Book Review: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Hello hello hello Readers,

Today we are discussing The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe!

Goodreads Summary:

"A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history--the Salem witch trials. Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge. As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.

Written with astonishing conviction and grace, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the witch trials of the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery, intrigue, and revelation."

My Rating: 

5/5 Stars!!! 

My Review:

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is an amazing historical fiction novel. It's pretty educational even though it is fiction. Sometimes with books like this one, the authors take liberties that ruin the historical significance. This book was not like that. The liberties taken by Katherine Howe added so much to the experience of reading this book. It also added to the story. Because of the liberties taken, I found the book to be a more emotional experience. 

In case you're wondering what historical even this is, it was the Salem witch trials of 1692. You learn about the women who were on trial. One in particular, Deliverance Dane. The story switches back and forth between Connie and Deliverance's family tree. I had never read anything about this time in history before now except in school. It was amazing.

My one complaint was that there were some continuity issues. Very minor ones. Not anything to get hung up on. 

All of that being said.......

This book has everything. 

Romance, mystery, history, suspense. 

Everything.

I loved this book so much. I think every single person ever should read this. It's amazing. 

Spoilers Ahead

MAJOR SPOILERS!!!

Ok, so there are so many characters that I loved and that I would really like to go into, but I'm only going to talk about Connie and Deliverance. 

Connie is living in the 1990s. She is getting her master's degree in Colonial America. Early in the story, her mother calls her and asks her to go to her grandmother's house and fix it up and clean it out so it could be sold. (Connie's grandmother died when she was very very young.)

Connie goes and finds the house in major disrepair. While looking through books in the house, she finds a Bible with an old key in it and a little piece of parchment paper with the name Deliverance Dane on it. At this point, she starts searching for who the woman was. 

Deliverance Dane is a "wise woman" who lived in the 1690s. She used herbs and things to heal people and animals. A child who was under her care died, and the father accused Deliverance of murder and of being a witch. 

Deliverance was then put on trial, but was found innocent. 

Later in the story, a bunch of little girls went nuts and started accusing random, INNOCENT, women of witchcraft. Deliverance was called into the court again and was found guilty. 

Connie slowly begins to learn who Deliverance is and what happened to her. She finds notecards in a recipe box with strange Latin on them. She reads these cards and she sees that they are spells and that she is able to use them. She later finds records of a "receipt" book and she starts searching for it. She suspects that it is a recipe book with healing and magical spells. 

It turns out that Connie is descended from Deliverance Dane. All of the women from Deliverance down to Connie can use magic. 

Her mentor is really pushing her to find the book and eventually she does. At this time, her boyfriend falls very ill. She suspects that he was poisoned and it turns out that he was. She does a spell to bring the evildoer to her. Her mentor then comes to the house and tries to take the book from her. He poisoned her boyfriend. Connie uses magic to stop him, a spell that brings the illness her boyfriend has back to her mentor. She throws the book into the fire so that he can't get it.  Her mentor becomes so ill that he is then forced into retirement. 

I can't even put memes in this review because I loved it so much and I just can't poke fun about it. It was so awesome. I devoured it. 

I know that back in 1692 magic like this was not used, but it was amazing that it was incorporated into this book without ruining the historical significance of the event. 

Please do yourself a favor and go get this book and read it. I don't think you'll regret it. 

XOXO,

Eden

Book Discussion: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Hello Readers!

 

I'm back with another book discussion!

Today is all about The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

 

I read this last month and I'm dying to review it because I have a mess load to say. Good and bad.

 

So here we go!!

 

Goodreads Description:

 

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE....

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is empty.

But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade,a large expanse enclosed by stone walls.

Just "EVERYTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE....

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is empty.

But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade,a large expanse enclosed by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as anyone can remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, for just as long, they've closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.

The Gladers were expecting Thomas's arrival. But the next day, a girl is sent up- the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might find their way home... wherever that may be. But it's looking more and more as if the maze is unsolvable.

And something about the girl's arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he might just have some answers- if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind. "

 

My Rating:

3/5 Stars!

