Book review: Wedded in a whirlwind / Liz Fielding (2008)

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After finishing the one book I had brought with me on holiday, I got to pick something from the hotel library. What a choice I made.

The story takes us to the make-believe island of Gordilla, where Miranda flees to because she needs some alone time. This island is a yet-to-be-discovered-by-the-masses destination so it’s quite and there’s not much happening. So little is happening, that Miranda decides to join an excursion into the jungle where recently discovered ruins can be visited. Within no-time she loses her group though and of course that’s exactly when disaster strikes: earthquake! The jungle floor opens up and swallows our heroine who lands underground in parts of the ancient city that is still in the process of being excavated.
One of the archaeologists working the site is trapped in the same space as Miranda is, and that makes this Nick Jago our hero. Miranda and Nick spend the rest of the day and night trying to find a way out, climbing back up to the surface. They entertain themselves by swapping stories of horrible childhoods: they both come from politically influential and wealthy families but had to grow up without their parents as they were raised by nannies and dropped off at boarding schools. For Miranda this ended when her parents died (their yacht sank) and for Nick when the story broke of his father’s love-child. Nick “rebelled” by turning his back on his family, and Miranda did so by wild partying. This resulted in a pregnancy and her considering abortion.
No need to get excited about a Mills and Boon going to this topic because just as this could have become a real conversation starter, Miranda’s pregnancy is ended by nature.
Even though there are so, so, many reasons for a woman to suffer a miscarriage, Nick’s first guess is that this was an ectopic pregnancy. Of course, this was exactly what Miranda suffered from and it has her in awe of Nick’s knowledge. Turns out, the archaeologist had a grandfather who was a doctor, and this grandfather once told a young Nick about a patient of his who had an ectopic pregnancy and that this was extremely painful. Why a doctor thought it okay to tell anyone this, let alone his grandson, is beyond me.
I missed a couple of paragraphs because I was still fuming over this stupid doctor and when I tuned back in Miranda was kissing Nick. It turns out this was not just a kiss, but a kiss-of-life and I have no idea what happened there because I refused to read back. In any case, this leads to Nick in awe of Miranda for saving his life.
Somewhere Miranda also told how after the miscarriage she spiralled out of control and it got so bad that her brother had her admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Again, great opportunity for some depth and interesting character development that gets entirely dismissed and ignored. This couple is so awful. Or is that not how you say it when two people are deeply in awe of each other?
After spending the night trapped in the ruins, they manage to climb to safety the next morning, dive under a waterfall and have unprotected sex. For real. But don’t worry, Miranda’s chances of getting pregnant again after that ectopic pregnancy are zero so there’s no way this could lead to an(other) unwanted pregnancy. Way to exploit that incident even further. Once fully clothed again they go back to town where people have been worried sick about them. Nick is tackled by an ex (she stole his discovery) and Miranda is taken away on a helicopter.
Two months later they meet in London where Nick crashes the viewing party of a Miranda’s new documentary. They walk out on the showing to find the young girl that features in the documentary but had gone missing. They literally lure her out of hiding with a bacon sandwich, adopt her and get married.

The pacing of this book was odd, with half or more taking place during the half day and night that the two are trapped underground. Then everything moves on superspeed afterwards.
Both Nick and Miranda are flimsy characters at best and their “oy me” attitude really got on my nerves.
It read very much like this book was an afterthought, that Miranda was a side-character in the story about her brother and that she could have been interesting. Unfortunately it got all flattened out and left without any sizzle.

Wedded in a whirlwind / Liz Fielding

Book review: The Brightest Star in the Sky / Marian Keyes (2009)

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This book was such a welcome treat after the disappointment of The Library of Borrowed Hearts that I devoured it. Marian Keyes writes books that seem fluffy but pack a punch. I’ve enjoyed several of them and was happy to add this one to the list.

