Make Up Reading

4 out of 5 stars Thank you to Netgalley and Delacourt for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I love a good retelling and this is definitely a good one. This is a retelling of the classic fairy tale "The Twelve  Dancing Princesses".  This is a Gothic retelling of the tale told through the POV of  Annaleigh one of the middle of twelve sisters. The family resides at Highnmoor Manor on an Island and one by one each sister is found dead. Each death more tragic than the last one. Everyone believes that there is a curse upon the family and basically the sisters are just waiting to see who will die next. Annaleigh has gotten to the point that she can't even cry anymore as she continues to lose her sisters. After all of the grief Annaleigh's step Mother suggest they start living again instead of always being in mourning. Annaleigh is not sure that this is something that she wants to do but for the sake of her sisters she d...

4.5 out of 5 stars Thanks to Netgalley and Red Rogue Press for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review. Alice and Wonderland is one of my very favorite classics. I remember reading Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass over an over as a kid. Now that I am an adult I often seek out re-tellings because I find it fascinating to see what people kind of interesting takes authors will do with the story.  I found this to be a fun, quirky tale of what happened to Alice after she returned from her adventures in Wonderland. Alice is fifteen and never stopped believing in Wonderland even though everyone thinks she has lost her mind. Her family is so worried that they continue to try and find treatments for Alice. Hoping against hope that she will forget her obsession with Wonderland. When Alice gets a chance to go back to Wonderland to help stop the Red Queen she agrees. Though she doesn't want to kill anyone she really wants to help and is willing to do whatever she can. ...

I want to thank Netgalley and Gallery/Scout Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Nat is in a terrible position. She is a broke art student struggling to pay her bills as well as trying to work things out with her two roommates who are not fond of her. One day after class she goes for a drink with the beautiful Ava who seems to be living a great life in NYC while Nat lives in a crowded apartment in Brooklyn Ava lets Nat in on a secret, she is a sugar baby. At first Nat equates sugar baby with prostitution but Ava says you only have to do what you want. You go on this site, meet up and usually get 500 dollars for a drink or coffee date. It's that simple. Nat still is not interested until she loses her job and is informed by her roommates that she owes them money. Desperate she decides to give it a go. When Nat meets Gabe, a divorced Dad of an 18 year old daughter she thinks she has really lucked out.  Gabe is a good 30 years older t...

5 out of 5 stars This is one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking and tragic books I have ever read. It is definitely one of the best audio books I have ever listened to. The cast was amazing. Sadie has been alone much of her life. Just her and her sister and occasionally her Mother when she was not high or spending her time with one of her many live in boyfriends. Shortly after the girl's Mother Claire takes of Sadie's younger sister Mattie turns up murdered. Sadie knows who did it even though there has been no proof. Sadie wants revenge. She will do whatever it takes to bring her sister's murderer to justice so she sets out on a journey to track him down and then she goes missing, her car found abandoned by the side of the road.  West McCray a radio personality creates a podcast for the sole purpose of finding out what happened to Mattie and Sadie.  Half of the story is told in podcast form and half is told from Sadie's POV. The narrator's were fantastic a...

5 out of 5 stars This is a lovely fairy tale/fantasy that takes place in the 1920's. When we first meet Casiopea Tun she is living with her Mother in her Grandfather's estate. Since her Father Casiopea has basically spent her life as a slave for her Grandfather and her mean cousin her resents her. She dreams of someday leaving. Setting out for an adventure in the great big world but her reality is that she spends much of her time scrubbing floors and polishing shoes. One day Casiopea is banned from going on a visit with her family she finds a chest. Though she always tries to be good she can't stop herself from wanting to open the mysterious chest. Perhaps her Grandfather keeps coins there and even though she is honest she is also desperate to get out of the life she is living. Maybe she could grab a few coins and hide them away for her escape fund? When she opens the chest she discovers something much more different than she was expecting. She discovers that the chest is...

3.75 out of 5 Stars The story opens in 1986. For years Beth and Doug have wanted a baby that has only led to a heartbreaking miscarriage. They are finally blessed with a beautiful baby girl they name Hannah. Everything seems perfect but as Hannah begins to grow Beth begins to see that Hannah is not like other children. She not only begins to bully other children but she also displays a certain calculating cruelness.  Doug refuses to accept that Hannah is as cruel as Beth says even when she tries to tell him that him that Hannah is responsible for the death of her pet bird. As Hannah gets older her problems become worse.  One morning in 2017 Clara awakens to the realization that her live in boyfriend Luke has not returned home last night. At first she is not too worried assuming that he had too much to drink the night before and slept it off at their friend Mac's place but when Mac informs her that Luke was not there she begins to really worry. As Clara starts to delve into...

5 out of 5 stars I would like to thank Netgalley and St.Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this wonderful thriller. When I saw the title of this novel I knew I would want to read it even before I read the blurb about the book. The book weaves a story between the past told to us by Sarah Hall, a recent graduate who is desperate to get a well paying job in the world of finance so that she can take care of her ailing parents and the present with four coworkers trapped in an elevator escape room.  As the story goes on we find begin to find the breadcrumbs that tell us what exactly Vincent, Sylvie,Sam and Jules did to bring them all here together. As they try to figure out the clues to be freed they begin to figure out that there is something insidious about the escape room. I really enjoyed reading this and often couldn't wait to get back to the novel to find out what would happen next.