whathillarygraceread's reviews
34 reviews

Hidden in the snow by Viveca Sten

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I’m a huge fan of Scandi noir and this is a decent, if not overly long, addition to the genre. This is the first in a series and finds a troubled detective running from her problems in the city and inadvertently finds herself in the middle of a case to find a missing girl. Solid mid level thriller.

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I did not finish this book BUT I also want folks to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. I'm just not the right person for it. I knew when I picked it up that it was pretty far outside of my comfort zone, but I was really intrigued by the premise. I got about a third of the way into the book before I decided not to finish it and the writing really is beautiful. I think that if you are really into magical realism, this would totally be a book that you love. 

Grant by Ron Chernow

challenging informative slow-paced

3.75

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book SO much! It’s a genre mash-up of a western with some magical realism thrown in for good measure (in that way, it reminds me a lot of the Seven Moons of Maali Almeida). There are a lot of the traditional themes of westerns here - banditry, bad guys turned good, shoot outs, and general marauding chicanery - but The Bullet Swallower turns a lot of themes on their head by making the bad guy turned good Mexican, tackling themes of colonialism and class oppression, a reckoning with the meaning of life, the nature of good and evil, and adding a magical element to the gritty setting. Whether or not you’re a fan of westerns, I think a lot of people can find something to love in this book. In addition to a thoroughly entertaining plot, the writing in this book is beautiful. I feel like I manage to stumble across a few truly special books a year and this is one of those books.

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I think that I maybe should have saved this book for a vacation when I had more mental energy to invest. This book seems to be very polarizing and after reading it, I can definitely see why. I don’t mind a good epistolary novel (I loved The Appeal), but I did struggle with the fact that this entire story is told in a series of audio files (as opposed to The Appeal, which was emails, texts and other written forms of communication). The plot is wickedly clever and the twist is amazing, but I did really have to work hard to keep track of everything. The busy season for my work starts in January, so I kind of wish I had put this aside and picked it back up when things slow down a little bit but all-in-all, I recommend this. 

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Into the Woods was one of my favorite reads of 2023 (maybe my favorite thriller read overall, but don’t tell that to the other books on my list because I try not to play favorites), so I was really excited for No One Can Know. 

I liked this, but it didn’t rise to the level of Into the Woods for me. The plot of this one starts off on a strong note with Marshall establishing a deep sense of desperation for the main character and pointing out the crack’s in her outwardly solid marriage, which creates a delicious sense of paranoia right off the bat. I loved the creepiness of the ending, but I felt like there were some definite holes in the plot that probably should have been addressed in the editing process. Regardless, this is a solid and enjoyable thriller.

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was such an amazing Aardvark impulse choice. I’m definitely starting my 2024 reading off on a high note. Part wickedly funny satire, part mystery, and part examination of class and race with a subtle undercurrent of dark academia, this book had me hooked from the opening scenes (a debaucherous high brow birthday party in a McDonald’s play place - yes, really) and kept me chuckling throughout. I don’t know that the mystery itself is particularly fiendish or clever, but everything else in the plot makes up for that. 

A quick Google tells me that this is the first in a series and I already can’t wait for the second one. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Real by Peyton Goddard, Carol Cujec

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book was suggested by the duo behind @disabilityreadathon (@geekygimp and @nymeria941 ) and I am SO glad they introduced it to me. I loved it so, so much. Real is the story of a nonverbal girl with autism and one half of the duo who wrote it is nonverbal and autistic and while I don’t share those specific identities, there is so much general disability truth in this book that I felt very seen. Even though this is a middle grade novel, I love that the book doesn’t shy away from really hard topics like the institutional abuse of disabled kids, a lot of the able bodied/neurotypical world’s skepticism of facilitated communication and what it’s like to live in a nonverbal body that doesn’t always cooperate. 

I love that this book exists in the world and hope that middle grade readers everywhere are discovering it and loving it as much as I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Child abuse

At First Light by Barbara Nickless

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I think I picked this up as a Kindle First Reads pick or maybe during a sale, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Nickless is a Colorado author AND one of the main characters in this story is a dwarf.
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The description of this book made me slightly apprehensive, but I really enjoyed this one. The plot revolves around a set of perplexing murders that involves Runes and ancient ritual. Addie Bisset, a Chicago police officer, calls in her friend and well known professor, Dr. Evan Wilding (aforementioned person with dwarfism), in to help her solve the murders. The story is absorbing and obviously well researched. I somehow ended up reading two books in February where falconry features prominently in the story line and I really appreciated its innovative use in this plot.
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As far as Nickless's portrayal of a character with a disability, it's decent. I have mixed feelings about the romance element, but there are more books coming and I have a feeling that's going to be fleshed
out going forward. I appreciate that Dr. Wilding is a fully drawn character who is brilliant and accomplished. It's a little unrealistic for someone with dwarfism to find a house that is fully accessible to them to rent, but I'm ok with that nod to fantasy.
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The second installment of this series is coming in December and I will definitely be adding it to my #tbrlist

Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad by Michela Wrong

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

I really liked this book. I, of course, had a basic awareness of the Rwandan genocide, but I had zero understanding of its underpinnings and how the conflict actually unfolded. I think Wrong does a really good job of laying out the conflict for those who are new to the history of the region. The one flag/caveat/thing is that Wrong is not from the region - she's a white British reporter who was stationed in the region for many years. I don't know that that lessens her credibility, but it is important to recognize going into this book that it's being told from a whyte British lens.