13/? An enchanting fairy tale of a book, well written and engaging. The characters and relationships were dynamic and realistic, and the darkness of The Wood created a slow building suspense. There is a ton of plot packed into this novel- I hit the halfway point and couldn‘t believe that the story wasn‘t wrapping up. Not a ton of substance but this book has deep roots in Eastern European folklore and it shows.

12/? An easy but frustrating read. Nothing happens and nobody is likeable. Circe sits on her island as visitors tell the stories of things happening to other characters. It veered into “Forest Gump” territory putting Circe adjacent to events just so something would happen.

11/? A little disjointing to jump between the narratives but overall a great story about perseverance, finding yourself and turning yourself over to what you love.

10/? Nothing happened. None of the characters seemed real. Everyone acted like 14 year olds.

9/? Re-read complete. It was so great to immerse myself in this world again, with the details of the later books just fuzzy enough in my memory to feel like the content was new again.

8/? Probably my favorite HP book (either this or Azkaban)

Hard pass on this one. 7/?

Revisiting some classics 6/?

This book had a great start to it, quirky and charming with realistic characters. It lost some of its charm as the book went on and jumped to wrap up storylines while skimping on the details. 5/?

A great read about a young girl left alone to fend for herself in the marsh, how she learned about the world around her and struggles to interact with people. The ending felt a bit rushed and left me wanting more but overall a very worthwhile read. 4/?

Quick read, definitely accurately portrays the anxiety and moodiness of being a teenager. The story thread was a little clunky. 2019: 3/?

Enjoyable vacation read but didn‘t live up to expectations. 2019: 2/?

Enjoyable and quick read, liked the first half of the book much better than the second though. 2019: 1/?

Up next

Stayed up until 3am on a work night to finish this, once the story started to unspool I couldn‘t put it down. Told very creatively by going back 1 day at a time, the story of two missing girls a decade apart snaps into place in a satisfying way

A very engaging read. The writing was a little clunky and the characters could have been more developed, but the captivating story made up for the shortcomings and I flew through this book.

An engaging story about a young girl who follows her father, haunted by his experiences in Vietnam, into the unknown wilderness of Alaska. Surprisingly tense throughout. Not as great as The Nightingale, but still a beautifully written book.