Mini Candle and Skin Care Haul

ephora’s Beauty Insider sale started on April 20th, and I decided that I needed to go. Bath and Body Works was also having a candle sale, which of course I couldn’t resist.

This year, one of Sephora’s birthday gifts was from Caudalie. It included the Vinoperfect Radiance serum and moisturizer. I have fallen in love with the Vinoperfect serum and decided that having 10% off with the sale was the perfect time to but the full size since it’s a bit expensive ($79 full size). 

The Vinoperfect Radiance serum is meant to even skin tone and texture, lighten dark spots, and brighten skin. It is made with an ingredient called viniferine that is from grapevine sap and is meant to be more powerful than Vitamin C. It also claims that if it is put on under sunscreen that the ingredients will give you a more even tan. While I don’t know about the tan (as it is only April), it has brightened and evened my skin tone for sure. I originally thought that I wasn’t going to like it because of the consistency and because of the price, but my skin tone has definitely evened out since using it. I often have difficulty with spots and redness and this has helped so much. Because it doesn’t have anti-aging properties, I will probably continue to use my Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair as well. In fact, I might actually start using the Estee Lauder at night and use Caudalie during the day.

While I was there, I also got sucked in by the Sephora facemasks. They’re so bright and colorful that I couldn’t resist. This time I picked up the pomegranate sleeping mask. The only kind of odd thing (that I didn't know until I got it home) is that it seems like it's a bit of a jelly texture. This should be interesting as a mask and I’m really looking forward to trying it out as it says it’s supposed to awaken your skin and is only $4. 

I’ve been trying to be better about using up candles, so I haven’t purchased many lately. I used up a bunch of my winter ones and a few of my more summery ones, so I finally allowed myself to buy new ones with their $10 off candle sale. I also had a coupon for $10 off of $30 which made my candles only $10 a piece.

One of my favorite candles is the Love, Heart, & Flowers candle. Unfortunately, it was limited edition and I only purchased 2 at the time. Last year, since they didn’t bring back the Love candle, I bought the Baja Cactus Flower candle and fell in love. This year, I went with the intentions to repurchase the newly renamed Cactus Flower and to find a candle as similar to the Love candle as possible. After smelling almost every candle in the shop, I came to the conclusion that Endless Weekend was as lose as I could possibly get. It has a slight sunscreen smell which I greatly enjoy.

Well, that’s it for my mini-haul! Did you purchase any items at the Sephora sale?

Supergirl, Volume 1: Reign of The Cyborg Super-Men

By: Steve Orlando
Published Year: 2017
Publisher:
Pages:

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads):

First Impressions

I am a big fan of the CW superhero shows including Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and DC Legends of Tomorrow. It’s totally nerdy but they are great. And the Flash (and Wolverine) have always been my favorite superheroes. I got really excited when I saw that this was available for review.

What I thought

I’m very confused. I know that DC has completed a lot of rebirth comics because of this resurgence in comic book character interest. I have read a Flash reboot comic and I really enjoyed it. This one, however, I felt completely like I was thrown into the middle of a world I which I only knew the main character.

Comic books are always a bit different to review, but I will try my best. The drawings and the colors were beautiful. Visually I really enjoyed this story. I wish I could’ve enjoyed the story as much.

Considering that this is called a rebirth I didn’t think I would be lost or feel like I was in the middle of an already started story. Instead, it seemed like Supergirl (at some previous point unknown to the reader) lost her powers and in the first scene, flew into the sun to get them back. Then from there she is assigned to the Danvers to be a part of their family. Maybe I allowed my show knowledge to influence my comic book knowledge too much, but I was a bit perplexed as to why she would only be assigned parents at this point in her life.

I think that because of the confusion, I didn’t enjoy the story as much as I thought that I would. I also wasn’t crazy about the Supe-Men Cyborgs as a villain and I think that made a difference too

If you’re a Supergirl fan, I think you will enjoy this. It wasn’t as if it was starting over from the very beginning, so I think already fans will appreciate that. New fans, or fans who are new to the books but not to the show will probably be confused like I was. I liked the updated drawings, but I don’t think I will read any more of the Supergirl Rebirth comics. I much preferred the Flash ones.

