In 1979 ten-year-old Marjane is living in Iran forward thinking parents. Smart and blessed with a rich imagination, Marjane has a happy childhood that is marked not just by normal childhood experiences but also by the rumblings and changes occurring in her country. Like many in Iran, Marjane’s parents protest against the Shah’s regime and demand change. When that does happen, Marjane’s life is changed forever. As the Ayatollah ushers in a new tyrannical regime Marjane and her family find themselves in challenging circumstances that ultimately leads them to make an impossible decision.

I’ve heard many good things about this graphic novel and I’ve been meaning to pick it up for a long time. So when I saw it as part of a “Banned Books” display at Barnes & Noble I decided now was the time to grab a copy.

I don’t read many graphic novels so the format was a change for me but I would consider it a strong strength of the book. The additional detail Ms. Satrapi can provide but using illustrations adds another layer to the story and helps you step into Ms. Satrapi’s shoes as she goes from a fun loving, carefree child to a teenager who values her independence so much she openly defies the generation, much to the concern and worry of her parents.

One of the other great strengths of this story is that Ms. Satrapi does not attempt to hide anything in her retelling. She freely admits that her family wanted a revolution to occur, a fact that some post-revolution accounts leave out, but when it does happen it leaves the family wondering if they had wanted the right thing. Ms. Satrapi also shows how the family attempted to live under the new restrictions of the government until it ultimately became impossible and a threat to Ms. Satrapi’s often safety.

This is an excellent account of life in Iran during the late 1970s and 1980s and I would highly recommend it, even one isn’t a fan of graphic novels. Which once more lead to the absurd question of why this book has been banned in the past. Ultimately one could argue some political reasons but I’m not going to get into that. Instead, I would urge you to share this piece with anyone. While the book might not be suitable for very young children as the subject matter can be quite terrifying and there are a few (very minimum) swear words, I would say if you a family member who is around ten that it would be an excellent chose for them to understand this event in history. Books like these should be protected and that I why I recommend Persepolis.

5 out of 5 stars

During World War Two Josie Anderson, the daughter of an American ambassador, and Arlette LaRue, a native Parisian and new mother, joined the French Resistance and became known as the Golden Doves, stealing many of the Nazis’ secrets and becoming heroes in Occupied France. But when they are finally arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, Josie and Arlette witness the true horrors of Hitler’s regime. Josie’s mother, a renowned Jewish singer, is experimented on by a sadistic Nazi doctor and Arlette’s young son is taken from her to be given to a “good” German family. Against the odds the two women survive and attempt to rebuild their lives in postwar America and France. Josie begins working for U.S. Army Intelligence but finds herself at odds with the American way of dealing with valuable Nazi war criminals and Arlette works at a cafe, still holding out hope that her son is alive. When both women are given an opportunity to achieve what they desire most, they immediately agree but will discover that while the war ended nearly a decade ago, they are still in just as much as danger as before.

While there are some flashbacks to Josie and Arlette’s time as resistance fighters and concentration camp prisoners during World War Two, a vast majority of this 500-page thriller is set in 1953 as both women attempt to achieve their own missions. For Josie this is hunting down and eventually apprehending a Nazi doctor that experimented on her mother and for Arlette, to be reunited with the son who was taken from her. Both storylines are as compelling and it is very clear that Ms. Kelly did an astounding amount of research. This is perhaps the biggest strength of the novel. Having studied World War Two and it’s aftermath for close to fifteen years I was struck by how much research Ms. Kelly put into this book and it pays off.

From the start, I was hooked on this story and found it very hard to put down. Something that is quite the feat given how long the book is and sometimes it can be difficult to hold the reader’s attention for that long. It is fast paced and the story moves smoothly, easily interweaving “present” scenes with flashbacks from the past. Usually I don’t like flashbacks throughout a novel but Ms. Kelly was able to do this part very well. These flashbacks weren’t overly long but just enough to give the reader vital information about Josie and Arlette’s actions during the war.

There isn’t anything about this book I would change. Ms. Kelly manages to take several post-war topics like the Nazi ratlines and Cold War tensions and blend them perfectly together. All the characters are well developed and while at it’s base it is a historical fiction piece, there are many mystery/thriller aspects to it that might interest readers who typically don’t gravitate towards historical fiction. The ending does given an indication that Ms. Kelly could turn this into the first book of a series and I hope she does. I enjoyed reading Josie and Arlette’s story and hope she continues it in the future.

5 out of 5

In the immediate aftermath of the events that occurred in the first book, Finlay Donovan finds herself with a new mission. Her cheating, rude, and all around irritating ex-husband, Steven, has a hit out on him and though Finlay would like nothing more than to not deal with Steven’s games and power moves, she can’t willingly stand aside and allow him to be killed. But trying to find out who put out the hit, and the person willing to accept the challenge, won’t be an easy feat. Complicating matters is her sidekick, Vero, hiding secrets and hot detective Nick putting his nose into Finlay’s business. And was it mentioned that Finlay is behind on her newest book? The holidays are going to be quite busy for Finlay.

