I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

“I just feel like it’s unfair, that my whole life is unfair, like I was born into the wrong place and family. I never feel like I belong anywhere.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Julia Reyes loves to write, and she always dreams of moving out from her parents’ house, go to college and see the world. But that’s not how a ‘Perfect Mexican Daughter’ supposed to be. ‘Perfect Mexican Daughters’ do not go away to college and move out of their parents’ house. They’re never abandon their family, they dedicated their life for their family like Julia’s older sister – Olga. But her sister Olga is dead and Julia’s family has been shattered to pieces. Julia’s mother channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed, and compare her to Olga. No on in her family seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken by this tragedy too. But then Julia found out that Olga hides another life from her family, another personality that she never shows to any of her family member. Julia then determined to find out if there’s more to her sister story while dealing with not being a ‘Perfect Mexican Daughter.’

The Dollmaker of Krakow by R. M. Romero

“No one is ever really lost as long as their story still exists.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Karolina is a living seamstress doll who lives in the Land of Dolls. When the rat army attack the Land of Dolls and overthrown the king and queen, a kind wind spirit carry Karolina to the human world. Karolina then landed at Krakow, Poland. There Karolina met with the Dollmaker with a dark past, who just finds out that he has magic inside him. Karolina who believes that the Dollmaker might hold the key to save Land of Dolls from the rat decided to help the Dollmaker masters his magic and get over his dark past and reconnect with other humans. While she lives with the Dollmaker, Karolina’s nature pushes the Dollmaker to befriends a Jewish violinist who happens to be a single father and his daughter. Karolina noticed that the Dollmaker life slowly turns into a more positive direction, he smiles more often than before. But then the Nazi invades Poland, and threaten the lives of their friends. And as things getting worse, Karolina and the Dollmaker determine to save their friends, no matter what the risks.

The Painting by Charis Cotter

“It was a painting, set in a heavy wooden frame carved into thick swirls. A grassy foreground, a road leading through rocky hills to a lighthouse, and a vast ocean beyond. Something about it seemed familiar.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Annie loves painting, her mother wants her to read more books and do better in school. It’s suffice to say that Annie and her mother don’t really see eye to eye. One day Annie finds an old painting of a lighthouse in the attic. She’s instantly drawn to it so she takes it to her room. Her mother on the other hand, wish that painting never leave the attic. Not long after that, Annie’s mother slips into a coma after a car crash accident. Since then strange things begin to happen to Annie. One night, she got sucked into the old painting she found in the attic. Inside that painting she meet a girl who lives in the lighthouse named Claire. Claire relationship with her mother, Maisie, is fraught, just like Annie and her mom. Annie then try to help them mending their relationship while also hoping that somehow it could also help her relationship with her mom and revives her mother from coma, and bring an answer as to why she could travel into the painting and why she is destined to meet Claire.

Paintbrush by Hannah Bucchin

“We’re a mess, aren’t we?”

“All the best people are messy.”

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Paintbrush tells a story about Mitchell and Josie, two teenagers who live in a communal village along with a lot of other colorful people in the mountain of North Carolina called Indian Paintbrush. Mitchell and Josie used to be best friend, but now they are not as close as they used to be. Josie doesn’t really enjoy going to high school and wish she could spend all her life at Paintbrush, while Mitchell can’t wait to get out of Paintbrush to escape the bizarre noisy community and live a normal life. Luckily for both of them, they’re weeks away from graduating high school. But when Mitchell’s mother makes a scandalous announcement that might rock the peaceful Paintbrush community, and Josie’s younger sister keeps on making bad decisions, the two find themselves leaning on each other for support. Their childhood friendship change into something more as they deal with their families. But as graduation approaches, Josie and Mitchell forced to figure out what exactly their relationship is and which path they will choose in the future.

City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson (ARC)

“People don’t look for revenge to make them happy.

They do it because they must.”

City of Saints and Thieves tells a story about a girl named Tina, who escaped from Congo with her mom years ago as refuges and begin their new safer life in Sangui City. Unfortunately for them, safe doesn’t last long. Her mother was murdered, shot dead in the middle of the night. Seeking for revenge, Tina spends her life on the street and training as a master thief with local gang, the Goondas. Four years went by, and now her job with the Goondas brings her back to a place where her mother was killed and open a path for Tina to avenged her mother’s death. But revenge is not an easy game to play as the faces from the past starting to haunt her and unravel some dark truths that Tina might not ready to face.

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

“I was a young girl, a virgin, and therefore men denied me rationality just as they denied it to all those who were not exactly like themselves, in all their unreason.”

I will forever be thankful to the person who post a line from this book on tumblr. That post got me so curious and lead me to maybe one of the best fairy tale retellings anthology I’ve ever read. Whoever you are, thank you so much! The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories is an anthology of fairy tale retelling short stories written by Angela Carter. Unlike most of fairy tale retellings I’ve read, the stories in this books are dark, sensual, and quite gruesome. The only fairy tale retelling that I feel to have a quite similar dark feeling to this book is Carolyn Sturgeon’s The Fairest of Them All. But, while The Fairest of Them All lacks of subtlety and the quality of power in its characters, The Bloody Chamber managed to deliver it.