Lost Girls Reviews

I enjoy a good mystery with a creepy atmosphere and this one delivered. Hal's mother passed away leaving her completely alone in the world. She learned from her mother how to give tarot card readings in order to scrape by, but she is barely managing to pay her bills and now has goons threatening her if she doesn't pay back a loan.

“She didn’t believe in anything mystical, but she did believe in the power of the cards to reveal something about the querent, both to the reader and to the sitter themselves.”

Hal never truly believed the cards would reveal the future, but she has the skill to read people and because of this skill, she believes that she might have a chance at claiming an inheritance she knows doesn't belong to her. Desperation is what sends her to the estate pretending to be a long lost family member.

The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because a certain reveal left me completely confused. I had to reread this particular section multiple times trying to figure out what was really going on. I kept asking myself, "Who, and how? I think Ware got something backwards because this is not making any sense." I continued on and a chapter or two later it all finally clicked and I said, "OH! Now I understand." This one really made me think, almost a little too hard.

This is only my second Ware book, but I've enjoyed them both. The Lying Game was my first read and even though I really liked it, The Death of Mrs. Westaway is my favorite of the two. The characters were likable, the mystery was clever, and I loved the setting and the eerie old house.

-SW

I was extremely excited to read the second book in the Caraval series. I enjoyed the first book so much, but I still had a lot of unanswered questions. Who is Legend? What really happened to Scarlett and Tella's mom? What is Scarlett's ex-fiancee really like? And so many more. I was thrilled to finally, finally get all of my questions answered! I was ecstatic! Right up until I turned that last page and saw, "Epilogue," and it was about two pages long and answered NOTHING. Okay, we do find out who Legend is, but I'm still not satisfied. I need more answers!

Let's start at the beginning. I loved that this book was written through Tella's point of view. This time around Tella is playing the game and Scarlett is off in her room not doing much of anything (that we know of). Tella needs to win the game so that she can learn Legend's true identity and give this information to a "friend" who, in exchange, will help Tella locate her mother. The problem is, the more Tella plays the more she begins to realize this game may not be a game this time around. The stakes are much higher and things are getting real.

Once again, there are twists and secrets revealed. We learn a lot more about Tella's mom, but we don't get all of the information. That was my biggest disappointment. We were so close to getting answers, but the book just ends! I don't blame Garber for this at all. It was my mistake thinking this was a duology. Obviously it's not, and I will have to wait about 6 months before the final book comes out and hopefully answers all of my original questions plus all the new questions Legendary leaves us with.

Caraval remains my favorite book of this series so far. Legendary was really good, but it didn't feel quite as magical and awe inspiring as Caraval. There is less action, mostly due to Tella having very low stamina and being unable to really run around searching for clues. I enjoyed seeing familiar faces, and also meeting some new characters, and I love the cover art. All of the books in the series have such beautiful artwork. Overall, I love the world that Garber has created.

-SW

Selina Kyle is a very strong character, but I didn't expect her to be quite so kind and driven to help those she loves. I'd say she is a kinder softer Catwoman in this version. She is driven by her love and need to protect and care for her sister who has cystic fibrosis, which is different than the way she is normally portrayed.

I was also expecting a bit more of a villainous, morally grey, independent Catwoman. I was a bit surprised to see her team up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. I enjoyed the team up, especially Catwoman and Ivy's friendship. I liked Harley, but she tended to stay focused on breaking Joker out of the asylum, even hurtfully referring to him as "her man," completely oblivious to Ivy's feelings.    

Catwoman and Batman are usually the ones we see romantically linked, but in this book Batwing is the love interest while Batman is off on a mysterious mission. Now Batwing (Luke Fox) was an okay character with a lot of potential, a marine who suffers from PTSD and dons a suit to help fight crime and clean up Gotham's streets. I just felt like he wasn't all that much of a challenge. Catwoman frustrates, outsmarts and humiliates him a little too easily. I kind of felt bad for the guy.

In comics, movies and tv series, Catwoman tends to be a bit more sassy, saucy, and flirty than she is here. Selina's back story was a good deal different in this book, she grew up caring for her sister, learning to fight and winning match after match in Falcone's arena located in the sewers beneath Gotham in order to pay for food, rent and hospital bills. She is very serious and focused which is great, but I would have loved to see more of her fun, feisty side as well.

The bittersweet, emotional turn the book takes toward the end certainly took me by surprise. It was a very pleasant surprise. I enjoyed this version of Selina and I would recommend it to others, but I wouldn't recommend it to die hard fans of the comics because Maas does take quite a few liberties with the characters and doesn't stay entirely true to their original versions. I myself enjoy seeing different takes on my favorite characters. They don't always work, but in this case, it wasn't purr-fect, but I think Maas did a nice job.

-SW

The premise of this book sounded horrifying and I knew I just had to read it. A woman with a rare condition falls into a deathlike coma, her husband attempts to have her buried alive, but the only other person who knows about her condition is the outlaw, James Moxie. Moxie has to race against time to get to Carol before she is buried alive while staying one step ahead of the man hired to kill him.

