At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

To be quite honest, it took me a while to get into The Bear and the Nightingale. It started off really slow and even though I’d read the synopsis, I wasn’t entirely sure what it was about. I knew it was supposed to be a folklore retelling/fantasy, but it didn’t feel that way at first. Once I got deeper into the story, it really started to click with me.

Vasilisa is the only member of her family that can see the old household spirits that have been in her home and village for centuries. Everyone thinks she’s just odd, and perhaps a bit crazy. When her new stepmother joins the family, and a new catholic priest moves to town, the village begins to fear God and ignore the old spirits. The old spirits begin to fade and the village begins suffer.

The Bear and the Nightingale is about one girl who refuses to walk the line of propriety and defies those around her to keep her family safe. She doesn’t care if she’s thought of as crazy, but she learns to hide that she can see things others can’t. She’s strong willed and defiant, and out of her time. At times, the book made me really angry – not from any of the fantasy aspects, but from how Vasilisa is treated by almost everyone in her life. I understand it takes place in approximately late 1700 - early 1800s Russia, and that was par for the course at the time, but it didn’t stop me from being upset on her behalf.


I really enjoyed the fantasy side of the story, but not so much the real life aspects. Vasilisa’s stepmother is horrible, so is the priest, her family only partially stands by her, and she has to hide much of herself. Despite all of this, she manages to keep on pushing and fighting. I think it sets a great example. If you enjoy fantasy, folklore, or historical pieces, I think you should give this one a try.


*I received a copy of book in exchange for an honest review

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.


I had very high hopes for The Crown’s Game but I’m sad to say this was not a 5 star book for me.
If you read the synopsis, it had an amazing premise. I mean, magical duels to the death between two enchanters to become the Imperial Enchanter? I was expecting all out death matches, obstacle courses, arenas, and the like, a la A Gathering of Shadows, but it was nothing like this. Instead it was much more like The Night Circus. Which, don’t get me wrong, isn’t a bad thing, it’s just not what I was expecting and not what I was lead to believe was going to happen.

Skye’s world building is wonderful. She created a 19th century Russia that no longer believes in magic, but once was surrounded by it. Only a select few still know of magic and the enchanters, including the Tsar, the enchanters themselves, and their mentors. A few more people find out along the way, but the masses pass of the enchantments as extremely detailed mechanics/engineering works, rational ways of explaining things that cannot be explained. She’s dedicated to the Russian theme and 19th century feel. The details used to describe St. Petersburg and Ovchinin Island left me feeling like I was there on those wintry days. I could have been walking down those cobblestone streets.

Where I feel it fell flat was with the characters and their story. Vika and Nikolai are supposed to be in the Crown’s Game, this ultimate game to the death, to reach their full potential and serve their Empire. Something they’ve each trained for their whole life, but when the time comes they, predictably, pull their punches and drag out the fight. Which, turns out, isn’t really even a fight but more of a back and forth competition to see who can impress the Tsar more – not what I was expecting to say the least. They manage to throw some barbs in here and there but with no real weight behind them. Ludmilla, Ovchinin’s resident baker and Vika’s friend/confidante/motherly figure, was one of the only characters I really liked and felt a real connection to. Not to mention I wanted to eat every one of her delectable treats!

In the end I rated The Crown’s Game 3.5 out of 5 stars. I found the “long-buried secrets” predictable (I managed to figure them out long before they were revealed), and it lacked the action I was hoping for, but it overall it was a good story and has a lot of potential for the sequel, The Crown’s Heir.

This is a good read for fans of The Night Circus, which I loved, so don’t necessarily take my word for it. Read The Crown’s Game for yourself! I think I just went into this one expecting one thing and got blindsided by a completely different type of story.

“Reader, I murdered him.” 

 A sensitive orphan, Jane Steele suffers first at the hands of her spiteful aunt and predatory cousin, then at a grim school where she fights for her very life until escaping to London, leaving the corpses of her tormentors behind her. After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre “last confessions” of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement.  Her aunt has died and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.

Burning to know whether she is in fact the rightful heir, Jane takes the position incognito, and learns that Highgate House is full of marvelously strange new residents—the fascinating but caustic Mr. Thornfield, an army doctor returned from the Sikh Wars, and the gracious Sikh butler Mr. Sardar Singh, whose history with Mr. Thornfield appears far deeper and darker than they pretend. As Jane catches ominous glimpses of the pair’s violent history and falls in love with the gruffly tragic Mr. Thornfield, she faces a terrible dilemma: can she possess him—body, soul, and secrets—without revealing her own murderous past? 

