I enjoyed this book. It was a unique plot for a murder mystery. At times it felt the story was aimed at a young adult audience. However the first person narrating and character personalities were very enjoyable

A Nurse’s secret is a murder mystery wrapped in a historical fiction. In the 1880’s Bellevue Hospital has become a training school for nurses following the principles of Florence Nightingale.
At the same time a young woman, Una, is forced to live on the streets through unfortunate circumstances and is blamed for a murder. She cons her way into the training school as a way to avoid the police and determined to use the time to solve the murder and clear her name.

The story captures the time period in great detail. The doctors treat the nurses and trainees without respect and often harshly. Nurses and trainees work in terrible conditions and long hours. There is bigotry and big divide between classes with the poor and destitute often being discarded, dismissed or worse.

It is a well-written historical fiction and captivating. The only negative for me was that in parts the detail slowed the story.

This is a coming of age/coming into ones own and much more. The main characters are two Native American teenage sisters and their family living on the reservation. They attend a local school and work in the luxury hotel of a recently built Casino on the reservation.
The story touches on how life on the reservation has changed with money coming in from the casino and how the older sister believes the legends and stories of her people are fading away At the same time the story addresses a hugely important and timely subject of the plight of so many missing and murdered indigenous women
I saw at one point that the story was considered a horror story. I felt it was more a story of the presence of indigenous legends fresh in the mind of the main character and how it shaped her perceptions
This book covers a lot of subjects, some that remain in your thoughts long after the story ends. The only complaint for me was the time frame in each chapter. It is not chronological and was at times difficult to follow That may have more to do with the fact that I had an ebook and not a paperback more than the story itself.

Manfredi's English-language debut is an evocative tale of one young woman's coming-of-age in 1990s rural Italy.

Valentina lives with her mother and grandmother in the Italian countryside. There is talk of a curse and the town calls them witches. When Valentina turns twelve and has her first period things begin to happen that gas Valentina believing she's brought the curse on her family

This story didn't quiet meet my expectations. There were a number of themes that could have been developed a little more or left out and some themes that needed closure. It seems too many ideas and not much tied together

This is a very well written crime story set in rural small town Durton, Australia (known by its locals as Dirt Town).

A 12-year-old girl named Esther Bianchi has gone missing and her body is found four days later Everyone in the small town has issues and is suspect. When gay Detective Sergeant Sara Michaels arrives, she and her local partner, Smithy, have to determine what happened to Esther and who is telling the truth

Ms Scrivenor manages to make you feel invested in the characters while keeping you guessing as to what happened to Esther until the very end. It is a fast read I didn't put it down until I finished reading the entire story.

The Paris Bookseller is a historical fictitious version of the true story of Sylvia Beach, the founder of Shakespeare and Company in Paris and champion of modern literature The book does a great job of transporting you to the time and place of Paris in 1918 through the1930s.

Ms. Beach and her partner were living openly in a same-sex relationship in the 1920s. Paris and France were more liberal than most places. There are contrasts made between Paris with the US, especially as the US enacted the Volstead Act and sought to outlaw anything that smacked of indecency.

The bookstore was an English reading store that brought in many great authors of the time. Ms Beach had friendships with Ezra Pound, Earnest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and James Joyce. When James Joyce's classic novel, Ulysses, was banned Ms. Beach made enormous sacrifices in the struggle to publish that book. She is the heroine of the story by being a champion of modern ligature and standing up for who and what she believed in even when being treated horribly by those close to her.

All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss is a coming of age story set during the last years of World War II
The chapters alternate between the perspectives of two North Carolina girls that, through fate, become best friends. The girls are raised in the same state, yet have very different climate, dialect and customs which Ms. Weiss brilliantly captures
This is also a story of family, friendship and community and how each effect the another. The characters are well developed and the reader is drawn in with the families and their fear of receiving bad news about a loved one at the front
The characters are well developed and the story has constant action, mystery, heartbreak and love.
I highly recommend it.