I did have some questions regarding this woman's choice to only tell one or two people of her condition. What if something happened to the only person who knows? I would be absolutely terrified of waking up in a coffin and make certain enough people knew. I would take every precaution I could! Inside the coma Carol is completely aware of all that is going on around her. She can hear every word her creep of a husband says. She knows if she doesn't wake up soon, she will wake inside a pitch black coffin with no way out.

This book was very unsettling for a variety of reasons. Moxie is haunted by a faceless man determined to keep him from going back to Carol, continually playing on his guilt and shame for leaving her all those years ago. Smoke, the legless man for hire tracking Moxie is seeking revenge and wreaking havoc along the way. He is a nasty little man with unconventional methods and an obsession with watching things burn.

This is definitely not your usual western, or horror, or fantasy. I'm not even sure how to describe a book like this. I was intrigued and had to keep reading, I needed to know how this one would end. I did enjoy the end, but I can't say all my questions were answered to satisfaction. For example, you get the general idea of how Moxie pulled off the "magic trick" that made him a legend (shooting a man without ever pulling the trigger), but you don't really get the full details and you are left attempting to fill in the blanks. Not a big deal, I just prefer to have the details.

If you're looking for something outside the box, this is it. This book is definitely in a class all its own.

-SW

“Live a life worth dying for.”

This book throws a mixture of literary classics at you with quite the unusual twist. We go on a murder mystery adventure with Sherlock Holmes, Watson (which sold me on this book right from the start), and Dr. Jekyll's daughter Mary, who stumbles upon Diana the daughter of Hyde, who may or may not be her sister. We are eventually introduced to a slew of monstrous women who are linked to the likes of Frankenstein, Rappaccini and Moreau.

The story is told in their own words, each of the women attempt to write their own parts of the story, which we are constantly reminded by their sporadic, humorous dialog throughout the book. Mostly arguing over inaccuracies and veering completely off topic at times.

This was a fun book and I loved the friendship and the family dynamic between the "monstrous" women. I did however have a few issues with it. Holmes didn't quite feel authentically Sherlock to me. Only once did he wow with his skills of deduction and it was to get a boat ride and not to solve any mysteries.

The story is a bit slow with all the action happening toward the end. The grand climax has them solving the case, however, I was disappointed to finish the book and not have my questions answered. After the grand climax the story continues on, but it's mostly just to set up the next book. Mary even has the opportunity to find out what really happened to her father in the past, but instead she decides she's just not in the mood and will find out later. She lets the opportunity slip away because later doesn't come, at least not in this book!

Despite my frustrations, I did mostly enjoy the book. This is the first of 3 books (I believe) so I'm sure all the answers will come eventually. The girls are off to rescue the daughter of Van Helsing in book 2, but if Mary keeps bringing home every stray monstrosity she can find, she's going to need a bigger house soon!

-Shey

“Bone white, blood red. Along this path you'll soon be dead.”

A serial killer called the Gardener captures young women, tattoos intricately detailed butterfly wings on their backs, gives them new names, keeps them in a secluded, secured location with a lovely garden and their own personal rooms. He clothes them, feeds them, rapes them and on their 21st birthdays, does something completely horrific to them.

The only other person who knows of this place of horrors is his son, Avery. Avery is allowed access to the girls and may come and go as he pleases. He is not kind to the girls at all, and enjoys causing pain and torturing them. This is a disturbing story told from the point of view of one of the surviving girls as she reveals to two FBI agents all that happened from beginning to end. Maya's depictions are not overly graphic despite all she had to endure, but explained in a matter of fact manner.

The biggest issue that I had with this book was being unable to understand why none of the girls attempted to escape. Not a real attempt outside of trying to peek at the door's security code. It is explained that they were afraid that if they failed and were caught, the Gardener would murder them sooner. Each of the girls seemed to be resigned to their fates, and even when they were taken off to be killed, they were terrified, but never put up much of a struggle.

I cannot imagine knowing that a psychotic man was taking me off to end my life and not fight tooth and nail! Not once did he use any sort of weapon. If they were going to die anyway, why not die fighting? Not only did the Gardener come to the garden alone, he was an older man and grossly outnumbered by the girls. I felt that the girls had so so many options and opportunities, but didn't even try.

They had a cave they could talk privately and devise a plan of action, they had access to the kitchen, they had trinkets and things given to them by the Gardener, surely they could have used something as a weapon. One girl was even granted a pair of scissors which had only been used for embroidery and to cut the hair off another woman for the sake of revenge.

There was a woman who had gained the Gardener's trust to the point where he did not kill her, instead he stopped visiting her bed, and even allowed her to come and go as she pleased. This woman was loyal to the Gardener and not once so much as considered going to the police to save the rest of the girls! In fact, she envied the girls and wanted the Gardener to love her.

The book, for me, had a satisfying ending. The twists and turns were interesting and despite the frustration of all the wasted opportunities to escape (many of which I am not even discussing in this review due to spoilers), kept me invested. Due to the subject matter, I would not recommend this book to everyone. It is a story that will stay with you long after you've finished reading it.

-Shey

Many thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as well as the author, Tracy Banghart, for the opportunity to read an advanced copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.