oceanwriter's reviews
705 reviews

Like Embers in the Night by Andrew Goliszek

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Nearing the end of her life and battling dementia, Wanda is living in a nursing home with the Sisters of Saint Francis. Her memory comes and goes, and she often thinks about her late husband, Janek. Memories of him come with memories of war. Through flashbacks, we see both Janek’s and Wanda’s experiences.

Janek is sent off to fight in the west, leaving Wanda and their young daughter, Sophie, behind. The Soviets soon move into their city of Lwow and begin meticulously erasing all traces of Polish culture. This includes the destruction of buildings, the outlawing of religion, and even the banning of the Polish language. The horrors only get worse for Wanda, Sophie, and Janek, who ends up being captured. 

Like Embers in the Night is rich with history. I learned a lot about Poland, both what the country and its citizens went through during the war as well as its culture and faith. Of course, the emphasis is on the horrors brought on by the Nazis and Soviets both in brutality and ideology. 

Straight away, I was absorbed into the story. The eloquence of the writing has a hypnotic element that makes thirty pages go by in what feels like a heartbeat despite it not being dialogue-heavy. This kind of well-crafted writing can be difficult to come by, and I think a lot of this is a testament to the author’s obvious passion for the subject matter.

Along with the eloquent writing is its ability to convey the story’s atmosphere. I have read countless historical fiction books in this and similar settings and only a few have immersed me as deeply as this book did. The material is haunting but also hopeful. I especially enjoyed how much faith was incorporated, offering a bonus history of Poland's deeply rooted Catholicism. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I plan on purchasing a physical copy so I can do a deeper reread. This is the kind of book that deserves a devoted amount of time spent with it for reflection.

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery for providing a free digital copy to read and review.
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The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

A cute Christmastime read but I didn’t feel at all invested in the mystery or the romance. Initially I was interested in the initial twelve year flashback but unfortunately that didn’t last long. Just wasn’t for me. I enjoyed parts of it.
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The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi

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hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Such beautiful writing! I think if I’d read it when life wasn’t so hectic I’d have more appreciation for it because I felt a bit lost, but it was enjoyable. 
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Dunamys: Adrift by Carlos G. Moreno

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

4.75

Siblings Will and Jen are traveling through the solar system aboard a spaceship called Dunamys (or ‘power’) with their friends David and Elizabeth along with some others. The destination: Zion. A promised safe haven from a doomed Earth.

Their journey does not go without conflict. Enemy ships are following and targeting them. They encounter aliens. They have to fight battles. Soon, they come to realize their enemies are attempting to enslave them. Many times, they have to question who is friend or foe. 

In the background, the group experiences love triangles (or a quadrilateral, if you will). Most prominent is the triangle between Will, Elizabeth, and David. Maintaining friendships is important in their isolated existence, but Will finds it increasingly difficult to hide his feelings for Elizabeth. When they become exposed, Will fears the rift it will cause with David. This adds to the tension of the Dunamys crew as they are trying to navigate through space.

The book has a strong spiritual theme which was an unexpected but nice surprise. David and Elizabeth sing hymns throughout, inspiring their shipmates (and other beings) with their songs filled with faith, hope, and love. This element of the story ends up taking a different path than one might expect, however, it echos an Earthly faith. Some passages really struck me, especially in the last fourth of the book.

Dunamys: Adrift is book two of the Dunamys series. I have read Adrift as a standalone. However, I would recommend reading the books in order for the best reading experience. Even reading out of order, I still thoroughly enjoyed the story and characters. I don’t know why, but I always forget how much I enjoy space travel-centric plots until I pick a book like this up. I’m looking forward to backtracking to the first book (Dunamys: Foreign). I also suspect there will be a third book to come. (And I hope there is!)

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery for providing a free digital copy to read and review.
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Men of Light: The Betrayal of Brigade 2506 by Tom Phillips

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challenging informative sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I've never come across a fictional telling of The Bay of Pigs Invasion, though, I have read a number of accounts in various nonfiction books. This is an intriguing era of history to explore and I applaud the author for making the venture. 

Men of Light focuses on the men of Brigade 2506 in Cuba as tensions escalate between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Fidel Castro. The men (Manuel Francisco Artime Buesa, José Alfredo Pérez San Román, Ramón J. Ferrer Mena, and Erneido Andrés Oliva González, to name a few) are counting on the aid of the United States, but a last minute decision made by the White House leave the brigade stranded and, essentially, left for dead. 