The book is centred on the people living at Star Street 66. The address contains multiple apartments. Maeve and Matt, married, live on the ground floor. Then there’s Jemima with her dog, Lydia with Polish roommates Alexei and Jan, and Katie on the top floor.
We learn about them and their lives through a presence that floats in one evening and observes them. This presence is also able to sense heart beats, recognizing when people’s hearts are a match or not. This is how it slowly becomes clear that something is off between Maeve and Matt.
Jemima’s foster son comes to stay with her and he brings a complicated energy with him.
Lydia’s roommates are scared of her but the reasons for her stand-offish and blunt behaviour quickly become clear and turn her into a much more likeable character.
Katie’s boyfriend Conall is a workaholic and she faces the realization that he might never prioritize her over his work.
These are ordinary people, leading ordinary lives. Things get messy and complicated like life tends to get. Difficult decisions need to be made sometimes. 
This story is an example of an easy read that still contains complicated and real characters who learn and grow, and we learn who they are through their actions and not just through descriptions.

Spoiler alert for trigger warnings: rape and suicide attempt

The brightest star in the sky / Marian Keyes

Reading challenge 2025 – No. 18: A book that contains multiple points of view

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The library of borrowed hearts / Lucy Gilmore (2024)
What it is: lukewarm bookish romance
Did I like it: nope

This story counts no less than five different points of view.
There are: Chloe, Jasper, Catherine, Noodle and Zach.
Despite all these people, there are two clear main characters, namely Chloe and Jasper.
Chloe and Jasper are neighbors and that’s about the only thing they have in common. Jasper is an old grouch who keeps any frisbee and ball that flies over the hedge into his garden.
Chloe is struggling to get by on the meagre salary of a library worker, paying off student loans for a half-finished library degree, while also paying the bills to keep herself and her three younger siblings clothed and fed.
Then one day in the library she finds a rare book amongst the ones selected to be sold off and takes it home to sell herself. At home she discovers that the book has writing in the margins. With there being two different styles of handwriting, she realizes the book was used by two lovers to communicate.
Chloe is hooked by the love story but when Jasper-the-Grouch insists on buying the book at any price (he hands her a blank check) it’s easy to deduct that he was one of the two writers. This makes Chloe more determined to find out everything and uncover the mystery identity of the other writer.
Then in the past is the story of another librarian, Catherine.
And in the now is also the point of view from Noodle, who is one of Chloe’s siblings. He had gotten himself into some trouble and was rescue by Zach, a mountain man, who also becomes a teller in the story.
All in all this book has a lot going on, even though the story (stories) are not complicated. Noodle’s and Zach’s storylines were okay but only used as catalyzers for other people to keep meeting or get moving. Therefor they were clearly the weaker parts.

I had bought this book, all excited about the title, the cover, and the premise. I managed to keep myself from tearing into it and saved it for my holiday. In fact, it was the only book I allowed myself to pack*.
But oh boy, what a disappointment. The so-called mystery that is teased on the backflap is solved within two chapters and the twist at the end could be seen from chapter three onwards. What is left, are two lukewarm love stories. The problem with that is that love stories should sparkle, burst with chemistry, and have you rooting for the main characters. Alas, one of the main characters here is Chloe, who scored high on my scale of annoyance: she’s feeling so sorry for herself that she’s leaving a trail of self-pity wherever she goes. Sure, the circumstances that made her her siblings’ legal guardian were tough but she’s stuck in a martyr role and that’s not a good color on her. And the message about the family struggling financially is driven home hard in the first couple of chapters and it was just too much.
Because so many people got to tell their point of view, I felt sorry for the two siblings who weren’t given that position. They were also complete scene-stealers whenever they did pop up.

The idea of the story is a nice one. The execution unfortunately not the best as it packed no punch. As far as I’m concerned the best thing about this book is the cover.

*that’s a mistake on my end; never again!

The library of broken hearts / Lucy Gilmore

Reading challenge 2025 – No. 1: A book set in a country I have never visited

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I must betray you / Ruta Sepetys (2022)
What it is: YA recent historical fiction
Did I like it: foarte mult (which is Romanian for very much)

Wonderful friend P, knowing I have never been to Romania, sent me this book and explained that it was meant to fill the no. 1 position of the new reading challenge. It makes me one lucky and incredibly grateful Bookworm to have friends like this!

