The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - a re-imagining of a Russian fairy tale. Vasalisa lives in a remote part of Russia where winter lasts a long time. Even though her father is a wealthy man, winter is very hard for everyone. It becomes even harder when he brings home a stepmother who doesn't want to hear anything about the old fables. But the fables prove to be strong and Vasalisa fights to keep her family safe against forces they know nothing about. Beautiful storytelling, very atmospheric. I felt cold just reading this.
4.5 stars
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Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb - the 44th Eve Dallas book and the series is starting to feel it's longevity. It's only a couple of weeks since the last book when Eve and Roarke are on their way home from a party. A young woman stumbles in front of their car, obviously traumatized. She's been the victim of a home invasion and her husband lies dead. What follows is so rote I feel I could write one of these stories now. I used to like them for the character development but some of the people seem to be devolving. And the stories seem to get more violent. And I absolutely shouldn't feel this way but I'm so tired of Eve reliving the trauma of her childhood.
2 stars
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All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai - Tom lives in the 2016 that we imagined in the '50's - flying cars, no war, no financial worries and unlimited clean energy. But in a fit of teenage angst (and he's in his 30's), he destroys all that and wakes up in our 2016. As John. With kind of the same family, but not. With kind of the same girl he has a crush on, but not. Kind of himself, but not. Lots of sciency stuff about time travel which makes my eyes glaze over. And lots of foreshadowing. In fact it takes until about page 98 before things really get going. Tom/John is not actually very likeable. I wanted to like this book much more than I did.
2 stars
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