Ariadne is a retelling of a Greek myth. Her father is King Minos and her brother the Minotaur. This retelling is from the perspective of King Minos's two daughters, Ariadne and Phaedra. The consequences the women bear due to the actions and whims of the Olympian Gods, their father the king, and the choices they believed they had to make.

Jennifer Saint makes the retelling easy to follow even if you are not familiar with the original myth. I enjoy Greek mythology and read this book in one day as I didn't want to put it down.

I had been wanting to read this book and then was fortunate enough to win it in a book giveaway. That however does not influence this review.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and hope to read more by Paraic O’Donnell. The plot is a mystery wrapped up in Victorian spiritualism. The character development and relationships are well done and will leave you wanting to continue reading all night through. Wrap yourself in a warm blanket with a nice beverage and settle in for a very enjoyable dark yet at times humorous story.

The story is not lost in translation!
The Widow Queen is a historical fiction masterpiece set in the time period from 984 A.D. - 997 A.D. The story focuses on the Piast dynasty of Poland and the Vikings in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Norway

Duke Mieszko of Poland is a ruthless leader, who seeks to expand Poland's borders through cunning, strength and his children. He grooms his children in the roles they are to play and arranges marriage alliances between his children with whomever he chooses he feels will aid them to become the most powerful rulers of all time.

At the center of this epic novel, is Swietoslawa, the Bold One, Mieszko's favorite daughter with intelligence, and her very presence that commands respect, because she indeed has proven herself to be the Bold One.

This historical fiction has something for everyone; battles, intrigue, alliances, betrayals and even some love stories. It will keep you turning the page and leave you wanting more.

Big girl, small town is about a week in the life of Majella O”Neil (big girl) in the small town of Aghybogey in Northern Ireland in the time after The Troubles. The book uses local vernacular which I enjoyed and is written in vignettes titled under Majella's list of likes (few) and dislikes (many)

Majella lives with and takes care of her alcoholic mother and works in a fish and chip shop.

She rocks and flicks her fingers when upset appearing to have behaviors of a person on the autism spectrum. Through her work routine and occasional outings we learn about Majella, her family, and the people of Aghybogey

Three tragedies come up throughout the book: Majella's father disappeared a few years ago, her uncle who was in the IRA is dead and most recently her grandmother was assaulted in her home and died in hospital.

The police are investigation her grandmothers assault but it is never addressed much further. The book held my interest enough to finish but with Irish history mixed in with murder it could have been a much richer story.

From the first line the story grabs your attention. The writing style may take some getting used to in that the story seems to be a mystery and/or a fantasy blended with reality.
Piranesi and "the Other are the only two in a house with infinite halls and statues. Piranesi has a meager existence in "the House". He keeps detailed journals cataloguing every space in the House. He sometimes helps the Other search for 'the Great and Secret Knowledge'. The Other's comes and goes; to and from where is unknown. There are hints throughout that there is more to what would appear to be a world separate from our own.

The book grabbed my interest from the first page. An explosion of a hyperbaric chamber killing some of the patients. A mystery of who set the fire that caused the explosion. It seemed a cautionary tale for how quickly people judge one another based on their own experiences and prejudices with little knowledge of truth or understanding of others and what they may be enduring.

I am familiar with the Vietnam war only from an American perspective. This story is beautifully and compellingly told by Nguyen Phan Que Mai whose family lived through Vietnam's 20th century history starting with the Land Reform, Communist rule and the Vietnam war.

Through a grandmother and granddaughter's stories we learn how three generations of one family were affected by politics and war Their neighbors turn on them and one another; crops and forests were being destroyed and family members turned against one another. This is an intimate telling of a family's beliefs, culture, struggles, loss and despair and through it all the ever present love and hope.

The story takes place in the South. It is about one family in particular and one sister is the main protagonist. That being said it is about family dynamics, lifestyles, hopes and wishes. Perspectives on family, neighbors and even different perspectives of the south. And there is a twist. Very well written.