The story starts in October 1989 which means Romania is still under the tightly dictatorial regime of the Ceaușescu’s.
Protagonist Cristian Flores is a seventeen-year-old high school student. Cristian lives with his parents, sister, and grandfather in a typical apartment building where they are used to the elevator not working due to electricity outages. They are used to whispering inside their home, knowing that listening devices are everywhere. They are used to having only one lightbulb in the apartment. They are used to standing in endless lines for groceries.
Cristian is an aspiring writer, and he’s being a typical curious teenager, asking questions, challenging the authorities. His grandfather encourages this, his mother freaks out over it, his father doesn’t voice any opinion, and his sister quietly supports him.
Then Cristian’s life gets turned upside down as he gets blackmailed into informing on his friends and family by the Securitate. The stronghold of the regime relied on this network of informers, creating a fear of never knowing who was trustworthy and who was reporting to the authorities.
Left feeling he has no choice, Cristian tries to make the most of his informer status by demanding medication for his terminally ill grandfather in return. He decides to feed his handler a minimum of useful information and at the same time find out who has betrayed him, roped him into this position.
Cristian receives a special assignment from his handler, which is to inform on the son of an American diplomat. Cristian has an “in” because his mother works at the family’s home as a cleaner. He hates his task but is curious at the same time and cannot resist getting to know a teenager from the West. This Dan not only shows Cristian home videos from his friends in the States, but also introduces him to the American Library in Bucharest. Here, Cristian reads Time magazine and to his shock sees a report on neighbouring country Hungary being freed from the Soviet communist grip. This news had not reached Bucharest yet, and it makes him realize just how isolated the country is. It also makes him wonder, if people can fight an oppressive regime in other countries, couldn’t they do that in Romania as well?
Angry with the system and tired of not allowed to be free, he throws caution in the wind and decides to become part of the change. Together with two friends, he joins students in a big protest. This protest becomes the big finale of the story and things move fast and it ends with a big bang.

If any setting is fitting for angsty young adult, it is one that is seeped in paranoia and angst all around.
The story reads easy, the tension building with each chapter. Cristian is a great protagonist, insecure about his feelings, questioning his own actions and dreaming big.
The author obviously did a lot of research, which delivers a setting that is well-written and believable.
This was an amazing read and if you like to read (recent) historical novels, YA or not, do yourself a favor and add it to your TBR list; you won’t regret it!

I must betray you / Ruta Sepetys

Reading challenge 2025 no. 6 : a book with an animal in the title

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Black butterflies / Priscilla Morris (2022)
What it is: a beautiful debut
Did I like it: absolutely

This book could be used to fill three different categories as it is set in a country I have never visited, and has a colour in the title as well. But the reason it stood out to me was the word butterflies so I’m using it for the no. 6 slot.

The book is set in modern history, starting in Sarajevo 1992.
It’s spring and there is tension in the air.
Main character Zora is a painter and art teacher and she’s passionate about her job. She’s also optimistic about the tension, figuring it will end well, but gets served a reality check by an incident that leaves her mother in a state of severe shock. As a teacher, Zora is stuck to a school schedule and cannot leave, so Zora and her husband decided that he and her mother will travel to England where their daughter lives. Her husband will stay for a week to help get her mother settled and then he will go back to Sarajevo so Zora will only be alone for a week.
However, two days after her husband and mother have left, Bosnia-Herzegovina is acknowledged as an independent state which is a catalyst for fighting to break out. As a Serb, Zora is proud and relieved to be living in a recognized independent state, but the fighting confuses her: how is a civil war possible in a place where people from different cultures have been living alongside one another for so long?
Suddenly, there are snipers on city rooftops and roads into the mountains are blocked off by the military. The airport has been closed by the military as well and Sarajevo has become a sieged city.
Because her husband can’t travel back the family tries to arrange transportation to get Zora out, but that’s near-impossible and Zora isn’t really trying too hard from her end of the situation: she still thinks it will all pass quickly and she doesn’t want to leave the properties unattended or her students without a teacher.
To escape reality, she works daily in her studio which is located in the national library. This building houses the national library as well. The studio offers her a safe space and she paints with newfound energy. Until one day she’s no longer allowed to go into the building and left standing on the doorsteps along with the librarians. When one of the soldiers recognizes her as his former teacher, he sneaks her in and allows her an hour to pack up anything she can carry.
Upset and confused she takes what she can, and from then on starts painting at home instead. One of the neighbour’s children becomes her private student and because they don’t have canvases they paint on the walls of the apartment.
All the while the situation becomes more and more dire. No phones, no mail, no electricity, no water.
When after months without contact she finally gets the opportunity to call her family in England, it turns out her husband and daughter have more information on her situation than she does herself and it makes her realize just how bad it is. So, when the opportunity arises to get herself listed for an evacuation convoy, she doesn’t hesitate and starts to prepare for her leave. She informs her family, she says goodbye to neighbours and friends, and gives away personal items. But the transport gets delayed twice and by the time a new date is issued, winter has arrived and people are realizing the harsh winter will be brutal. So, more and more sign up for the evacuation, and because the elderly and sick get prioritized Zora gets bumped from the list and has to survive the winter in the city after all.

