The Body Double by Emily Beyda begins in an unnamed small town movie theater but mostly takes place in Hollywood, California.
The narrator doesn’t have a name. She’s been brought to Hollywood in order to be a body double for a famous movie star – both on and off-screen. She spends her time learning everything about Rosanna Feld so that she can become Rosanna. Her only job is to be Rosanna. She’s paid a lot of money to forget her former life.
Max is the man who hires her to be the body double. He’s a sleazeball but the narrator seems to like him. She’s suspicious of him but she overlooks quite a bit to keep him happy.
She does spend some time trying to figure out what happened to the real Rosanna. In the end, her questions are answered. I won’t give away the ending but it was not what I expected.
If you’re interested in stories about Hollywood and movie stars – the glamour and also the seedy parts- then you will probably enjoy “The Body Double.” The book has been compared to the movie “Vertigo.” I cannot believe that I haven’t seen the movie.
If you aren’t a fan of Hollywood or crime fiction, then this book might be too fancy for you.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for doing a review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
The book starts out in China approximately two thousand years ago. A tiger has killed a young boy, the son of a warlord. A witch, Zi-Ling, was wrongfully accused of killing the boy. She vowed revenge upon those responsible for her impending death. Her ashes were separated by a monk and sent to different areas of the world in order to keep her from reconstructing herself and avenging her death.
Zi-Lin needs her descendants and the ashes to become powerful again. She uses people and insects to gather her power and find the descendants, also known as the Blood Children. Zi-Ling’s sister, Maylan, turns the monk into a worm and then called Lao Chong. From then on the worm does the bidding of Maylan. They use the worm and spells to control people.
There is also a golden box called Gu, which contain part of Zin-Lin’s ashes. Apparently, Gu has her own power and calls herself The Queen.
At this point, I’m confused. Why does Gu have her own personality? Why isn’t the witch the focus instead of the queen? There are so many characters and it’s still the beginning of the book.
Most of the book takes place during the present time in San Francisco. The Queen and her minions have tracked two of the Blood Children.
There’s at least one chapter devoted to understanding why and how the insects and other creatures run things for the Queen. I could have done without knowing understanding the insects point of view. Maybe it’s just my personal distaste for bugs.
Part of me wants the witch to avenge her death but I think that sympathy for her gets lost in the story. The book needs a bit of streamlining to make it easier to follow. Sometimes I’m not sure if the witch and the Queen are the same entity.
There are some good parts of the book. I like the section about the witch and the tiger. The parts with the current blood children are good. The premise of the book is good but it gets a bit off track in some places.
If you are seeking to avenge your ancestor’s death, then you might appreciate this book.
If you are an exterminator, then you won’t appreciate this book or the treatment of exterminators. Plus, there are so many bugs and spiders with an incredible amount of intelligence.
Will the witch be able to reconstruct herself or will the Blood Children destroy the boxes? Will the Orkin Man or Woman ever be successful against the power of the insects and spiders?
I received the ebook from Reedsy in exchange for doing a review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
Kingshold by D.P. Woolliscroft is set in the city of Kingshold, which is on the island of Edland. There’s not a specified year but I would say it probably takes place during medieval times. In this book, magic is a real thing that people accept.
There’s not one main character. It’s told from the point of view of a bard, a sorcerer, the sorcerer’s adopted daughter and a servant at the palace.
The last king and queen have been dispatched by the sorcerer due to their greed and ineptitude at running the kingdom. The sorcerer, Jyuth, has proclaimed that there will not be any other kings and the people must choose a different way of doing things. The privy council decides that there will be an election. Whoever pays the price can have a vote.
Mareth, the bard, has taken a job from a wealthy candidate. His main job is to write songs about what’s happening with the election. The sorcerer’s daughter, Neenahwi, is a powerful sorceress in her own right. When her father retires, she will be taking his place and she isn’t looking forward to it. Alana, the servant girl, is responsible for taking care of Jyuth. He sees that she’s smart and includes her in his plans.
It took until I was at about the 20 % point before things started to click for me. So I would recommend sticking it out because the story really gets pretty good by the 45% mark.
If you are a fan of stories with magic and intrigue, then you will probably enjoy Kingshold.
If you are a troll, orc or a greedy politician, then this book is too complicated for you anyway.
I received this book for participating in The Write Reads Blog Tour. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
The Skin of Water by Cristina Salat is mostly set in San Francisco. Sixteen- year- old Lisel has run away from her home in New Mexico. She spends a few days squatting with a new homeless friend.
Her uncle has moved into her home in a Pueblo community in New Mexico. The house was left to her by her father, who passed away.
He is an abusive creep, which is why Lisel has left. Her aunt and grandmother do not come to her aid like they should.
