Tag: netgalley

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Three Muses

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: Martha Anne Toll

Three Muses is a love story that enthralls: a tale of Holocaust survival venturing through memory, trauma, and identity, while raising the curtain on the unforgiving discipline of ballet. In post-WWII New York, John Curtin suffers lasting damage from having been forced to sing for the concentration camp kommandant who murdered his family. John trains to be a psychiatrist, struggling to wrest his life from his terror of music and his past. Katya Symanova climbs the arduous path to Prima Ballerina of the New York State Ballet, becoming enmeshed in an abusive relationship with her choreographer, who makes Katya a star but controls her life. When John receives a ticket to attend a ballet featuring Katya Symanova, a spell is cast. As John and Katya follow circuitous paths to one another, fear and promise rise in equal measure. Song, Discipline, and Memory weave their way through love and loss, heartbreak and triumph

NOTE: Thank you to Netgalley and Regal House Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This review may contain spoilers. 

Three Muses takes you on a journey through time. It’s also a journey through the lives of Katya Symanova and John Curtin, both broken, both haunted, seeking to find their place and purpose in their worlds. 

This book starts out as two separate stories. We meet Janko, later known as John, a small boy given up by his mother to the Nazis hoping his talent for singing saves his life. As he sings for those who killed his family, a chasm forms deep in his heart separating him from his love for song. Upon rescue, he travels to America where he is placed in the care of a family who recently lost their son in the war. They become his replacement family and he becomes their replacement son. He adopts the name of John Curtin and becomes a psychiatrist. 

John was my favorite character in this story. I loved how his first patient really was himself. He’s shy and courageous and respectful and so kind and he’s all these things while dealing with PTSD from WWII. I love how we get to see his transition from a scared little boy to a young man trying to please his new American family and finally, into an adult. John struggles to understand the meaning of love in all its selfless facets until he meets Katya, who helps him understand that to love is to sacrifice. 

The other story is Katherine Sillman who is gifted with ballet lessons after her mother’s death. As she grows into a proper ballerina, she catches the eye of the choreographer/composer, Boris Yanakov, who changes her name to Katya Symannova, putting the curtain up between her and everyone else in her life but him. As he grooms her, she becomes entranced with him and by him. 

Katya is probably my least favorite character in this story. While we do see a beautiful character arc and wonderful development, I cringe at the idea of any woman losing herself in a man to the degree Katya did. She allowed him to rob her of everything, her friends, her family (in a way) and finally, her relationship with John. He literally chains her to him for the duration of her life. It was sad to me to see her disregard warnings from her friend, Maya, and completely forget she even had a father. She only remembers him when he gets hurt and needs help. 

I also found her to be a little self-serving in her relationship with John. He said she gave him a lot when he said she gave him back his Papa. However, I can’t really see where she gave more than he did. The deception of it all was upsetting also in light of her relationship with Boris. John was too sweet to hurt that way. 

I will always always love when authors take their time telling a story. It’s a gift to be able to do this without making the book too long or causing it to lag in places. I didn’t have any fault with the pace of this book. It picks you up and takes you on this lovely, very visual, highly emotional yet gentle ride. I felt all the feels. And the language, the imagery was simply stunning. 

I loved how the two stories converged and then disconnected with only the very smallest tether left at the end. Wonderfully written. 

My rating: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: Erin Litteken

It’s the 1930s and Stalin’s troops have invaded Ukraine and inflicted a man-made famine that claimed millions of lives. Katya is a young girl in a small village affected by the famine. She watches as friends and neighbors disappear until it finally hits closer to home than she ever dreamed. What starts out as something the village hopes will eventually go away if they just yield to government demands turns into a fight to survive as food initially becomes scarce and then non-existent. Through it all, love holds Katya and her family steadfast to themselves and to each other. 

Years later, a young widow named Cassie travels with her daughter to live with her grandmother hoping for a new start. She discovers a journal belonging to her grandmother which takes her on a journey to the past. 

This book broke my heart in a thousand pieces. It was so well written and so beautiful and so sad – I read it in on. 

I’m ashamed to admit that I had no clue the Holodomor ever happened. I knew atrocities were committed under Stalin but I had no clue of the total brutality of it. This was a bit of a history lesson for me and boy, was it hard to read. The choices people had to make and just the total definition of survival was so painful to read. 

My dad lived through WW2 while in Italy under Mussolini. He’s told me stories of how my grandmother and him struggled to survive. They lost their home and if it weren’t for the fact that my grandmother was a master seamstress, they wouldn’t have eaten. Like one of the characters in the book, my dad still doesn’t let food go to waste and will eat anything. As a young girl I used to ask if there was any food he didn’t like and he would say no because he remembers not knowing when he was going to eat next. So part of me was thinking about that knowing the author took from her own family history to build the story. Somehow, we are all a part of our family history and I loved how well this was honored in this story. 

