The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker

Title: The Dreamers
Author: Karen Thompson Walker
Publisher: Random House
Rating: 📖📖📖📖/ 5

The small town of Santa Lora, California is soon rocked when news spreads that students on the local college campus are mysteriously falling asleep and cannot wake up. Soon the number of sleeping rises and spreads throughout the town, but no one can figure out why. But what they do find out is that the afflicted are dreaming more deeply than has ever been been studied. The Dreamers follows various characters in the town affected by the sickness and gives multiple points of view to add a depth to the already complicated story.

If I were to describe the types of books I often pick up, it would be obvious that I love a good science-y mystery. A mysterious disease where people randomly fall asleep and can't be roused? I'm all over it. That's why after reading the book jacket I knew I had to pick up The Dreamers from the library. And I certainly wasn't disappointed. Unlike the typical "rampant disease" story where the death toll rises quickly, Walker weaves a situation where the illness in question is peaceful. There is no bloodshed and often, especially in the beginning stages, nobody can tell who is just sleeping and who is ill. Such confusion is often more scary than the typical mass infection. At the same time, the illness itself is not all that interesting. I hesitate to say it, but nothing really happens. The patients either die or wake up. There is no real resolution and no reason why it happened in the first place. I understand that it adds to the mystery to end it this way, but it's also very disappointing.

Walker's writing style is amazing. The way she weaves the story through the different characters' experiences really lends a different level of storytelling to the events of the story. The reader can really feel the emotions and understand the thought process of the characters as opposed to the typical disaster story. The story is more focused on the people involved rather than the disease itself and it is a breath of fresh air. Even if not much happens action-wise in the book. Overall, The Dreamers is an intriguing story in an often oversaturated and over-played "plague" genre. I would recommend it to basically any reader as, even though it a story of a spreading disease, there is no gore or anything that would turn many readers away.

#thedreamers #karenthompsonwalker #randomhouse #disease #mystery #illness #dreaming #reading #books #librarybook #currentlyreading #accordingtomrsmadonna

The Catherine Howard Conspiracy by Alexandra Walsh

Title: The Catherine Howard Conspiracy
Author: Alexandra Walsh
Publisher: Sapere Books
Rating: 📖📖📖.5 / 5

When you think about the wives of Henry VIII, there are definitely certain names that are most memorable such as Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. But for the lesser known wives, books such as these can be enlightening. Although fiction, The Catherine Howard Conspiracy does help to paint a picture of what life could have been like for Catherine Howard. The queen with such a short rule can often be overlooked as not much seems to be known about her. In Walsh's book, we are shown that not everything you read in history should be viewed at face value. There can be a little mystery in anything.

Perdita Rivers and her sister Piper are thrown into chaos when they find out that their estranged grandmother has died and they are left with her hefty fortune which includes Marquess House. Marquess House is full of history and art, along with their grandmother's research and unfinished manuscript of her latest book about Catherine Howard. Following the clues left behind, the girls and their new acquaintances soon find that maybe the documented fate of Catherine Howard is not in fact true. And not only that, but there may be outside forces that are trying to cover up any discoveries Perdita uncovers.

The Catherine Howard Conspiracy is a good introduction to Walsh's new trilogy. Walsh does a good job of introducing the characters involved as well as the setting and the history of what Perdita is uncovering. The story could have used a bit more background into who Catherine was, for those readers who may not be as familiar with Tudor history. Though, when information is sparse, perhaps this is the best that could be done. I found myself wishing for the Howard chapters more than Perdita's chapters.

I don't feel as if the mystery in the present day was built up enough to hold my interest. It wasn't until the last 10% of the book that the intrigue and the real "action" heated up. I couldn't get a real feel for what Perdita was doing as she uncovered the clues. They seemed to fall too easily into her lap. However, I felt more invested in Catherine and her plight than the people that were trying to find out more about her. However, as the first installment, I do believe that Walsh did a good job of building the suspense and I am for sure going to seek out the next book to figure out what happened to Catherine and the mystery surrounding her. Tudor buffs should check out this book for sure!

#catherinehoward #tudors #history #mystery #mrsmadonnareads #currentlyreading #books #henryviii #alexandrawalsh #saperebooks

The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox

Title: The Witch of Willow Hall
Author: Hester Fox
Publisher: Graydon House
Rating: 📖📖.5 / 5

Guys, it seems more common these days that I'm finding books that just disappoint me. Unfortunately, this is one of those books. I wanted to like this book. The cover rocks, the premise alludes to the Salem Witch Trials (which is always interesting in my opinion) and it promises magic and overall doom and gloom. But in all three of these categories the story falls short.

We meet Lydia Montrose and her family who move to Old Newbury in 1821 after a family scandal uproots the family from their home in Boston. The home they move into is the epitome of countryside, lacking the familiarity of the city that the family is used to. It also comes with an overall supernatural presence that Lydia and her family can't seem to shake. Lydia finds herself at the center of a power that has lived in her but is starting to grow without her control. How will this power affect her and her family and will she be able to control it before something happens to those she loves?

If you're looking for a horror story centered around witchcraft, look elsewhere. I would call this book more of a romance with some witchcraft thrown in the background. There were so many times where the author started a good thread of plot but then ultimately did nothing with it. There are ghosts that appear to Lydia, both good and evil, but they never actually DO anything. Evil little boy ghost? Well all he does is laugh. Ghost lady that walks through the garden? Not even a word.

Nothing really happened until the end, and even then it was a big letdown. A conflict with no real resolution and no real action. I'm sorry to sound so negative, but this is a book that never grew any legs. It is a good base for a story but overall did not feel developed. But if you're looking for a historical fiction/romance/quasi-witchcraft story, then this book is up your alley.

