Flasks and Fiction

Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey My rating: 4 of 5 stars By chance, Sarah crosses paths with lonely and mistreated 5 year-old Emma at the airport. Sarah is upset by how the girls parents treat her but doesn’t know what she can do to help. It isn’t until she sees Emma by coincidence a few weeks later that she impulsively decides to save her from her parents. As Sarah runs with Emma, Emma’s mother, Amy, struggles with whether she even really wants her daughter back. I had never truly considered what I would do when faced with an abused child until reading Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey. Obviously, I would not kidnap them, but would I walk away? Call child services? Sarah’s gut reaction felt relatable, and her ability to pull off be kidnapping actually seemed plausible for the most part. The action moved quickly, and I loved getting to know Sarah and Emma. I felt that Amy, though, was very one-note. I would’ve liked to feel a little internal conflict as to whether she deserved to raise ...

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer My rating: 5 of 5 stars “He he a strange sensation of not knowing who he was, of having traveled off the map of his own existence.” The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer was a book I definitely expected to like but I didn’t expect to devour it in just 2.5 days. Andras, a Hungarian Jewish architecture student, sets out for Paris in 1937 to begin his studies. He settles into a happy life, making friends and meeting his future wife. As violence escalates in Europe Andras is forced to return to Hungary and try his best to keep himself and his family alive. This was a very touching novel about life during WWII. I’ve read a lot of fiction set during the war but none that took place in Hungary. Not only did I learn a lot, but I felt attached to the fate of every character in this book, which is unusual for me. Even the secondary and tertiary characters were well rounded and their trials occasionally brought tears to me eyes. This was a long book...

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan My rating: 5 of 5 stars Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan is a crazy-fun novel about the ultra wealthy of Singapore. Rachel and Nick fly back to Singapore for the wedding of the year. Unfortunately, Nick’s family doesn’t approve of Rachel and a lot of scheming and shenanigans ensue. I had a lot of expectations for this book and I was not disappointed. This was a fun, but trashy, book about how the wealthy handle wealth. I was expecting the story to focus more on Rachel, but her story was really the beginning and end of the book. Some of the other characters, like Edison, seemed a little superfluous, although they were certainly enjoyable. I almost felt like the story would have been better split evenly between Rachel and Astrid. I did really enjoy the tidbits of culture and slang which made me feel like a learned a little. Crazy Rich Asians was a great poolside read for the summer. Anyone who enjoys a juicy chick-lit will love this one. View all...

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thrillers are my guilty pleasure, and I love an unusual, creepy book. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage alternates chapters from the views of Hanna and Suzette Jensen. At 7, Hanna is not yet verbal, but she is able to communicate her needs in other ways. One of these needs happens to be getting rid of mommy, who is stealing daddy from her. Suzette, Hanna's mother, struggles in dealing with Hanna on a day-to-day basis. As Hanna's plans become larger, the Jensen household is thrown into turmoil. Hanna was a slightly lovable, but disturbed villain from page 1. I couldn't help but feel bad for her as Stage does a great job showing how Hanna's feelings and emotions are twisted yet unintentional. She needs help in a serious way. Suzette's POV resonated with me the most, though, because I can see myself as a maybe-one-day mother in her. If my child was behaving as Hanna does I would be both frustrated and heartbroken at the same t...

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir My rating: 4 of 5 stars A Reaper at the Gates is the action-packed latest installment in the An Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir. This book does not disappoint! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The 3rd book in the series alternates between the perspective of Laia, Elias, and The Blood Shrike. Both Laia and the Shrike’s stories move at an incredibly fast-pace, going from reveal to reveal. The women are faced with bloody battles and unthinkable decisions that have you on the edge of your seat. I almost felt like I was getting whipped from story to story a little too much by their chapters. On the other hand, Elias was stuck in one place throughout the majority of the book which meant his chapters were a little slow. It is obvious this will be important in the next book, but his plot was a little too slow for me to give Reaper 5 stars. Fans of the earlier books in the series will eat this one up. Anyone who enj...