Showing posts with label camp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camp. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Book Review - The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

 

The girls at Camp Nightingale play a game called "Two Truths and a Lie". Vivian, Natalie, and Allison are all veterans at the camp and Emma Davis is a first time camper and the youngest of the group. All the fun and games end when Emma awakes in the middle of the night to see the others sneak out of the cabin under the cloak of darkness. The last time any of the girls were seen was when Emma saw Vivian closing the door behind her and signalling Emma to keep it a secret.

Few years later, Emma is huge on the art scene. Her massive canvases portray the wilderness covering up ghostly shapes in white dresses. One of her painting catches the attention of Francesca Harris-White, who is the wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale.  Franny asks Emma to return to the newly reopened camp as their painting instructor. Emma is hesitant to return but, she sees this as an opportunity to find out more about her friends and seek closure.

When Emma returns to camp again, she feels like she's transported to the past as she is assigned to the same cabin. She notices that the only security camera on the property is pointed directly at her door. She finds cryptic clues that Vivian had left behind about the camp's twisted origins. As she digs into the past, she finds herself confronted by threats in the present. 

I thought the novel was an interesting read but, I felt like it was moving a bit slower than I would have liked. The reader is taken on a drawn out ride and was given small nuggets at a time to keep you reading. The ending was a surprise but, it left me with a few questions and I am questioning how plausible the plot was. However, I would still be interested in reading other books by the author.

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Book Review - Such a Perfect Wife by Kate White

Photo Credit - Amazon


Shannon Blaine sets off her a morning jog near her home in Lake George, NY, one sunny day during late September. Shannon runs the same rural road every day but, this day she never returns home.  Bailey Weggins is a true-crime writer and reporter. She receives an assignment from the website Crime Beat and heads north to report on the young mother's disappearance. While searching for leads, Bailey receives a call from the murderer that leads to a shocking discovery. As Bailey starts to dig deeper into the case, she realizes everyone has secrets but, how far will someone keep theirs?

I thought the novel was easy to read and kept me hooked until the ending. I wasn't a fan of the ending and thought it felt like rushed especially, with the suspense build-up. The middle of the novel had a bit of fluff and it picked up towards the end. This was my first book by the author and I look forward to reading more.


 **Disclosure -  This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

Monday, January 6, 2020

Book Review - On a Summer Tide by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Photo credit - Amazon

Camden Grayson loves a challenge. Her professional career has never been better but, the rest of her life needs improvement.  Her sisters believe that her motto of "moving on" isn't helping her. Cam's life gets all topsy turvy when her father sells their childhood home to buy a remote island off the coast of Maine.

Paul Grayson and his deceased wife shared a dream of returning to the camp where they first met and fell in love. However, while Paul was busy chasing his career, his wife passed away during an unfortunate accident. He decided that he spent too much of his time waiting to achieve their dreams and decides to buy the island. He believes that he already wasted time he could have spent with this wife but, now he can use this time to bond with his daughters. Will the island provide solace to the family? Will they be able to find their path of happiness?

I grew up and spent most of my time in the city but, I have visited a few islands. Living on an island or even a small community has a different pace of time. A person can breathe and reconnect with each other and Mother Nature. The novel showed how people sometimes get caught up with the daily demands of life that they forgot to take time and reconnect with themselves and each other. The novel was a nice cozy read about three sisters finding their path to happiness along with a few twists.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Book Review - Nothing Happened by Molly Booth + Giveaway

Photo Credit - Amazon

In this modern retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing takes place at a summer camp, Camp Dogberry.  Sisters Bee and Hana Leonato live and breathe the camp life. Mostly because their parents own the place. Every summer, the pair look forward to the rewarding camp experience especially helping campers with fun activities. However, no summer camp is complete without any drama. Bee and her fellow counselor, Ben have romantic chemistry together but both are reluctant to ask the other out. While Hana is falling for Claudia but Hana is still having trouble letting go of her ex-boyfriend. Will the counselors be able to take the leap of faith and find their soul mate? Or will it lead to heartbreak?

