Review: Escaping The Asylum: A creative journey towards liberation

Escaping The Asylum: A creative journey towards liberation by Siggy Galaen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this short fictional story to be a compelling look at how life within a psychiatric institution would be perceived from the patient’s perspective throughout the journey from admission to discharge. I’ve spent some of my career in healthcare working on the opposite side, as a healthcare professional within similar systems, not as a psychiatrist though, and found this to be a very unique and creative way to experience the process.
There were some areas in the story that were a bit confusing to the reader. This maybe because I’ve worked within these facilities and know the terminology and way many work so I was trying to superimpose my own experience onto this story although I don’t think they are even in the same medical systems.
I found many of the insights to be spot on. Especially in the final few pages. Fantastic conclusions. This may have been my favorite part. I do think when dealing with mental health issues we can perceive them too simplistically and assume that the patient’s should have more control over their own outcome by taking on their own healing. Unfortunately, I think, from my experience, truly mentally ill patients often lack the judgment and insight to even begin to do the things this patient did towards healing. So, I agree with the premise that institutionalization isn’t the one-size-fits-all solution, it also shouldn’t be discarded for all patients. Some truly need this level of care. Incorporating many of the healing ideas the patient in this story came up with would still be useful and many facilities do this.
Overall, a worthwhile and interesting read for anyone who has an interest in mental health.

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Review: The Grace Year

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I certainly felt the references that have been made to a female Lord of The Flies, The Power and The Handmaid’s Tale. This novel was a dystopian thriller in this same vein. Overall, I enjoyed the story and liked the characters. I appreciated the independence and ability of survival that the female protagonist had throughout but that she still required trust in someone else in order to succeed. I also thought that the love interests were realistic given the circumstances. The character development and growth in the supporting characters could have been explored more thoroughly, in that some of these stories were interesting and it would have been great to see more about how these young women interacted once they returned from their year.
The most disappointing part of the novel was some of the scenes involving the girls in the Grace year camp were confusingly written and therefore difficult to follow. It felt like a scene would begin with a character headed into solitude and the next thing taking place would be a group of them arguing, fighting or other similar action. These areas were not as well written in my opinion as the other parts of the book.
Overall, I enjoyed the book as a whole as well as the message that it sent to women (and the men in their lives).
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Review: The Patient

The Patient by Steena Holmes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So many thoughts about this book...

The premise was terrific, a therapist with several troubled patients and she believes one of them is a serial killer but isn't sure of which one.. Each of her sessions with her patients steadily builds the suspense towards her drive to try to sort this out without causing any mental breakdown of any of them. This writing was well done and thoughtful. I enjoyed the Alice in Wonderland setting and references, both with the attachment of various characters to the story and the town's park being a tribute to this. I could easily have seen this as an English, countryside mystery.

I thought the pacing of the book was mostly on track until the end. I don't think that any psychological situation is ever fleshed out in as much detail as this was in a setting like this. Without giving anything away, this would be such a complex situation that it would take a lifetime to unfold. I appreciate the effort in the writing and trying to wrap the conclusion up as well as is possible for a book.

My main negative issue with this thriller is that I figured a big piece of it out very early in the story, something I generally hate to do. In some respects, I'm not sure this was because I know more psychology than average or because the author intended it to be this way (probably the latter).. It did not detract much from my enjoyment of the story and there were certain details that remained hidden.

All in all, this is an entertaining read if you enjoy a psychological thriller that involves gruesome crimes without spending any additional time on the gore of the crime itself. This was far more about the characters and the plot than the crimes.

Definitely recommend.
#ThePatient #NetGalley #LakeUnionPublishing

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Review: The Broken Girls

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a captivating duel-timeline ghost story that kept you interested right until the ending. Set at a girls' boarding school in a remote community where isolation ruled. The girls were sent to this school because they had nothing, they either had behavioral problems, no money, no family or some other unspoken issue that needed them out of sight. When one of the girls goes missing as she was returning back to school from a visit to relatives, the police investigate and come up with no explanation. In the current day timeline, a reporter whose older sister was also at the school and who was killed, begins to investigate the events surrounding that time as the school is being scheduled for a reopening.
The back and forth between the timelines was incredibly well done and drove the story line forward. The mystery keeps you guessing and there are many twists and turns throughout the story.
Highly recommend and anticipating the next book by Simone St. James.

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Review: Above the Star

Above the Star by Alexis Marie Chute
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a sweet, compelling read as the first book in The 8th Island Trilogy by Alexis Marie Chute. I have had the pleasure of being a part of the "street team" although my opinion is my own. I received this book from the author for an independent review, but I had previously purchased it from Amazon for myself. I am a reluctant middle-grade/young adult reader, meaning that it really depends greatly on the topic and writer as to whether I will stick with it or not. This is an engaging story about a young girl who develops an "incurable" brain tumor who is then unable to speak due to the surgical treatment and complications following this. As her health is failing, her grandfather takes the family on a cruise and has discovered the possibility of a cure, but in order to obtain it he must put full faith in a magical creature that he does not know and take a leap of faith. This story is a remarkable tale of relationships, love and what we will do to help those we love most. It is set in real-day as well as in a fantasy world, merging the two well.
As the beginning of this trilogy, this is a great starting point and is highly recommended.

