Posted on by Cassidee Lanstra

The Witch’s Heart: A Review

“I’ve seen how the end begins.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper as the words tumbled out. “I saw everything in the Nine Worlds. I saw the Aesir, the giants, and shades and dwarfs and men. I saw Yggdrasil, and the dragon who gnaws its root. I saw a wolf so big that his jaws could swallow armies whole, and a great serpent rearing out of the water, and I saw the sun and moon go dark as the wolves who chase them finally swallow their prey, and I saw a ship crewed by dead souls.”

The Witch’s Heart captivated me from the first page. THIS BOOK DESERVES ALL OF THE ACCOLADES. I love getting a deeper, more personal look at mythological beings. This book focuses on Angrboda, a Jötunn and lover to Loki. When it comes to her story, I’ve only heard scraps, even though she was known to mother the three most destructive beings in Norse Mythology. Genevieve Gornichec brings Angrboda to life and makes her a dimensional person, more than an infamous giantess, more than the bringer of grief. Through her eyes, we also get a look at Loki. I’ve always been fascinated by him, but many people don’t have the patience and tenderness towards him that Angrboda has. We see him through the eyes of a friend, of a lover. This book shines a light on both of them that is often left out of Norse mythology.

Through Angrboda, we get to see Loki’s mischief against the Gods play out. We see the tricks he plays and his reaction to the consequences. I’ve always enjoyed Loki and thought he deserved a bit more appreciation for being as quick thinking as he is, and Angrboda appreciates him as exactly as a wife might; exasperated and charmed, all at once. In turn, Loki appreciates Angrboda, in his own way. He sees her wisdom, her strength after being a shunned woman. Angrboda has an ability to adapt and I think it makes sense that she would be drawn to Loki, and him to her. Angrboda and Loki have both been punished for being far too clever, though Angrboda is punished for being reserved in that cleverness and Loki is punished for using it for mischief.

More than just the romance and crackling dynamic between Loki and Angrboda, this is a book about the strength of women. Angrboda is shunned from Asgard, her teachings are credited to others, she’s tortured… and still she rises. She makes a life for herself, she’s survived. She thrives, creating a bartering business for herself and a home. Gornichec paints Angrboda with masterful strokes, through her writing we see a woman who is bold, able to withstand fury of literal godlike proportions. Angrboda’s known for her iron demeanor, but our author slowly unravels a tenderness at her core. The Witch’s Heart embodies the essence of femininity; a woman’s ability to adapt to her surrounding, to be steely when faced with trials, and nurturing at other times. It’s a tale of motherhood, friendship, destruction, sacrifice, and rebirth.

“I loved you then. I love you now. I will love you until I die. And even after, whatever comes then, I will love you still, even though you’re a fool and you’ve used me the same way that Loki has used you. But I suppose that makes me a fool as well.”

Though I enjoy Loki as a god, he is lacking when it comes to nurturing Angrboda. He appreciates who she is, as I mentioned before, but he isn’t the best husband. The relationship between Boda and Skadi, a huntress, is much more worthy of admiration. These two women care for each other deeply and Skadi never backs down from telling her friend what she doesn’t want to hear, but needs to hear. Boda sees Loki with rose-colored glasses and Skadi sees him more evenly. The friendship and love between these two is a true heart warmer.

When it comes to motherhood, we see Angrboda take on a role that is much like a modern day stay-at-home mother or a single mom dealing with a barely-there dad. She deals with all the hard parts; bedtimes, education, getting her children to eat balanced meals. Loki sweeps in whenever he wants and piles his kids with sweets and loves and departs just as swiftly as he came in, leaving Boda to clean up the sticky fingers and be the strict parent in comparison.