Like many, I loved the first book in this series that follows a newly divorce mother of two struggling with writer’s block. Having enjoyed the first installment so much I was eager to pick up the next book and as far as sequels go this is a very worthy successor. Ms. Cosimano gets right into the story and the shenanigans of Finlay and Vero that we were introduced to in book one continue. As always, there is plenty of humor and the story is well flushed out.

There isn’t too much to say about this book without revealing spoilers so I will leave you with this. If you enjoyed and love book one, don’t hesitate to pick up the second one. While I am a bit apprehensive of reaching for the third book, due to the less than warm reviews it has been receiving, I would not issue the same warning about this one. It is a good, fun story with no lagging in the story telling and Finlay and Vero remain my favorite duo.

5 out of 5 stars

Mariana Andros has been struggling. After losing her husband while on vacation in Greece, Mariana has attempted to bury her grief in her work. A group therapist, Mariana surrounds herself with those struggling through life and while the job initially gave her a reason to get up in the morning, it has now become another burden. But Mariana’s grief is interrupted when she gets a frantic call from her niece, Zoe, at Oxford. Zoe’s closest friend has been murdered and she needs Mariana. Without hesitation, Mariana rushes to her niece’s side and discovers that the murder victim was a member of a mysterious group of students called the Maidens, who study Greek under an American professor named Edward Fosca. Though loved and adored by most, Mariana suspects Fosca is not as perfect as he is portrayed to be. Ignoring the advice of friends and fellow work professionals, Mariana decides to investigate Fosca and his Maidens in hopes of discovering the truth.

After reading Alex Michaelides’ debut, The Silent Patient, I became hooked on his writing and did not hesitate to pick up Mr. Michaelides’ attempt at dark academia, a genre that has become a favorite of mine. This book differs slightly from the traditional dark academia book as the main character isn’t a student but a family member of a student who may be involved in what is going on. I thought that was an interesting idea and a nice way for Mr. Michaelides to make his book stand out against other dark academia books.

The story is well written, though I would not say it has the same hook as The Silent Patient. With Mr. Michaelides’ first book I was hooked from practically the first page but with The Maidens I was able to put it down and do other things. That is not to say the book wasn’t interesting, but it didn’t have the same grab as The Silent Patient.

Of course, I was very curious to say what kind of twist Mr. Michaelides would pull at the end of the book and I will say that it was very well executed. It’s not the same mind blowing twist as The Silent Patient but it is a good one nonetheless. Everything is tied up well and the reason for why the murders are occurring made good sense and show how deranged the murderer was.

What I also really enjoyed about this book was how Mr. Michaelides melted it into the same “universe” as The Silent Patient. I like when authors mention other characters or places from different books as it is something I do with my own works so I liked how Mr. Michaelides combined characters from The Silent Patient into The Maidens. I’m looking forward to who he brings in to this third novel, The Fury.

Overall this is a very well written book and while I wouldn’t necessarily put it in the top three best books of dark academia I would say it is very much worth the read. I’m looking forward to future works by Mr. Michaelides and what other twists he has in store.

Emma Carpenter has just read the worst book of her life. Well, that might be a stretch but it is certainly up there and Emma can’t help but vent her frustrations in a one star review on Amazon. That should have been the end of the matter until the author, H.G. Kane, messages Emma and asks her to take down her review. Emma refuses and Kane swears she’ll regret not doing as he ordered. Emma thinks nothing of it until he appears outside the house she is taking care of and promises Emma she’ll find his next book very realistic. Too bad she won’t be around to read it.

Ah, one star reviews. They suck.

As I’m sure my fellow authors can attest to, getting a one star review can be quite the punch to the gut. You spend hours, weeks, and months trying to perfect the story you’ve had in your mind for just as long (if not longer) only for someone to say how much they hated it. Yet, most of us will shrug it off, maybe take the criticism as constructive, and move on with our lives.

The same, unfortunately, can not be for H.G. Kane, the author Emma royally ticks off at the beginning of the book. Sure, there is some heated comments back and forth but Emma, like most of us, thinks nothing more of it and moves on and, surely, so will the author. But 99.9% of authors aren’t H.G. Kane and he doesn’t take kindly to a faceless reviewer trashing his book and he is determined to get even.

This book is incredibly fast pace and I flew through it. The action starts relatively quickly and there are many nail biting moments where we don’t know if Emma is going to make it out of this situation or not. What was also unique about this book is as the house invasion is going on we get snippets of Kane’s newest manuscript, inspired by his attack on Emma. We get a look into this madman’s mind and, in some cases, learn what’s going to happen next to Emma before she knows, making it all the more heart pounding.