The Glittering Court

By: Richelle Mead
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 400

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Big and sweeping, spanning from the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training, and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and then when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.

But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands…

                                                           First Impressions
 
How gorgeous is this cover?? Added to the fact that I enjoyed Richelle Mead’s previous two series (The Vampire Academy and Bloodline) this book became an immediate addition to my TBR. I didn’t even read the summary. In fact, ebook version went on sale for $1.99 and I bought it, still without reading the summary.

                                                           What I thought

The biggest feeling that I’m left with is that I would’ve enjoyed this book more if I had read it 2-3 years ago. I’ll elaborate why I feel that way throughout the review.

The Glittering Court is about a society that seems very much like it’s set in the 1800s. There is a main country where Lady Elizabeth is a Countess and then there are other states/towns/countries that are being developed and seem much like the Wild West. Jasper Thorn has created a business with his brother where they find women of no means and train them for a year to become noble women. Once their training is completed, the women are shipped to the New World where they are put on show to up and coming men. Lady Elizabeth’s family has been struggling with money, so her grandmother arranges a marriage with a suitor. Elizabeth doesn’t like the suitor at all, so as a result she decides she’s going to trade places with her Lady’s Maid and run off to the Glittering Court and marry someone new in the New World.

While that is the general summary, there is a lot more that happens that I don’t want to describe as it would give things away. This is the first book of a series, but it’s not a part 1, part 2, part 3 series. The first book is told from Lady Elizabeth/Adelaide’s perspective while the second book will follow the same timeline but be told from Mira’s (another Glittering Court character) perspective. I believe the third book will then be told, again, along the same timeline, but from Tamlin’s perspective. I have a bit of a love/hate with this format. I think it’s great that if I wanted to, I could stop reading the series now and now feel like I was missing out/not getting an ending. I also think it leads to less chance of a letdown with book 3 of a trilogy. The issue that I have with this format is that there are glaring chunks of information left out for the benefit of being told in future stories.

This book is a bit reminiscent of The Selection in some aspects, but it doesn’t have the dystopian society aspect. The issues that this society are dealing with are very much just because they are starting their societies. A few years ago I was very into dystopian/society building novels and as of late, I haven’t been as into them. I think that part of that played into my apathy towards this story. it seemed like I was reading while thinking “yeah, yeah, I know that is going to happen because that’s how these types of stories. When is ____ going to happen?” and so forth. Whereas when I was at the pique of my interest with these types of novels I think I would’ve just been engrossed and not thinking about that. There was also a love interest that I enjoyed, but never felt the chemistry jumping off the page. In fact, I almost wrote this review without even mentioning the love story because it just didn’t stick with me! (Not on purpose, I just didn’t think about it in terms of the important things you would need to know before reading this book)

Another issue that I have with this story is that it seems like three completely different plots. Plot 1 is the Glittering Court training, which in my opinion was way too quick. They were supposedly trained for a year but this was barely a part of the book. I would’ve enjoyed more time spent on this part of the story, not only because I think it’s interesting, but because I think it would’ve allowed for more development of the relationships between characters. Adelaide calls Tamlin and Mira her best friends and I kind of stopped and thought “wait, she just met them?” but in actuality it had been 8 months! Plot 2 is the process of picking the husbands in the New World, and then Plot 3 is very Wild West centered.

In summary, I have some mixed up feelings about this book. While it wasn’t a book I felt like I couldn’t put down (in fact I did put it down for a day or 2 without picking it up), I enjoyed the overall story. I neither loved or hated this book and I think that leaves me a bit confused. 
 

