Radium Girls by Kate Moore

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3.5/5

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I am a huge fan of lawyer shows. The suave suits, the briefcases, the courtroom drama? What's not to like?

And, in every single one of these shows, there is always an episode dedicated to bringing justice to workers who have gotten sick due to big corporations using toxic materials in their factories.

Unfortunately, these dramas glosses over the real struggles these workers face to get adequate compensation.

This was quite a good book.

It tells the tragic (and true!) story of the struggles of factory workers to get adequate compensation for the terrible health problems they faced due to their exposure to radium. At times it is heart-breaking, sorrowful, and hard-to-read.

Throughout this book, we feel the girls pain. The aches, the progressing disease, the fight against the corporation. This book bears a stark reminder to the current unsafe work standards in underdeveloped countries that manufacture our clothes.

Rather than written as a story, it's written like a news article. While this may throw you off in the beginning, it allows for more historical accuracy.

Overall, this was a historically accurate book that was often devastating but never boring.

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Book Review:

The Thousandth Floor by Katherine McGee

2.5 foxes out of 5

Arc generously provided by Netgalley and HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.

This book is favorably compared to Gossip Girl.



I am not a fan of Gossip Girl. Usually, when I do watch it, I watch it only out of necessity. Like, when there’s nothing else on Netflix and I’m cleaning and I need something to distract me from the monotonous job. The pattern follows, I watched a little bit, get sucked into the overdramatic plotlines, watch obsessively for a day, then stop because I hate all the characters. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.
For this book, I come in preparing to hate all the characters, preparing to bang my head at their life choices, and getting a sense of schadenfreude at the misfortune the befalls them caused by said actions. Told in five POV, each chapter jumping into a new character, each one hiding secrets of their own. Many years in the future, in the city that never sleeps, the elite of society live on the top floors of the highest tower of NYC, with a thousand floors. This book explores the drama, the mysteries and the sinful pasts of the different people living the Tower, from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich.

Right from the start the prologue was intriguing. In 25 years, no one has fallen from the thousandth floor of the Tower, except today. No one knows why she had fallen, perhaps it was an accident, perhaps she jumped, or more sinister, perhaps she was pushed. And from there, the first chapter starts two months earlier, leading to this fateful ‘falling out’ (sorry for the pun).

For the remainder of the review I’ll be writing it in a way that would make Gossip Girl proud (and for maximum enjoyment, read it in her voice!)



Avery: Elite, beautiful, and living in the exclusive 1000th floor, A has it all. Or does she? Poor little rich girl suffering a broken heart…for her adopted brother. Tsk tsk, A , you better be careful because we all know how illicit affairs end.

Leda: Running from a hard past. But remember, L , the past always comes to catch up with you.

Rylin: Spotted! Partying and hard drugs? Poor, orphaned R isn’t so innocent after all.

Eris: Spoiled rich girl has it all…or does she? The problem with being Queen, E , is that your crown could always be taken away.

Wade: Hacker W can learn everyone’s secrets in seconds, but it seems like he has a few secrets of his one. Be careful W , nothing stays buried forever.

You know you love me,
XOXO
DearWilderness



The characters were indistinguishable from the rest, each one speaking and thinking like the other. The writing wasn’t special. I felt that the author told how we should feel rather than showed us, and as a result the characters felt short and I couldn’t bring myself to care. I would honestly say, though, that ALL the characters annoyed me. All. Of. Them. And all the drama that is caused is a direct correlation of their actions. Most of the times I wanted to reach through the book and SHAKE them.They were so very unlikable, but I wont put that as the con because I believe that was done on purpose.



The world-building was done well, even including the different drugs people of the future use.



Despite this, the cliff hanger at the end intrigued me enough to want to pick up the second book, and hopefully see some of the initial problems ironed out.






Pros:
⎫ World-building
⎫ Creative Idea
⎫ Fast-paced
⎫ Entertaining
⎫ Ethnic Characters
⎫ Cliff Hanger

Cons
¬ Indistinguishable Characters
¬ Writing told us rather than showed us
¬ Book I felt was too long for this type of book (drama could only spur me to read so much)



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ou can read this review and others on my website:

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Book Review:

The Psychopath Test By Jon Ronson

3.9 foxes out of 5



"That's an incredibly depressing though." I said."that if you're in a room and at one end lies madness and at the other end lies sanity it is human nature to veer towards the madness end."


Have you ever looked at a person and thought 'man, that guy is a real psychopath.'? 
Although, often, they're don't lack the functional use of the amygdala which is trademark for psychopaths...they're just a**holes. 
But, what if you HAVE come in contact with a psychopath? Would you be able to tell, or would you fall prey to their calculated charm and manipulations. 
That exactly what Jon Ronson set out to do in the 'Pscychopath Test', he wanted to identify psychopaths. 

WARNING:
After this book you may get a little trigger happy. At the end of the day, I was sure that my mailman, my barista, the old lady next door, and my cat was a psychopath (although I think I was quite spot on with Mr. Whiskers...the furry bastard!)