After a few days, Lisel moves into a homeless shelter for at-risk youth. As part of the program, she has to take a self-defense class. The class really helps to empower Lisel and the other women in the class. Many of the class members believed that they had to accept being assaulted. The class helps the women to become empowered. It’s a beautiful thing to read about those who are weak becoming strong.
The shelter only allows people to stay for a few months before they have to leave. Lisel isn’t sure if she is going to stay in San Francisco with her new friends.
She has to decide if she’s going to confront her uncle and take the house back or build a life somewhere else. Will Lisel realize that she is powerful?
If you enjoy stories of women trying to overcome adversity, then you will like “The Skin of Water.”
Creepy uncles will not like this book. The book is too good for them anyway.
I received the book from the author in exchange for doing a review. We were brought together by the Indie Helper Database. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
Malice by Pintip Dunn is set mostly in Maryland. There’s some time traveling but it occurs in the mind rather than a physical setting.
Alice Sherman is a teenager who is trying to hold her family together as well as becoming a famous Instagram food photographer. She is a good photographer but a lousy cook. Her family includes a distant father and a socially awkward but brilliant brother.
One day Alice begins to hear a voice in her head who threatens her with an exceptional amount of pain if she doesn’t comply with orders. The first order is to tell Bandit, one of the popular kids, that she loves him.
The voice turns out to be her own voice from ten years in the future. The future Alice warns her that someone at her high school is going to make a virus that decimates the population. Future Alice wants her to do everything possible to stop the virus from being made – even if she has to murder the virus maker. The voice is the first one to call Alice by the name “Malice.”
You would think that Bandit would be a jerk. He basically rules the school. He is kind to Alice even though her profession of love has confused and embarrassed him a little bit.
Alice is on a quest to find the identity of the virus maker. She even finds a portal in her mind to go to the future. Alice has a feeling that future Alice is not telling her the truth. She finds out a few things before future Alice sends her back.
If you like books about time travel with a hint of a dystopian novel, then you should read “Malice.” There are plenty of twists and turns. I promise that you will not be bored.
If you are an evil genius who wants to destroy the planet, this is not the book for you.
I received this ebook from InkSlinger PR as part of a book blog tour. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
“The Friday Edition” by Betta Ferrendelli is set in Denver, Colorado. Although, the book opens with a young district attorney falling to her death, don’t let it dissuade you from visiting Denver in the future.
Samantha Church is a reporter for a local newspaper. She is the sister of Robin, the district attorney who died in the first chapter. Both sisters had issues with alcoholism. Robin had been sober up until the day of her death.
Samantha hasn’t admitted to herself that she has a problem with alcohol. She has already lost custody of her daughter and fired from a decent job at a different newspaper. You could say that things are not going well for her in any way.
Sam has a feeling that Robin did not commit suicide. The police are ready to close the investigation because they believe that she jumped off her balcony on purpose. Sam wants to follow her instincts and find out whatever she can about Robin’s last few months at work.
After some digging in Robin’s files, she gets in touch with a police officer, Rey, who had been helping Robin on a drug ring investigation. Sam and Rey are positive that Robin found out something that was going to upset the wrong people.
Sam tries to sober up in order to do some investigative reporting. Unfortunately, alcoholism doesn’t care about deadlines. She messes up quite a bit but manages to redeem herself. Sam is the underdog but I kept hoping that she would overcome her challenges.
If you are interested in reporters, cops and mysteries, then you will probably enjoy “The Friday Edition.”
If you are easily triggered by bad cops, then you should hold off reading it for a bit longer.
Can witches ever really have true friends? In The Furies by Katie Lowe, Violet learns about betrayal and witchcraft more than she learns about any other school subject.
The setting is Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girls boarding school, near a small town. It’s a boarding school but it doesn’t seem like the students live there. In the beginning, a student has been posed on the swings after her death. The narrator doesn’t tell the reader who the student is until the end.
Violet has lost her father and sister. Her mother is alive but stuck in a cycle of depression. Violet can get away with almost anything because her mother isn’t paying attention. She had been homeschooled for the last year. Violet took on the responsibility of her own education so she decided to attend Elm Hollow Academy.
There has been a student, Emily, that disappeared before Violet arrived on campus. Apparently, Emily and Violet resembled each other. Violet also became friends with Emily’s friends – Robin, Alex and Grace. The art teacher, Annabel, invited Violet to participate in a secret group that learned about the local women accused of witchcraft and Furies, goddesses of vengeance.
Violet and her group of friends go through all of the growing pains of friendship. Can they trust each other with their personal secrets? Are they more like enemies than friends? Maybe frenemies.
If you like “The Craft” or “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” then there is a good chance that you will enjoy “The Furies.”
Witch hunters and Nancy from “The Craft” will probably not be a fan of this book.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
