October 2022 – Book Dust Magic

Movie Monday: Hellhole #MovieMonday #Horror #Netflix #Halloween

Yesterday I decided to have a movie night on my own and watch a horror (because that is how I usually prefer to watch horrors: alone and in the dark).
Hellhole was the one suggesed to me because it was new on Netflix, and when I saw it was European (Polish, to be precise) I knew I wanted to give it a try.

I don’t think there is much to say about this film. It was definitely worth of time. It wasn’t anything mindblowing, but it was good. At times it felt like I was watching a drama, but then again, with all the paranormal things going on, it was definitely horror.

I liked how it took a different look on sanatory and overall it was a good, short movie to pass time. I liked it and although I think the end was a bit dry, I still enjoyed it.

Sunday Post (Weekly Wrap Up October 24th-30th) #SundayPost #Blogging #WrapUp #Reading

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

This meme was created for bloggers to spotlight posts they published in the week, as well as to talk about what they plan to write in the week that’s coming.

Sunday post is also great opportunity to showcase books we got in the week behind us.

Hi guys,

I have been quiet for a while. I skipped the last two Sunday Posts. The reason for that is: I haven’t been feeling well. I was too tired, spent most of my weekends in bed, caughing all the time. It was just exhausting. It wasn’t covid (I tested negative) but whatever it was took too long to finally end. I feel better since Thursday, so let’s hope it is the end game for whatever it is.
If nothing, this experience made me think of my body and how I treat it and I should take more care about my health.

I haven’t been blogging for a while. Most of the posts were pre scheduled and now I have lots of comments and blog visits to keep up. I hope I’ll do it til Wednesday. Unfortunately I have to go to work on Monday.

Last week on Book Dust Magic:

Tuesday: I reviewed The Shaadi Set-Up by Lille Vale
Wednesday: I talked about Sunkissed by Kasie West
Friday: I gave an early review for the novel Never Rescue a Rouge by Virginia Heath

Next week on Book Dust Magic:

Upcoming reviews:

The Ex Between Us by Nicola Marsh book cover UK edition

Dahmer MOnster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story

Book Haul:

I got two books for review from the publishers and I also won one in the contest organised on my work place.

Currently reading:

I am reading this ya novel for ages now. It is a solid coming of age story but I am ready to finally finish it, which I hope will be today (so I can read something scary for Halloween).

That is it!
Let me know what’s been going on with you, what you’ve been reading or watching this week and feel free to leave your links so I can visit you.
Have a lovely Sunday!

This book make me crave for more historical romance: Never Rescue a Rogue by Virginia Heath @STMRomance #BookLovers #HistoricalRomance

Never Rescue a Rouge by Virginia Heath book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I am happy to bring you my review for a book that awoke my love for historical romances. I always loved to read that genre but for some time I didn’t pick it up for a while, but this book reminded me why I love it. I really needed this in my life and now, thanks to Never Rescue a Rouge I can’t wait to read more. I crave for it.

Never Rescue a Rogue is a second book in The Merriwell Sisters series and it has 368 pages. It will be published on November 8th 2022 by St. Martin’s Griffin. I want to thank their publicist Sara for inviting me to read and review this book via Netgalley.

About the book:

Diana Merriwell and Giles Sinclair only tolerate one another for the sake of their nearest and dearest. Everyone believes that the two of them are meant to be together, but Diana and Giles know that their constant pithy barbs come from a shared disdain—not a hidden attraction. Diana loves the freedom of working at the newspaper too much to give it up for marriage, and Giles is happily married to his bachelor lifestyle. But they do have one thing in common—the secrets they can’t risk escaping.

