Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee
⭐⭐⭐
3/5 stars

Pachinko is the story of Sunja, the daughter of a crippled fisherman, who falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant--and that her lover is married--she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan.

Overall, I liked this book well enough but I had a few issues with it.
First, there is no mention of or interaction with Pachinko at all until maybe halfway into the book. I kept wondering “ why the heck is this book called pachinko?“

Also, even though the story mostly followed Sunja, in the last third of the book especially I felt like the narrative was really wandering all over and I felt like there was never closure in the relationship between Sunja and Hansu.

I do want to say the writing was very good and compelling and I loved how strong the women were, and how resourceful they were, how they were finding ways to support their families. The book also exposed a whole other side of Korean culture and history that I was unaware of, which was very interesting and poignant. 

So I would tend to recommend this book, but be aware that it is on the longer, more rambling side.

House of Gold 2/5 stars

House of Gold
by Natasha Solomons

2/5 Stars
⭐⭐

Think I love everything I read? Not so!
This is mostly the story of Greta Goldbaum, a girl from Vienna, child of a wealthy banking family, who marries her distant cousin Albert Goldbaum of London.
The story takes place as WW I is brewing.

So first what I Liked.
I DID like the storyline of Greta and Albert, and how their relationship grew.
I also liked the storyline of Greta's lady gardeners and would have liked more about them, and the budding feminists of the time.

Now what I hated:
Was SOOOO Bored with all the Banking talk. I really don't know what half that stuff means, and it was incredibly boring to me and they went on and on and on about it. I get that the story was about a banking family, but I don't need to know about whether the bonds were subscribed or whatever the hell that was.

I really don't know all that much about WW I and the backstory behind it, so it was just plain confusing to hear about the political figures and the battles, etc. I have read other books set in wartime, where it is more interesting and the war stuff isn't so booooring.

So overall, not my fave, I really would not recommend it.

A Court of Wings and Ruin

A Court of Wings and Ruin (Book 3)
by 
Sarah J. Maas

4/5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐


This is the final book in the Court of Thorns and Roses Series.
I just loved this series of books and couldn't read them fast enough!
In this book, Feyre, Rhysand, and their "family" finally battle the King of Hybern.
There are a few interesting twists and turns, and there is a nice resolution of all the outstanding issues.

Sarah Maas does a great job of writing this exciting trilogy.
The action really pulls you along, and when Feyre is learning to fly you really feel her pain, and the soreness in her muscles as she struggles to do something so challenging.
The ending is really great as well, with some nice poetic balance to Feyre's own storyline.
(no spoilers here).

If you are a lover of Fantasy and Fae, I really can't recommend this series highly enough.

Before the Broken Star
by
Emily R. King
4/5 Stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book is the story of Everly, a young woman, who, following a mortal wound, has had her heart replaced by a clock mechanism of sorts. She tracks her "killer" through various adventures and misadventures to a remote and dangerous island.
What will happen next?
Will she get her long-desired revenge?
What secrets will she find on Dagger island?

I enjoyed this book and found it to be a pretty fast read. It was fun reading about Everly's adventures with her "partners in crime" and what happens along the way. Some of the mythology was a bit hard to follow for me, but the descriptive language was good.
I really didn't understand how the portals etc worked and the various worlds worked when the group reached their destination. Although there was somewhat of a resolution, it was only a partial resolution, as this is apparently the first book in a series, and I didn't personally care for the ending that much. I did like the hint of more romance that was foreshadowed at the end of the book.

Overall this is probably a good YA book for those who like fantasy-adventure, and don't mind a bit of cliff-hanging till the next book.