Zora is naïve and innocent, which makes her clash with the horrible setting of the story. You witness her growing smarter, tougher, and a veteran of survival who eventually has no trouble breaking a pigeon’s neck with her bare hands.
The story is about survival, about the people left behind becoming a community, about people being able to celebrate wonderful things in the most terrible times.

But what about those butterflies?
Although some titles require little to no explanation but for this one, it took a while for it to become clear. I could be heard making an “aah” sound when I found out. And no, of course I’m not going to spoil anything here. The book’s too good to be spoiled in such a rude fashion.

Black Butterflies / Priscilla Morris

New year, new challenge

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Oh happy days; a new year, a new reading challenge!
I created the new list by borrowing ideas from different lists I found online. If you want to start a challenge, I encourage you to go online and find one that fits you, or make one that fits you better. Because sharing is caring, and I care a lot about reading and encouraging reading, you’re more than welcome to use my list as well.

I hereby proudly present: Reading Challenge edition 2025!

  1. A book set in a country I have never visited
  2. An award-winning book
  3. A book about sport
  4. A book with a spice in the title
  5. A book published this year
  6. A book with an animal in the title
  7. A title in blue letters
  8. An autobiography
  9. A book with a one-word title
  10. A book that was made into a movie
  11. A title that contains an apostrophe
  12. A book with a yellow spine
  13. A book with a city name in the title
  14. A book that is set in the southern hemisphere
  15. A book I have owned for more than a year but haven’t read
  16. A book by an author who is an auto-buy
  17. A book with a color in the title
  18. A book that contains multiple points of view
  19. A book set in a small town
  20. A book with a five-word title
  21. A book written under a pseudonym
  22. A book that is considered a classic
  23. A book with a subtitle
  24. The protagonist has the same job as me
  25. A book written by two authors

Reading challenge 2024 – No. 18

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No. 18: A book everyone is talking about
People we meet on vacation / Emily Henry

I’ve got my party hat and my glitter shoes on in celebration. It just happens to be that those are acceptable wear on New Year’s Eve, but it’s purely to celebrate that the last item of Reading Challenge 2024 has been checked!
I made it just in time by finishing this one last night. Cutting it close is how I roll; I’m terrible with deadlines because I get distracted, in this case by all the other books I’ve got lying around, Christmas songs that required singing along to, and sappy Christmas movies that needed to be watched.
Onto the last item of the challenge!

Books by this author are hard to ignore and the online world is filled with fans. I’ve also heard people talk in the real world about Beach Read especially, but because that one wasn’t available in the library and had a waiting list, I picked up People We Meet on Vacation instead.

This book features total opposites Poppy and Alex. They met during introduction week in college, then never again until the summer break when Poppy needed a ride home and a friend set up a rideshare for her with Alex, who lives one tiny town over in Ohio. Alex doesn’t like to listen to the radio, Poppy has special travel playlists. Alex is a nervous driver but Poppy does her best to distract him.
The long drive sees them bond for life and the book chapters jump through time, going from the now, to twelve years ago, to eight years ago, back to the now, then back in time again.
Ever since that first road trip together, they have spent one week during summer together. During the twelve years their destinations have gotten more luxurious with thanks to Poppy’s job at a travel lifestyle publisher. Poppy lives a glam high-flying life in New York, travelling all over the world for work. Alex lives in his old home town where he works as a teacher at a public school.
He craves comfort and routine. She craves excitement and adventure. He brings a book to a bar (heck yes) and while he reads, she flirts with bartenders. He is the grounded one while she is all over the place. Then two years ago Something Happened (guess what?) that made things Super Awkward between them and they’ve not spoken since.
But now Poppy is feeling stuck in a rut at work and after accidentally sending a text message to Alex, they are back to texting. Not just that, but within a day they have set up a new trip together.
This felt so weird and sudden. Things were so bad between them that they didn’t talk things out and left it untouched for two years and now they’re going on a trip again without discussing anything beforehand? How did they think it would go? And it’s not just any trip: Poppy basically invited herself on Alex’ trip to Palm Springs where he is attending his brother’s wedding. I wish I could say things got heated for other reasons but it’s mostly just because they’re travelling to the desert in the middle of summer.
At no point in the story did I feel the tension that would make the friends-to-lovers trope believable; I only believed Poppy and Alex as friends. I think the ending would have been so much better with them deciding to stay friends. And why would that not be the perfect ending? Friends are so valuable to have in your life, and it would have made the book stand out way more than it does now. Now, it’s a typical fluffy comfort read that I won’t remember having read a year from now, and it could have been something that carried a little bit more weight. It might not be fair to judge an author by one book, but this one didn’t do anything to make me understand the hype. It was okay, but not a standout.