When Giles’ father, the curmudgeonly Duke of Harpenden unexpectedly turns up his toes, it’s only a matter of time before someone comes crawling out of the woodwork who knows the true circumstances of his only son’s birth. As the threat of blackmail becomes real, Giles must uncover the truth of his parentage first, or else he and all those who depend upon him will be ruined—and dogged bloodhound Diana is his best hope at sniffing out the truth. As Giles and Diana dive into his family’s past, the attraction that the two of them insisted wasn’t there proves impossible to ignore. Soon, the future of the Sinclair estate isn’t the only thing on the line…

Review:

I wasn’t even aware how much I craved historical romance until I started reading this one. Never Rescue a Rogue reminded me how passionate and fun historical romances can be. For that, I am glad because now I crave even more.

This book was pure fun. It isn’t a comedy, don’t get me wrong. Still, Virginia Heath has the way of writing her words that everything, her descriptions, inner monologues and characters’ conversations are so entertaining.
I guess it isn’t a surprise that I flew through this book so fast.

I haven’t read the first book in the series (I would want to) but I didn’t feel like I was missing out. Never Rescue a Rogue can be read as a standalone.
However, all the characters Heath created were great to read about, so it would be a shame not to read their own books. Therefore, I will continue with the series.

My favourite character was Dalton who is the butler. It seems like every scene that had him in it made a book little bit better, brighter.
I also liked Vee who is Diana‘s (main character) younger sister. At times I hope the two of them would get together but I guess we won’t be seeing that movie since Vee is getting her own happily ever after in the next book, and Dalton isn’t the love interest.

As for our main characters in this book, Diana was the character one can look up to.
She loves her independence, her job and she is like a force that is not afraid of anything.
I have to admit I wasn’t head over hills for Giles at first, but I did enjoy seeing the chemistry between them and it was so obvious how Diana’s company does him good.

This is an example how enemies-to-lovers trope can be done, without unnecessarily drama, hate or going too far.
It was all tastsfully done.

4 stars from me and one big recommendation to you guys!

One sunny title: Sunkissed by Kasie West @PRHGlobal #partner #BookReview #Sunkissed

GIFTED / Today I bring you my review for a book that I have read twice already. Once before it was released, and second time recently (read: this summer). I enjoyed it both times which is not surprise since Kasie West is one of my all time favourite authors.

Sunkissed was published on May 4th 2021 by Delacorte Press and it has 304 pages. I want to say thank you to Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Avery has always used music as an escape. But after her best friend betrays her, even her perfectly curated playlists can’t help her forget what happened. To make matters worse, her parents have dragged her and her social-media-obsessed sister to a remote family camp for two months of “fun.” Just when Avery is ready to give up on the summer altogether, she meets Brooks—mysterious, frustratingly charming Brooks—who just happens to be on staff—which means he’s off-limits.

What starts as a disaster turns into . . . something else. As the outside world falls away, Avery embarks on a journey of self-discovery. And when Brooks offers her the chance of a lifetime, she must figure out how far is she willing to go to find out what she wants and who she wants to be.

Review:

Kasie West is my go to author when it comes to ya contemporaries. For years she’s been my favourite and by now I know with her books I can’t go wrong.

Sunkissed was entertaining, fun, fluffy at times and perfect pick to spend a relaxing day with.
I read it twice and enjoyed it both times.

The book was written in first person which made it so easy to flew through. Avery was a good narrator to follow and I have to say, she has good sense of humour.
You know who has even better sense of humour? Her sister. I enjoyed conversations between them and liked their relationship even more than Avery’s and Brooks (who is the love interest).

If you like music and happen to like music making, this story could be the one for you because it features the band and all the things that go along with it: writing, rehearsals, member fights, live gigs…

I wish we got to see more of family camp Avery visited with her family, and if the author decided to include at least one or two camp visitors as well, but overall it was a good book that I would recommend to ya contemporary summer reads.

Book Review: The Shaadi Set-Up by Lille Vale @PRHGlobal #partner #romance

The Shaadi Set-Up by Lille Vale book cover

GIFTED / Today I bring you a review for a book I read some time ago, and had so much fun. I hope my review, although it is brief, will make you notice it and give it a chance.

The Shaadi Set-Up was published on Semptember 7th 2021 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers. It has 368 pages.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

High school sweethearts Rita Chitniss and Milan Rao were the golden couple, until the day he broke her heart. Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that’s exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency.