As a 2nd year medical student (finger's crossed I don't fail out of medical school, which is quite likely considering the amount of time spend reading about psychopaths when I should've been reading about Myocardial Infarctions) with an interest in someday specializing in psychiatry...somethings didn't sit well with me but I will speak about that later. I was quite pleased that this book did not read like a psychiatry textbook, but rather Ronson brought humour into his work that allowed the writing to flow naturally. To be honest, I was surprised at how quickly I tore through this novel. 

WARNING NUMBER 2
Do not read this book in a public place. I, stupidly, read this on the train and kept sneaking *subtle* glances at the other passengers wondering which one is a crazed serial killer. This had the exact opposite effect, making me look like a paranoid loon. To be fair, this book can turn you into a paranoid loon. 

Ronson explored many aspects of the "madness industry" from psychiatrists, scientology, to capitalism. Through it all, he posed many important questions.

At what point does a normal human reactions become a psychiatric problem?
Are the most psychopaths found on top of the corporate ladder?
Will there ever be a cure for psychopaths?




The book gives us the Hare PCL-R checklist that is used in medical and legal settings to identify psychopaths. The most interesting part of this book is the interviews with the patients identified with psychopathic tendencies, and we are able to see the checklist being used. 

For instance, item 16 on the checklist was : Failure to accept responsibility for own actions.

"One time Bob interviewed a man who had impulsively killed another man over a bar tab.
'He only had himself to blame." the killer told Bob. 'Anybody could have seen I was in a rotten mood that night."

The total lack of empathy is characteristic for psychopaths. In fact, they study normal human interactions in order to fake empathy when speaking to other people. Without fear, empathy, or love...what could possibly hold back a person from committing the most heinous crimes possible?

Ronson did not just focus on serial killers. He also spoke about psychopaths whose brutality can be felt in the corporate world. 

"Serial Killers ruin families," shrugged Bob. "Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies."

Through his interview with Al Dunlap, a psychopath who led the Sunbeam corporation in the 90's, we are able to see the effects that a callous company can have on it's workers. 

I did have some problems with the book. As a medical student in the UK, I have medical ethics hounded into my head everyday, and one of the things repeated to me daily is that patients cannot look at their own medical notes. Heck, if I search for MY OWN notes I could have my license revoked. It did not sit well that one of the inmates at Broadmoore had access to his own medical notes, and not only that, but he was able to sent them to Ronson. The author blamed it on some bureaucracy loophole, but it seemed like a flimsy excuse. He also was able to speak VIA EMAIL to a psychiatrist about the same patient. That just about breaks every confidentiality/legal law in the book. What self-respecting psychiatrist would speak to a JOURNALIST about a patient at their practice. Even if the patient did consent (although it was not mentioned) to having his information shared with a journalist, I don't think his consent would hold up. Since he's in a psychiatry hospital, he would have been deemed incompetent to give consent, thus it seems fishy that Ronson was able to get so much in-depth info about a patient.

Thus, this knocked my review back down a star.

But, despite this, in this book, Ronson took us on a incredible ride through the madness industry in what could've been a very morbid book if not for his trademark humour. 




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Rebel of the Sands

Book Review:

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.


I tried with this book. I really, really tried. 
I got nearly 50% through this (albeit, rather slowly) before I realized that I would rather be reading my Anatomy textbook than this. And that is NOT a good thing.
I think the problem was, for me, was the mixing of the genres. It could've been great, if executed properly, but it fell short. I think the problem was that the only incorporation of anything Arabic-ness was the names, and a some jinn's popping around. And a few stereotypes thrown in for good measure. That's it. 
I think what bothered me the most was that instead of encouraging diversity (which was incredibly easy to do in a book centered around Middle Eastern mythology) the author went out of her way to make her MC have blue eyes. I feel like Disney's Aladdin is more accurate than this. What kind of message are we sending when we say that the only way for a main heroin to be 'pretty' or 'special' is to give her Eurocentric features.


The characters didn't have much chemistry, and the plot was dragging.

Overall, this was, sadly, a meh read. 

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Reviews By Title

Reviews by Title

A:



B:



C:
A Christmas Party by Georgette Heyer

D:


E:
Emerald Bound by Teresa Richards


F:


G:


H:


I :

J :

K :

L :

N :

N :

O :

P :

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
The Paper Princess by Erin Watt

Q :

R :

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
Radium Girls by Kate Moore

S :

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

T :

The Shadow of the Wine by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee
A Taste of Persia by Naomi Duiguid
U :

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

V :

Q:



R:

X:


Y:



Z:

Bookish Review:

 The Shadow of the Wind

Title: Uprooted
Authors: Carols Ruis Zafon
Language: English
Rating: 5 foxes out of 5