Our author has a way of including a multitude of Norse myths, sometimes in passing conversation and other times, with more focus on them. We hear so much about Loki’s antics and of course, about the prophecies pertaining to their children. There’s a healthy dose of humor mixed in, I was constantly laughing out loud or grinning while reading. There’s also an undercurrent of dread that we feel through Boda when it comes to her children’s fates. Every emotion was pulled from me and I found myself wanting books from each of our characters’ perspectives by the end of The Witch’s Heart. The heartache, the love, the fear, betrayal, and humor all came together to make a PERFECT novel. The resilience of one woman and the way she opens her heart to others again and again. Gods play their games but Boda stays steady and true to herself. I LOVE this book. This book starts steady and ends up racing at breakneck speed towards Ragnarok and the conclusion. I truly believe this will fall under my top five favorite books this year. The Witch’s Heart doesn’t simply retell the story of Angrboda, it IS the story that people will turn to for many years to come when referencing her. This is art, a true masterpiece in Norse Mythology.

The Witch’s Heart is out now. Thank you to Netgalley and Ace/Berkeley Publishing Group for the opportunity to review!

Posted on by Cassidee Lanstra

99 Percent Mine: A Review (and Thoughts on the Romance Genre)

Well, let’s start with a confession. I can say that about a year or so ago, I truly was “ashamed” to like the romance/rom-com genre. I would call them my guilty pleasures. As a fantasy fan, which also gets a lot of heat for not being “literary” enough (gag), I would scoff at the romance genre. Here’s the thing, I always KNEW that people that turned their nose down at fantasy were small-minded. I’m not talking about people that can’t get into fantasy, sometimes you like things and sometimes you don’t. I’m talking about the people that immediately dismissed me when they asked what I liked to read, like I wasn’t a “real” reader. I have found myself in fantasy books. I have learned so much about empathy and human nature through them.

Over this last year, as I’ve been branching out to many genres besides fantasy, I realized that I had been small-minded about romance and romantic comedies. They aren’t a guilty pleasure. I think this points to the deeper issue that scoffing at romance is rooted in the fact that women used to almost exclusively write romance. These books were considered fluff and only FOR women because of the general disdain of a woman trying to do anything that only a man previously was able to do. Some things carry on through generations without a thought to why we feel that way. There’s some people who are generally uncomfortable with sex or dislike romance, and that’s okay. But don’t be ashamed if you do enjoy the romance genre. There’s nothing wrong with loving LOVE or being comfortable with sexuality in books. It doesn’t make you less of a reader. In fact, I’ve found that one of my favorite combos in general is fantasy AND romance. Take that, literary snobs.

Now that I got that thought off my chest, here’s my review for 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne. This book takes place after Darcy’s grandmother passes, ultimately leaving her and her brother (Jamie) a house and other items, which is then being renovated by their best friend/honorary brother (Tom).

This is one of those books that I truly don’t know how to rate. I started off not really liking Darcy, which is entirely the author’s fault. I have just really come to dislike turning your nose down at others (as evidenced by the rant above). She has this elitist attitude towards bartenders, like a person should be much better than being a bartender. Like being a bartender is the lowest thing she can think of and all of the people at the bar are trash. Darcy wasn’t a very believable bartender anyway. The whole “I change my name tag every shift thing” is such a dramatic approach and also not very likely that an employer would allow that regardless.

Her brother Jamie was kind of a douche and her family not taking her on vacation because they didn’t want to worry about her heart condition?? What?? You don’t let your chronically ill child even come with you to your vacations? Very weird. The grandmother who was supposed to be this sentimental family member to them all kinda treated them like crap? Giving the ring she knows her granddaughter loved to the boy of the family? Leaving their “basically” adopted brother/her adopted grandson nothing? Letting Darcy believe she was a liability to their family? None of this screams the sweet old lady that they made her out to be.

BUT… Darcy gets better throughout the book. Jamie isn’t a huge part of the book. And… basically-adopted-best-friend Tom is the BEST. The romance between Darcy and Tom is super cute. He’s a good person and he cares about both of the twins. The steamy parts are STEAMY. And I did love that Darcy was unapologetic about who she is, about how she takes charge in her sexual life, about how she feels about Tom. I would give these parts a 5 star and the rest a 3. I can’t possibly figure out how to rate this, so I will just say, if you’re LOOKING for a steamy escape, this will do the trick. You just have to get past the elitist attitude that mars the first chapter or so.