The twist is well executed and I do like how Mr. Adams made Emma a realistic human, i.e. didn’t have her making dumb decisions that us, as the reader, would never make. My only criticism of the book and why I would give it 4.5 stars instead of 5 is that the book went on for a good 20-30 pages more than it needed to. This seems to be a common criticism of Mr. Adams’ works and while it didn’t make me hate the book, I still found it a bit longwinded and thought it should have been wrapped up a bit earlier.

Nonetheless, this book is well worth the ride and something worth picking up on a rainy weekend.

4 1/2 stars out of 5

It’s 1989 and Romania remains in the tight grip of Communism, overseen by Nicolae Ceausescu. Free speech is repressed, food is scarce, citizens have lost their basic rights, and everyone is being watched. For teenager Cristian this place is not what he wants for his future but he has no choice, especially when he is forced by the country’s secret police to spy on an American diplomat and his son. But Cristian will not give up and as the country spirals towards revolution, Cristian decides he will do his part as well and make sure the rest of the world knows what life is like in Romania, even if it costs him his life.

Though this is my first book by Ruta Sepetys, I had heard many goods things about this author and her collection of young adult historical fiction books. I’ve seen Ashes in the Snow, based off Ms. Sepetys’ Between Shades of Grey (the movie was great and I imagine the book is the same), so I was anxious to pick up one of her other works. I chosen I Must Betray You because it covers a topic that doesn’t seem to be written about much in the large canon of historical fiction. I know a little bit about Communist Romania, but mostly about the end of the revolution and the Romanian orphans so I was very interested in reading a story set during their time period.

I Must Betray You is a well written story and Ms. Sepetys clearly did her research. She creates a vivid picture of life in Romania in 1989 and her characters are all very realistic. I also enjoyed the cat and mouse game that is weaved in throughout the story and the reveal of who was spying on Cristian was well done and unexpected though unfortunately not unrealistic given what I do know about these communist regimes.

Though this book is targeted to a young adult audience, I do think adults would be interested by this book as well. But do be aware that the writing isn’t on an “adult” level so the language is more simplistic, for lack of a better word.

I gave this book four stars instead of five because the last part of the book does seem a bit rushed. I wouldn’t have minded Ms. Sepetys making the book a bit longer to avoid the ending feeling like it was quickly put together. Nonetheless, this is a well written and well researched book that I would highly recommend to someone is looking to read about a different time period in history that is not always written about.

4 out 5 stars

Kristine Hartung, the daughter of social minister Rosa Hartung, was murdered one year ago. Her convicted killer is prison and Copenhagen has moved on, tossing up the murder to a horrible tragedy. But the shut and close case is about to be ripped open again when young mothers are found dead, tortured and mutilated. Detective Naia Thulin is tasked with investigating, but she doesn’t have much to go on, just small little chestnut men left at the scene of the crime. Her temporary partner, Hess, believes that the cases of the murdered women and the murder of Kristine are related, especially when Kristine’s fingerprint is found on the chestnut men, but Thulin isn’t as convinced. But as the murders begin to go up, Thulin and Hess will have to go deep into a dark world to discover the truth.

The Chestnut Man reads like a old school detective mystery with shreds of horrific violence sprinkled throughout. I liked that Mr. Sveistrup gave this story an old feeling to it, reminding me of the detective mysteries my mom would read growing up. But don’t let that fool you into thinking this story might be boring, it certainly is not. Despite being a very chunky book, the story reads quick and the chapters are fairly short.

While the mystery itself is good, I will say that I did guess the identity of the Chestnut Man about 70% of the way through but why that person was doing this crime was very well done. Mr. Sveistrup weaved the various clues given throughout the book well and that worked to its favor. All that being said, I do feel like I need to label some trigger warnings on this book.

This book is very violent, a bit more than what I prefer. The women is this story are mutilated and while sometimes descriptions are enough to get the picture, Mr. Sveistrup took it a step farther by having parts in the book where the reader watches the torture actually occurring and in those cases I glazed over them. In particular, the last torture scene at the end of the book might have scarred for awhile, even though I did read much of that. Additionally, sexual assault on children is a huge topic in the book, that is often talked about in great detail and if that is a trigger for you I wouldn’t suggest picking this book up.

Ultimately, this book is a very strong mystery book. I give it a 4.5 stars because I was able to guess who the killer was and though the book is very violent I didn’t count this against it as that is just my own personal preference.

