REVIEW: "Death and Night" by Roshani Chokshi

Before The Star-Touched Queen there was only Death and Night.

He was Lord of Death, cursed never to love. She was Night incarnate, destined to stay alone. After a chance meeting, they wonder if, perhaps, they could be meant for more. But danger crouches in their paths, and the choices they make will set them on a journey that will span lifetimes.

Death and Night is a lovely prequel novella to The Star-Touched Queen. Rich description, depth of characters, mystery, intrigue and romance. Chokshi's writing is so lush, I enjoy each word.

This works nicely as a standalone but also as the starting point for the other books.  Looking forward to the other novellas in 2018.

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Highlighted Reviews, November 2017

Welcome back to the Point.

Noe Lee made an enemy of Snowden Stark when she robbed his apartment. In major trouble with some bad people after her, Noe has no one else to turn to for help. 

Stark did not expect to see the tiny, mighty homeless thief, and his first reaction is refusal. However, Stark has second thoughts, but Noe is kidnapped and tortured before he can help her.  To right his wrongs, Stark becomes invested in trying to get her back safe and sound. 

True to Crownover's past characters, both Stark and Noe have their fair share of personal demons. Stark is good with computers, but not necessarily people. While he's super sexy and a bit of a geek, he also has guilt from his past and has kept his emotions buried so he is more machine than man. But something about Noe and his guilt from refusing her brings out more of his emotions.

Noe has had her own painful past. She is a survivor, and is strong, smart, and resourceful. She is a talented techie in her own right so can appreciate Stark's skills. She is good at running and disappearing, but this time she is in way over her head. What they both learn from each other is that sometimes the only solution is to not hide any longer and to face obstacles head on.  They find strength in each other.

I loved Dignity just as I do all Crownover's book.  Excellent characters with depth, intrigue, suspense and detail plus good steamy bit!

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Saving It by Monica Murphy is a cute young adult romance about a girl helping her best friend find someone to help him lose his virginity but instead finds themselves falling for each other instead. The novel is cute and angsty if a bit predictable. 

Eden and Josh are bestie who haven't really thought about each other as anything more than friends until they do. Changing emotions set new jealousies into motion, invite drama and lead to more than one falling out before the couple can admit their feelings.

I liked the book. It was a good, quick, easy read. Appropriate for a teen reader and those transitioning toward the new adult genre.

Final rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Never challenge a cowboy to a little naughty competition… 

A flirty game of sexual truth or dare between best man, Wynton Grant, and maid of honor, Melissa Lockhart during their BFF’s wedding reception results in a steamy hookup. 

But their plans for a one and done change when a family crisis leaves Wyn shorthanded at the Grant Ranch. Experienced horsewoman Mel volunteers to help out and gets way more than she bargained for living under the same roof as the sexy rancher. Playing house has never appealed to Wyn…until now. 

James never disappoints. This is another steamy but well written and developed novella from the Blacktop Cowboys series.  I liked Mel and Wyn, although knowing so many people with diabetes, I wanted to smack Mel more than once for her secrets that could have killed her.

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars

In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help.

Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind.

But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped.

And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . . . 

BOTTOM LINE

The premise may sound intriguing but I pretty much hated this book. I couldn't engage with any of the characters.  The change in POV each chapter makes it difficult to follow and I couldn't remember the laundry list of characters and how they connected.  I didn't feel bad for any of the dearly departed.

I'm not alone. The entire book club felt the same. 

All in all, not my cup of tea and I won't plan or reading any of her other works.

Final rating: 2 out of 5 stars

The Shadow Land is an engrossing novel that spans the past and the present and unearths the dark secrets of Bulgaria, a beautiful and haunted country. 

A young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, has traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria, hoping that life abroad will salve the wounds left by the loss of her beloved brother. Soon after arriving in this elegant East European city, however, she helps an elderly couple into a taxi and realizes too late that she has accidentally kept one of their bags. Inside she finds an ornately carved wooden box engraved with a name: Stoyan Lazarov. Raising the hinged lid, she discovers that she is holding an urn filled with human ashes. 

As Alexandra sets out to locate the family and return this precious item, she will first have to uncover the secrets of a talented musician who was shattered by oppression and she will find out all too quickly that this knowledge is fraught with its own danger. 

I enjoyed this engrossing tale, especially the audiobook. It was a surprising departure to most fiction I pick up but I was a fan of Kostova's The Historian, so I thought I'd give this a try.  I'm glad I did.

The attention to detail, slow build of the narrative, complex characters and plenty of surprise revelations had more enthralled with the story.

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Nostalgia

For the Popsugar Reading Challenge, two categories are a book you haven't read since high school and a book translated from another language.  I picked titles that brought back a bit of nostalgia for me as a reader.

The Great Gatsby is an American classic usually read in high school.  I was assigned the book as a junior.  I remembered the basics but honestly must have blocked out much of the actual plot which I find humorous. I'll chalk it up to immaturity and the passage of time.  Revisiting this I remembered primary character but nothing of the affairs, the jealous rage or the subsequent murder/suicide.

I definitely have a better appreciation for the depection of'1920s society and the greater nuances regarding the themes of the decline of the American Dream and the shallowness of the upper class.  This is never going to be a standout classic for me but it was interesting to revisit it as an adult.

Final rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Night was a book that truly changed by perspective as a reader. I'd never experienced a true story that was written is such an engrossing and haunting way.  As assigned reading in 9th grade, I remember this as one of my first "grown-up" books.  The narrative moves quickly and adeptly portrays the attrocities Wiesel and so many others endured during the Holocaust. The gravity of this book has always stayed with me even after nearly 25 years.
I remember being surprised that there are three books to Wiesel's story.  I plan to read Dawn and Day to finish the trilogy.

If you haven't experienced this on audio, I highly recommend the experience.

Final rating: 5 out of 5 stars






#popsugar #readingchallenge #nostalgia #greatgatsby #night #holocaust #YAlit