(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Note:  While this review will not contain spoilers for Into the Bright Unknown, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from previous novels in the Gold Seer trilogy.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.

Ever since she fled her home in Georgia, life has been one big adventure for Leah "Lee" Westfall.  The 16-year-old has survived innumerable threats, accumulated more wealth than she could ever have imagined, and found a happy home among friends who feel more like family.  Now that Glory has become a more established town, Lee's ready to settle down to a simple life with her childhood best friend and husband-to-be, Jefferson Kingfisher, by her side.  Despite all the hardships she's been through, she's more content than she's ever been. 

Of course, peace can never last in the Wild West.  The riches Lee and her friends have made have attracted the attention of a greedy, unscrupulous billionaire.  While the group from Glory is in San Francisco, he keeps a sharp, suspicious eye on Lee, making her fear that he knows her secret.  With a mysterious companion whose uncanny abilities feel very familiar, James Henry Hardwick may be an even more sinister foe than Uncle Hiram.  Several of Lee's friends have troubles of their own in The Golden City.  Can the merry band survive their woes and make it back to Glory in one piece?  After more trials and tribulations than any person should ever have to encounter, will Lee finally get her happily ever after?

It's no secret that I adore the Gold Seer books by Rae Carson.  They're clean, exciting, well-crafted, and just all kinds of enjoyable.  Into the Bright Unknown, the final installment in the trilogy, is no exception.  It wraps up the series with a smashing, satisfying conclusion.  My only complaint with it is that I'm now forced to say goodbye to these characters whom I've come to love so much.  It's been a delightful ride and I cannot wait to see what Rae Carson does next.  

(Readalikes:  Walk on Earth a Stranger and Like a River Glorious, both by Rae Carson)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, scenes of peril, mild sexual innuendo, and brief, non-graphic references to prostitution and rape

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find 

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Leni Allbright has never really known a normal life.  At 13, she lives a transient, poverty-stricken existence with her parents, whose volatile marriage has only gotten more violent.  Her father, Ernt, suffers from PTSD thanks to his recent stint in the Vietnam War.  Tormented by paranoia and anxiety, he can't hold a job, which only makes him more mercurial.  Despite escalating abuse from Ernt, Cora Allbright refuses to leave the husband she loves, even if he's no longer the man she married.  Caught in the middle, Leni can only hide herself in books and pray for better days.

When Ernt receives a letter informing him that he's inherited a cabin in Alaska from a dead war buddy, he makes the impulsive decision to move ASAP.  Both Leni and Cora are leery, but hopeful the change of scenery will soothe Ernt's troubled soul.  When the Allbrights reach Kaneq, a remote town accessible only by boat (except at low tide when it's completely cut off), the women begin to understand just how woefully unprepared they are for homesteading in the middle of nowhere.  Despite the help they receive from the ragtag bunch who populate Kaneq, Leni's anxiety continues to grow.  As winter comes on with its dark, endless days and brutal, isolating weather, what will happen to Ernt's already erratic moods?  Cora wears the evidence of his rage all over her body—how much more can she stand?  When the changing whims of the Alaskan wilderness become less dangerous than the perils within her own home, Leni knows only she has the power to save herself and her disintegrating family.  Is she strong enough to survive in a place so inhospitable that only the toughest—or craziest—people have the audacity to live there?  She's about to find out.

One of my favorite WWII novels is Kristin Hannah's 2015 best-seller The Nightingale.  That epic tale swept me away and I've been waiting with bated breath for its author to give a repeat performance as brilliant.  Although her newest, The Great Alone (available February 6, 2018), differs from The Nightingale in time, place, and theme, it's just as sweeping, just as engrossing, just as impacting.  Atmospheric and haunting, this is a sad but beautiful book about resiliency and redemption.  I loved everything about it.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, disturbing subject matter, and mild sexual content

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of The Great Alone from the generous folks at St. Martin's Press.  Thank you!

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

"...whoever they were, whatever their history might be ... They were not like anyone else" (13).

For centuries, the Owens Family has lived under a curse that taints their lives and, especially, their loves.  By leaving behind the witchery that has earned her family its dubious reputation, Susanna hopes to live a normal life.  After a modeling career in Paris, she marries a psychiatrist and bears three children: Franny, Jet, and Vincent.  It's obvious from the get-go that the kids are more Owens than anything else.  Franny can commune with birds, Jet can read minds, and Vincent can see the future.  Desperate to keep her family's secrets, Susanna admonishes the children to avoid magic at all costs.  

When the children are summoned to the Owens' ancestral home in Massachusetts, Susanna knows her efforts have been in vain.  Under the tutelage of Aunt Isabelle, the kids begin to uncover the secret of who they really are and why they can do the remarkable things they do.  With that knowledge, the three must learn how to cope with their unique gifts in a world that can't understand them.

Back in the Dark Ages before this blog was even a twinkle in my eye, I remember enjoying Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman both as a novel and as a film.  When I heard the author was publishing a prequel, I snatched it right up.  The Rules of Magic isn't quite as charming as I thought it would be (actually, it's super depressing), but it's still mostly enjoyable.  The characters are complex and interesting, though not always likable.  While there's not a ton of plot going on in the novel, it's compelling.  Overall, then, I liked The Rules of Magic, didn't love it.

(Readalikes:  Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language, violence, sexual content, and depictions of illegal drug use

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Like legions of girls, I became a rabid Little House on the Prairie fan as a child.  I devoured the books, inhaled the television series, and spent hours imagining what it would be like to live Laura's seemingly-charmed life.  Although I've been meaning to revisit the books as an adult, it's taken me a long time to do it.  I finally picked up Little House in the Big Woods a few months ago and enjoyed the nostalgic re-read.

If you've been living under a rock and you don't already know, Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's autobiographical series about growing up in Wisconsin during the late 1800s.  Full of fascinating details about homesteading and life on the prairie, the novel doesn't have much of a plot.  It's very episodic, highlighting the Ingalls' experiences with inclement weather, wildlife, farming, family, and eking out a life in the wilds of Middle America.  Overall, it paints a fairly cozy, romantic picture of life in that place and period.  

While I didn't find Little House in the Big Woods quite as engrossing as I did as a child, I still enjoyed it.  There's a reason it's a classic, a reason it's stood the test of time, and that's because it's really very charming.  I still love the story (plot-less, though it may be) and am excited to continue re-reading the series.

(Readalikes:  other books in the series, including Little House on the Prairie; Farmer Boy; On the Banks of Plum Creek; By the Shores of Silver Lake; The Long Winter; Little Town on the Prairie; These Happy Golden Years; and The First Four Years)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for some scary images

To the FTC, with love:  This is a selection from my personal library.