Book Review: The Tapestry by Nancy Bilyeau

The Tapestry is the third novel in the Joanna Stafford Series and continues the rich storytelling of the first two. Joanna, as always, finds herself in trouble and must use both friends and enemies to get out of it.

It is 1540 in Tudor England. Joanna is trying to live her life quietly and peacefully tucked away in the little village of Dartford. But it's not to be. She is summoned by none other than Thomas Cromwell to Whitehall Palace where the king (Henry VIII) wants to discuss her tapestry work.

Joanna doesn't know what to think - she knows there is probably more to the king's summons.  And as soon as she enters Whitehall, she's attacked and almost killed. From there the story is woven with much detail, new characters, and of course lots of challenges and close calls for Joanna. She also tries to save Catherine Howard from the King who has definite designs on her, even though he's married to Anne of Cleves

All of the old characters are back, and since it's been a while it took me some time to make sense of everyone's position and relationships. The monarchy is complicated! Joanna's love triangle rears it's ugly head again but it seems there may be some resolution by the end of The Tapestry.

I thoroughly enjoyed my return to this time and these characters. I highly recommend you read the first two books, The Crown and The Chalice before The Tapestry.

Published by Touchstone, March 24, 2015
Copy obtained from the library
389 pages

Rating: 4/5

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Signup! 2016 EBook Reading Challenge

Time to clean up those e-readers! Welcome to the sign up page for the 2016 EBook Reading Challenge!

Challenge Guidelines:

This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2016 – Dec 31, 2016.

Anyone can join, you don’t need to be a blogger. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).

Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.

You can plan your books in advance or as you read them.

When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.

Sign-ups will be open throughout 2016, so feel free to join at any time during the year.

Levels:

1. Bits – 5 ebooks
2. Bytes – 10 ebooks
3. Megabytes – 25 ebooks
4. Gigabytes – 50 ebooks
5. Terabytes – 75 ebooks
6. Empty the Cloud – 100 ebooks

At the beginning of each month there will be a roundup post for you to add your reviews for that month. The linky will remain open for the remainder of the year, so if you forget, feel free go back and add them when you remember.


Sign up for the 2016 Ebook Challenge below. Please use the direct URL to the post where you join the challenge and declare your level.

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Stacking the Shelves - Jackpot!

I got some review books that I'm very excited about this week!

For Review:

The Steep and Thorny Way, by Cat Winters from NetGalley

Cat Winters is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Can't wait to see what she's done with Hamlet

Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys from NetGalley

Another great author. I've been waiting for approval for a long time!

Zero Day, by Jan Gangsei from NetGalley

From the Library:

Winter, by Marissa Meyer

This one finally got to the library (it was out of stock!) and I grabbed it before anyone else could.

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Feature & Follow Friday - Other Obsessions

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned.  Mine is going to be busy, but fun. Here's this week's question from Parajunkee and Alison:

What's your favorite non-bookish website hangout? - Suggested by Cornerfolds.

I'm pretty much a Pinterest junkie. I check my feed several times a day so I don't miss anything. It does have great stuff about books, but I'm also building a house and I love to cook and sew, so it's pretty much heaven for me.

How about you? What are you into besides books?  Leave me a link. Thanks for stopping by.

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Book Review: If You Could Be Mine, by Sara Farizan

If You Could Be Mine is a good story about a terribly unfair situation, however I didn't feel much tension in the story.

Sahar and Nasrin are best friends and in love. They have been for most of their lives. Being homosexual in Iran is not only unacceptable, it's deadly if found out.  They are 17 years old now, and things come to a head when Nasrin's parents arrange her marriage.

Sahar is desperate to stop the wedding. So desperate that she decides to pursue becoming a man surgically. Sex reassignment is legal, accessible, and even paid for by the government. I know Sahar is desperate, but I couldn't buy that she would think this plan would work in any way. First of all, she would not pass the psychological testing to have the surgery. Secondly, there's no way she can get it in time for the wedding. Thirdly, why did she think Nasrin would want her to do this? She's a lesbian. Attracted to women, right? I just didn't understand this part of the story at all.