Posted on by Cassidee Lanstra

Tristan’s Folly by Marcus Lee: A Review

Yay! I was able to get a spot on Storytellers on Tour’s promotion of Marcus Lee’s new book. Tristan’s Folly picks up where Kings and Daemons left off. I can tell you one thing, the action was immediate. That’s something that I enjoyed in the first book as much as the second book. Lee knows how to pull his readers in.

Straight off the bat, Taran and the crew makes new enemies, as well as new allies. It is fun to see the characters that we followed in the previous novel coming together in this book more. The banter between characters comes easy and made me smile quite a bit throughout the novel. While others are coming together, The Witch King is still up to his dark ways and cruelties.

Maya is one of those characters that is a breath of fresh air. She’s truly good and compassionate and wants the best for those are her. The love story being her and Taran is soft and sweet, just enough to flavor the book without overpowering it or making it feel like a romance. This is a nice contrast to the constant cloud of doom, the battles that are always near. Speaking of Maya’s kind soul, through her and Astren, Lee brings up some thought-provoking conversation about the cost of war, weighing the immediate effect against the the long term effect that will strike a chord with many. There’s such a shade of grey that comes with war. It is easy to say that it is never needed, but sometimes you have to fight back. Sometimes it simply comes down to survival of the fittest. I love books that dig deeper into your subconscious.

Tristan’s Folly is a book that makes for smooth reading. Lee doesn’t fall prey to too much imagery, he sprinkles enough in to capture your attention while keeping the book’s plot at the forefront. No long, meandering paragraphs where you gloss over. I appreciate this in a novel. I like my novels to be driven by the characters, and this is certainly the case.

I also like that we get a lot of Daleth’s POV in this. Often we don’t get to see much of the “bad guy’s” thoughts, we just see them through the eyes of the other characters. Daleth’s sinister thoughts are compelling and at times, humorous. His response and thoughts to Taran’s crew are so entertaining. He leads with strength, and though people know he’s evil, they’re still willing to follow him. Reversely, on the side of good, people are having to accept a leader that isn’t quite up to their expectations. There’s treachery and twists aplenty happening. This treachery adds to the earlier question, how much are you willing to sacrifice to win? For the greater good? Is it worth giving up your own happiness?

Lastly, I just wanna say: I think the storyline Lee gave Kalas is GENIUS. It is so unique and I can’t say much without spoiling it for those that haven’t read the books yet, but he’s such an intriguing character. Whenever he’s in a scene, I always perk up a bit more than before.

Marcus Lee made another compelling read in his series, The Gifted and the Cursed. The lines between friends and foes, dark and light, monster and man are all muddled. These are some fun reads! If you haven’t had a chance to read them yet, enter this giveaway Here. Thanks to Marcus and Storytellers on Tour for including me!

Check out the other bloggers on this tour by clicking Here.

Posted on by Cassidee Lanstra · 1 Comment

The Switch: A Review

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars for The Switch by Beth O’Leary. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this copy to review! This was a charming little story that starts out when Leena has a meltdown at work. As she is still coping with the death of her sister, her work MAKES her take a two month sabbatical. She calls her grandmother, Eileen, who is trying to find life and love after her husband leaves her for a younger lady. In a moment of genius, they decide to switch homes and take on each other’s cities and responsibilities. In this novel, our characters will find love, themselves, and most importantly, each other. At the heart of this story, is family. It’s generations women lifting each other up. This was a cozy novel and the perfect book to take your mind off the hectic world and remember all of those warm and fuzzy feelings that come about when people that love you are looking out for you. O’Leary writes witty, relatable stories.

One thing she opened my eyes up to was the mistreatment of the elderly. Not in the physically abusive sense, but in the sense that we tend to lump every old person into the same ornery categories. We treat them almost childlike. She made a remark about how when older people try to find love late in life, we almost scoff at them or giggle about it. Our elderly are often forgotten and isolated.