 

My Review: 

 

So....this book is lacking. How's that for honesty?

 

I had a hard time with most of this book.

 

I saw the movie when it came out, so that may be some of the problem, but either way....I'm not satisfied.

Yes, I know there are more books in this series. Yes, I know the story isn't over and yes,I do plan on continuing on with them.

 

That being said, let me tell you what I had issue with.

 

First, Teresa's character is COMPLETELY unnecessary to the story line of the book. She made sense in the movie. NOT. THE. BOOK.

How does that even happen?! I've never read a book where a character felt so out of place and just ugh. Seriously.

 

Thomas was cool, but he couldn't actually reason anything out. Dude worked on gut instinct and feelings alone. No logic was used whatsoever. In my opinion any way.

In real life, we think things through. Yes, we do have gut feelings and instincts, but I'm pretty sure those are questioned before we act on them. Unless you're an idiot. I mean....really....come on.

 

 

Alby was a dick in the book. Like...excuse me what kind of name is Alby...and why the crap are you so mean to everyone?! Nobody is happy about being stuck in a damn maze. Get over yourself bruh.

 

Loved Newt. Super nice fella.

 

And CHUCK!!! I loved Chuck. What a sweetheart.

 

Basically, I only liked three characters in the book. None of them being the main characters.

 

All in all, I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this. Especially not to someone who has seen the movie before reading it. It ruins this one.

 

 

 

 

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

 

 

 

 

Okay, so here come the spoilers.

 

 

Characters:

 

Thomas

Well....Thomas was not my favorite. Not by any means. I like him better than this one other character, who I will get to momentarily, but that isn't saying much.

Thomas is apparently supposed to be super smart and cute and just the bomb.

No.

He acts on gut feelings. His reasoning behind pretty much every decision ever was that he just knew he had to do it. That is not real life. We don't walk around going "Oh, I just have this feeling and I'm gonna act on it without even think it through."

That does NOT happen.

Thomas helped to design The Maze. He worked for WICKED. Which turns out to not to be a good organization. Or so we think......(Dum dum duuuuum!!!)

That annoyed the crap out of me.

Of course he did end up saving the day, and I finally liked him in the last few chapters of the book. That was clearly not enough to redeem him completely.

 

(Thomas' face the whole story)

 

Theresa

I hated Theresa. She added NOTHING to this story. Not a single thing. It felt like they threw her in there just so we would have a love interest and a female character.

Not cool.

I would rather have all male characters than have a random girl thrown in that doesn't add to the story at all. She freaking detracts from it!

And the love interest between Thomas and Theresa sucks! It is the absolute worst ever.

And please someone tell me why the heck Thomas and Theresa have telepathic abilities...What is the point?!!!!!! So stupid.

In the movie she actually added something and it made sense and there was no telepathy....much better in the movie.

Theresa helped design the maze. She sucks. Don't like her a bit.

 

 

 

Minho

This is my favorite character. Minho is the keeper of the Runners, which basically means the head Runner, leader of the Runners, boss of the Runners, king of the Runners, and so on. You get the point.

He is kind to Thomas pretty much right away and he is the reason that Thomas gets to become a

Runner in the first place. So go Minho.

 

(This is still totally how I see Minho in the book)

For real, if Minho dies in this series, I'm gonna be so mad. He's one of the only good things about it.

 

Newt

Newt is pretty cool. He is Alby's right hand man. He is one of the first to arrive in the Glade. He's also one of only two characters that is nice to Thomas as soon as he arrived in the maze.

Newt used to be a Runner and he got hurt, so he's stuck in the Glade now. I think that Newt is a pretty brave fella because at the end, he goes out into that maze so courageously. He inspires just about all of the Gladers to go out and try to save themselves.

You go Newt. You. Go.

 

Alby

I didn't like Alby. He was such a jerk to Thomas as well as every other Glader in the book. I thought it was unnecessary. I mean..yeah....you have to keep order, but can't you be nice and still have people respect you enough to listen to you.

Yes. Yes you can.

He was the very first to show up in the Glade. So I guess maybe he's depressed and that's why he's mean.