While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she’s not taking any risks. To prove she’s definitely over him, she signs herself and Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and improved couple. Instead, she’s shocked when MyShaadi’s perfect match for her isn’t Neil…it’s Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn’t so wrong after all….

Review:

I finished this book back in September and I am writing my review only now so I apologise it’s not as detailed as I promised it would be.

I got The Shaadi Set-Up via Netgalley when it was first published and I was so excited to read it, but as you can probably assume, life got in a way and it had to go on hold until now when I finally have more time to read and review (and go through all of my review copies).

I will be honest, as time passed I wasn’t as excited to dive into the story, but once I started reading I was swept away by how fun and good it was.
I had such an enjoyable time reading this novel. This was a romance comedy in all it’s glory and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Netflix movie based on it. It would be a good movie, let me tell you that!

The Shaadi Set-Up features love triangle and maybe it was obvious how it would resolve, but still all the scenes with “the wrong guy” were pleasure to read and some of my favourite scenes were because of him.

This romance has miscommunication trope, so I get why some readers would be bothered by it. I personally didn’t mind it.

I also want to state that this is own voices story and represents Indian culture.

Disturbing but slow: Monsters Among Us by Monica Rodden (Book Review) @PRHGlobal #partner #thriller #Halloween #Blogtober

Monsters Among Us by Monica Rodden book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I decided to talk about a book I read recently. Even though it is marketed as thriller and it does have thriller elements, because of it’s writing style it reads slowly so I would say it is dark ya contemporary.

Monsters Among Us was published on January 5th 2021 by Penguin, Crown Books for Young Readers. It has 400 pages.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

When Catherine Ellers returns home after her first semester at college, she is seeking refuge from a night she can barely piece together, dreads remembering, and refuses to talk about. She tries to get back to normal, but just days later the murder of someone close to her tears away any illusion of safety.

Catherine feels driven to face both violent events head on in hopes of finding the perpetrators and bringing them to justice with the help of her childhood friend, Henry. Then a stranger from college arrives with her lost coat, missing driver’s license–and details to help fill in the gaps in her memory that could be the key to solving both mysteries. But who is Andrew Worthington and why is he offering to help her? And what other dangerous obsessions is her sleepy town hiding?

Surrounded by secrets and lies, Catherine must unravel the truth–before this wolf in sheep’s clothing strikes again.

Review:

I picked Monsters Among Us because I was in a mood for something dark, and although not so dark but more depressive I got.
Still, because of the writing style with all the confusing parts written in italic, jumping from present to past and story told in third person, I couldn’t get into the story nor feel for the characters as much as I wanted to.
It also feels like the author more told us about Catherine’s trauma then showed us.

The book reads slowly (at least in my experience) because most of the time it was boring.

The story follows Catherine who comes back home from college after being gang raped. The book covers such an important topic, and I wish it wasn’t overshadowed by murder in the story.
Still, I appreciate how Rodden showed us different kinds of monsters that walk among us in every society.

I have to admit that, unlike other readers, I didn’t guess the big revelation and was little shocked by it. I guess that is a good thing.

Would I recommend this book?
I would to fans of darker stories written for young adults.

Gothic and spooky: What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (Book Review) #Horror #Halloween #Retelling

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher book cover

Today I am happy to bring you my review for a horror I read recently and enjoyed very much. It is perfect Halloween read in my opinion.

What Moves the Dead was published on July 12th 2022 by Tor Nightfire and it has 165 pages. I read my own copy of the book.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

What Moves the Dead is Kingfisher’s retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

Review:

I am going to start this review by fangirling about this cover. Do you see how amazing it is?? Beautiful, hypnotic and creepy at the same time!
Honestly, this is my favourite book cover that I have seen in years, and now when I finished the story, I understand it and appreciate it even more!

What Moves the Dead is a retelling of a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. Which one? I don’t really know. Obviously I didn’t do my research very well, but to me it doesn’t make much difference because the only short story that have read by E.A.P. is Black Cat (In the meantime I learned that the story is called The Fall of the House of Ushers).