I read the original Shakespeare novel several years ago. I can't remember much of the story but I enjoyed this dramatic retelling.  I enjoyed the drama-packed narrative but I couldn't stand some of the characters. They act very immaturely for their age and I felt like some of the characters were quite annoying. Personally, I didn't care for Hana, Bee, and Ben.  When Ben returns this season to camp, he wasn't on the best of terms with Bee. He accused Bee and Hana to having special privileges (best cabin) because they are the owners' children. However, when Bee and Ben were on good terms, he automatically took Bee's words at face value without questioning it. Whatever Bee said was the golden rule and law. Several times, Donald has pointed out to Ben, that he isn't being a good friend to Claudia. But Ben never did anything to change that, even though Ben claims Claudia is his best friend. 

I also found Bee to be a hypocrite, she bullies Claudia and then tells Claudia that she hates bullies. I felt like Hana and Bee were treated better than the rest of the characters. Like when Hana betrayed Claudia, everyone banded together to help Hana feel better and Claudia apologized first. I felt that Hana should have stopped acting like a victim and should have taken a proactive role in fixing her relationship with Claudia. Lastly, I found the dynamic between Ben and Bee very juvenile. Their initial disagreement was caused by something so trivial and escalated into something huge. Neither of them really wanted to own up to it. I found the part where Bee had feelings for Ben but acts upset when he doesn't show his feelings towards her to be annoying. She also keeps denying they have a spark even though they both admit they like each other. Overall, I found the book to be enjoyable and I look forward to reading other books by the author. 

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**


Title: NOTHING HAPPENED
Author: Molly Booth
Pub. Date: May 15, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 336
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonB&NiBooksTBD

This modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing takes place at the idyllic Camp Dogberry, where sisters Bee and Hana Leonato have grown up. Their parents own the place, and every summer they look forward to leading little campers in crafts, swimming in the lake, playing games of capture the flag and sproutball, and of course, the legendary counselor parties.

This year, the camp drama isn’t just on the improv stage. Bee and longtime counselor Ben have a will-they-or-won’t-they romance that’s complicated by events that happened—or didn’t happen—last summer. Meanwhile, Hana is falling hard for the kind but insecure Claudia, putting them both in the crosshairs of resident troublemaker John, who spreads a vicious rumor that could tear them apart.

As the counselors juggle their camp responsibilities with simmering drama that comes to a head at the Fourth of July sparkler party, they’ll have to swallow their pride and find the courage to untangle the truth, whether it leads to heartbreak or happily ever after.



About Molly:
Molly Booth (she/her/hers) writes books about Shakespeare and feelings. She's the author of Young Adult novels SAVING HAMLET (2016) and NOTHING HAPPENED (5.15.2018), both published by Disney Hyperion. In high school, she was a stage manager for three different community theatres, which almost killed her. She graduated from Marlboro College and went onto study more Shakespeare (twist!) at University of Massachusetts Boston. Molly is a freelance writer and editor and has been published on TheMarySue.com, McSweeneys.net, HelloGiggles.com, and various other websites. She co-hosts a Bardcentric podcast, Party Bard, and directs a lovely, hilarious, and fierce group of homeschooling teen Shakespearean actors. She also speaks and teaches workshops at schools, colleges, bookstores, book fairs, camps, and libraries. Molly lives in Massachusetts, where she spends a lot of time with family and friends, and the rest attending to her queenly cat and loaf-of-bread-shaped dog.  

Literary agent: Alex Slater at Trident Media Group.

Giveaway Details:
3 winners will receive a finished copy of NOTHING HAPPENED, US Only.

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Tour Schedule:
Week Two:
5/21/2018- Magical ReadsReview
5/21/2018- The Cover ContessaInterview

5/22/2018- Dani Reviews ThingsReview
5/22/2018- Angelic Book ReviewsReview

5/23/2018- Blushing BibliophileReview
5/23/2018- Two points of interestReview

5/24/2018- Bookworm CaféReview
5/24/2018- Novel NoviceReview

5/25/2018- Portrait of a BookReview
5/25/2018- BookCrushinGuest Post