Sarah O'Connor

Book Review: Syncopation by Whitney French

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April 25, 2026

I received this book from River Street Writing in exchange for an honest review.

“air escapes lungs / death punctuates / the body, this isn’t the scary part. / loving is. losing someone she loves is,” (panic wrap III, French 162).

O and Z find each other during an acid rain storm becoming travelling companions and lovers in a world fragmented into new cultures after the Memory War has ended. But despite their love O and Z are drawn to different ways of life: descended from space pirates, O yearns for the sky while Z, a forager, wishes to remain earthbound. The two must make the difficult decision of choosing their ideals over each other. Continue reading

Book Review: Ladder To Heaven by Katie Welch

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April 20, 2026

I received this book from River Street Writing in exchange for an honest review.

“Charity is not a bone thrown to a hungry dog. Charity is a bone shared with a dog when you are both hungry. And loneliness is a kind of hunger,” (Welch 242).

After an earthquake shakes the Pacific Coast of North America, animals and people are now able to understand each other, and Del Samara is struggling. After her family’s home is destroyed by a fire and struggling with addiction herself, Del leaves her children and lives in her father’s fishing cabin with her dog Manx for three years before returning to the world and finding the world has changed in ways she didn’t expect before her isolation. Continue reading

Book Review: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

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April 17, 2026

Rachel Chu is excited to spend the summer in Singapore and meet her boyfriend, Nicholas Young’s, family. They’ve been dating for two years, and while Nick has vaguely mentioned them she’s excited to see where he grew up and learn more about his family. But once landing in Singapore, Rachel is surprised to learn that Nick comes from an incredibly wealthy family, and that they are not very happy that Nick has chosen to date her. Continue reading

Book Review: The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer

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April 15, 2026

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“The Rites simply emerged in his thoughts, self-evident, as if he’d only forgotten them until now. The Rites he must follow to protect humankind from unspeakable suffering,” (Kliewer).

Macy Mullins doesn’t know why the caretaking job ad caught her eye, but jobless and struggling to provide for her teenaged sister Jemma after the death of their dad, she know she can’t say no when a job opportunity comes her way, even if it is strange. Still, Macy figures she can handle work as a caretaker, even if the job has it’s quirks. It’s only for three days, what’s the worse that can happen? Continue reading

Book Review: The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon

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April 13, 2026

Paige Mahony finds herself in the free world of Venice, outside of the Republic of Scion with six months wiped from her memory. As she finds herself back in the Domino Programme trying to recall the lost months, she must also discover what Operation Ventriloquist is and look for Arcturus Mesarthim, who may be the key to saving Italy. Continue reading

Book Review: Come Closer by Sara Gran

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March 30, 2026

“We could devote our lives to making sense of the odd, the inexplicable, the coincidental. But most of us don’t, and I didn’t either,” (Gran).

Strange things have been happening in Amanda’s life. There is a strange tapping noise in her apartment, a memo to her boss is filled with insults towards him, she’s started smoking again and burns her husband Ed, whom she loves, with a cigarette, and she’s started dreaming of a beautiful woman with sharp teeth on a red-watered beach. The woman whispers in Amanda’s head and tells her to do thing she doesn’t want to do, but is Amanda strong enough to ignore her? Continue reading

Book Review: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

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March 16, 2026

“That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me. She meant to bestow a gift,” (Levine 1).

When Ella of Frell is born a foolish fairy bestows her with the gift of obedience. From being told to stop crying or to hop on one foot for an entire day and a half, to chopping off her head Ella is in danger everyday for what someone may obey her to do. But Ella doesn’t let that stop her, she is determined to stop this curse, and goes on a quest to find Lucinda and get the curse removed. Continue reading

Book Review: Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

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March 11, 2026

“Everyone’s always going through something, aren’t they? That’s life, basically. It’s just more and more things to go through,” (Rooney 245).

Frances and her best friend Bobbi study together in Dublin while also performing spoken word poetry around the city. One night they meet Melissa, a well-known photographer, and her husband Nick, an actor. While Bobbi is fascinated by Melissa, Frances and Nick have a surprising connection that leads to a vulnerable intimacy neither of them could predict. Continue reading

Book Review: No Wrong Season by Brenda Hartwell

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March 9, 2026

I received this book from River Street Writing in exchange for an honest review.

“What could he do if he let himself get lost in an image?” (Hartwell 75).

Teenager Dieter lives with his grandfather in a small town in southern Quebec with only his best friend K to give him company. But when K abandons him for a wealthier group of friends, Dieter finds himself in the company of Hazel, an eccentric and reclusive artist who lives in the woods who agrees to help Dieter with his photography. When Dieter learns that K is institutionalized and her emotional state worsens, Dieter confides in Hazel who comes up with a plan to help her. Continue reading

Book Review: The Cuckoo by Camilla Läckberg

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February 20, 2026

“Love was love – in whatever shape it took,” (Läckberg 408).

The town of Fjällbacka is shaken after a famous photographer is found murdered before an exhibition opening. His friend, the famous author Henning Bauer and his family, are shocked by the death of their friend, even more so when the violence follows them to their small island home. Detective Patrik Hedström and his colleagues struggle to find a connection between the cases while his wife Erica Falck heads to Stockholm to find information on the murder of a trans woman in the 1980s, discovering that these three cases may be more closely linked than originally thought. Continue reading