Adam and Amelia Wright are a married couple who should have separated a long time ago. But what will one more weekend together change? For Amelia, she’s hoping everything. She loves Adam, but their relationship has seemingly desegrated under stress from work, their conflicting schedules, differing goals, and secrets they are both hiding from each other. So when Amelia wins a free weekend getaway to a remote chapel turned Airbnb in Scotland she can’t pass it up and drags Adam and their dog, Bob, along. But the romantic weekend Amelia has been hoping for vanishes when the couple realizes they aren’t alone.

Snoop has taken over the music industry, allowing users to “snoop” on other listeners and their music preferences. The company is poised to go even higher so when the company’s employees take a work trip to a remote ski resort in the French Alps no one expects anything to go wrong. But former employee Liz knows better and when the group is stranded in their chalet things slowly begin to unravel and will continue to until everyone is gone, one by one.

I picked up this snowy thriller during a heavy snowstorm and it was the perfect atmospheric read. If you live in a place where you get snow I would highly suggest picking it up when you experiencing snow or cold weather. It helps one get into the story more but even if you live somewhere where you don’t get this, One by One is still a worthy thriller to pick up. The story is told from the perspective of two characters; Liz, a former employee invited to the company retreat for unknown reasons at the beginning, and Erin, an employee at the chalet who finds herself in the middle of a power battle between Snoop’s two executives, Topher and Eve. Both women don’t seem to be behind what is going on but as the hours tick by and the situation becomes more dire, everyone begins to become a suspect.

I liked the setting of this thriller as it does expose itself to be the ideal situation for anyone wanting to take out a couple of individuals and the killer does an excellent job of disguising themselves. Again, as I mentioned previously, I loved the atmosphere Ms. Ware creates in this book and it reminded me of my other favorite Ruth Ware book, The It Girl.

Admittedly, I have had a love-hate relationship with Ms. Ware’s books, with the last one I read ending up with only two stars. But in this story I felt Ms. Ware was in great form, creating a compelling story with flushed out characters. The only note I would make about the characters is that it does seem like there are one to many and perhaps one or two could have been cut. I wasn’t also a fan of the twist involving the character of Erin. I think when it comes to surprise secrets being revealed about characters Lucy Foley does that the best but I appreciate what Ms. Ware was trying to do, make everyone a suspect and keep the reader guessing until the end.

The last 25% of the book is the best as we are locked in the chalet with two characters. It becomes clear only one of them is going to survive and the nail biting conclusion to who that person will be was very well done. Ultimately, I would say this is a superb thriller that should absolutely be picked up in the dead of winter.

5 out of 5 stars

Sisters Mickey and Kacey could not be more different. Mickey is quiet, shy, a single mother, and a police officer. Kacey is bold, outspoken, living on the streets, and addicted to opioids. In Philadelphia, rocked by the opioid crisis, this is not uncommon and Mickey is forced to watch her sister’s struggles from a distance until she is goes missing and a string of murders begin to occur, targeting addicted women living on the streets. Despite orders from her superiors and those who love her, Mickey can’t stop herself from getting involved because she too has an addiction and, as history has shown, that is her sister.

Overall this was a good book. Ms. Moore tackled a very difficult but real topic in this book which is the growing opioid addiction plaguing much of the United States. This is the main focus, to the point where the murder mystery is a second plot point, something I didn’t mind at all. I found Ms. Moore’s portrayal of Mickey and Kacey’s dysfunctional relationship to be very interesting and, from the little bit I know about how addiction affects familial relationships, accurate. The two women have a co-dependent relationship. Kacey needs Mickey for money, emotional support, and for her to pick up the pieces. Mickey needs Kacey because she is the last chance she has at having a real family, something that drives many of Mickey’s actions in the book. Truly, it is their relationship that makes this book stand out amongst the rest.

Though this book is long, it doesn’t feel that way and reads fairly quickly. As I previously mentioned the murder mystery featured is a second story plot but Ms. Moore doesn’t let it fall to the waste side. It repeatedly comes up and is the main driving force as to why Mickey is desperately searching for Kacey when, if these murders weren’t happening, Mickey would shrug it off and assume Kacey would show back up on the streets soon enough.

That being said there is surprisingly a lack of events that occur in the book and at times I felt like I was reading something that had already been covered. I did like the flashbacks Ms. Moore featured but at times it felt like we were rehashing something already addressed. Perhaps that was a creative decision as it reflects the ongoing cycle of addiction. My other criticism of the book and this is more of a grammatical preference, is that Ms. Moore didn’t use quotation marks when characters were speaking. It was either dashes or included in long chunks of paragraphs, which can be a little frustrating as you might be reading a description of something and then suddenly someone is talking and you have to go back and reread. But, this is a personal preference and not something I would say should drive you away from reading the book.

Ultimately, this is a well crafted story centered around an epidemic that is very much present in our society and this book is a strong start to the 2024 reading year.