As for the audio, DELIGHTFUL. I would be withholding if I didn’t tell you that I picked up this audio solely because Daisy Edgar-Jones narrated Leena’s portion. Her voice is like velvet. I could listen to her speak all day. After having seen Normal People, I knew that I would enjoy listening simply for the sake of listening. Just lovely. Alison Steadman did a fantastic job for Eileen as well, with her crisp, elegant voice.

Posted on by Cassidee Lanstra

One Year of Ugly: A Review

3.5 stars to One Year of Ugly!

Happy Publishing Day to Trinidad native @carolinemackenziewrites! This was such a fun story. Yola is in the midst of grieving her Aunt Celia when a dangerous man named Ugly pays her family a visit. He brings it to their attention that Celia owes him A LOT of money and he expects them to work off her debt. So begins the journey of using their family homes to harbor the illegal immigrants that Ugly moves across borders for extortionate fees. The matter is made more complicated when Yola falls in lust with Roman, Ugly’s strong arm.

This writing won’t be for everyone but I really enjoyed it. It’s frank and honest. Forewarning, since I know some of my friends on here have strong religious convictions towards sexuality and sexual partners, this isn’t a book for you. I am not religious in the least, so no issue for me. Yola is crass and bold and comfortable in her own body. There was a lot of body positivity in this novel. There were serious moments and hilarious moments. The relationship between Roman and Yola was actually really tender. I liked that Caroline didn’t try to tell the immigrant story since she’s a native, but rather showed the interactions between the immigrants and Yola’s family. It all ended up working towards an ending that I was quite surprised about.

A few thoughts: I actually didn’t think Yola was as “bitchy” as everyone said. She is a strong woman that says her mind, but I found that as a strength. Her Aunt Celia is definitely a different story. She says some things that are pretty awful, sometimes very politically incorrect. I didn’t enjoy the aspect of her older brother dating a minor/just turned 18 year old girl. I don’t condone that in any way and couldn’t get that part of the story, even though they ended up working out okay with the way the storyline went. All in all, I enjoyed this a lot but had a few issues! I found myself wanting to skip forward to the times between Roman and Yola because their encounters were the most interesting to me! All that said, I would definitely read more of Caroline’s writing.

Posted on by Cassidee Lanstra · 2 Comments

The Bromance Book Club: A Review

Okay, The Bromance Book Club caught my eye a while ago and it was on sale so I finally bought it! I usually don’t do reviews for chick-lit/romance novels but this one inspired me to do so. It actually rated a 4/5 stars for me. First off, I thought that the concept of a book about a group did men reading romance novels to connect with their wives more was super endearing.

“Don’t be ashamed for liking them. The backlash against the PSL [Pumpkin Spice Latte] is a perfect example of how toxic masculinity permeates even the most mundane things in life. If masses of women like something, our society automatically begins to mock them. Just like romance novels. If women like them, they must be a joke, right?”

That quote, though! Wow! What a true statement. There is that internalized misogyny towards women when it comes to making fun of the things that a large amount of women like. Other women even get in on it because it makes them “the cool girl.” I loved that there was this group of men actively discussing toxic masculinity and the shaming tactics used on women. Obviously, this was written by a woman author, so these are fictional men, but I think it points out that men in this day and age are becoming more aware of those issues.

“That’s why fiction resonates with people. It speaks to universal truths.”

These characters weren’t perfect and Gavin and Thea both had their faults. Gavin didn’t realize Thea was “faking it” their whole marriage and Thea didn’t take the time to address the issues in their marriage and just shut down completely and wanted to quit. I liked that Thea didn’t chase after him, but there were moments where I wanted her to discuss the issues instead of putting all the blame on him. For his part, Gavin obviously wasn’t paying enough attention to his wife if he didn’t realize she was unsatisfied throughout their relationship. I loved this group of guys holding him accountable and getting angry at him for these stupid, thoughtless mistakes he would make instead of turning a blind eye. The streak of humor that ran through it actually made me laugh out loud.