I think that if you enjoy Wild West/Royal Court/Society Building types of story (like The Selection or like the TV show Reign), then you would enjoy this book. It’s nothing completely new, but definitely a solid story for the type of novel that it is. I think that I will end up reading the next books, if only because I think I will be more invested after having spent so much time with the characters and will, therefore, enjoy the future stories more. It also seems as though Adelaide has the most boring of plot lines, so the next two books might be more page turners. 
 

Play! By Sephora April 2017

Play! By Sephora is a monthly subscription box by Sephora. It costs $10 a month and you received 5 beauty and skincare samples plus a perfume sample each month. Previously, you needed to put yourself onto a wait-list and wait to receive an email before you could subscribe, as they were rolling it out to limited quantities.

In addition to the products, Sephora includes a booklet that includes information about the product, the brand, and then tips of how to use the products. Also at the back of the book is a Play! PASS. This Pass gives you a complimentary one-on-one session with a Sephora artist as well as an extra 50 Beauty Insider points when you scan the pass at the register with any purchase. If you have the Sephora app, you can also scan the images of the products to learn more about them.

When the subscription first started, it seemed as though everyone received the same box. Lately, it seems as though they have a handful of box varieties that everyone receives based on the survey you fill out at the beginning and their theme. This month’s theme is Step It Up.

As a heads up, the boxes are a little bit larger and will not fit into a small apartment sized mailbox. For reference, a Birchbox box is able to fit almost perfectly into my mailbox, but this one has no chance. Therefore, I’ve started having it shipped to my parent’s house so I don’t have to go to the Post Office.

The product I received this month were as follows:

Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Cream (Full-Size $52)

I love getting moisturizers in these boxes! It’s so much fun to try different formulas. This one is lightweight and is said to provide deep hydration as well as lock in moisture. It claims to lock in moisture for up to 72 hours which will be interesting. It doesn’t have a scent, which I like but it’s a bit of that silicone texture so we’ll see how that works. I typically prefer cream moisturizers but I’m looking forward to trying this one.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Face Cleanser (Full-Size $24)

The only other Philosophy product I’ve used is the Hope moisturizer. I didn’t mind it but my husband hated the scent. Like, without prompting, gave me a kiss on the cheek and visibly reacted to the scent asking what the heck I had on my face. I’m not super crazy about the scent of this cleanser, but we’ll give it a try. Sometimes the scents don’t linger and it is meant to be gentle and soothing, so I will give it a chance.

Smashbox Iconic Photo Finish Foundation Primer (Full-Size $36)

Ugh… I don’t need any more primers! I feel like these boxes have been heavy on the primers lately and I just don’t use them. While I appreciate that primers help your makeup to stay on longer and apply smoothly, I don’t like the silicone texture. It also tends to break out my skin, so I avoid them. I’m sure that if there is a good primer then it is one make by Smashbox. Unfortunately I will be passing this one on.

Makeup Forever Aqua XL Eye Pencil (Full-Size $21)

Waterproof black eye pencils are always nice to have! This is a great staple for summer and I’m excited to try it. Only weird thing is that I cannot get the cap off of my sample to try it. I will have to play around with it and if I cannot get the cap off, I will have to contact customer service and see if they can help me.

Sephora Collection Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover (Full-Size $11)

This is one of those separated oil based eye makeup removers that you’re supposed to shake before using. While I find them effective, they often irritate my eyes. This one also claims to strengthen lashes with olive wood extracts, so that should be interesting. It also states that the cornflower extract is meant to soothe lashes, so we’ll see if my eyes are irritated by this remover or not. 

Miu Miu L'Eau Bleue (Full-Size $90)

The notes of this perfume sample are lily of the valley, wild rose, and akigalawood. It's an interesting scent. I don't think I'm crazy about it. I feel like I'm learning that I'm pickier about scents than I first ever thought that I was. It has a sharpness to it that I don't really like (I think maybe from the rose?). It could end up being a good scent to layer with another one. I think a lot of people will like this one, but it's just not my thing.