I hate to say it, but I wanted them to get caught. By someone. I wanted them to get in some sort of trouble.  There needed to be some heart-pounding tension, rather than just being told again and again that they were afraid because they could be hanged if they were caught. Nasrin gets engaged at the beginning of the book, so the two of them don't spend much time alone during the story.

There are some interesting side stories. Sahar's cousin is also a homosexual, but in a very different way. He's mixed up in drugs and prostitution. Her mother is deceased and her father has just quit life, and Sahar must take care of him.

If You Could Be Mine is a nice story that brings an issue to light. But that's all it was. I didn't really find it very exciting or compelling.

Published by Algonquin, 2014
Copy obtained from the library
248 pages

Rating: 2.5/5

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Book Review: While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell

While Beauty Slept fooled me. For much of the story I thought it was a straight-up retelling, but no. The ending surprised me.

While Beauty Slept adds a lot of interesting details, backgrounds, and motivations to the story we are all familiar with. The details of the setting are rich and interesting. The romance is sweet and heartbreaking. The Happily Ever After, while not the one I expected, is satisfying. I king of liked the reimagining of the story. It doesn't rely on magic spells, which makes me think that this is probably the real story!

I found While Beauty Slept to be a bit long and drawn out. It could have moved a bit more quickly, especially at the beginning. It took a while to get going.

But that's a minor complaint, and if you are a fan of retellings and/or Sleeping Beauty, I would definitely recommend While Beauty Slept.

Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2014
eBook obtained from the library
432 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

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Stacking the Shelves - A Long Time Since I Got Any Review Books

I've been concentrating on library books lately, but this week I grabbed a few review books that caught my eye (thanks to you guys and your STS posts!)

For Review:

Girl Last Seen, by Heather Anastasiu from Edelweiss

Into the Dim, by Janet B. Taylor from Edelweiss

Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers from Edelweiss

Don't those just look wonderful? How about you? Anything wonderful this week? Let me know in the comments. And please be sure to visit our hosts, Team Tynga's Reviews.  Thanks for visiting.

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Congratulations! We Have a Winner!

I'd like to congratulate Pricilla Pomeroy who won my Five Year Blogoversary Giveaway! She has provided her mailing address so her books will be arriving shortly.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Book Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

The plot of Fracture was intriguing but I had a hard time feeling some of the emotions of the characters.

Delaney falls through the lake and her best friend and neighbor, Decker, pulls her out. She is underwater for eleven minutes and should be dead but she wakes up from a coma several days later and appears to be normal.

She goes home and tries to resume her life, but every once in a while she feels an itching in her brain and feels compelled to follow wherever her brain takes her. She's drawn to people who will soon die. And a mysterious boy, Troy, is always there because apparently the same thing has happened to him.

The plot through the book as Delaney works out what is going on is compelling. She is drawn to Troy, but also doesn't agree with his actions. Her relationship with Decker and her parents is all over the map. And that's where I had some problems with the narrative. There would be conversations among the characters, whether it was Delaney and her mom, or with Troy or Decker, and they would get angry. And sometimes the anger didn't make sense to me. Or they would be angry and then not, and it didn't make sense. I just couldn't understand the situation enough to totally buy into the emotions. I really didn't understand Delaney's mother at all. There were bits and pieces about her issues, but not enough for me to understand her reactions towards Delaney.

So, I think the premise is awesome. Plot is done very well. Characters and their reactions sometimes were confusing to me. I read this for my teen book club which meets today. I'm anxious to see what they thought.

Published by Walker Children's, 2012
Copy obtained from the library
262 pages

Rating: 3/5

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2015 EBook Challenge - Post Your December Reviews HERE!

We are coming very close to the end of these posts! I hope you are making good progress towards your goal for 2015.

You can see my progress for the year on my 2015 Reading Challenges Page.

If you haven't posted your November reviews yet, you can do that here. Good luck finishing out the year!

Add your December reviews below:

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