Tag Archives: Book review

What I’m Reading: The Survivors by Amanda Havard

Yesterday, I finished a fantastic book by a fantastic author. The Survivors, the first in a new series by Amanda Havard, is YA paranormal, but it’s not just another Twilight knockoff.

Sadie is a descendent of a group of kids who were exiled rather than executed during the Salem witch trials. They were left for dead somewhere in the midwest in the dead of winter, but they survived, and continued to survive, century after century in their Montana commune. No one had left until Sadie, enthralled by the world she had only read about in books, ran away. She had grown up being taught that there were no other beings like her and her family: immortal with super human strength and other-worldly powers, but learns quickly that is just one of many lies. Now her family is threatened, and she must decide how to deal with her hunger for the truth and her love for her family.

The thing that sets The Survivors apart from everything else on the YA paranormal shelves is the blend of true facts with incredible fantasy. Amanda weaves real history and legend with fiction seamlessly and beautifully. Sadie’s experiences are at once familiar and unique, and sometimes it’s hard to remember that you’re reading the story and not living it. Sadie has stayed with me since I finished the last page. The second book in this series, Point of Origin is set to release this summer, and I can’t wait.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Yesterday I started reading The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox. The only reason I didn’t finish it yesterday was because I made myself be a mother. This book is incredible. Seriously. It’s been on my reading list for a while, I’m not sure where I heard about it.

Esme Lennox is nearly 80 years old when the psychiatric home she has been living in is closed. Her great niece Iris is contacted to take care of her, but Iris has never heard of her. The circumstances surrounding her incarceration and of Iris’s life are unfolded masterfully, weaving past and present together in a way that makes you feel a part of the story. Maggie O’Farrell’s language is beautiful, captivating, and haunting.

Just a warning for your reading-life balance, there are no chapters. So have a bookmark ready if life may require you to put this down.

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