There are two stories being told simultaneously. 

Cassie is still reeling from her husband’s sudden death, as is her daughter. One year into her grief journey and she still struggles with immediate loss, how to cope and move forward and how to help her daughter as she grieves. Her mom suggests she move in with her grandmother, who is beginning to have some dementia-type symptoms. Cassie agrees hoping the change will elevate her from a grieving widow to some sort of functional human being again. 

While there, she find’s Bobby’s (her grandmother) journal. The journal chronicles Bobby’s life in Ukraine starting at the time of Stalin’s invasion. 

The story transport you back in time where we meet young Katia and we learn of the Holodomor. Katya’s story is a story of survival but it’s also a story of love – not the mushy kind of love full of long, slow kisses (although there is that) but the kind of love that’s hard where choices to love and survive make you want to hate those closest to you.  

I fell completely in love with Cassie and Katya. Both women are strong survivors of life’s circumstances. Neither had a choice but to go forward in the best way they knew how. I really loved how Cassie grew and healed as she read Bobby’s journal. I felt like she was forever changed, taking a chance on new love and the idea of life beyond loss. 

Katya’s story was heartbreaking in the extreme. I felt each tear and tear of her heart. Katya is a heroine of the past whose story should not ever be forgotten as though she were more than a fictional character. History tells us this character was based on many such survivors. 

For the beauty of this story, the history behind it and all the emotions this book puts you through, I highly recommend it! So very well done! 

My rating: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: 

NOTE – Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The Missing Girls of Alardyce House

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: Heather Atkinson

This book was…..weird. And not in a good way. 

Amy Osbourne’s parents are lost at sea prompting her to move from London to Edinbugh to live with her aunt and uncle at Alardyce House. The house is depressing and her aunt has mega control issues along with her son, Henry, who is a failed attempt at a broody Mr Darcy only meaner. Amy does get along with her uncle and the other son, Edward. Both men seem amiable and reasonable. Also, for added fun, there’s rumors of a serial killer on the loose with a taste for local, young girls and it would seem, has eyes on Amy for their next victim. 

Intrigued? I sure was. 

Set in Edinburgh in the 1880s, this story spans about 10 years, making both the story and book longer than it should have been. I usually like my stories to start with a jolt and then settle into the story – sort of like an espresso before my coffee kicks in. Unfortunately, there was no espresso and no coffee. Just lots of watered down tea. 

And lots of missed opportunities for trigger warnings. So let me include those here. This book deals with lots of torture, mental illness issues, rape, BDSM and sexual addictions. I’m sure I’m missing a couple. 

If you haven’t guessed it yet, I did not like this book. I’d never heard of this author before but, as this book was labeled as historical fiction and mystery, it never occurred to me there would be so much sex in it. Not a fan at all. Nevertheless, as I skimmed over those very unnecessary scenes, I found this story really wasn’t all that mysterious. 

I gave it two stars for the writing style. The descriptions of the era and time were well done and nicely researched. I didn’t get lost in the language so while it was appropriate for the times, it was easy to read. The book also held a nice pace, for the most part. No lagging or sagging anywhere. 

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD – YE HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

For the characters, I couldn’t really find one with any redeeming qualities. Amy never really grew on me. I had a hard time seeing her as a heroine of any kind. Edward and Matthew turned out to be less than stellar men (and that’s putting it mildly), Lenore was a total witch, Arthur was a wet mop of a man and Henry really was so noodly that I couldn’t believe him at all as a hero. 

Ok, for the story itself, much of it was predictable. Like, the quarterback-letting-everyone-know-the-play-before-he-ever-throws-the-ball predictable. For example, the second Amy mentioned being nervous about getting pregnant, I knew she would wind up pregnant. I also knew who the killer was before the killer was ever revealed so no surprise there. 

What I wasn’t prepared for, outside of the all the sex, was the torture. It went beyond the extremes of human suffering and the level of detail was unnecessary. I had to skim over those parts as well as it was too disturbing. 

As for the storyline itself, I couldn’t really understand what story was being told. The whole idea of a serial killer really was more of a backstory than a major part. Until the killer was revealed, which was half-way through the book, it really was more about Amy and how she was going to escape. So not a lot of mystery at all. 