Alby was really awesome in the movie and I feel like they really rewrote him completely from how he is described in the book. Definitely prefer movie Alby.

Alby actually does some crappy stuff.

He burns the maps that the runners have been making because he's scared of what the world outside of The Maze is like.

In the end, he basically goes nuts and sacrifices himself to the Grievers. It was selfless, but also selfish. He thought he would save everyone if he died, and he also did it because he did not want to go into the outside world. He was terrified of what awaited them beyond The Maze.

 

Chuck

Oh my goooosh. Chuck. Chuck is my second favorite character. He is a very you kid. He's chubby and round faced and I love him. He's precious.

He is the other person to be kind to Thomas right away. He picks on Thomas and junk but he is a true friend.

I love the relationship that Chuck has with Thomas. He's a friend, but also like a little brother to Thomas.

Chuck was so so so brave in the end of the book. Not only did he go into the Maze to help Thomas and to escape, but he also sacrificed his life to save Thomas.

Yes...you saw that right....Chuck dies.

Chuck dives in front of Thomas when Gally throws a knife at him. Gally is crazy and can't help it, but he killed Chuck. So I hate him.

It was so sad, not only because Chuck was so young and innocent, but because Thomas had promised him that they would find Chuck's parents.

I cried at this part in the book. It's the only place I felt any emotion besides complete frustration.

 

 

 

Gally

I. Hate. Gally. He's an ass the entire story, and it only gets worse as the story unfolds. Gally was stung by a Griever and he got some of his memories back. He knows that Thomas helped to design the Maze, so he also thinks that Thomas is responsible for putting the kids in it.

I don't have a lot more to say about him...He was just an ass....

 

 

 

So that's all of the characters that are worth mentioning.

 

 

As far as the plot as a whole goes, I did like the premise of this book. The plot as a whole was good. I just hated the character interaction and development, except for a couple of characters.

 

The ending was really sad. I just hated that sweet little Chuck had to die. I don't understand that a bit. Probably just so people like me would cry about it....

I'm glad that Gally is gone, but at the same time, maybe he could have turned to the good side of things. Maybe he could have seen that Thomas wasn't a bad person. I dunno.

Theresa could have died. That would have been nice.

 

I really am going to continue on with the series. The only hope that I have for the remaining three books is that it will just get a teeny bit better and that Minho won't die. Somehow, I suspect that he will....:'(

 

(The cast of The Maze Runner movie. I picture all of the characters this way.)

 

 

I hope that you have enjoyed this book discussion. I also hope I didn't offend anyone with my opinions of this one. I know it's a pretty popular series.

 

XOXO,

Eden

 



Book Discussion: The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Hello Readers!

 

Today I'm going to rant and rave about The Host by Stephanie Meyer. This is one of my most recent book finishes (I say most recent because I'm way freaking behind on the discussions).

 

 

 

Goodreads Description:    

   

"Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that takes over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. But Wanderer, the invading "soul" who occupies Melanie's body, finds its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Soon Wanderer and Melanie-reluctant allies-set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human."

 

My Rating:

4 Stars!!!

 

 

Review:

 

This book sat on my bookshelf for years, I really mean YEARS, before I finally picked it up and started reading it. I think I was hesitant because of the movie, which is not as good as the book. In fact, compared to the book, the movie is disappointing.

 

This book really goes into the relationships and all of the emotions involved a lot more than the movie. The movie doesn't really help you FEEL what the characters feel. When reading the book, I found myself grieving for Melanie. I felt every emotion that she felt as she was feeling it, and let me tell ya, there were a TON of emotions. I was basically a hot mess when I was reading this. So much moodiness.

 

I really enjoyed this book. It was slow in the beginning, but I find that to be true with most large novels, and let me tell you, this was a whopper of a book.

 

After the first 1/3 of the book, things started to pick up. I was very invested in Melanie and Wanderer and I wanted them both to be happy in the end. I felt everything that they felt, especially Melanie. My heart broke for her. I felt her anger. I felt her love for others. I cried with her.  I felt her desperation. It was so emotional. This is a book that completely sucked me in and I would recommend this to anyone. It's a beautiful story.