But what I did notice is how similar this novel is to Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
They both start with a letter about one sick character where the main character comes to visit, they both have big spooky house, gothic atmosphere, and also… one big thing that plays big part in both stories. Plus, they are both horrors.
Of course, me being bad at doing proper research, I don’t know if they are both retelling of the same classic story.
Still, it is worth mentioning that T. Kingfisher admitted similarities between her and Moreno-Garcia’s novel in her author’s note.

What Moves the Dead has non binary main character, which I appreciate.

The book is set some time in the past, and it is set in the world that is similar to ours (London, Paris and America are there) but it also has some imaginary places that don’t exist in our world, and also cultures that I’ve never heard about.

It is written in first person, from Alex‘ POV, but as the narrator sometimes talks to us readers, at times it feels like it was written in second person.

The gothic, dark and wet atmosphere was my favourite part.
Also, I appreciate how short this novel is. It takes a skill to write something that isn’t too long, but says so much.

This was a buddy read with Amanda and we both liked it.
We both also agree that we didn’t fan over big revelation of what caused all this mess, as it made little sense to our contemporary oriented brains.

However, I still very much recommend this book and I will definitely check other work by T. Kingfisher.

Book Review: Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey @PRHGlobal #partner #romance

Not like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I bring you my review for a book that I have read some time ago. It is part of the series and my suggestion is to read Waiting for Tom Hanks first. I enjoyed reading Not LIke the Movies so I hope my review will give it some spotlight so more people would give it a chance.

Not Like the Movies was published on July 7th 2020 by Berkley and it has 320 pages. I want to say thank you to Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Chloe Sanderson is an optimist, and not because her life is easy. As the sole caregiver for her father, who has early onset Alzheimer’s, she’s pretty much responsible for everything. She has no time—or interest—in getting swept up in some dazzling romance. Not like her best friend Annie, who literally wrote a rom-com that’s about to premiere in theaters across America…and happens to be inspired by Chloe and Nick Velez, Chloe’s cute but no-nonsense boss.

As the buzz for the movie grows, Chloe reads one too many listicles about why Nick is the perfect man, and now she can’t see him as anything but Reason #2: The Scruffy-Bearded Hunk Who’s Always There When You Need Him. But unlike the romance Annie has written for them, Chloe isn’t so sure her own story will end in a Happily Ever After.

Review:

I got into Not Like the Movie without knowing it was a part of the series. How foolish of me for not doing my research.
When it comes to romance genre, with every book following different main characters, they can usually all be read as standalones.
This one can also be considered as easy to understand on it’s own, to some point, but since main characters from the first book appear more then few times, and it is constantly mentioned what happened in that story, bringing and creating problems for characters in this, second novel, I would suggest to read the first book first.
I felt like I was missing out and it kind of ruined my reading experience.

The story follows a woman who has hots for her boss. And while I usually like that trope (or the idea of it because I haven’t read many books following it) in this novel Chloe acted too unprofessional to me with her constant comments but then when Nick would try something she would be all like “Oh no, we can’t. Bla bla bla, but you still have cute but and strong muscles and also, you smell like an old hot grampa”. Yes, I know.
I guess this is also age gap romance because Chloe had some comments about Nick being old, but it was never stated how old was he.

I didn’t like all the drama and characters finding excuses not to be with each other just so we can rute for them to finally get together.

Chloe’s relationahip with her bestie was also strange and it didn’t sound too healthy.

I could relate to Chloe who took care of her dementing father and having to deal with her absent brother. Their relationship with their mother was so complicated and I totally understand how it would scar them both.

The writing style was solid and the book reads quikly.

I would recommend Not Like the Movie but I would also advice to start with Waiting on Tom Hanks first.

So… this was tense: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (Book Review) #Thriller #Halloween #blogtober

Today I bring you my review for the book that I read along with my frineds in our reading club. Lock Every Door was our September pick. I really enjoyed it and am glad to tell you all about it.