#AboveTheStar #AlexisMarieProductionsInc #SparkPress #StreetTeam

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Review: Below the Moon

Below the Moon by Alexis Marie Chute
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another sweet, compelling read in the second book in the Trilogy by Alexis Marie Chute. This is such a creative series that tackles some intense issues including debilitating illness, intense relationships and most of all love. How much are we willing to give or sacrifice for the chance to save someone we love? This is at the heart of this series. Part two is even better than the first book and is hopefully a platform to lead into the conclusion to the Trilogy due out next year. For anyone who adores fantasy with some reality thrown into the story, this is for you.
Also for those looking for a little magic and a cure for what ails you, this is highly recommended.

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Review: Lock Me In

Lock Me In by Kate Simants
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a complicated book for me. I initially felt as though I would fly through it, great premise, psychological thriller (heavy on the psychological) with a dysfunctional relationship between mother and daughter and unexplained disappearances that seem related to mysterious behaviors by the daughter that she does not recall. At around the 20% mark, I felt like I mostly figured out the major idea of the plot, which was a little disappointing. I'm glad that I stuck with it anyway however. It was a terrific debut book that offered more to the story than at first glance. In addition, I loved the relationships, good and bad that either existed or developed throughout the story. This was probably the most unexpected, pleasant surprise of the book. The addition of some diverse characters and the relationships between fathers and daughters, mothers and daughters was very nicely done.
This was a great read and I would definitely recommend it.

#LockMeIn #NetGalley #HarperImpulseandKillerReads #OneMoreChapter

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Review: The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The premise of this story is an interesting and compelling one that entices many readers right away. What reader can resist the pull of a story about books? Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for my taste. I didn't dislike it completely, there were aspects of it that I found enjoyable. For instance, I liked the idea of having the direction of the tale stem from books. I think my issue really stemmed from the historical fiction aspect of this. I wanted it to have the feel of a fantasy/sci-fi, which it did, somewhat, but by weaving in the historical aspects, it just fell a little short for my liking. I do think it shows great promise for this author and future works.
This may be more a problem of me not being the intended audience.

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Review: Twenty-one Truths About Love

Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What an adorable, charming, end-of-summer read. This was such a cute idea for a book concept and I’m sure the way a lot of people, especially men think about things. Dan can’t help himself but to go through life by incessantly making lists for absolutely everything. He even incorporates his lists onto his wife and it then interferes with that relationship. He must try to adapt to life with and without his lists.
This was a light-hearted and pleasant book that I would recommend to anyone.
#TwentyoneTruthsAboutLove NetGalley #StMartinsPress

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Review: The Hive

The Hive by Barry Lyga
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting YA dystopian-esque view of asking the question of what would life look like if social media got even more out of hand? I say dysopian-esque because, honestly many of these concepts are sadly already in play today. Social media is out of control today. It affects how our children view daily life, in terms of "polls" for every decision they make all the way to governments announcing policy decisions by Tweet. And juries of popular opinion becoming mobs of angry citizens who view video footage of an event that is taken on someone's camera phone. Are people ever "innocent until proven guilty in court" anymore? Or is our system so tainted by social media that most have decided their opinions prior to any real trial?
This book tries to address this idea in the scope of teen angst. The premise is good. It reminds me of a mixture of "The Passenger" and "The Circle" and "Scythe". I enjoyed it. I would have liked for it to be a bit more true dystopian, in that meaning, further removed from today's reality.
I would recommend it for those that like the above books listed or similar sorts of books.
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Review: The Whisper Man

The Whisper Man by Alex North
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just spent an awesome couple of days reading this jewel of a book. This was a book that I have been hearing mostly great things about and it more than lives up to the hype. This is a creepy, dark, multi-generational thriller that is much deeper than most. The pathological psychology twists in this as well as the family dynamics truly keep you turning the pages and reading late into the night.
Highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a spooky, creepy (not gory) October or autumnal read, this is it! A definitive 5/5 stars!

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Review: This Tender Land

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A masterpiece of a book by William Kent Krueger. This Tender Land is a story about four young children who escape from a terrible experience within a boarding school where they were suffering abuse and neglect. They travelled down the Mississippi River to St. Louis during the Depression and had various trials and tribulations along the way. None of this would have been easy for them but through family and faith, they persevered. This historical references in this book were for events that are largely ignored in our view of history of the USA and for that reason as well as the phenomenal writing, this book should be on the required reading list for our high school or college aged youth in this country. I received this from NetGalley for a review but loved it so much that when Book of the Month offered it, I opted to receive the final copy as well.
Highly recommend.
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Review: Say You Still Love Me

Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is my first K.A.Tucker book as romance isn't usually my thing. However, this is adorable. I loved the writing and the characters in this book. They leave you pulling for their situation to work out and sometimes you are just in the mood for this sort of read. It was the right book at the right time. A pleasure to read and quickly readable.
3.5/5

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Review: A Fist or a Heart

A Fist or a Heart by Kristín Eiríksdóttir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is an intriguing book from an Icelandic author that is full of atmosphere and a sense of the isolation of the country in parts. Overall, I have been interested in the culture of Iceland after having an Icelandic student as part of our local community and staying in contact with her. I find the culture quite unique, compared to traditional western cultures, even the naming of children. This book was a tough read, due mostly to the difficulty in following narrators and finding the plot. Some of the subject matter was quite intense and difficult to handle. Overall, I found the author's use of the voices in this book to be well done. This was not an easy read though.

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