 

If you are hesitant to read this because of who wrote it, don't be. It is SO different from Twilight. Its a rollercoaster of feeling and it teaches a life lesson to accept those who are different from you. To love everyone even when they believe differently than you.

 

It's a wonderful story.

 

 

 

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

This book is not one that I can't really get into major spoiler-y discussion with because I truly don't know where to start. I do have a few things to say, however.

 

 

First of all, I'm not sure how anyone can hate Wanda after all that we see of her. She is a kind soul and she loves Melanie. She understands human emotion and what it truly means to BE human.

I wanted Wanda to be just as happy as Melanie. I wanted to be with the men they loved. I wanted them to stay friends. I wanted them to become a family.

 

AND THEY DID!!!

 

Melanie ended up with Jared. Wanda ended up with Ian. All as it should have been!

I loved them all.

 

Something else that I realized after the fact was that Jamie, Melanie's brother, was a character that I truly loved. I don't even have siblings!! I loved him like a sister would! How crazy is that. I felt like that kid's sister and I would have died an awful death if something had happened to him. Same goes for ??.

I can't even find anymore memes or gifs to help describe my feelings toward this book.

 

That's just about all I want to get into with this book.

 

I DEFINITELY recommend this one to EVERYONE!!!

 

Happy Reading!

 

XOXO,

Eden

 

Book Review: P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Good Afternoon readers!

Today I'm going to be reviewing and discussing P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han!

 

This is the sequel to To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. I reviewed the first book and I really enjoyed it, so I was so excited to jump into this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodreads Summary:

 

 

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

 

 

My review:
 

First I'd like to say that the covers are GORGEOUS. The colors are my absolute favorites.

 

Next....This books was just as good as the first! I didn't find that this did not suffer from second book syndrome, as so many second books do. 

In this book, we see the same characters: Lara Jean, Peter, (older sister), Kitty, Genevieve, and (boy next door's name), and the girl's father. We also see a little more of the girls across the street neighbor in this installment.

 

I really enjoyed seeing the relationships from the first book wax and wane.

 

 

There are still a couple of things that I hope Han will change in third and final book. For one, I really hope that Lara Jean matures in the next one. She was just as immature in this one as she was in the first. Now I can't say that this drove me coo-coo crazy, but it did annoy me at times.

I also hope that Han gives the girls' father a bit more of a parental role. A real life parental role. He was definitely more present in this book than he was in the first, but it could still be improved.

 

Neither of these things made me dislike this book in the least! I loved it! And if you loved the first one, you'll love this one too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HERE COME THE SPOILERS!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler-y Discussion:

 

 

So...I usually get into detail on what I think of each character.
I'm not doing that this time. We have the same characters as we had in book one. This story picks up within a few days of the last book and there aren't really changes in our characters.


We are introduced to one new character, John, and he's really great. The opposite of what we see in our other male characters. He's mature in a way that Peter and Josh are not.
When he was introduced, I wasn't sure how I felt. I was dead set on Peter being with Lara Jean. I was torn for a period of time because of John.

I did decide that Peter was still the one for Lara Jean. Definitely.


I also kinda want to mention evil heifer. (Y'all know who I'm talkin about.) Her dad is an ass. He is such. an. ass. I mean what decent cheats on his wife with a girl his daughter's age.... Hmmmm?? WHO?????!!
I 100% get that Peter wanted to be there for her during this since she is his friend. But he should have told Lara Jean what was going on without REALLY telling her. It would have saved them both a ton of heartache.

The end of this book was awesome. I'm beyond pleased with the way the relationships turned out. If Peter had not ended up with Lara Jean I would have died. DIED.

I can't wait to read the last one!  

 

 I apologize for the shortness of this post. I just didn't have a ton to say that I didn't say in the discussion for the first one.

 

 

Here is the entire series, in the correct order.

 

(The picture above was found by google search. It is not my personal photograph)


I hope that you enjoyed this short discussion on P.S. I Still Love You.