Book Review: Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin

Author: James Conroyd Martin

Title: Push Not the River

Series: The Poland Trilogy #1

Genre: Historical fiction, Romance

Format: ebook

Pages: 554

Published: January 1, 2000

Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Summary: 

A panoramic and epic novel in the grand romantic style, PUSH NOT THE RIVER is the rich story of Poland in the late 1700s--a time of heartache and turmoil as the country's once peaceful people are being torn apart by neighboring countries and divided loyalties. It is then, at the young and vulnerable age of seventeen, when Lady Anna Maria Berezowska loses both of her parents and must leave the only home she has ever known. With Empress Catherine's Russian armies streaming in to take their spoils, Anna is quickly thrust into a world of love and hate, loyalty and deceit, patriotism and treason, life and death. Even kind Aunt Stella, Anna's new guardian who soon comes to personify Poland's courage and spirit, can't protect Anna from the uncertain future of the country. Anna, a child no longer, turns to love and comfort in the form of Jan, a brave patriot and architect of democracy, unaware that her beautiful and enigmatic cousin Zofia has already set her sights on the handsome young fighter. Thus Anna walks unwittingly into Zofia's jealous wrath and darkly sinister intentions. Forced to survive several tragic events, many of them orchestrated by the crafty Zofia, a strengthened Anna begins to learn to place herself in the way of destiny--for love and for country. Heeding the proud spirit of her late father, Anna becomes a major player in the fight against the countries who come to partition her beloved Poland. PUSH NOT THE RIVER is based on the true eighteenth century diary of Anna Maria Berezowska, a Polish countess who lived through the rise and fall of the historic Third of May Constitution. Vivid, romantic, and thrillingly paced, it paints the emotional and unforgettable story of the metamorphosis of a nation--and of a proud and resilient young woman.

Review:

This was a freebie and I snatched it up! I had read something by this author in the past so I was excited to get my hands on this and read it too!

Here we follow Anna Maria and her journey during huge changes in Poland in the late 1700s. Anna is quickly thrust into a world of love and hate, loyalty and deceit, patriotism and treason, life and death. Everyone and everything she loves is in danger. 

First...I must clap because it is so rare to find a book set in a country like Poland. It isn't a main setting a lot so that made me happy. This was def a breath of fresh area. 

Now, I felt like I fell in and out of love with this book. There were moments I couldn't put this down and had to read as quickly as possible. I had to know what was going to happen! And there were moments I found myself reading fast and skimming so I could just be done. Lots of ebbs and flows here. Not sure if it was a me-thing? Maybe it was too long? Maybe we needed some scenes trimmed up a bit? I can't pinpoint what would make me fall out of love. Luckily, it wouldn't last long and I would be back into it. 

Oooo Anna. She certainly had her hands full and life loved throwing that poor girl some curveballs. She is a gem and she deserves happiness. 

The ending was okay. It seems that you can leave well enough alone, but it does give some room for more story. Someday I might continue on. We shall see. 

All-in-all, this was interesting and intriguing. A nice set of characters and a unique setting. I did have some struggles here and there, but overall this was a nice read. I'll give this 3 stars. 

Blodeuedd's Monday Review: Forever Fantasy Online by Rachel Aaron & Travis Bach

By: Rachel Aaron, Travis Bach

Narrated by: Josh Hurley

Series: Forever Fantasy Online, Book 1

Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins

Release date: 06-05-18

Publisher: Audible Studios

Own /Fantasy

Ok so this took me forever, not because it was bad, but because I had decided to listen in my car, and most of the time I just want music. It took me so long that bookdepo went under and now to get more of these, sigh, well this might just be the end of this series for me. Damn bookdepo.

And yes, it is that Rachel Aaron, but it so Heartrstrikers quality book

Tina and James are playing a game called FFO, and suddenly the game sort of just continues. It takes them a while but they soon realise that they are in the game, and if they die...do they die for real? Not to mention all monsters are angry and the NPPs are even angrier. And all are angry at Players. The scum of the earth.

There is a lot of fighting, against baddies, and to survive in a very hostile world. How they ended up there and how it is real I do not know. I do want to know and how it turns out. I did enjoy the book even if it took me forever,.

Good narration. Constant action made it a good book to listen to

In the real world, twenty-one-year-old library sciences student Tina Anderson is invisible and under-appreciated, but in the VR-game Forever Fantasy Online she's Roxxy—the respected leader and main tank of a top-tier raiding guild. Her brother, James Anderson, has a similar problem. IRL he's a college drop-out struggling under debt, but in FFO he's famous—an explorer known all over the world for doing every quest and collecting the rarest items.

