Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Reviews by Teresa L. (Lake Elsinore, CA)

Order Reviews by:
The September House
by Carissa Orlando
The September House (6/13/2023)
This is one creepy book! The way the author described the house really made the house a character in its own right. I did have a hard time liking the main character Margaret (who kept lying to her own daughter) and found it hard to relate to her. She was so dissociative to what was really going on around her (but maybe that was the author's point?)

This was a creative story and had surprises I didn't expect. If you like haunted house stories you will most likely enjoy this book.
Iron Curtain: A Love Story
by Vesna Goldsworthy
Life Behind the Curtain (2/14/2023)
Its always so interesting to me to read a story from outside the "Western" world and Iron Curtain: A Love Story delivers!

I'm not really sure I would call this a "Love" Story, more a story of a naïve privileged sheltered girl who lives a life in a Golden cage...when she finds her first love she decides to leave her comfortable bubble and grows up quickly when exposed to the real world!

Set in the 80's during the Cold War Communist Era, I think this book more shows the contrast between those at the "top" in the Communist party and the "workers" who are divided below. All the themes of isolation, East vs West, rich vs poor, democracy vs communism, etc were really well developed and captured.

Personally; without giving anything away, I was disappointed in Milena's final choice, but I understand why she made her choice, maybe we can't fight our nature. If you like a little tragedy in your stories, this book will speak to you!

Overall a good read.
Ariadne
by Jennifer Saint
Ariadne - Not just another Greek Mythology Retelling! (3/31/2021)
Firstly, you had me at Greek Mythology retelling!

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint is a compelling reimagined Theseus myth but from the point of view of Ariadne and her sister Phaedra, princesses of Crete.

I loved that the Minotaur tale is only a fraction of this book. It dove deeper into the lives of the sisters and what happens to them after the Minotaur is defeated.

Ariadne’s voice really shown through and yes, her life is a tragedy, but the power of this book is how Ariadne faces that tragedy head on!

I was surprised that this was a debut novel by Jennifer Saint. I can’t wait to see what else she brings to the table, her writing is alluring and you won’t want to stop reading!

4 asteria!
The Sun Down Motel
by Simone St. James
Ghostly Creepy Goodness! (11/10/2019)
Do not read this book alone in the dark...like I did! Ghostly, creepy supernatural with a mystery thrown in...all the good stuff you have come to expect from a great Simone St. James book! The interwoven timelines of Carly Kirk looking for her missing aunt, Viv Delaney, at a haunted motel in the middle of nowhere New York leads to an un-put-downable gripping read! And the cover is amazing! If you like ghost stories, loved "The Broken Girls", then do yourself a favor and pick up "The Sun Down Motel" on sale February 18, 2020!
  • Page
  • 1

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    Prophet Song
    by Paul Lynch
    Paul Lynch's 2023 Booker Prize–winning Prophet Song is a speedboat of a novel that hurtles...
  • Book Jacket: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    by Lynda Cohen Loigman
    Lynda Cohen Loigman's delightful novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern opens in 1987. The titular ...
  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
Book Jacket
The Story Collector
by Evie Woods
From the international bestselling author of The Lost Bookshop!
Who Said...

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.