Ashleigh's Bookshelf

Pixie's Gift by Raven Wolfe Four years after the death of her brother, Stephanie is still tortured by nightmares about the water. Meanwhile, Adam is numb from the recent loss of the woman he loved. They don't know each other yet, but a gift from Pixie is just what they need to begin healing. Despite its short length, the story was a slow read. It contained very little dialogue and there were many times I would have rather been shown information instead of having it been told to me. There were also numerous grammatical and proofreading errors and the book overall was formatted as a webnovel instead of an e-book. That said, I enjoyed this story, although I would have liked to have seen a lot more worldbuilding. I didn't really get a much of a sense of where and when this was taking place. For some reason, probably because of the cloaked woman on the cover, I kept wanting to think this was set in the Victorian era, even though there were pl...

Well-Offed in Vermont by Amy Patricia Meade Stella and Nick can't wait to move into their new house in rural Vermont. There's just one problem: a dead guy in their well. Forced to stay in a privative hunting cabin, the newcomers take it upon themselves to solve the mystery so they can finally unpack their moving van. I found the first chapter of this story extremely engaging, especially since it ends with the beginning of the mystery. However, the second chapter then opens by giving background information on two characters that had yet to be introduced to the story. Since a lot of this information is revealed later, I would have much preferred to learn Alma's backstory slowly. I think it would have made her a more interesting character and possibly even a suspect. Instead, because I knew about what happened to her son, I felt about four steps ahead of Stella. Although I found the story enjoyable, there were many aspects that felt as unrealistic as a c...

To Ride a Unicorn Vanessa Westgate A delightful step-by-step guide to catching a wild unicorn. Although I selected this book to read with my young children, I found myself enjoying it as well. The narrator provides exciting, fascinating directions to catching a unicorn in a wild, even including how to ride one. The dialogue felt natural and the story was engaging. My only "complaint", if you can even all it that, is when the unicorn is hiding. My children, even my three-year-old, love to find hidden pictures. In several instances, however, the unicorn was in plain sight. My children would have preferred looking for the unicorn instead. Overall, however, I truly enjoyed this story. I would rate this story four and a half quills and place it on my top shelf.

Let It Snow John Green Maureen Johnson Lauren Myracle This book is a compilation of three intertwined novellas. Though they do all work well together, they can also each be read individually. Story #1: The Jubilee Express It's Christmas Eve and sixteen-year-old Jubilee is looking forward to celebrating her one-year anniversary with Noah. Unfortunately, when her parents get arrested, she is sent to spend the holiday with her grandparents instead. What starts as an irritating inconvenience turns into a major problem when the worst storm in fifty years hits. Determined not to let fourteen rowdy cheerleaders ruin her holiday, Jubilee sets off to make the best of the worst holiday of her life. I really enjoyed this story, though I don't have a lot to say about it. I liked watching Jubilee grow. As the daughter of a Christmas Village collector, I found that storyline riotous (pun intended). I could completely relate to Jubilee's irritation with her parent...

The Amateurs by Sara Shepard One minute, Helena Kelly is celebrating the first snowfall of the year with her younger sister, Aerin. The next minute, she has completely disappeared from their sleepy little Connecticut town. Still searching for answers five years later, Aerin seeks assistance from a cold-case message board. Enter Seneca, a college freshman who has been following the Kelly case religiously from the beginning. When her friend Maddie invites her to spend spring break investigating the case, how can Seneca refuse? But, someone seems determined to keep this case cold. This book was so addictive, I could not put it down. While there are ultimately five sleuths on the case, the book is narrated in turn by four of them. As a result, there is the occasional repetition of information, but I didn't mind it too much because it provided a reminder of some key information. As a mystery enthusiast, I love being able to solve the mystery before the main charac...

Odyssey: The Reboot by Keith Tokash According to Homer's cousin, the original Odyssey was severely over embellished and this is the real story about the ancient king of Ithaca. As a former Classical Studies student, I am familiar with ancient Greek mythology, especially the story of Odysseus, and looked forward to reading this story. I was not disappointed. Although this book contained many grammatical and proofreading errors, the story was enjoyable. This is the second book in a series, though it is the first one I have read. This was not a problem, however, since the events of the first book were mentioned many times. In fact, some information was mentioned more than once. While I found this repetition slightly irksome, I think it would have been more of an issue had I read the first book. There were a few characters in whom I would have liked to have seen a little more development, but the main characters -- the narrator and Odysseus -- were very well deve...

Murder at the Abbey by Frances Evesham When human bones are discovered in the river, Libby and the rest of the historical society are excited to learn they most likely belonged to a 16th century monk from the nearby abbey. They organize on overnight ghost hunt, which results in the attack of a friend. Now, Libby and Max must try to identify the culprit before someone else is injured. Although this is the eighth book in the series, it is the first one I have read. The story contains a lot of background information, most of which felt as if it were from earlier stories, that continues through most of the book. Much of it felt irrelevant to the story, both while I was reading it and even by the end of the book. Some of the information is repeated multiple times during the first few times and was information I would have rather seen than be told upfront. Some of it was also introduced at awkward times, distracting from the flow of the story. Even many chapte...

Dahlia's Backstage Pass Ethan Cobalt Dahlia has her entire life planned. In a few weeks, she and her on-again/off-again boyfriend will go to college. She will become a nurse, he a doctor. Together, they'll volunteer for Doctors Without Borders and see the world. Most importantly, she'll be able to leave the trailer park she calls home. But when an old friend calls out of the blue, Dahlia realizes she can't turn down his offer to work with his band. Suddenly, her world is turned upside-down and she must question everything from her career goals to her relationship. I enjoyed this story, although I did spend much of the book wondering if Dahlia stepped out of one manipulative relationship just to enter another one. I think this was ultimately because I didn't really get to know the character very well. I would have liked to have seen him developed a little more. I also would have liked to know Finn better as well. I saw some potentia...

Pumpkin Spice by Belle Bailey Marigold can't wait to enter the annual pumpkin pie baking contest, even if it means she will be partnered with a professional chef. However, things get off to rough start when they must first share a vending booth and then determine whose recipe to use for the contest. With the appearance of their rivals, Marigold and Sawyer work doubly hard prove they can make the best pumpkin pie. While this story is cute, it is very short. So short, that it is not even divided into chapters, although there are clear scene breaks. There were also a number of grammatical and typographical errors, as well as inconsistencies in the tense and voice, though not enough to fully detract from the story. Due to it's short length, there was not a lot of room for character development. While I felt there was a little growth and possibly even the beginnings of an attraction, it did not feel like a romance to me. I would have liked to ha...

Down with the Dance by C. T. Walsh Nerdy Austin just wants to survive middle school. Unfortunately, with his popular older brother in his grade and a new principal who has marked him as a troublemaker, surviving is easier said than done. When the Halloween dance is put in jeopardy--more than once--Austin starts to take matters into his own hands to save his school year. I enjoyed this story, finding it perfect for middle grade readers and even found myself laughing at times. However, this book is poorly edited, full of many typographical errors that make it difficult to read. Additionally, there were some scenes that were split between chapters or scene break characters, while other times scenes flowed from one to another when symbols or chapter breaks should have been used. I was also not thrilled with the constant changing of tense and voice, although it did at least make the narrator feel as if he were speaking directly to me. ...