The Whole Thing Together

By: Ann Brashares
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 304

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Summer for Sasha and Ray means the sprawling old house on Long Island. Since they were children, they’ve shared almost everything—reading the same books, running down the same sandy footpaths to the beach, eating peaches from the same market, laughing around the same sun-soaked dining table. Even sleeping in the same bed, on the very same worn cotton sheets. But they’ve never met.

Sasha’s dad was once married to Ray’s mom, and together they had three daughters: Emma, the perfectionist; Mattie, the beauty; and Quinn, the favorite. But the marriage crumbled and the bitterness lingered. Now there are two new families—and neither one will give up the beach house that holds the memories, happy and sad, of summers past.

The choices we make come back to haunt us; the effect on our destinies ripples out of our control…or does it? This summer, the lives of Sasha, Ray, and their siblings intersect in ways none of them ever dreamed, in a novel about family relationships, keeping secrets, and most of all, love.

                                                                                  First Impressions

Yay! I am such a huge fan of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, so I was excited to see a new book by Brashares. Her name coupled with the cover caught my eye on Netgalley and I knew immediately that I needed to read this book.

                                                                                     What I thought

Uhhhhhh…..?

This is the story of a family. A very confusing and complicated family. Lila and Robert used to be married. Together they had three daughters, Emma, Quinn, and Mattie. Now divorced, Lila is married to Adam with whom she had Ray and Robert is married to Evie with whom he had Sasha. Ray and Sasha were born weeks apart and have lived seemingly parallel lives. While some divorces are amicable, this one was anything but. Lila and Robert live completely separate lives; so much so that Ray and Sasha have never met. Each family shares a summer home in the Hamptons on a weekly rotation. Ray and Sasha have shared the same bedroom for their entire lives, only knowing each other through what they left in the room.

I liked the idea of the story, but the execution was lacking. There was also a shocking moment that occurred about 80% of the way through the book that to me, felt cheap and unnecessary. This book could have been so much more interesting if it hadn’t fallen into some overdone tropes.

I also struggled with the switches in perspective. Now, I did have an Advanced Reviewer’s Copy, so I’m hoping that part of the difficulty was due to the formatting. It seemed to switch from person to person with no warning and a little too often for my tastes. I also felt like we didn’t need all of the perspectives. I think it takes a lot to make a book with 5 perspectives to work, and unfortunately this one just missed the mark for me. The thing that I think bums me out the most is that Brashares can do a multiple setting story so much better than this. Sisterhood had 4 rotating perspectives but they were much more developed and separate which made them work.

Ray and Sasha share sisters but are not related, and like I mentioned, have never met. I liked the uniqueness of their relationship, but felt like the romantic twist it took was lost within all of the other storylines. If the book had just been from their perspectives and focused on building their relationship, I would have loved it. However, it becomes such a side story that it ends up not making sense. I also got a bit confused between which thoughts were from which person. I liked that the point was that they were so similar even though they were so different, but they were too (unrealistically) similar.

My final straw with this book was the ending. Again, I’m hoping this is an ARC issue, but it seemed like the story just ended. I kept pressing the screen to see if another page would appear but nope, that was the ending.

I rated this three stars on Goodreads, because I didn’t mind reading it. But then as I wrote my review, I realized I wouldn’t really recommend this book, unless a lot of changes have been made between the ARC and the final copy. Overall, the idea just seemed underdeveloped and not well executed. Maybe my expectations were too high, but something about it was just a miss for me.
 

After the Fall

By: Kate Hart
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Pages: 336

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Seventeen-year-old Raychel is sleeping with two boys: her overachieving best friend Matt…and his slacker brother, Andrew. Raychel sneaks into Matt’s bed after nightmares, but nothing ever happens. He doesn’t even seem to realize she’s a girl, except when he decides she needs rescuing. But Raychel doesn't want to be his girl anyway. She just needs his support as she deals with the classmate who assaulted her, the constant threat of her family’s eviction, and the dream of college slipping quickly out of reach. Matt tries to help, but he doesn’t really get it… and he’d never understand why she’s fallen into a secret relationship with his brother. The friendships are a precarious balance, and when tragedy strikes, everything falls apart. Raychel has to decide which pieces she can pick up – and which ones are worth putting back together.

