March Book Review

I am getting better at this all the time - the March book review and I am posting it when it's only barely April! Wonders never cease! I also cannot believe I am still reading so many books each month! I'm on a streak - look at that! 

All but My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein: Gerda's serene & idyllic childhood is shattered when Nazis march into Poland on September 3, 1939. Although the Weissmanns were permitted to live for a while in the basement of their home, they were eventually separated & sent to German labor camps. Over the next few years Gerda experienced the slow, inexorable stripping away of "all but her life." By the end of the war she had lost her parents, brother, home, possessions, and community; even the dear friends she made in the labor camps, with whom she had shared so many hardships, were dead. 

Despite her horrifying experiences, Klein conveys great strength of spirit & faith in humanity. In the darkness of the camps, Gerda & her young friends manage to create a community of friendship & love. Although stripped of the essence of life, they were able to survive the barbarity of their captors. Gerda's beautifully written story gives an invaluable message to everyone. It introduces them to last century's terrible history of devastation & prejudice, yet offers them hope that the effects of hatred can be overcome. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐of five. I thought this was a really unique look at World War II; Gerda spent much of her time in forced labor camps and was then marched through Germany on what was essentially a death march - so this was a much different view of the war. Most books I have read are from those who survived concentration camps, so this was a stark and horrifying look at life in work camps and especially the horrible march that took so many lives.

The Sister Wife by Diane Noble: Set in the heart of the earliest days of a new nineteenth-century sect known as the Saints, The Sister Wife is a riveting account of two women forced into a practice they don't understand, bound by their devotion to Prophet Joseph Smith. When Mary Rose marries Gabriel, neither of them could foresee how quickly the community would turn to the practice of plural marriage. 

Devastated when Gabe is faced with an order from the Prophet to marry her best friend, Bronwyn, Mary Rose tries to have faith to carry through with the marriage. But can she really be married to the same man as her very best friend? Can Mary Rose & Bronwyn face betraying both their husband & their God to do what they feel is right?

Rating: ⭐⭐of five. This was the March book for my book club and honestly; I really didn't enjoy it. The relationship between the two main characters seemed rushed and so therefore everything following it seemed forced. It just wasn't for me - and that's okay. 

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez: Dr. Briana Ortiz's life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother's running out of time to find a new kidney donor, & that promotion she wants? Oh, that's probably going to the new man-doctor who's already registering eighty-friggin'-seven on Briana's "pain in my ass" scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game...by sending Briana a letter.

And it's a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn't actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny & subversively likeable guy who's terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he & Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her "sob closet" & discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable - a kidney for her brother - she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor... especially when he calls in a favor she can't refuse.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ of five. This book was chosen as Book of the Month's annual "Book of the Year" and so as a BOTM Best Friend, I received a copy for free! And I can see why this book won because it is a lovely, heart-warming and funny romantic comedy that unfolds in the pages of a book as opposed to on the screen. The characters are loveable and also very relatable and the story unfolds with hilarity. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a light and lovely read! 

A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle Jensen: Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband's back. Freya's dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region's jarl, landing her in a fight to the death with his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddesses' blood , which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden's fate. 

Believing he's destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath & orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight & learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming & fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐of five. This book was unique and I enjoyed reading it; it very much was like reading an episode of the TV show Vikings - if that makes sense? The book had romance, mystery, some terror and magic, and quite a lot of fighting because... well, they're Vikings! This is the first in a series and I could definitely see myself picking up the next one to see how Freya's story continues to unfold, especially since it ended on a cliffhanger!

Crescent City: House of Earth & Blood by Sarah J. Maas: Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life - working hard all day and partying all night - until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths. 

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose - to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wrecking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach. 

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold ear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion - one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐of five: Goodness but this book was LONG! At just over eight hundred pages, it took me the back half of the month to get it read! It started a little slow for me, but really ramped up and I devoured the back half of it... and I am already started on the second in the series! 

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So far this year I have read seventeen books - and around 7,000+ pages! I'm seven books ahead of schedule for my 2024 reading goal and not slowing down yet! I'll see you back here after April to share the books I read during all the April showers!