And so comes an end to the Reading Challenge and the Year 2024.
It’s been a wild and wonderful ride and I can’t wait to start all over again in 2025.
Wishing you all a sparkling start of the New Year and many, many, books to look forward to!

People We Meet on Vacation / Emily Henry
Reading Challenge 2024: CHECK!

Reading challenge 2024 – No. 4

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No. 4: a graphic novel
De smokkelaar [the smuggler] / Milan Hulsing

I know little about the genre of graphic novels aside from the two I read before. I don’t know why I don’t read them more because the ones I read (Maus and Giant) were amazing and great respectively. Another reason to be glad about the reading challenge, pushing me to this genre.
This time I picked up a book that turned out to be only published in Dutch, but the story is amazing and I truly hope it gets the translation it deserves to spread the word.

The title translates into The Smuggler and the smuggler from the title is Laszlo, a Hungarian who fled his his country. The story takes place in the 1950s and 60s which has Hungary invaded by Russia and under a strict communist regime. Laszlo had to flee his country for the role he played in smuggling Z.O.L.T.A.N. comics produced in the Eastern Bloc, to the West.
On the run, he travels the world and at one point ends up in the Caribbean where he lands a job as a diver. Here, he also meets an eccentric Hungarian millionaire, who shares his hatred for the communism that is keeping their country in its grip. When Cuba becomes a communist country as well, the fear for the spread of communism to the other islands in the Caribbean intensifies and Laszlo and his friend are convinced they need to help nip it in the bud as they’ve seen up close what it can do to a country.
They do this, by launching the Z.O.L.T.A.N. comics in the United States, its extreme and political message something unheard of in America at the time. While the Cold War intensifies, the pop-art scene explodes, and the Z.O.L.T.A.N. comics become one of the leading items of this scene, with Laszlo hailed as its developer even though he only was the one smuggling them out from behind the Iron Curtain.
His millionaire friend buys Laszlo time in the media, with tv interviews and a spread in Life magazine. The media attention is used to drive home the warning message against communism.
However, the attention that they draw also reaches Hungary and the authorities start to track down the people behind Z.O.L.T.AN.. Instead of arresting the true genius, Laszlo’s former mentor Kalman, they use the witch hunt to arrest anyone in the Eastern Bloc they suspect to be involved with anti-socialism: academics, journalists, and artists alike.

The story is told by Naomi, the daughter of the owner of the ship Laszlo works on as a diver. Naomi is an independent storyteller but one with a lot of fantasy, making the story unbelievable in parts. This is fitting with the topic of fake news which was one of the main drivers of the Cold War.

I really liked this graphic novel and enjoyed both the story and its drawings.

De Smokkelaar [the smuggler] / Milan Hulsing

Reading challenge 2024: No. 6

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No. 6 – A book that is set in the future
This is How You Lose the Time War / Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Confession: I really, really, want to read The Ministry of Time which would have fitted this category perfectly. However, I also really, really want to finish the reading challenge and with three books to go and three weeks left, size of the book and ease to get it became the higher priorities.
This is How You Lose the Time War is an intriguing title though and I was still eager enough to get my hands on it.