First Impressions

This cover reminded me a bit of The Love that Split the World, so it caught my eye. The summary made me a bit iffy, but it would count towards the Debut Author’s Challenge, hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. So regardless of my apprehension, I decided to give this one a chance.

What I thought

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book!

Raychel and Matt are best friends and have been pretty much their whole lives. Andrew is Matthew’s tagalong younger brother, although he’s only younger by a year. During their senior year, Matt starts to realize that he has more than just friendship feelings for Raychel, while Raychel realizes that she has more than just friendship feelings for Andrew. In addition to the love triangle, Raychel deals with assault, slut shaming, and bullying. Then even more tragedy strikes and everyone’s world is turned upside down.

Even though I am not one for love triangles, I did enjoy the relationship between Matthew, Andrew, and Raychel. I think I liked that there were parts I didn’t like. Matt is pretty much everything I hate in male friends. He and Raychel have been best friends but now all of a sudden he realizes that he wants to be more. Of course this leads him to thinking that he deserves to be more than just friends because he has always been there for Raychel. This whole thought pattern is the basis of the friendzone which I don’t believe is anything more than an excuse males make for the fact that they can’t handle the idea that any woman out in the world wouldn’t want to sleep with them.

The other issue I had with the relationship between Raychel and Andrew is her feelings seemed to get very intense quickly. She didn’t show any interest prior to their first kiss and then it was like “I love you!” Although, I guess that’s how teenage hormones work?

In general, this book is nothing but heartbreak. It was difficult to get through because of all of the heavy subject matter. Before the book even begins, Raychel is sexually assaulted. In addition to that, she has already been labeled the school slut for years so she has to deal with slut shaming. Pile on top of that notes of discussion about women’s equality, racism, and classism, and you have a lot on your plate. I do think I would have appreciated if it had been toned back as it can get to be a bit much. While it was a bit packed with serious subject matter, I think that for the most part it was handled well and realistically.

Overall, there may be some issues with the story but it was a really compelling read. I couldn’t put this book down even though every minute of it was heart wrenching. It’s not an easy read, so if you’re not ok with books that deal with controversial subject matter I wouldn’t recommend this book. If you like young adult novels that are a bit more serious, I would definitely recommend checking this out! I think I will be keeping an eye out for author’s sophomore novel.
 

The Night the Lights Went Out

By: Karen White
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Berkley Books
Pages: 418

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren't helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail. 

Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past. 

Sugar's stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother's seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world. 

In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee's house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....

                                                              First Impressions

This cover is so cute! It looks like a book I would pick up for a summer beach/pool read. The summary also sounded cute and I knew I had to read this one. I’m a bit of a sucker for southern stories.

                                                                What I thought

I’m a bit torn on my thoughts for this one!

The story starts with Merilee Dunlap divorcing her husband after he cheated on her. She and their two children move into a small cabin on the property of Sugar Prescott, a 93 year old woman. Sugar’s family pretty much owned the entire town of Sweet Apple Georgia at one point in time, but over the years her brothers sold of acre by acre. Both women have difficult pasts with secrets that they hold close, yet this is exactly what brings them together.

I don’t know what’s been going on, but lately every book I read has a twist super late in the book that completely changes the type of book I thought I was reading. Because of that, I think my reaction to this book might have been a bit more negative than if I had read this after a few different types of books.

The first 75% of the book is a nice, light story of a recently divorced woman trying to find her way, and an elderly woman finding herself again. In amongst that, there is also an anonymous blogger who is commenting on the behaviors of the community. After the divorce, Merilee enrolled her children at a new school and because of that, begins to make new friends with some of the parents. Of course, there is one Queen Bee of the mother’s and that is Heather. I did have issues with this storyline. It was very obvious that while Heather seemed so nice, it was going to come and bite Merilee in the butt. Because of that, I felt anxious the entire time I was reading and that was not enjoyable.

