An avid reader whose current interest lies in mysteries and thrillers. Line 'em up!
Also personally love fantasies and any stories to do with magic, and a sucker for the occasional (good) romance.
Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!
December 30: 2022 Reading & Blogging Reflections
Prompts: Happy almost New Year’s Eve! How many books did you read in 2022? Did you meet your reading goals? What were some of your favorites? What were your least favorite books you read this year? How did you feel about your blogging in 2022? What are your favorite posts you wrote in 2022? What are some of your favorite posts from the community that you read this year?
Happy New Year, everyone! It’s the last LTB of the year and that’s just something I thought I wouldn’t be saying so soon. As usual, it’ll be a time of reflection and checking up on goals and what not. So without further ado, let’s go!
It seems like I only read 30 or so books this year (or honestly maybe I didn’t keep track very well), which is definitely lower than last year. I had way less time than I thought, and I actually filled up a lot of the list recently when I reignited my interest in some thrillers. My (arbitrary) reading goal was 50, which I suppose comes down to about a book a week, and I just wasn’t able to this year, but I still got to read some great ones this year!
This year I read books like Verity, Daughter of the Moon Goddess, and Nine Lives, all of which I didn’t have the biggest expectations, but turned out to be quite good. I may not have read the most books this year, but I am glad I got to read some books that I really liked. My least favourites were probably Magpie and Klara and the Sun, which didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but were nonetheless readable.
Blogging on the other hand has definitely been up and down; periods of slow posting but also some periods of good posting. I think overall it was a little bit slower than I would have liked, but I think a busy schedule will often do that to you! I definitely enjoyed writing our post on personality typing the characters from Six of Crows, and we hope to do more of that next year!
And with that, I hope all of you have a great rest of the year and a happy new year to all of you! A reminder to get some rest where (and while) you can, as we all know the cycle will just start all over. Happy holidays!
Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!
December 23: Holiday Books (Aria)
Prompts: Christmas books and movies dominate the media during the winter season, but Christmas isn’t the only holiday being celebrated. Do you like reading holiday books at all? Have you ever read a holiday book about another religion? What about a holiday book not set during the winter season? If you’re religious but don’t celebrate Christmas, do you feel represented in the holiday media?
Happy (almost) Christmas everyone! And happy holidays to all the other celebrations going on at this time as well. Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH everyone. Today’s topic is suggested by our very own host, and I suggest you go check out her page (linked above) if you haven’t already!
I tend to read mysteries and thrillers, so I usually don’t read holiday books. But I think there are certain books that I read during the holidays, and that will usually enter the cozy genre. So cozy mysteries are always good by the holidays or during winter. I think the catch is something light-hearted around the holidays will always be appropriate for what I want to feel!
I haven’t read anything about another religion on purpose, but whenever it pops up in a book I read, I really appreciate it. It’s always nice to get a glimpse into religions you don’t know. I worry about picking them up on the fly, because I won’t be sure it’s an accurate representation of how it really is. But I just tend to take these things with a grain of salt, and treat them as little tidbits of information that I can at least appreciate.
I wonder what a holiday book not set during the winter season would be like. That would be something more akin to a beach read right? Maybe I’m just overgeneralizing though. Just something about a wintery cool season makes me want to sit down in a comfy chair and just read, and slowly go through the book at my leisure. Not sure how you all love to do your holiday readings!
I celebrate Christmas but I’m not sure that means it’s really represented in the media. It’s really been taken over as some sort of gift-giving party-hosting scheduling frenzy for two weeks (not that I dislike it). But in terms of the religious side of things, I feel that some of that is lost in the media portrayal, and becomes more capitalistic in nature. Still, I enjoy the time to see friends and family you don’t necessarily see often, and I think that’s always a blessing.
What about you all? Do you do holiday readings? And please do let me know if you have a good holiday read that isn’t set in winter (or autumn)!
Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.
Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.
Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything—including her own life.
Although I have heard my share of woes over this one, I did have one friend who asked me to read it, so I did it. Unsurprisingly I didn’t enjoy it that much. It wasn’t horrible by any means but if compared to his other book, this one definitely pales in comparison!
The Maidens has an interesting premise whereby there is our main character is who already gung-ho set on a professor being a murderer. It’s fair, since he has a group of young female students whom he calls “The Maidens.” Of course they are all young, rich, and beautiful, and Edward Fosca seems to have them all within his grasp. Our protagonist, Marianna, also faces her own demons from her past as she navigates a new series of murders at her old haunts. Too many coincidences add up…maybe she should get out before it’s too late.
The characters, on their own, were fairly well-crafted and I enjoyed this aspect of the book. Full of clearly flawed characters all trying to get by, while keeping too many secrets, I thought the tensions in the book were excellent. There was even mention of the main character of his other book, and the conversation was so much more chilling having read that book already. But I liked the link between the two books! However, the relationships between the characters might have been a little bit too unbelievable. Without spoiling too much, it just felt like the relationships were more convenient for the plot than out of what was believable. I forgot to mention I just couldn’t really get behind the main character either, she’s just a little bit too paranoid and stubborn for me. You’ll see what I mean about that.
The plot was also okay. I am not a fan of these kinds of stories where you start off having a huge focus on this professor being the murderer and basically never deviating from this story. It felt so forced (because it was), and whether it turns out finally to be the professor or not, either way it wouldn’t be satisfactory. If it was the professor, then we knew it all along; if it wasn’t, it was obvious from the beginning that it wouldn’t be. See how that is kind of lose-lose (at least for me) here? The suspense was fine, but I think as the plot went on it kind of felt like it wasn’t going to go anywhere exciting. I wanted some fireworks kind of ending, and it just kind of fell short of my expectations, unfortunately.
The ending definitely was too unbelievable for me. If anyone has read it, you probably know what I mean. I just didn’t buy it. It wasn’t deus ex machina, but honestly, I felt that it was pretty close. And the punchline that was supposed to be chilling and be that kind of final hit on your psyche didn’t land at all on me. Instead it made me just feel kind of confused. I could see how it could work to be scary and thrilling, but it just totally missed the mark for me. I don’t particularly recommend this one beyond just the face value of it being a thriller suspense novel; in that sense it was good!
Overall Recommendations
The Maidens is a story of a serial killer running loose at Cambridge University. Our protagonist is sure she knows who it is and chases them down. Full of suspense and dark intrigue, the story is certainly full of suspenseful moments as the paranoia within Marianna’s mind builds up more and more up to its finale. For me, there were a few too many moments that were not believable for me to fully enjoy it. Maybe I’m just a little bit too picky, and you may have more luck with it than me!
Down the Rabbit Hole 