Book Reviews

Book Review: Winterbourne by Elisabeth Wolf

Happy Monday Bookish people! I hope you are all well today.

Today I am bringing you my review of a recently published novel, Winterbourne by Elisabeth Wolf. I am not sure what genre this can fit into, I found it in the general fiction section but it has mystery elements, fantasy-ish elements. It’s a combination of genres.

Let me know your thoughts if you have read this book!

Blurb/Synopsis:

Within the walls of Winterbourne dwells a secret room, with an unspeakable collection of books.

Librarian Anne Adams has found the perfect a job cataloguing the library of Winterbourne, an architectural masterpiece on a remote island off the west coast of Scotland. Surrounded by an awe-inspiring landscape, the library is magnificent, with priceless first editions, a librarian’s dream.

However, Anne’s early weeks in her new job are beset by obstacles – no internet, a house plunged into darkness every night and unexplained mysteries on the island. After weeks of isolation, upon meeting the mysterious owner Lucien Broussard, Anne is puzzled. Eloquent and well-travelled, his reclusive nature seems uncharacteristic. But after finding a cryptic clue within the pages of a book, Anne discovers that Broussard’s collection includes everything from the mundane to the books no one should ever open . . .

Get swept up in Elisabeth Wolf’s chilling and unpredictable mystery.

My review:

I was very excited to start this book because it had all the elements I enjoy. A grand house setting, a librarian protagonist to root for and a dark mystery that had a slightly gothic feeling to it. Honestly though, I am still confused about how I feel about this book. It started off well, you begin with a bit of background into Annie and what happened to her to send her to a job at Winterbourne and as a reader you do start to feel for her, you want her to take the job, to get away from everything in her personal life. You think Winterbourne will be her easy, fresh start. Then all these suspicious things start happening and you have to piece the mystery together. I think the blurb is a little misleading in how it describes this story, I can’t say why because it would be a big spoiler but I felt misled by it. The blurb also has the main plot twist written in it so it fell a bit flat when it was finally revealed, and it was revealed much too late in the book also. overall, it is a book that I am glad that I read and I did like, I think? But, I don’t think it is a book I would read again.

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Monthly Wrap Ups

April Wrap Up!

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. It is the first of May and that means it is time to share my wrap up for April.

How was your reading in the month of April? I personally read way more than I thought I would, I managed a reread while on a trip away and I found some new series to continue and some new favourite books.

I will start with the books that were on my April TBR:

  • Winterbourne by Elisabeth Wolf – I did read this. It was not at all what I thought it was going to be, I will be sharing my full review for this book on the 11th May
  • Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett – I did read this. This is absolutely one of my new favourite books and I will be sharing my full review on the 18th May
  • Pages and Co 6: The Last Bookwanderer by Anna James – the final book in the Pages and Co series, I did read this and I finally finished this series. For me, each book in this series got better. I enjoyed the first three books but I loved the final three books.
  • Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T A Willberg – I did start reading this book but I DNF’d it around 100 pages. It started going in a really strange direction that took it away from what the synopsis had described and that put me off the book completely.
  • The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller – I did read this and I will be sharing my review on the 15th May
  • The Key in the Lock – I did start reading this but unfortunately this was another DNF. I did not get along well with this story, the pacing, the writing and the story itself being a little boring were things that made it not very enjoyable.
  • Rotten to the Core by T E Kinsey – I did read this and I love the Lady Hardcastle series.
  • Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry – I did not read this. This is the fourth book in the series and there were some things that happened in the third book that I didn’t like so much, especially with the way the synopsis suggested they play out in this book so I am putting it off for a little bit longer.
  • Blackthorn – I did not read this. I still want to but I haven’t been seeing the best things from others who are reading it. If you have read it and loved it then let me know!

From my TBR I managed to read: 7 books which is great on its own but I also managed to read books that were not in my TBR: The Carnival Murders by Irina Shapiro, A Fire at the Exhibition and An Assassination on the Agenda by T E Kinsey, The Enchanted Wood and the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton and I reread Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Mnaicalco. This means I managed to read 13 books in April.

Monthly TBRs

April TBR!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all doing well today. It is April and that means it is time to talk about what books I am hoping to read in April.

What are you planning to read this month?

APRIL TBR:

Pages and Co: The Last Bookwanderers by Anna James

Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T A Wilberg

Antique Hunters Guide to Murder by C L Miller

Blackthorn by J T Geissenger

The Key in the Lock by Beth Underdown

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Winterbourne by Elisabeth Wolf

Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry

Rotten to the Core by T E Kinsey