The story is about Blue and Red. They are agents sent to secure the future for their worlds. They travel through time and space to execute the orders they receive. Because their worlds are at war, they are each other’s enemies.
The story starts in the middle of all of this, in the aftermath of a battle that was fought on a dying planet. Red wades through the mass of dead bodies she left behind to pick up a note. The instructions are to burn before reading which is a fun play on normal secret agent talk and it sets the tone. The note is from Blue, her competitor, her enemy.
Red replies to the note by leaving something hidden for Blue to find in the next location she is sent to. And this is how the book continues. Blue or Red arriving somewhere sometime to manipulate the future, and finding a message from the other who had already been there. It leads to messages implanted in the strangest locations which is kind of fun but also confusing at times, such as the ones with words written in a cloud, boiling water, or inside an animal for example. I decided there was no way to understand it, I just had to accept it for what it was and read on.
There never is much of an explanation to anything. How are they travelling? Who is giving their orders and why? The chapters jump from Red to Blue in the same way they jump through time and space: Blue on yet another sinking Atlantis. Red inside a volcano that she’s triggering to erupt at some time.
They don’t care about the worlds and times they arrive at: they’re there to execute an order and that’s it. They are not anthropologists, explorers, or historians; they are ruthless agents.
We do learn that one of them is from an elfish like wood-world, the other is a bot created in a lab but both come with the specific purpose to chase and kill.
Trained and tough as they might be, their jobs are difficult and lonely, and although it is dangerous, they start to look forward to a note left by the other. The notes are sometimes taunting, sometimes honest. Over time the notes become more personal, revealing dreams and fears and love.

This is a kind of high-concept book and very different kind of book, although maybe that’s because I’m not used to reading science fiction. The feel of the story reminded me a lot of the Loki series.
There is so much left unexplained that it makes the book readable because if the time travelling and the worlds, and the reasons for war would have been explained, the story would have become too much to work through. And it probably wouldn’t have made any sense. With all this left out, you can imagine the backstory any way you like; it’s open for interpretation while the story can focus on Blue and Red because despite the war and destruction this is in its core a love story.
This book was a roller coaster ride for me. It started off a bit difficult to get into, then I was fully on board, but the ending was too much for me. It was difficult to keep track of what timeline the story was in and I felt it made things unnecessarily complicated. I would have been okay with the story ending two or even three chapters earlier than it did.
All in all, still glad I read this.

This is How You Lose the Time war / Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Book review: The story collector / Evie Woods

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The Story Collector / Evie Woods

Early on this year I read and enjoyed The Lost Bookshop by this author so I happily picked up the new title for entertainment during a long train trip to the other side of the country and back. I know it’s not polite to toot one’s own horn, but geez, that was a smart decision.

This book is about Sarah in 2011 and Anna in 1911.
New Yorker Sarah arrives in Ireland after making a rash decision at the airport, boarding a flight to Shannon, Ireland, instead of Boston. She bought a newspaper at the airport which had an article about a motorway being rerouted after successful protests of locals to safe a tree that has been known as the home of the fairies.
Yes, this book features fairies. Fairies are part of Irish folklore and if you’re imagining Tinker Bell-like creatures, you’re in for a surprise: The Good People, as they’re also called and referred to in this book, have a really dark side to them.
Sarah arrives in Shannon the day after Christmas and because the hotel airport is full, the manager takes her to a nearby village where he has a friend who rents out a holiday cottage.
Once settled at the cottage Sarah is lost for things to do and stuck with herself and all her feelings. There’s not much to do besides walking and on one of her walks she finds a treasure chest hidden in a tree. This chest contains Anna’s diary which Sarah starts to read. Anna grew up in the cottage that Sarah is staying at and she describes the arrival of American Harold, who is a scholar by way of Oxford. His area of interest is the folklore of fairies and he’s travelled all over to document people’s experiences. Anna becomes his assistant, translating the Irish that is locally spoken, and explaining the traditions and customs to him.

There are a lot of parallels between both storylines: there are visitors from America. Both Anna and Sarah experience traumatic events. There are storytellers and seers in both timelines.
The coincidence of Sarah finding Anne’s diary on the same day as Anne received it and started it a hundred years before, was a bit too much of a coincidence but aside from that it was a joy to read both Sarah’s and Anne’s stories.
Sceptics will probably want to steer clear but for the non-sceptics out there that are in the mood for a well written, slightly different story, The Story Collector comes recommended!