This novel was published back in 2019, on July 2nd. It has 381 pages.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story—until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew’s dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

Review:

Lock Every Door was September pick in the reading club I am a part of. I was so excited because this novel was on my radar ever since it came out. Out of four of us, I think I liked it the best.

Written in first person, the novel is tense and capturing. Jules is a reliable narrator (which was so nice for a change) but what makes this book so good is that you can’t trust absolutely no one but her.

This novel was really something. Now I get why all the hype.
The mysterious atmosphere where you feel like you are trapped along with main character but can’t figure out what is happening and can’t get out was the cherry on top in my reading experience.

I also want to mention how this book touches some important topics like poverty and what goes along with it, and I believe no reader can stay calm or cold to it. Some parts were heartbreaking.
I do believe stories similar to this one happen in real life and often poor people who have no one to look for them are ones who pay the price.

I remember my friend Amanda and me were afraid that this story would be too similar to Turn of the Key, and now I laugh when I think about it, because those two stories can’t be more different. The only thing they have in common is that they are both very good novels.

The end was good. I like how this whole mystery solved out and what was the story behind the curtain, even though some of my friends who I read this with were disappointed.
However, I will admit that I wasn’t satisfied with the very end. In other words, I think justice could have been served better.

Book Review: One Thousand Stars and You by Isabelle Broom #Bloggers #Fiction #Blogtober

One Thousand Stars and You Isabelle Broom book cover

GIFTED / Today I bring you my review for a backlist written by one of my favourite authors: Isabelle Broom. Becoming a mother slowed me down in my reading and pretty much stopped me from reviewing/blogging for so long that now I have so many books that I am late with when it comes to reviewing. Good thing is I still am very interested in every single one I received and I am making my way through them. One Thousand Stars and You was a good book to spend time with and even though I am kind of late with my review for it, I still hope my review will makw you notice this novel and maybe will get it some atteintion. After all, when it comes to backlists, chances are they are traslated in more languages by now and available in more libraries.

One Thousand Stars and You was published on August 23rd 2018 by Penguin and it has 400 pages. I want to thank the team from Penguin UK, Michael Joseph for sending me an eARC via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Alice is settling down. It might not be the adventurous life she once imagined, but more than anything she wants to make everyone happy – her steady boyfriend, her over-protective mother – even if it means a little part of her will always feel stifled.

Max is shaking things up. After a devastating injury, he is determined to prove himself. To find the man beyond the disability, to escape his smothering family and go on an adventure.

A trip to Sri Lanka is Alice’s last hurrah – her chance to throw herself into the heat, chaos and colour of a place thousands of miles from home.

It’s also the moment she meets Max.

Alice doesn’t know it yet, but her whole life is about to change.

Max doesn’t know it yet, but he’s the one who’s going to change it.

Review:

Are you familiar with the case when you like the author and enjoy their writing, but you just don’t click with the story?
That is what happened to me with One Thousand Stars and You.

I usually love Isabelle Broom’s work. Ever since she started publishing her stories back in 2016 I fell in love with her writing and the way she would describe places her characters visited, and she found her spot on my favourite authors list.
Unfortunately, although I still enjoyed her descriptions of beautiful Sri Lanka, I didn’t fall in love with this novel.

I think the main reason I was put off was the way one of her characters was presented to us, through other characters’ (and what it felt like through author’s too) eyes.
I am talking here about Moureen who was perfect the way she was, but for some reason our MC and her love interest looked down upon her, like they are for some reason better then her.
Like Alice was pure and inocent when in reality she was emotionally cheating on her boyfriend since the moment she met Max, and Max who for some reason acted like he deserves better then Maur.
It was just really hard to love the story with hard-to-like characters.

I also wasn’t a fan how the novel reminded me of Me Before You in some parts and I am still not sure would I loved it better if it went all the way there or do I like it that it took a different turn.

In the end I appreciate the message behind this whole journey, and think that the book is good and would still recommend it.
I just wish I liked it little bit more.