Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #520: Alter Ego by Alex Segura

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher:

Alex Segura, award–winning author of Secret Identity, returns with a clever and escapist standalone sequel set in the world of comic books. In the present day, a comics legend is given the chance to revive a beloved but forgotten character. But at what price?

Annie Bustamante is a cultural force like none other: an acclaimed filmmaker, an author, a comic book artist known for one of the all time best superhero comics in recent memory. But she’s never been able to tackle her longtime favorite superhero, the Lethal Lynx. Only known to the most die-hard comics fans and long out of print, the rights were never available—until now.

But Annie is skeptical of who is making the offer: Bert Carlyle's father started Triumph Comics, and has long claimed ownership of the Lynx. When she starts getting anonymous messages urging her not to trust anyone, Annie’s inner alarms go off. Even worse? Carlyle wants to pair her with a disgraced filmmaker for a desperate media play.

Annie, who has been called a genius, a sell-out, a visionary, a hack, and everything else under the sun, is sick of the money grab. For the first time since she started reading a tattered copy of The Legendary Lynx #1 as a kid, she feels a pure, creative spark. The chance to tell a story her way. She's not about to let that go. Even if it means uncovering the dark truth about the character she loves.

Sharply written, deftly plotted, and with a palpable affection for all kinds of storytelling, Alter Ego is a one-of-a-kind reading experience.

Alter Ego by Alex Segura s expected out December 3, 2024 from Flatiron Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? I read the first one, Secret Identity, and enjoyed it. I like that this is a standalone sequel. What seems to be carried over from the first book is that it is a mystery involving the comic book industry, in particular the character of the Lynx. I am interested in how the main character will fare and what she will do with the Lynx.

What book are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #519: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: There’s power in a book…

 
They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.
 
Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.
 
Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid...and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix is expected out January 14, 2025 from Berkley.

Why I am waiting on this book: I've enjoyed every Grady Hendrix novel I've read so far. Plus it's a witchy story. I like stories about witches. This one sounds good because it's the girls becoming empowered by the magic they are exposed to, even if there is a cost.

What books are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Book Review: Strange Folk by Alli Dyer

 

From the publisher:

A woman returns to her estranged, magical family in Appalachia, where a conjuring meant to protect the community may have summoned something sinister in this lush, shimmering, and wildly imaginative debut novel, perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Deborah Harkness, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Lee left Craw Valley at eighteen without a backward glance. She wanted no part of the generations of her family who tapped into the power of the land to heal and help their community. But when she abandons her new life in California and has nowhere else to go, Lee returns to Craw Valley with her children in tow to live with her grandmother, Belva.

Lee vows to stay far away from Belva’s world of magic, but when the target of one of her grandmother’s spells is discovered dead, Lee fears that Belva’s magic may have conjured something far more sinister.

As she and her family search for answers, Lee travels down a rabbit hole of strange phenomena and family secrets that force her to reckon with herself and rediscover her power in order to protect her family and the town she couldn’t leave behind.

My thoughts: I enjoyed the book. One of the things I liked about it is that the story was told from more than one perspective. Some chapters were from Lee's point of view and others from her daughter Meredith's  or another character. It was easy to follow the transitions since each chapter was labelled clearly. I also liked that it was four generations that were involved in the story.

All of the characters were very human. They  had their flaws and their strengths. Most of them had a strong family connection as well as a connection with the land. There were traditions for passing on the knowledge of the magic too.

Plot wise, I thought the story moved along at a good pace. I read it pretty fast because I wanted to know what would happen next. There was a twist towards the end of the book that surprised me, but worked pretty well.

Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. It's well written, but has minor faults just as the characters do. I don't want to go into detail because it would create spoilers. The book is definitely worth a read. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy witchy stories and magical realism. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinions.

Strange Folk by Alli Dyer was released August 6, 2024 from Atria Books.

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #518: Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: The third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett is expected out February 11th, 2025.

Why am I waiting on this book? I've read the first two in the series and absolutely loved them. I enjoy reading the interactions between Emily and Wendell. And I want to know what happens with Wendell's stepmother.

What books are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #517: Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: 

Benjamin Stevenson returns with a Christmas addition to his bestselling, “deviously good fun” (Nita Prose), Ernest Cunningham mysteries. Unwrap all the Christmas staples: presents, family, an impossible murder or two, and a deadly advent calendar of clues. If Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club kissed under the mistletoe.

My name’s Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan of reading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays. I was wrong.

So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection.

THE MAGICIAN

THE ASSISTANT

THE EXECUTIVE

THE HYPNOTIST

THE IDENTICAL TWIN

THE COUNSELLOR

 THE TECH

My clues are even more abstract: A suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there. A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens. And an advent calendar. Because, you know, it’s Christmas.

If I can see through the illusions, I know I can solve it.

After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn’t it?

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson is expected out October 22, 2024 from Mariner Books.

Why am I waiting on this? It sounds like it will be a fun addition to the Ernest Cunningham mysteries.I love a good locked room mystery. I usually get that fix with Gigi Pandian books, but Benjamin Stevenson also provides a satisfying mystery with a smidgen of humor. And I like the idea of the use of magic as a vehicle for the mystery.

What books are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Book Review: Ladykiller by Katherine Wood

 

From the publisher:

Everyone has a story. But not everyone’s story is true.

Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were eighteen. Now thirty, heiress Gia is back in Greece with her shiny new husband, entertaining glamorous guests with champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun, while bookish Abby is working fourteen-hour days as an attorney. When Gia invites Abby on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden to celebrate her birthday, Abby’s thrilled to reconnect.

But on the day of her flight, Abby receives an ominous email that threatens to unearth the skeletons of her past, and when she and Gia’s brother, Benny, arrive in Sweden, Gia isn’t there. Worried, Abby and Benny fly to Greece, where they find Gia’s beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts the manuscript she penned, detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. Gia’s narrative reveals the dark truth about her provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of their seductive guests, a story almost too scandalous to be believed. But the pages end abruptly, leaving more questions than answers.

How much of Gia’s story is true? Where is she now? And will Abby find her before it’s too late?

My Thoughts: Basically, this is an interesting story and well told. It took a little bit to get into it. Once it got going though, I really wanted to know what was going to happen next. 

The book is told in chapters that switch between Abby's point of view and a manuscript that Gia wrote. I felt like both of them were unreliable narrators. They both had something to hide and were concealing it from friends and family alike. It left me guessing who was hiding what and just what the truth was anyway.

I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The title didn't quite seem to fit. And it took a bit to get into the mystery part of the book. There were some nice twists. And the ending was done in a way that left things open for either a follow up or for the reader's imagination to work on. I liked Abby and Benny. Gia I didn't like quite as well. I felt like she was acting out like a spoiled rich kid determined to get her way.

I would recommend this book to people who don't mind a slow set up and a somewhat open ending. It's  a good mystery and worth the read.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my review.