A stunning 4.5 stars



This will not be a standard review, for any cohesive thoughts left in my brain has been wringed dry by the Shadow of the Wind.
I am haunted by Barcelona. I yearn for avenues never walked, for cafes never tasted, for artwork and for buildings I have never seen. Zafon breathed life into the city until it was alive, with as much complexities and intricacies as his characters. A great writer has the magic to transport its readers into extraordinary lands, to make them feel like they belong even in the strangest places. Zafon does just that.
But he does not stop with the city. No, he breathed life into every character, giving them unimaginable depths with only a few short words. I carried them all in my heart: the murderers, the prostitutes, the booksellers, the writers. Some characters felt like olds friends, like Fermin, others felt like reflections of myself, like Daniel. 
His writing is poetry, both humorous and tragic. I find myself rereading some phrases to imprint them in my mind. This book needs to be savored, unfortunately, I had to no choice but to devour it whole.
You see, I had to know. I had to know who was the man burning the books? Who was Julian Carax? Penelope? In the end I am left completely satisfied, albeit also exhausted, with the ending. Do yourself a favor, read this book. 

Most preferably, read this book when the outside looks like this. 




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Book Review: Uprooted

Title: Uprooted
Authors: Naomi Novik
Published: 2025
Language: English
Rating: 5foxes out of 5


After a dry spell with a bunch of horrid YA's, I seemed to have lost my faith in all books. I did what any sane person would do after a nasty book breakup--I swore of all books! That meant: no bookstores, no audiobooks, no lovingly rearranging my shelves, and no Goodreads *GASP*. 

Of course, that lasted for about a day.

Then, I picked up Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and it was like the first sip of a cup of tea after walking home in the rain. Pure bliss. 

"Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose"

What utterly charms me about this book is the creativity. I value imagination in a writer more than anything, and Novik seems to be chock full of imagination. I also liked that the romance in this book wasn't overbearing, but fit alongside the plot quite well (trust me... it wasn't insta-love). 

Now, let's speak about the characters. 

Agniezka:

I adored her. She was funny, loyal, and extremely untidy. I'd be hard pressed to find a book where friendship, especially between girls (authors generally don't write much about strong female friendships, and if they do, they're usually extremely catty, and filled with petty jealousy's... SIGH!), that was portrayed so well. 
One criticism though, I felt that as we progressed throughout the book, Agniezka became almost too amazing at everything she did. 

Sarkan:
Not going to say much about this, but totally had a crush on him.

The pacing was fast, I found that I wouldn't have been able to put this book down even in the face of Russian torture. I especially liked the message the author was trying to communicate about the forest. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that turned out to be my favourite one this year. 


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Book Review:Emerald Bound

Title: Emerald Bound

Authors: Teresa Richards
Published: 2016
Language: English
Rating: 3.5 foxes out of 5

I received an arc from Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. 


3.5 Foxes out of 5

How I feel when there is a new Fairy Tale retelling out:




I blame it on OUAT and my love for this man:

 

Danger was what made the game of truth and dare fun, but Maggie did not expect it to go this far. Dared to spy on the star high school baseball player’s house (with a father rumored to be in the FBI) the game goes quickly awry. Caught spying, she and her friends are invited to their house. Except...something's wrong. There's a noticeable gloom in the house, a wrongness, that sends the readers heart shuddering. I've never read a retelling for the Princess and the Pea, even as a child I found the tale to be quite bland (I mean what kind of plot line revolves around a pea?). But, Teresa Richards was able to bring it to life by turning the pea into a an emerald that sucks the souls of unsuspecting girls. 



This book was just so darn entertaining. I love retellings, I love reading my favorite fairy tales with an added twist. Teresa Richards was able to skillfully turn a nursery tale into a complex, dark book that compelled me to abandon my anatomy homework for (Et tu, book?). 
I am a firm believer that all retellings need to bring something new to the table (i.e: Cinder=futuristic cyborgs, ACOTAR=fairies, etc), and Teresa Richards not only brings a lot to the table, SHE BRINGS THE TABLE. This book was unique, with plot twists, and intricate side stories, and complex characters. (oh, and as a side not, let’s not forget the AMAZING depiction of female friendship)

Light and breezy, Maggie is a narrator designed to entertain. And boy, does she. Humorous, and with plenty of pop culture references, she is compelling to read. Each character had their own voice: from poor, imprisoned Lindy to vapid Marshall. Told between two POVs; from Maggie, in modern day times, and Lindy, in 1600 Sweden, we are able to slowly pierce the mystery behind the emerald. 

One of the cons for this book, that lowered my rating, is that I found the villains to be two dimensional. As in, they had the typical motives, the typical lines, the typical cruelty. They didn’t feel real to me, and if anything, they felt like cartoon caricatures of what a villain should be. 
But, despite this, I am eagerly awaiting the next book.

If you’re looking for a twist on a beloved fairy tale, for compelling characters, or for hours’ worth of entertainment…pick up this book immediately. 


What to read next if you enjoyed this book:

For other Fairy Tale retellings:
-Cinder by marrisa mayer
-A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sara J Maas
-Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

For similar writing styles:
-Anything by Ally Carter
-Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier


You can read this review and others on my website:

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also, follow me on instagram for all things books:

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Sincerely,