Pleasant Nights

Title: What the River Knows

Author: Isabel Ibanez

Genre: YA fantasy/magical realism/historical fiction

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

None of the above genres are ones I read all that often, however, this was a great book and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Set in Egypt, Inez’s parents go missing, so she heads there to uncover the mystery. She is funded by her uncle, who tries to send her home multiple times, but she’s too stubborn.

Inez travels with her uncle and his group to an island to find Cleopatra’s tomb. A love interest keeps her on her toes and her ability to feel magic in certain objects helps the group make some important discoveries. However, someone from Inez’s past resurfaces and turns the story upside down.

This book was a lot of fun and Inez was a great main character, full of life, energy, and determination. I didn’t like the love interest as much, but it did become important. A sequel is coming out soon, and I’ll definitely be checking it out.

Title: The Many Lives of Mama Love

Author: Lara Love Hardin

Genre: Memoir

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I think this is the first time I’ve gotten a random book from NetGalley that ended up an Oprah Book Club selection. When I started reading this book, I had no idea what it was about. I assumed the author was writing about her mother.

I soon realized that the author was telling her own story about her addiction to various drugs, her time in jail (not prison), and her efforts to get her life back on track, mostly motivated to be reunited with her children.

A well-off woman who struggles with addiction isn’t a new story. But the parts of this book that resonated with me were the stories of how to manage probation, multiple court appearances each week, drug tests, holding a full-time job, having no car or home, and jumping through more hoops than one can imagine. Probation is no joke and clearly needs to be reformed because most people end up back in jail because they don’t have outside resources to help with all the jumping of hoops.

I really enjoyed this book and felt Lara’s story was important, but she had more help than other people do. I’m curious to read a story of someone who doesn’t have a wealthy mother-in-law to fund bail and an apartment. How do those people manage to make it on their own?

Title: The New One

Author: Evie Green

Genre: sci-fi/dystopian

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book

I LOVE dystopian books, so when I find a new one, I’m excited to read it but also nervous because some are so bad and poorly written. But this book was awesome. I absolutely loved it.

Ed and Tamsyn’s daughter, Scarlet, after an accident, is in a coma and not expected to survive. However, they are given an option to “reanimate” Scarlet using AI and Scarlet’s tissue, creating a better version they name Sophie. The family is moved to Geneva, where the best medical resources are and Ed, Tamsyn, and Sophie live together while Scarlet lies in a hospital. However, when Scarlet actually wakes up, no one quite knows how to handle it. This isn’t the entire plot, though. Some great twists are ahead.

Not only was this book well-written, the actual plot reveal was excellent. I definitely recommend this for any fans of the genre. Great book.

Title: The Society for Soulless Girls

Author: Laura Steven

Genre: fantasy/horror

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

The premise of this book sounded so interesting. Girls in college, previous murders happened there, mystery, love interests, supernatural, and dark, but gah, this book was just not good at all. I was really bored and disappointed.

Alice and Lottie are roommates who don’t like each other at all. However, Alice participates in a ritual that splits her soul. Lottie tries to discover the secret of the murders when a classmate also dies. I did finish this book, but it was a chore. I didn’t like either main character, and there was a random side character who also splits her soul, but she had no purpose in the book.

This book tried to do too much, but it ended up not doing anything very well.