A satirical romance about identity, guilt, goodness, and the nature of lies, by a writer who Matthew Pearl calls “superstar-caliber” and whose previous works Gillian Flynn declared “spectacular,” Jane Steele is a brilliant and deeply absorbing book inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre.


Jane Steele is told in the form of Jane’s confession, talking directly to you, the reader. It starts with her early childhood, living in her family home, moving through boarding school – then running away from said boarding school – living on the streets of London, and lastly eking out a life penning last confessions; all the while leaving corpses of those who’ve wronged her in her wake. She eventually makes her way back to her family home when it falls into the hands of Mr. Charles Thornfield.

I was half and half with the novel when it first started. I couldn’t decide if I liked the story or not, and I had no idea where it was going. Truthfully, all I knew when I picked it up was that it was an historical fiction, similar to Jane Eyre, and it was really, really popular. The opening chapters gave me pause, those of you who’ve read it may know why, but I pushed on, and I’m very glad I did. Once she got to boarding school all bets were off.

I have not read Jane Eyre, but I have seen film adaptations and I know the premise, so Jane Steele was definitely and interesting take, especially with the murderous twist. Faye doesn’t disappoint and leads the reader down a twisting path. I’m pretty sure one of my updates on Goodreads was, “I have no idea where this is going.” Hahahaha but that didn’t dissuade me, and it shouldn’t you!  I had to know how the story ended! The story began to pick up in pace and became more intricate. Once Jane meets Mr. Thornfield, even more layers are added to the mystery surrounding them and I was beyond hooked. Faye does a great job of character building. I was thoroughly creeped out by Headmaster Munt, I felt for Mr. Sadar Singh and what happened to his country, and I wanted to know what would happen between Jane and Mr. Thornfield. Jane is a strong woman and is not one to be reckoned with.

Overall I give Jane Steele 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a great read for those who like Historical Fiction, the classics, Jane Eyre of course, female leads, and/or if you like a good audiobook – I enjoyed the narrator.

4/5 stars ⋆⋆⋆⋆

The second installment of the Stolen Empire series by Sherry D. Ficklin - can we take a moment to appreciate this gorgeous cover by the way? This trilogy has some seriously beautiful covers to be sure.

Queen of Tomorrow is an historical fiction about Catherine, Grand Duchess of Russia, the future Catherine the Great. It's a great, quick read full of conspiracies, spies, love, plotting, and trying to stay alive. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys losing themselves in a novel with a strong female lead, romance thick with plotting, jewels, and royal intrigue.
5/5 stars ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Aelin has come to terms with her truth and herself. She's plotted and planned and will get back at everyone who had taken those she loves from her. And it gets dirty.

Queen of Shadows is the epic follow up to Heir of Fire in the Throne of Glass series by Sara J. Mass. I've blogged about the first two installments here and here. I never did get around to writing about Heir of Fire, but perhaps someday. I kept putting off finishing this one because I didn't want it to end only to be left waiting for book 5, but I eventually caved and oh gods was it good! SO MANY FEELS! Aelin, Chaol, Rowan, Dorian, Aedion, Lysandra, Mannon, Kaltain, Elide, I was rooting for all of them.


Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Do you agree with any of my thoughts?

The Invention of Wings was not a book I normally would have picked up and read on my own, but this was my book club's January pick. It's an historical fiction with some parts based on fact and others completely made up to suite the story.

Here's the Good Reads synopsis:

"Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women."

The story revolves around the two main characters, Handful/Hetty and Sarah. Sarah is the white daughter of a rich and powerful landowner in Charleston, South Carolina in the early 1800s. Handful and her mother are seamstress slaves owned by the Grimke family.

At Sarah's 11th birthday party, she is presented with Handful as her gift. Even at the young age of 11, Sarah knows that owning another human being is wrong. She tries to refuse the gift only to be severely reprimanded by her mother and forced to accept in front of all their guests. As they grow up together, they walk a fine line between the roles of master and slave and friendship.

Sarah Grimke and her sister Nina were actually real women who grew up to help lead an anti-slavery movement that also led to a partial women's right's movement. Handful's character was not a real person, but I can see why Kidd created her to balance Sarah's story.

I really enjoyed Handful and her spunky personality. She seemed much deeper than Sarah, with thoughts such as, "I have a mind for the master to see, I have another for what I know is me." While Sarah was a prisoner of her station but she was by no means as tragic as she was made out to be. I felt she was dramatic.

Overall, I thought the novel was good, but I just don't think it was for me. It took me a while to get into, and it didn't really hook me or pull me in.