Review: A Christmas Secret

A Christmas Secret by Candace Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a Kindle edition of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.

This was a cute children's story. Loved the illustrations as well.

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Review: The Wickeds

The Wickeds by Gayle Forman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting take on the villains of three fairy tales. This story reminds me about how it's said that children will experience what their parents did when they have kids. It was the first thing the ending made me think of.

Amazon Originals - Faraway Collection Book 5

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Review: The Cleaners

The Cleaners by Ken Liu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story was not the most engaging, but it was food for thought. At first, I was thinking about the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. As the story went on, it made me think about the things we touch and hold every day and what memories of family heirlooms would hold.

Amazon Originals - Faraway Collection Book 4


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Review: The Princess Game

The Princess Game by Soman Chainani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the third book of the collection that I read and by far my favorite. This one kept me hooked from the start. I am adding this author to my list of authors to read.

Amazon Originals - Faraway Collection Book 3


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Review: Hazel and Gray

Hazel and Gray by Nic Stone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

WOW! Things got real dark in this collection of stories. It was a great twist on the Hansel and Gretel story, though. This was a good page turner.

Trigger warnings: Sex (underage, trafficking, implied pedophilia, prostitution), Drugs (forced and consented).

This book is not for young readers.

Amazon Originals - Faraway Collection Book 2


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Review: The Prince and the Troll

The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I am honestly not sure what to take away from this story. Starbucks, a man named Adam, Starbucks, a female bridge troll, and Starbucks. A bridge, Starbucks, a road, Starbucks, it doesn’t rain, and Starbucks.

I’m sure this was some allegorical work, but it went over my head. Starbucks. I turned to other reviewers and their reviews to see how they interpreted this story. Starbucks. Was I supposed to read a climate change story? Starbucks. Was this supposed to be a biblical allegory? Starbucks.

I do not go to Starbucks, so I do not really get the obsession.

Oh, and did I mention Starbucks?

Amazon Originals - Faraway Collection Book 1


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Review: Land of Big Numbers

Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC digital edition of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a collection of short stories featuring Chinese culture. The stories end abruptly with no closure. One of the stories (the last one) was about being stranded at a train station. I understand the moral of the story, but I would have loved to know what happened to the characters or had this particular story as a novella or full length novel.

The first and last stories were my favorite, but the middle stories were paced slowly. I kept putting the book down during these stories.

I did enjoy the writing style and would have given this 5-stars if the middle stories were more of a page turner like the last story.

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