“The room finally erupted like he knew it eventually would. Every man jumped to his feet. Del began to pace, punching his fist into his other hand. Malcolm stroked his jingly beard and starting chanting like a monk. Mack shoveled angry forkfuls of brown noodles into his mouth, alternating between eating and pointing a silent, angry finger in Gavin’s general direction.”

There were also moments that were so off base that I was like… I hope men don’t read this and take it as the end all, be all. Like when Thea says that women love when suggestively men wink at them? No. I’d be more likely to laugh in their face.

“It absolutely is true. A woman remembers every time a man winks at her, because we love winking. It’s like catnip. Wink at us, and we roll over and start purring.”

No… get that crap out of here. I am cringing just reading that quote again. I loved how she normalized marriage issues though. She mentions how people change their entire lives and you need to address that change instead of just pretending that it isn’t happening. When you marry someone, you can’t expect that person to be the same person their entire life.

““All spouses become strangers to each other at some point in a marriage,” Del said. “All human beings are a work in progress, and we don’t all change at the same pace. Who knows how many people have gotten divorced simply because they failed to recognize that what they thought were insurmountable problems were actually just temporary phases?”

All in all, this was enjoyable. It was fun and hilarious and perceptive. I actually want to continue the series because I enjoyed it so much more than I thought. I’m glad this lived up to the hype!

“Good. First rule of book club?” They finished in unison. “You don’t talk about book club.”

Posted on by Cassidee Lanstra

Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein: A Review

I was offered a galley of Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein through Atria Books and I gladly accepted! This rom-com focuses on the 2020 Olympics, which were unfortunately cancelled, but was no less satisfying despite that detail. It did make me feel even more horrible for the Olympic athletes that have put themselves under immense pressure and rigorous training for this chance of a lifetime.

As far as rom-coms go, this was a 5 star within the genre. Our main character is Avery, a former gymnast that missed her shot at the Olympics after an injury. Years down the road, she still deals with depression that stems not only from this twist of fate but from the emotional abuse that her renowned coach spewed at her during her years of training. She finds herself lost and reeling after a breakup and back in her hometown when she’s offered the chance to coach a promising contender for the 2020 Olympics. This offer is extended by a former Olympian acquaintance named Ryan (hence where the romance comes in).

When Avery is thrust back into this world, she really has to face the repercussions that stem from years of training with an emotionally abusive coach. This novel stands above most that I’ve read within this genre because it addresses some serious issues. It focuses on the sexual abuse a lot of a female athletes face, which is often a product of trusted professionals or adults grooming and taking advantage of young girls. It discusses the self-image issues that come from some of the more severe coaching strategies and whether the brutal techniques are worth the results if they come at a detriment to a young woman’s mental or physical health. I loved that this novel managed to keep me interested enough to read this all in one go, with lighthearted prose, while tackling these issues. The romance was there, for those that are interested in the relationship aspect, but it didn’t play a more important part in Avery’s life than her addressing the issues she faced in the world of female athletes. This sends such a good message, because Avery didn’t sacrifice herself or what she believed in for a man, when it came down to having to put her experience out there. She cared more about helping other female athletes than getting the guy. Another aspect I really enjoyed was Ryan’s coaching style in contrast to the experience that Avery had when she was in training. He coaches with authority but gentleness in comparison to the ridicule, insults, and taunting that she experienced as motivators. They also recognize that his experience as a male athlete was likely very different than her experience as a female athlete in the same sport.

All in all, this was a delightful and brisk read. It never felt like a chore to read, and it wasn’t filled with fluff like a lot of rom-coms are (which, there’s nothing wrong with, if that’s what you’re looking for). I felt like I got an insight into the lives of a female Olympic athlete (since I’m the farthest thing from it) and this is an important novel to have available for young women, especially in a time when women are finally starting to be heard when it comes to holding men accountable for their mistreatment of them. Thank you to Atria and the author for the opportunity to read this wonderful distraction from the reality that 2020 is, which is utterly lacking from the excitement that the Olympics would have brought. Pick this up on June 23rd, 2020!