Category: 4.5 star

4.5 star, YA

Review: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Six of Crows #2

Welcome to the world of the Grisha.

Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets – a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

This is the second and final book of the Six of Crows duology. Continuing from where we left off in the previous book, we are immediately thrown into the action and unending plots from our main protagonist, Kaz Brekker. Having been betrayed once again, and weakened from the great heist they pulled off in the first novel, does he and his motley crew have enough to recover? This was certainly an exciting journey for me, so much so that I dare say it was more exciting than the first one! Andge and I both agree on the 4.5 rating here.

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4.5 star, YA

Review: Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

“I wanted this to be real life, not a detour….”

Addie is visiting Ireland for her aunt’s over-the-top destination wedding and hoping she can stop thinking about the one horrible thing that left her miserable and heartbroken—and threatens her future. But her brother, Ian, isn’t about to let her forget, and his constant needling leads to arguments and even a fistfight between the two once-inseparable siblings.

But when Addie discovers an unusual guidebook, Ireland for the Heartbroken, hidden in the dusty shelves of the hotel library, she’s finally able to escape her anxious mind—and Ian’s criticism.

And then their travel plans change. Suddenly Addie finds herself on a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle, trapped in the world’s smallest vehicle with Ian and his admittedly cute Irish-accented friend Rowan. As the trio journeys over breathtaking green hills, past countless castles, and through a number of fairy-tale forests, Addie hopes her guidebook will heal not only her broken heart, but also her shattered relationship with her brother.

That is, if they don’t get completely lost along the way.

Ireland has been on the top of my bucket list for ages, and reading this book only made that craving so much harder (thank you, pandemic). But luckily enough, Love & Luck helped me live a wonderful road trip through the Emerald Isle vicariously through its pages. With wonderful tourist sites and a breakdown of so many things this country is known for, I can’t wait to see this all in real life.

But onto the book now! Addie, whom you may remember from Jenna’s previous novel Love & Gelato, was fighting heartbreak. A boy she trusted and liked did something she felt deeply ashamed about back home, and now she was trapped across the ocean in a foreign country for her aunt’s wedding. I mean, I don’t think it particularly sounds like anything bad to complain about, but I guess it’s a heartbreak thing.

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4.5 star, YA

ARC Review: The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Truly Devious #4

After solving the case of Truly Devious, Stevie Bell investigates her first mystery outside of Ellingham Academy in this spine-chilling and hilarious stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.

Amateur sleuth Stevie Bell needs a good murder. After catching a killer at her high school, she’s back at home for a normal (that means boring) summer.

But then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls—the site of the notorious unsolved case, the Box in the Woods Murders. Back in 1978, four camp counselors were killed in the woods outside of the town of Barlow Corners, their bodies left in a gruesome display. The new owner offers Stevie an invitation: Come to the camp and help him work on a true crime podcast about the case.

Stevie agrees, as long as she can bring along her friends from Ellingham Academy. Nothing sounds better than a summer spent together, investigating old murders.

But something evil still lurks in Barlow Corners. When Stevie opens the lid on this long-dormant case, she gets much more than she bargained for. The Box in the Woods will make room for more victims. This time, Stevie may not make it out alive.

**The Box in the Woods comes out June 15, 2021**

Thank you Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this copy in exchange for an honest review

Did you think the story was over? Guess again.

Our favorite high school sleuth, Stevie Bell, is out for the summer. At home, you guessed it, bored. What’s a summer after you (technically) solved the cold case murder mystery of the century? Well, time to jump into another case, right?

While I, maybe like a lot of you who’ve perhaps read the trilogy, thought that was the end, boy am I glad that there’s more! I think I loved this one even more than the previous books. Why? Because:

A) it’s a self contained murder mystery within this one book instead of spread across 3 books where I will forget details and lose suspense with the wait time between novels

B) we already know Stevie and her friends well that it’s like slipping on old shoes and seeing them at their best (or worst) without unnecessary fanfare

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