Bookworm Reads 2021 Part 4

Where There's a Whisk by Sarah J Schmitt - ​This book was absolutely adorable and I loved it. The characters are complex, even for teenagers, and seeing how they take on the cooking challenges and the show drama. Reading about the New York landscape and the fun they have together even with show drama was enjoyable and made me reminisce about my own trips to New York. Staying true to yourself no matter what people try to force you into is the perfect theme for this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚

Another Beast's Skin by Jesseka Grewe Glover - ​This was a great story! I enjoyed escaping to the UK and learning all the dynamics within a family/combat cadre and how much they impact our world and the world we can't see because of the Veil that separates Fae from human. Nesya begins on this journey after losing her father and after her divorce. She's always had a sword strapped to her back and has always wondered why he father would be insistent that she learn to defend herself. When she meets Cade, Corra and Silas on her vacation she starts to learn what part she may play in a bigger universe than she ever knew was there.

I look forward to a sequel!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚

A Girl Made of Air by Nydia Hetherington - This was a great tapestry of a tale! The pieces wove together in colorful ways and had many layers to it. Circus life is thrust upon our narrator as the daughter of a very famous water act and the animal keeper. Sadly, her parents don't really want anything to do with her so she's on her own until another soul, Serendipity Wilson takes her under her wing and teaches her the art of the high wire. After many years and much hardship, our narrator, known by her friend as Mouse, sets off to the US in search of a baby girl gone missing. In pursuit of her psudeo sister, she becomes the Greatest Funambulist of All Time! It's a tale of love, loss, war times, happiness, and dealing with generational trauma. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚

The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - A fun magical short story! I liked the magic stem and the nahuale as her "familiar" that both helps and feeds off of her was a great twist. It was a quick tale and even though it was short there was plenty of character development and magic to be had!

My only drawback was that I went in thinking it was a full novel and it's a novella, the story and writing is incredible.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚

The Secrets of Thistle Cottage by Kerry Barrett - I loved this book! Historical fiction and a thriller to boot! I enjoyed reading about the witch hunting in Scotland back in the 1600s as well as the correlation to social media being similar to that mentality. The characters are developed and the mother daughter relationships are prominent and functional. I thoroughly loved meeting Honor and Alice and Tess and Jem and see how their stories line up thanks to the connection to Thistle Cottage by the sea in Scotland's lush backdrop. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚

Constellations of Scars by Melissa Eskue Ousley - ​This story reminded me of Rapunzel so to me it was a retelling of that classic fairytale. Mia escapes her controlling mother that hordes the pearls she sheds from her body claiming "if people knew about you, they'd lock you away and use you!". She starts a new life as a worker in a museum of oddities and selling her pearls to help with the mermaid display. But is all as it seems in her new found world?? Really well written and compelling! I was hooked within a few pages and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