It’s time for another Summer Reading post! This week’s post focuses on books with shocking twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat!
Here are my recommendations:
A Goblet of Guises and Gooseberries by Abigail Manning
Thoughts: This was an absolutely incredible Goose Girl retelling, with the most shocking twist at the end! I did not see it coming and I was pleased with the outcome. This was the book that showed my why Abigail Manning is called the Queen of Plot Twists. This is also such a fun, cozy read and the twist is such an interesting aspect of the story!
Review: 5 stars
Summary:
A basket of berries, a dash of wild goose chases, and an identity swap that is nothing to honk about.
Princess Emaline has waited long enough for her betrothed’s family to invite her into their kingdom after the lengthy acquisition of a workers’ agreement. Accompanied by her new handmaiden and joined by a freeloading goose who rides valiantly on the carriage roof, Emaline is eager to explore her new kingdom–until her first exploration gets up close and personal with a local mud puddle.
A less-than-cordial exchange with their goose stalker leaves Emaline completely unsuitable to meet her future in-laws. In a desperate attempt to save face, her handmaiden kindly offers to greet the royals in her honor. Which would have been a grand solution had they not mistaken the polite maid for Princess Emaline…
Muddy, lost, and ready to pluck a goose, Emaline hunts for a discreet place to tidy up before rescuing her maid from the mix-up. But during her hunt for clean water, she stumbles onto the slave master’s property and is taken in as a new worker. With no way to prove her identity or get in touch with her maid, Emaline must rely on the help of a smooth-talking farmhand who just so happens to be head over boots for the new princess. Now tasked with making the gooseberry wine for her own table, can Emaline reclaim her crown? Or is it all destined to be a wild goose chase?
Wildcard by Marie Lu
Thoughts: Wildcard is the second book in the Warcross duology, and this book is shocking. Marie Lu does a wonderful job of having twisty books, but this book takes the cake. This book changed everything we knew from the first book, and there were so many surprises throughout the book!
Review: 4 stars
Summary:
Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo’s new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she’s always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side. Determined to put a stop to Hideo’s grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone’s put a bounty on Emika’s head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn’t all that he seems–and his protection comes at a price. Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?
City of Serpents by Christina Baehr
Thoughts: I love the Secrets of Ormdale series, and City of Serpents is definitely the heaviest book in the series. There is a lot of conniving and secrets throughout the book, and while there were not a lot of surprises, this still earns a spot on the twisty list. This book takes you on an adventure in the underbelly of London in the late 1800s and is such a wonderful read!
Review: 4 stars
Summary:
Edith is ready for the mad scientist and the snake-infested laboratory, but is she ready to admit she needs a little help from her friends? Edith is convinced that Janushek’s former employer, the mysterious Doctor Farley, holds the key to an antidote for dragon venom—her only hope to free the man she loves. Her ruse to obtain it leads her to London’s shadowy East End and a plot as sensational as one of her own detective novels. As Edith goes deeper into a city far more serpentine than she ever dreamed, she begins to question what Farley is really searching for…and if the cost to save Simon might be more than she can pay.
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Thoughts: Gemina is the second book in the Illuminae Files series. This series is full of shocking twists and revelations, but this book had some of the biggest and most intriguing twists! This book was a wild ride from start to finish and was a wonderfully twisty addition to the Illuminae Files.
Review: 4 stars
Summary:
Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed. The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault. Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion. When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands. But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Thoughts: I love Chloe Gong, and These Violent Delights is a wonderfully twisty retelling of Romeo and Juliet with rival gangs, monsters, and forbidden romance in Shanghai during the 1920s. This book is absolutely incredible and the romance is amazing, but the book has some shocking twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat!
Review: 5 stars
Summary:
The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal. But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
Reviews:
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