#thewitchofwillowhall #hesterfox #graydonhouse #mrsmadonnareads #accordingtomrsmadonna #witchcraft #romance #books #librarybook #bookblog #bibliophile #bookreview

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Heir of Fire
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Rating: 📖📖📖.5 / 5

The third installment of the Throne of Glass series here! And it sure was the most interesting of them all thus far. We are introduced to a host of new characters; including some Fae, Demi-Fae and a whole bunch of witches. But, unfortunately, most of them are either underdeveloped or so hopelessly devoted to Celaena that I thought for a moment I was reading Twilight. Finally by the end of Crown of Midnight I felt like I could like Celaena. That she had gotten strong and gotten over the whiny little girl that she was portrayed as. But most of the story revolves around her STILL not getting over the fact that people had died in her life and it is a major hinderance to her. Yawn.

And what is up with all the witches?? They are introduced and then forgotten, then brought back, then ignored again. And while I'm sure they'll play a big role in the upcoming book, they served no purpose to this particular story at all. It almost took away from the story as I had to slog through that portion of the book. But, at least, I liked the Wyverns they end up riding and ended up liking them more than the witches themselves.

But I digress. The book isn't all bad. It was pretty good once the story got going. Celaena and Rowan's new friendship was nice to see. I got a kick out of Rowan giving Celaena a hard time. She needed to be put in her place. A lot of the actual overall plot is starting to come together and we can really see what the King is up to. Overall, I would suggest the book if you liked the first two. It is decent for what it is and I'll finish out the series at least to see how it ends.

#books #reading #librarybook #bloomsbury #throneofglass #heiroffire #sarahjmaas #currentlyreading #mrsmadonnareads #accordingtomrsmadonna #fantasy #magic

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Title: The Death of Mrs. Westaway
Author: Ruth Ware
Publisher: Scout Press / Simon & Schuster Inc.
Rating: 📖📖📖📖 / 5

What would you do if one day you received a letter that named you a beneficiary of an inheritance from a woman you never knew? Would you ignore it? Would you go to the address provided and figure out what's going on? This is the exact predicament Harriet "Hal" Westaway finds herself in when a mysterious letter is delivered to her run-down flat at a time when she needed the money the most. Her only known grandparents died over twenty years ago and her mother, who died three years ago, never spoke much about her family. Hal decides to take up the offer and travels to Trepassen to attend the funeral of the late Mrs. Hester Westaway with the plan to assume the role of family member although she believes it to be a mistake. While at the estate Hal meets her new "family" and realizes that the family dynamic was not what she expected and the matter of money becomes the least of her problems.

This is the first of Ruth Ware's books I've finished and all in all I was not disappointed! I read the last 200 some pages in about a day, unable to put it down at all! I enjoyed Ware's writing and the way she painted mental pictures in a way that I don't encounter often. She uses many "stereotypical" mystery aspects (ie an old, creepy house, a grumpy old woman leaving a large will) but reinvents them in a more modern way. She mixes the old world that Mrs. Westaway lived in with the more modern world of Hal in a way that lays a good foundation for a mystery. The heroine is likable (not a drug addict, alcoholic or an overall bad person) and I think the whole way through the story you will root for her and want to know her mysterious background.

But where there are many highs, there is one major flaw in this book: the ending. There was such great build up to the resolution of the whole mystery and THAT'S how Ware ended it. No spoilers obviously, but I felt like the ending was rushed and just did not live up to the rest of the story. I was left with so many questions that needed to be resolved and just weren't. It seemed like the story was too heavily focused on Hal that Ware forgot to develop the family in general. However, I do believe that mystery readers will enjoy this book as well as any general reader. I would recommend scooping it up and reading it for yourself!

#thedeathofmrswestaway #ruthware #mystery #books #reading #currentlyreading #suspense #simonandshuster #scoutpress #accordingtomrsmadonna #librarybook

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Rating: 📖📖📖📖/ 5

In the second installment of the Throne of Glass series, we follow Celaena Sardothien as she grows into her position as the King's Assassin. Celaena is given the task of eliminating people on the King's list of traitors however she does it on her own terms. As she fulfills her role, she realizes that her friendships are being questioned and strained as both the reader and the characters find out more about Celaena's hidden past and who she really is. Her biggest challenge comes in the form of Archer Finn a former friend and assassin who reveals that what Celaena knows may not be entirely true. Celaena also finds out that the King's power is stronger than anyone knows and that she may be the only one that can stop him.

FINALLY. I have had real reservations about this series as I was on the fence about Throne of Glass and was not really a fan of The Assassins Blade. Although Crown of Midnight started off slow, it definitely picked up half way through. I believe that Maas did a better job of developing the characters in the story. She showed that Celaena isn't a "perfect female heroine" and isn't invincible and that the Dorian is more than an airhead and Chaol isn't a robot. Perfect! It is incredibly hard to write reviews of these books because basically everything you can write about is part of a spoiler. Sigh. But let me tell you this, Crown of Midnight answers many questions from Throne of Glass and adds depth of a somewhat lacking plot up to this point. The only thing I'm a bit confused about is the title of the book. A crown is briefly touched upon in the book, but not enough to understand the title. Hopefully that will be cleared up. I highly recommend this book because it is a great improvement from its predecessors.

#books #currentlyreading #mrsmadonnareads #accordingtomrsmadonna #throneofglass #crownofmidnight #bloomsbury #sarahjmaas #fantasy