Both Tina and James need the game more than they're willing to admit, but their escape turns into a trap when FFO becomes real. Suddenly, wounds aren't virtual, the stupid monsters have turned cunning, and death might be forever. Separated across a much larger and more deadly world, their skill at FFO is the only thing keeping them alive. But as the harshness of their new reality sets in, Tina and James soon realize that being the best in the game is no longer good enough.

Audiobook Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Author: Matt Haig

Narrator: Carey Mulligan

Title: The Midnight Library

Genre: Fiction, Magical Realism, & Science Fiction

Format: Audiobook

Published:  August 13, 2020

Where I got It: My shelf (Audible)

Summary: 

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets? A novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Review:

This is our book club book. I've seen the name and heard good things but I never added it to my TBR. Yayy for being forced! 

Here we follow Nora who finds herself with life just throwing everything at her. Everything has gone wrong, she feels left behind, left alone, and full of regrets. She now finds herself between life and death. In this area, there is a library and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a life that could have been if you made a slightly different choice. Nora will find herself dealing with her regrets and possibly choosing a new life. 

First...I will say there may be some triggering things here. This character is terribly depressed and full of anxiety. We deal with heavy things like death, addiction, and so forth. So be warned. 

I figured I would cry. I was close at the beginning when you just wanted to hug Nora and beg her not to do what she wanted to do. Poor thing. THINGS WILL GET BETTER!!!!! Nora is a doll and it broke my heart. But no tears. This will make you feel and make you think. 

To be honest...I did contemplate all my regrets and choices I made. Life could've gone a whole different direction. It would be interesting to see those lives....mainly out of curiosity not because I think they would've been better. But yes...a crazy and interesting concept. 

The ending was perfection *chefs kiss*. It was fitting and made me happy. It was slightly open-ended but it was fitting. Rare that an open-ended ending is good, but it worked well. 

Mhmmmmm....what to say without spoilers..................errrrrrrrr......this was good. It was interesting to see all our side characters and how they would end up with decisions Nora made. 

This is a great book club book. I can't wait to discuss this so I can go over the spoilers lollll!

The narrator was fantastic! Perfection. 

In the end, I liked this WAY more than expected to. This has a great concept and interesting characters. Normally endings that are even remotely open-ended bother me, buuuuut this was done right. It gives you just enough and it is sort of symbolic of the meaning of the book. I for sure recommend this. I'll stamp this a 5. 

Challenge(s):

- #56 for Audiobook Challenge

Blodeuedd's Wednesday Review of A Study of Drowning by Ava Reid

By: Ava Reid

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Release date: 09-19-23

Publisher: HarperAudio

Fantasy /From bookbeat.fi

There are 3 big audiobook sites here and one sent me an offer trying to get me back, I took it to listen to this book ;)

I have no idea what to call this. It is fantasy, but at the same time it feels like an alternative Wales a 100 years back. A country that is at war and not at war with some other country.  They are protected by Sleepers, and they have magic or not. And 200 years back there was a big Drowning. All very mysterious and Gothic.

Effy studies architecture, but she wants to study literature, but is not allowed as a woman. There was something with a professor that still haunts her. She finds her solace in the book Angarad, and she might be crazy, or not. There were many ? in this book. Was she crazy? Her doctors and family thought so. She saw the Fairy King and she was scared through out the whole book. And it came to this point where I really really wanted to know if The Fairy King was real or not. There is this current of danger and despair through out the whole book. It truly gives the book its dark atmosphere. 

The story brings Effy to design a house at a place where her favorite author lived. A dark melancholic place. She meets a fellow student that is trying to prove that her favorite author did not in fact author Angharad. And she helps him, because she tries to prove him wrong. 

And the darkness gets darker, the weather more brutal. The house is crumbling, and she has nightmares. She is nearing her breaking point.

Saskia Maarleveld is narrating and I always like her narrations. She has a great voice, does great distinct characters and has the perfect feel for this book. She does fantasy well and really gets into the book.

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. She’s had no choice. Since childhood, she’s been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She’s found solace only in the pages of Angharad - author Emrys Myrddin’s beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him.

Effy’s tattered, dog-eared copy is all that’s keeping her afloat through her stifling first term at Llyr’s prestigious architecture college. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to design the late author’s house, Effy feels certain this is her destiny.

But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit estate on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea. And when Effy arrives, she finds she isn’t the only one who’s made a temporary home there. Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin’s papers and is determined to prove her favorite author is a fraud.

As the two rival students investigate the reclusive author’s legacy, piecing together clues through his letters, books, and diaries, they discover that the house’s foundation isn’t the only thing that can’t be trusted. There are dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspiring against them - and the truth may bring them both to ruin.