Reading this, I came to realize just how abbreviated my past reading on this subject has been. Or rather, how much I've forgotten over the years. This book was an interesting way to be reintroduced to the topic and offered a perspective I've not read before — the perspective of the people hurt most by the fiasco. It was also interesting to see both Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy represented at length. For some reason, I'd only expected to see them mentioned in passing.

I would have loved for the book to be longer. There were a lot of names to keep track of and I struggled to differentiate who was who even by the time I'd reached the end. These 100+ pages only scratch the surface. While there was near constant action, it came at the expense of character development. I still enjoyed it and it will inspire further reading, but I would have enjoyed it even more at a slower pace. Because of this, I would also recommend that readers have a baseline of knowledge of the Cuban Missile Crisis to enjoy this book to the fullest.

Above everything else, this book gives a voice and tribute to the Bay of Pigs victims. Once more, I applaud the author for being the one to take on this homage.

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery for providing a free digital copy to read and review.
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The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A cute addition to The Maid series! Though I didn't find it very 'mysterious', it was full of charm and made for a cozy Christmas read with familiar characters. 
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Between Shades of Gray: The Graphic Novel by Andrew Donkin, Ruta Sepetys

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read the original Between Shades of Gray novel and was ready to break my heart all over again when I saw that a graphic novel adaptation exists. The tone of the illustrations fit the emotion of the story perfectly, and as I expected, made the most heart-wrenching moments of the book pack an even greater punch. 
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Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation by Ellen Fitzpatrick

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emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I had no idea a book like this existed until I stumbled across it in a used bookstore. What a treasure trove it is! There is a lot of hearsay about John F. Kennedy’s assassination (and I am admittedly someone who is willing to listen to all of it), but this is not one of those books. Instead of discussing what did or did not happen, it is a collection of letters from the mourning citizens of America. It’s raw and unfiltered, written by people from every walk of life. 
 
The range of emotion expressed in these letters was both fascinating and devestating. Being the 1960s, all citizens were not treated equally. Some of these letters express these struggles, applauding President Kennedy for his efforts and vision for the future. There were letters from children, from people in their 90s, from people in the service to people on welfare, from Democrats to Republicans… What struck me the most was how many people told of people having heart attacks (most of them fatal) upon the news. The fact that I lost count is a frightening realization of the universal impact of this tragic moment in history. 
 
No matter what a person thinks about the logistics of the assassination, this collection of a nation’s grief cannot be altered by the ‘whodunit’ question. Aside from learning about how America received and grieved John F. Kennedy as president, it’s also a great look at the cultural and class differences of that time in America. Seeing the diversity of letter writers side by side painted an authentic image that could never be replicated by any other form of media. 
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From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keough

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dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Elvis Presley has been a staple in my household and extended family for my entire life, but I’d never known much about his family outside of a couple of trips to Graceland. My most recent trip was in October of 2023. Even though it was several months after Lisa Marie Presley’s death, it was a sobering time to be there. This book brought so much to light that I think I would have been in tears the entire time had I known the depth of her story then as I do now. 
 
Though Lisa Marie passed away before much of this book was written, her life story was recorded on tapes and later compiled by her daughter, Riley Keough. The book is split into Lisa Marie’s words as well as Riley’s as she reflects on her mother’s life. 
 
Honestly, I’ve struggled coming up with the right words for a review. I have so much I want to say but at the same time, it’s too much. The book hit close to home in various ways, but predominantly, it was reading about someone else’s experience of losing a parent at a young age that struck a chord. Seldom a day has gone by since reading that I’ve not thought back on this book and I’ve desperately been wanting to go back to Graceland. I’ll leave it at that. 
 
As a whole, I feel like I’m not the person to be telling people whether or not this is worth the read. I am biased on more than one level. I would, however, recommend that people looking to read this consider the audiobook as it was fantastic. I essentially read this book twice in a row. I listened to the audio, then went through it again tabbing my physical copy. I will absolutely be reading it again. 
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One Piece, Vol. 10: OK, Let's STAND UP! by Eiichiro Oda

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3.0

It’s hard to top the last volume honestly but I gotta know what happens next.