Rebecca Crunden's Blog, page 18
March 14, 2024
Recent Book Reviews
This was a really lovely story of healing and finding love and getting a fresh start. AND OH! THE ANGST! Emma is struggling after the abuse she’s lived through and when she returns home to live with her grandmother and sister, falling for Reed, a cop who helps take care of them both, is the last thing she wants. Firstly because she doesn’t trust men, and secondly because she doesn’t trust cops. Her fear of both are foundational to the entire novel and are wholly...
March 3, 2024
February 8, 2024
Book Review: Rumaysa (2021)
SPOILER WARNING
I actually didn’t realise this would be three stories rather than a singular story, but that was totally my bad. They are interwoven though, with Rumaysa appearing in each of them, tying it all together, so it’s both three stories and one larger narrative. You get retellings of Rapunzel (Rumaysa), Cinderella (Cinderayla/Ayla) and Sleeping Beauty (Sara), with an Aladdin (Suleiman) side character appearing in all three.
On the whole, this was r...
February 7, 2024
Book Review Round Up: The Armour of Light (2023), The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
The Armour of Light (Kingsbridge, #4) by Ken Follett
I liked this more than A Column of Fire, but I don’t think it’s quite as epic (for me anyways) as The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I loved the focus on Kingsbridge and seeing how it’s developing over the centuries. I enjoyed all the references to the previous books that are mentioned in throwaway lines. Some of the history was really illuminating – I had never heard of ‘press gangs’ before and I’m not surprised, but defin...
January 27, 2024
Book Review: Three Little Pigs and The Good Wolf (2023)
Three Little Pigs and The Good Wolf by Avery Smart
This is such a lovely and wholesome retelling of The Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs but with a twist! The art is colourful and cute, and I really liked the style of it. I especially like the wolf’s design! And the rhymes are jaunty and whimsical and lay the story out very well. I also thought the twist on the Big Bad Wolf as the Good Wolf was very wholesome and charming.
Overall a very kind-hearted little story!
Thank you to...
January 13, 2024
Book Review: Colliding Forces (2023)
Colliding Forces by Niranjan K.
The price of magic was what the old Blei’lol texts called it. Excruciating pain that ripped them apart for three months when their magic first manifested. It could happen at any age, but the older they got, the tougher the process was. It could be made easier by another Blei’lol with whom they shared a connection. Knowing the details of their progenitor’s powers often helped make everything easier too. Most Blei’lol parents helped their children through the...
January 5, 2024
Book Review: Wishhobbler (2023)
It was strange music; the tunes were happy, but the sound of the instruments was sad. Like someone who’d been hurt a long time ago. It made me think of Da, with his huge grin and sad eyes. And the stories he told of fighting for the King, the King who lost his crown and wore warpaint and a hat instead. Of battling dragons, swine thieves and wolf lords.
I read this in one day. I couldn’t put it down. Like, I’m kinda stunned by how much Wishhobbler took me ...
January 3, 2024
Book Review: Reality Check (2021)
Reality Check (Weight of the World, #1) by Dave McCreery
“You’re a racer – a good one from what I’ve seen – but you don’t understand the gravity of a situation. When you’re involved in a crash, you get up and walk away. The only consequence is your race is over, and everyone else involved stops racing, too. In the past, before sim technology was invented, you could have died. Spectators might have died. Marshals clearing the circuit were in danger. The fear is gone; it’s just a game now.”...
December 30, 2023
Book Review: Sunflowers Rise in a Midnight Sky (2023)
Sunflowers Rise in a Midnight Sky by Avery Davis, Tang Wei (Illustrator)
The hands of time stop after a billion ticks.
The world’s largest lollipop is gone in a billion licks.
This book is absolutely stunning. I really am just blown away by the artwork. It reminds me of The Rainbow Fish with how it’s a blend of paints and metallics. I loved each page’s designs and would definitely recommend getting a physical copy if you can. I only got the ebook and I now want to pick up a physical cop...
Book Review: My Roommate Is a Vampire (2023)
My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
I smiled a little at the idea of Frederick threatening anyone at all. He might be an undead creature of the night—but as undead creatures of the night went, he was a marshmallow.
This book is perfectly adorkable. And I do mean that with all sincerity! It’s wholesome. It’s sweet. It’s adorably awkward. The two leads blush and act stupidly in love and it’s ALL SO FREAKING CUTE. It would make for a lovely, fantasy romantic comedy movie. Frederick i...
