Fond of Fonts

      Another adventurous and invigorating YA fantasy novel! Based in the City of Basitian, Bryn Roth returns to her family's original home with some semi-recognizable faces. Upon reading Young's newest novella, Tides, we as readers are introduced to the Roth family, full of trickster, gangster men led by Henrik Roth--the deadliest of all. Trade secrets, bribery, assault and even death are obvious tactics used in the family, however, its Bryn's introduction to betrayal, sacrifice, deception and manipulation that shows the true background to the Roth family. Bryn is to participate and show her true self, what she's able to achieve for the family overall. She learns quickly how to play the game and become her own person. Love comes along the way as well, which is tested and overcome with a price--to risk it all, even life, for a chance at freedom and happiness.     The amount of detail interwoven within this novel is intricate and well thought out. Character dev...

    A YA novella detrimental to understanding the love affair between Young's Fable duology characters, Auster & Paj. Although not a print publication, the writing stands true to Young's unique style of straightforward details, bold characters & easy to follow timeline/story arcs.     It's imperative, in my opinion, to read this novella to better understand the duology's characters, but also to prepare one's self to read Young's additional novel (in relation to the duology), The Last Legacy . This next novel is centered around the infamous, and sinister, Roth family. They are merely mentioned in Fable's duology, examined closely in Tides in relation to them being Paj's family members. However, this new installment centers around them entirely, especially with the introduction of the long- awaited niece, Bryn Roth, who will ultimately take the family's namesake to an entirely new level.     Highly recommend the novella! A short 112 pages, but ...

     ***SPOILERS***      An utterly epic conclusion to a phenomenal trilogy!   The dynamic couple, Lou & Reid, undergo exceptional challenges in order to return back to each other. Lou fights through a difficult occurrence of possession, which takes an inscrutable amount of strength to overcome--including her guilt with Ansel's demise. She develops the opportunity to meet with Ansel post-death & gains a sense of comfort in knowing he's okay (a chapter that readers WILL bawl their eyes out reading, just saying!)     Once Lou finally reaches Reid once more after her possessive episode, Reid undergoes a bout of "sleeping curse". He comes full-circle with his powers & sacrifices his time with Lou in order to ensure her mother cannot harm her any further. Upon waking up--Reid has memory loss & this ensures Lou to attempt at getting it back--through any & all means. Eventually, extremely last minute, Reid retu...

          Most vacations are full of beach days. lots of booze, harrowing adventures, and pampered afternoons. This family's vacation is anything but. Both mother and father are going through actions of adultery (husband had relations with a younger woman), their son is dating an older woman they can't find themselves to approve of, not to mention their son isn't achieving what they would consider his "full potential". Their daughter came on vacation the summer before she goes away to college, in all hope of attempting to lose her virginity during this two-week vacation with someone attractive and foreign--maybe the tutor her mother set up for her during their stay? Let's not mention the mother's married couple of friends. Both men have a decent age gap and are also looking to finally adopt a baby, if they can ever receive a decent email back. All of these various instances occurring while they all simultaneously made a decision to go on this "much ne...

      If you're looking for a novel similar to Gone Girl , I believe you've found it when considering Stephanie Wrobel's suspense- thriller, Darling Rose Gold . Based in a present-day small town, this story follows that of an "overprotective" mother caring for her "sick" daughter--in reality, her mother was poisoning her for years in order to gain the sympathy of others. Although, it wasn't necessarily sympathy the mother was going for but more so praise. She wanted the appraisal of others for all of the "hard work" and "dedication" she'd been giving her ill daughter. When realization set in of what was actually going on, Rose Gold sent her mother, Patty, to prison for five years of child abuse/ endangerment. It was her single testimony, along with witnesses' inputs and evidence, that fixed Patty's fate.     Five years later, Patty's out of prison . . . and staying with Rose Gold and her infant son, Adam. Things a...

     Returned to a classic that's near and dear to my heart. "Sing Me Forgotten" is a YA fantasy/romance novel that takes place in olden times France. Protagonist, Isda, is a young woman hiding among the underground tunnels of an opera house. She's hiding from those who choose to not accept her for what's underneath her ragged scars or beyond her supernatural powers intertwined with music. Her love for the magical sound is what keeps her sane in her circumstances, along with the only human being in the world who seems to be there for her in the most detrimental times, Cyril. Isda does his bidding by manipulating the minds of the opera house's patrons, persuading them to believe (by bewitching their memories) that the performance they'd just witnessed was worthy of another night's payment and attendance. It's with the nights festivities and nighttime prowess that Isda unexpectedly runs into Emeric -- a yet-to-be discovered musical prodigy who's ...

          Not the usual suspense-thriller synopsis I've become accustomed to when reading Lisa Jewell's novels, however, I was entranced by this novel from the get-co. The House We Grew Up In centers around a mother and her four children over the span of a decade. The mother, Lorelei, has an extensive hobby of collecting items that harbor a memory of time spent with her loved ones. Each and every memory-- meaning each and every item she just happens to come across. Lorelei is in fact a hoarder and it does not get better with time. It gets worse. In addition to Lorelei's intense and overbearing lifestyle, her children forego their relationship with their mother and each other in order to gain a sense of normalcy within their individual lives. One of Lorelei's children committed suicide at a ripe age of sixteen and her other three were simultaneously impacted by the act tremendously. Her other son took to finding a thrilling lifestyle in all the wrong places...