Darling Jasmine by Bertrice Small

Fiction

Although technically this is not part of the O’Malley saga, it is considered Skye’s Legacy, I bunch this novel in with the previous six because the heroine who is the reason behind all the other books is still very much involved in the adventures we experience here. If you read Wild Jasmine, you will know that at the end of the book Jasmine had run away from her chosen husband, Jemmie Leslie. Still mourning the loss of her lover, she felt it insensitive and forward of the king to force a marriage on her. To avoid being forced into this marriage the clever Jasmine plays a trick on her intended by disappearing from her grandmother’s home before he comes to renew their acquaintance. The story starts to open up when after almost two years of searching Lord Leslie finally finds her. She is furious to have been found, and equally agitated to hear from everyone around her that it is time for her to remarry, and on top of that, that there is no better man for her than the one the king happened to have chosen. 

As I mentioned above, this is technically the first book in the Skye’s Legacy series. It consists of six books, exactly the same number of books that are in the O’Malley series. I am going to take a break from reading about the descendants of Skye O’Malley for a little bit, seeing as this is a good stopping point as we enter a new era of strong, adventurous women. I won’t be able to stay away for too long, Bertrice Small’s books are just too good!

Wild Jasmine by Bertrice Small

Fiction

If you have been reading the O’Malley saga, you will know that Skye’s youngest daughter, Velvet, spent some time in India due to a mistake which led to her being kidnapped. While she was there, she caught the eye of the ruler, fell in love with him, and had a child. When Velvet was forced to return to England she was also forced to leave her child behind. The daughter was raised as a princess, leading a life of privilege and luxury in which she lacked for nothing. However, due to a dangerous situation, just as she has started to become a young woman, her daughter has been given no choice but to leave India and join her family on the other side of the world. 

This is one of the more exciting and fascinating books in the series, in my opinion. We get to see Yasamans early life in India before she lands in England, at which time she becomes known as Jasmine, and then from there it is nonstop intrigue, romance, tragedy, and adventure. She is similar in both character and great beauty to her grandmother, her intelligence, kindness, mystery, and passion for love and life make her intriguing to the people around her and the men who fall in love with her. I have always felt that if it could get funded and someone was ambitious enough to try to turn these books into films, that this would be the movie I would look forward to most, even as I always look forward to reading this book again. If you don’t get enough of Jasmine in Wild Jasmine, you get a great deal more of her in the sequel, Darling Jasmine, which I will be reviewing next.

A Flicker In The Dark by Stacy Willingham

Fiction

This story contains three hundred fifty four pages spread out into forty eight chapters, and I had correctly guessed who the killer was by page eighteen. When I had reached the climax of the story and the grand reveal, I was kind of disappointed that it had been that obvious, at least it was for me, but the story was still engaging nonetheless. I enjoyed suspicions bouncing around, evidence surfacing, and the main character going slightly mad. It kept me going, waiting to see if she herself needed as much, if not more, help than the patients that came to her for mental aid did. I did keep expecting the psychiatrist to get locked in the psych ward, which for me would have been a terrible cliche to include in the story on top of it being clearly evident who the killer was, so I’m a little glad that that did not happen. 

I can see why the book is popular amongst certain social media circles, it can be read in a few days, justice prevails, it is not a difficult read, but it is entertaining, and therefore it can appeal to a large audience. It’s a book that makes me not want to buy books just because I see them in the recommended piles at bookstores, but I am also glad that I did read it to see what the fuss was about. I’m not bummed out that I spent my money on it, but I also don’t know if it is something I would find worthy of my time to read again. I’d say, it’s a good book for a reader who is just starting out, but it might be a let down for seasoned readers. It also makes me wonder if the author’s other works are better or if I will find myself feeling that I just read another average book.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes By Suzanne Collins

Fiction

I don’t know why I didn’t immediately buy and read this book when it came out in 2020, being a huge fan of the Hunger Games series, but I finally got around to it. After seeing the recently dropped trailer for the upcoming movie I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait. That, and I am very much someone who likes to read the book before seeing the movie.

The story takes place as the tenth Hunger Games are about to begin. The war is still fairly fresh in everyone’s minds and the country as a whole is still recovering, including the Capitol. It has been suggested that the games need some livening up in order to get more people interested in watching them, but also, the message of the meaning of the games needs to be made more prominent. Our main character is Coriolanus Snow, the country’s future president, as an eighteen year old student who has been picked along with twenty three of his classmates to be the first ever mentors for the district children. The mentorship is part experiment, for the position of mentors in the games, and part opportunity, in order for the gamemakers to learn how to make the event more engaging for viewers. 

I don’t want to say too much more because it would give too much away. But I will say that as the story progresses you see how Snow started to become the man you already know as the feared and cruel president of Panem. The end leaves me wanting more. One, because the final scene with Snow and his tribute ended too abruptly, in my opinion, even though I recognize that the ending correlates with his tributes ‘song’. And secondly, I want to know more about the things Snow did to acquire the huge amount of power he attains in the future, besides him having an incredibly strong ally who has taken in Snow as her protege. I do hope that the author considers writing another Snow book, or as I read in a bunch of comments recently, a book about young Haymitch and his Hunger Games.

Lost Love Found by Bertrice Small

Fiction

Out of all the O’Malley saga books, this one, the fifth one, might be my favorite. It has the least amount of spice, but I find the story incredibly romantic. We are introduced to the eldest daughter of Skye’s youngest brother, Valentina. Unbeknownst to Valentina, her mother Aiden spent some time in the East as a slave and found herself pregnant shortly after being rescued. She had been with three men in a very short period of time, so she was never able to say for sure which one of them was Valentina’s father. Valentina discovers this decades old secret and claims that she must find out who her real father is, and that the only way to do so is to go to these foreign lands and question the friends and family of these men. 

While this adventure is exciting and mysterious, the romance I mentioned involves Valentina finding the love of her life. After her very short and loveless first marriage, she is determined to not marry again unless she is in love. On top of that, Valentina refuses to even consider a second husband until she has journeyed to the East to try to unravel the mystery of her birth. She has many admirers as a young widow before she even learns that the man who has raised her might not be her birth father, but the two most persistent suitors turn out to be her cousin Padraic, Skye’s youngest son, and a very good friend of his, Thomas Ashburne. 

I think I like this story so much because there is a message, it’s about seeing what is right in front of you, but in a new light, and you see this theme expressed in several different ways and between several different characters.