it’s short in length, there is so much detail in the story telling. It’s definitely full of intrigue and anticipation. I was wondering if Eliza did have a mental illness, if there was a dark presence that wanted to interact with her or if it was a combination of both. This story definitely has impact because now I’m wondering if it’d be better to listen to the audiobook as it may take the story to another level.

I definitely want to check out more of this authors work.

Homecoming

Solid 4.5 from me

Thanks to Tandem Collective and Allen and Unwin for my review copy

The story follows a few timelines that are all interconnected. Jess’ grandmother becomes ill and she must venture back home to Sydney from England to be with her. Through some semi conscious ramblings, Nora speaks of a past in which Jess knows nothing about. Jess also doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother Polly as Nora had pretty much raised Jess to be the person she is today. Jess can’t shake the feeling that she must look into what Nora has spoken of and in doing so uncovers a dark family history that even her own mother wasn’t fully privy to.

Wowzers! The amount of twists at the end of this book as it all came together had my mind blown. I did not expect that much unfolding to occur. There was a few things I did guess correctly though don’t want to spoil it within my review.

As a result of this read, I will be reading other works by the author because this was such an awesome story, that I didn’t want to put it down most of the time! She’s a thick book but that comes with much intricate detail Kate was laying out for us. Some parts were slow for me, but didn’t overrule my whole experience.

It was nice to read about an area of Australia that I’ve travelled through. Even though the town itself was fictional, it wasn’t hard for me to imagine the setting. There were many nice characters in the scenes from the past. But each time I read about them, I couldn’t help but think “what are they hiding?” Appearances can only hold so much value. You didn’t know who might be deceiving who.

This is very much a story about relationships and the lengths people go to in order to protect themselves or others. Sometimes secrets have a way of delivering karma which can come back during your lifetime. When people think they’re in the clear, the universe will find a way to make you uncertain. I’ve learned it’s best not to lie and just to be honest, and this book really reinforces that message.

It was a thrilling read and I’m glad to have been part of such a whirlwind ride.

Triggers you should check before reading is: death (including murder), loneliness, lies, affairs, depression and unstable relationships.

Foul Lady Fortune

I rate this a solid 3.5

There is so much Chinese history in this book. I am impressed with the research Chloe did for this story. If you're after a historical mystery with fantasy elements and fake marriage, then this read may be for you.

Rosalind is a Chinese nationalist spy who used to be an assassin and experimented on in which she cannot age. There are mysterious deaths occurring in Shanghai and it's up to her to investigate. The Japanese imperialists are potential culprits as they start invading the land. But there's also the Chinese communists that Rosalind may have to contend with but also holds suspicion for. She's tasked to be married to another nationalist spy Orion, they get posted to a Japanese company and start to uncover more than they expected. At the same time they keep secrets from one another and are unsure if they can trust one another.

There was a lot going on in this book. You never know if someone is double crossing the other. There are different spies from all sides and you never truly know anyone's motives. Rosalind does seem to be the only one in my opinion who wants to do the right thing, but even she doesn't know if she's on the right side.

Some parts were very slow for me. It definitely ramps up with action within the last 10 chapters. I can see how you could get lost reading this book because there are many characters. On top of this, sometimes they interact with their enemy, so it's hard to tell if they are loyal or make exceptions based on who they are interacting with.

I'm interested enough to see where the story goes. I can only imagine what a lonely life it is for Rosalind if she can't age. So much happened in the end with different characters, you really do want the next book to carry on. I'm hanging to see what happens to Orion.

Ninth House

⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

3.5 stars

I read this as it was a dark academia recommendation and I thought the overall premise was intriguing and interesting. This is my first Leigh Bardugo book and I have seen that this is quite different from her other series based on what others have been saying.

As we’re thrust into the world of Ivy League secret societies and magic, it’s established quite early on, that protocol, exclusivity, power, order and the intelligence exists within the system. Our main character Alex has a unique ability to see the dead referenced as “grays”. She’s scooped up from her troubled life into a full scholarship at Yale, so that her abilities can be used for the exclusive Lethe House. Through flashbacks we learn that she’s mentored by Darlington, who has gone missing in present time. A mysterious death of a girl close to the University sparks an investigation by Alex. She starts to uncover and realise some truths that could disrupt the whole system and unlock the truth of Darlington’s whereabouts.

I wasn’t always there for the flashbacks, as I felt I got the gist of the background of the MC Alex and her relationship with Darlington. It became a little long-winded for me and some parts could have been cut out. The whole establishment is what I imagine real life secret societies to be, minus the magic, but then again maybe not? Who knows what goes on in them really? I liked how the abuse of knowledge and people's opportunistic tendencies came out to play. The question being do people do it for control or power? Or maybe both?

The murder investigation was the most interesting part to me. Don't get me wrong, some of the magical and paranormal elements were fun to read, but the intricacies of uncovering each part of the murder and how it all came together, left me guessing. There was no way anyone could have guessed what was going to happen. This really borders on a crime thriller in some aspects of the book.

I'm intrigued enough to want to read the second book, but I'm also not in a rush.

All Our Hidden Gifts

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this book as it came up as a dark academia rec online. It’s definitely not dark academia and I would class it as more of a paranormal, witchy mystery with hints of horror and folklore.

I enjoyed the concept of this book when Maeve discovers a tarot deck and the mysterious housekeeper card appears in said deck, with a haunting vibe to it. When she gives a tarot reading to her ex best friend Lily and this particular card is drawn. There’s a fight and then Lily disappears. When Lily goes missing your immediate thought is how is this linked in any way to this tarot deck. What is so special about this card and where did it come from?

As Maeve tries to solve this mystery, she delves deeper into witchcraft and the paranormal. She was once a pretty normal teenager and she embraces the supernatural quite quickly. Maeve’s intuition is telling her the housekeeper is involved but she just has to convince her friends that this is real. There are nightmares involving the housekeeper that continues to haunt Maeve’s dreams.

I thought the characters had so much representation from the Filipina best friend Fiona, and Roe exploring his sexuality. There was definitely heavy topics covered in this story and considering this is a YA read, it gave the teenage characters more maturity. You will need to check the triggers as it does deal with homophobia in parts of the story, as well as racism towards the end when Fiona mentions her experience.

There were times when Maeve was frustrating and bratty but she’s a teenager, so I kind of expected it. I enjoyed Fiona and Roe more than Maeve. I thought the characters were developed well and I like them enough to want to keep reading the series.

The book was slow in some parts but overall the story flowed well. I am not sure how the story will continue as I can only suspect that we haven’t seen the last of the housekeeper. Liked how folklore was tied into the story which made it an interesting read.