I also really liked Sugar, Wade, and Merilee’s children. Really, the only characters I didn’t like were the ones we weren’t supposed to. Sugar’s own story that slowly unfurled as the book went on was interesting. I liked getting to know what made Sugar who she was and how her problems were similar to ones that Merilee dealt with.

At about the three quarter mark, the tone of this novel totally changes. I thought that I had picked up a book that was a contemporary novel or a “women’s fiction” but it then changed to a thriller. I had a bit of whiplash from the change that the book made. This is the part that makes me torn. While I enjoyed both parts of the story, they just didn’t make much sense together. It was a drastic change and I’m still recovering from it.

One final thing I liked about this book was the overall message that it gave. The entire novel touched on the subject of bullying in different ways. I liked that while there was an overarching theme with a positive message, it didn’t feel preachy or like it was shoved down my throat.

This book is definitely a 3.5 for me. I can’t pick between rating it a 3 or a 4 and I have even changed my rating on Goodreads a few times because of that. The story was very enjoyable and I finished it quickly because of that. I loved the setting and the characters and I would recommend it to anyone who likes Southern family stories with a bit of romance. But the final quarter of the book just threw me for a bit of a loop. I kind of felt like the rug was pulled out from under me and I wasn’t crazy about it. Like I mentioned, it might be because the past 3 books I’ve read have done that to me as well, but it didn’t leave me with a good taste in my mouth. In the end though, I would recommend this book and I look forward to continuing to read White’s books. 

The Bear & The Nightingale

By: Katherine Arden
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Del Rey
Pages: 322

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.
                         
                                                            First Impressions

While looking through some of the Debut Author books for this year to complete the challenge, this cover immediately stood out to me. I think that the cover looks so warm and cozy yet mysterious and therefore maybe a little nerve wracking. When I read the summary I was immediately intrigued. I have never read a book like this one before, so I knew this was going to be added to be one of the debut books I read for my challenge.

                                                              What I thought

This book is so beautifully written.

Vasya is a young child in old Russia with the gift of sight. She is able to see the spirits that guard her house and the woods and doesn’t really think anything of it. Her new step-mother also has the sight and is convinced that she is mad and is seeing demons. Since Vasya can also see these demons, the step-mother is convinced that Vasya is a demon as well. When a new priest comes to the town, he takes it upon himself to save the village from these “demons.” However, when the villagers stop sacrificing to the old spirits, things start going wrong.

Arden does such a great job at writing about old Russia. The world is so vivid and I really felt as though I was a part of it. Like old school Russian authors, the book is very heavily written, but not in a bad way. It just took me a while to get through because it’s not a book that is packed with action on every page, but every page is interesting.

I do think there were parts where the book moved a bit slowly and I wished that it had gotten more to the point, but every part of the book was written so well that it didn’t irritate me. I was a bit annoyed at the fact that two of Vasya’s siblings were a big part of the early book and then pretty much completely disappeared. I thought we would get more of them back as she grew up, but they were barely mentioned.

Interestingly enough, my brother and I had a conversation while I was reading this book (that didn’t come up because I was reading this book) about what if the reason the world is falling apart is because people stopped praying to the Greek Gods, for example. This book is the perfect look into that theory and because of that, I found it even more interesting. 

If you are looking for a unique young adult novel that is not about romance or friendship, this would be it. While it has a bit of a fantasy element to it, it is done in an old school fairy tale kind of way. This isn’t about a bold heroine that is trying to save the world, but she ends up having to kind of do that anyway. It is unlike any book that I’ve read before, and it was so good. I will warn that it is a bit slow, so I wouldn’t be discouraged if you feel like it’s taking you a while to read. I am looking forward to more novels by Arden for sure!