I also wasn’t a fan of how it ended. I would say more but it’s completely unbelievable to me that it could possibly end on the cliffhanger that it did. Unfortunately, as this was the first in a trilogy, I won’t be reading on to see what actually happens. 

Overall, I felt like this has all the ingredients of great mystery and even a good ghost story but too many triggering elements plus all the sex and torture ruined it for me.

My rating: :star: :star:

NOTE – Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Dunmoor

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: London Clarke

England, 1818. Lady Helena Winters hasn’t seen her husband in over a year—not since he disappeared without a trace. Torn between seeking a new purpose for her life and longing for her husband to return, Helena travels with her father to Dunmoor House for a fundraising ball. Although the estate was once her husband’s ancestral home, it has recently been purchased by Luke Lennox, a gentleman planning to establish a foundling hospital.

Helena quickly finds herself battling memories of life with her husband and searching for answers to what might have happened to him. Even so, she is drawn to Luke Lennox and his dream of saving and educating children—a passion she shares.

Within Dunmoor’s decaying walls lies a long and sordid history, a legacy of evildoers perpetrating unspeakable acts of wickedness. Now, the corridors echo with voices. Vines grow inside the house, and shadowy figures plague the children at night.

But in the dark forest on the edge of the property, a terrible secret awaits, and what Luke and Helena uncover there will endanger both their lives.

NOTE: Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Read with the lights ON!

Last night, I sat up reading this book, doing the “just one more chapter” thing until it was well past midnight. I’m a huge fan of gothic horror/suspense/ghost stories and this one was right up my alley. 

I was drawn quickly into this story, into every character and their lives. I love Helena’s strength, charisma, intelligence and compassion. I totally fell for Luke and his wanting to save the world attitude. His friend, Alex, provided comic relief as well as that reckless hero figure. The backstory was wonderful, filled with curses and folklore. I love when folklore is written in such a way that it gives life to inanimate objects. I never look at a tree the same way again!

The settings were very well written. I love when a scene in a story’s setting is cold, damn and chilly and I find myself reaching for a cup of tea and a blanket. It’s the perfect marriage between setting and suspense that leaves me wondering if the chill running down my spine is from terror or from the cold. 

Some potentially triggering moments…I understood the folklore to be very dark, very tragic, and very sinister. However, some of the human suffering factors, especially where the children were concerned, was a bit much. It’s not a hidden fact that orphans in the 1800’s were treated horribly.  That being said, I understand the author is also trying to bring attention to the very real modern day problem of sex trafficking. Kudos to her for doing that so well with this story. 

And that ending!! Woah! I’m already there for the next book and new adventures with Helena and Luke. 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star: 

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Half Sisters

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: Virginia Frankel

A single lie becomes a defining moment in a family’s life in an unforgettable novel of psychological suspense.

After being gone for two decades, Maddy’s half sister, Emily, is back in town to settle their late father’s estate. Emily’s not the troubled girl Maddy remembers from their volatile childhood. Apparently, all is well. It can’t possibly matter anymore that Maddy married Emily’s first love, but the pictures Maddy finds on her husband’s phone tell a different story. Suspicions of an affair are hard to ignore.

Then again, Maddy hasn’t been herself lately. She’s increasingly confused. She’s losing items that are precious to her. She forgets where she’s going. The line between what’s real and unreal has become a blur. Even the damning photos have disappeared. Though her state of mind starts to become everyone’s cause for concern, Maddy refuses to believe she’s losing her grip on reality. But the one thing she can’t deny is the secret from the past that rewrote all their lives—a secret that’s ready to come out. 

NOTE – Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an eArc in exchange for an honest review. 

ALSO NOTE – POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!

This book was really, really….odd. 

The synopsis says one lie becomes a defining moment. While one lie might have started the whole ball rolling, it takes several to unravel it. Very strange. 

Let’s talk about the characters. I couldn’t find one character that I could really get behind. But then again, there’s so many lies and twists and turns that I’m not sure we’re really allowed to get to know them. And none of them are likable which was disturbing to me. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where I completely disliked every single character in it. Even Maddy’s parents aren’t all that great and we don’t really get too much of them. 

If there is any character development, it’s that they all wound up as even uglier versions of themselves than when the story started. 

The storyline was quite predictable. I knew right away Maddy was being gaslighted. But even if she wasn’t, there was no one in her life who wanted to help her. Everyone immediately took sides and there really was no explanation as to why. That was confusing to me. 

The ending was also confusing. The story ramps up, comes to a climax and then…that’s it! Maddy drives away and it’s all over. It’s almost like the writer just petered out, stopped writing and turned in an incomplete assignment. 

Overall, I can’t recommend this book at all. 

My rating: :star: