Author Archives: Paige

Sin Eater, by Megan Campisi

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“Sins of our flesh become sins of hers through the Eating, praise be.”
After committing a crime, 14-year-old May is condemned to be a sin eater. She begins to follow the elder sin eater to learn her new job. While learning, a deer heart is placed at someone’s Eating although the dead didn’t confess to the sin that matches that food. May decides to discover the truth of the murder mystery, but she finds secrets, witchcraft, and lies along the way and her world is quickly and quietly turned upside down. “My soul carries the sins of this town. I’ll carry them with me until I die.”

Throughout the story, May examines her new purpose and the new freedoms it provides. She internally ponders the meaning of her identity: does the role of a sin eater define her?

“I wish you could show folk your insides the way you show your face. Then they’d know I’m not wicked at all.”

I really enjoyed taking this journey with May. She was a very unique character, and it was both bleak and fun to be inside of her head.

Overall thoughts:  The 16th century setting was phenomenal. It was eerie, dark, and I was easily transported there. The ending was fantastic. I thought I had the mystery all figured out, but I was wrong! Of course, there are a couple of things you might figure out along the way, but the final twist at the end totally caught me off guard. The main character is unique and her burden as a sin-eater is interesting to follow. I love how May names the people that she encounters; she is a quirky character and I loved her. My only complaint is that in the middle it started to get repetitive with May going to someone’s house who was dying, listening to their sins, and then eating the foods to carry on their sins for them. This made the pacing in the middle get a bit slow.

There are several old English words, so you might consider reading this on a Kindle to translate the words that are unfamiliar.

I recommend this to historical fiction lovers who don’t mind imaginative elements. May was awesome and I miss her already. This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley and Edelweiss for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

More about this:

What is a sin eater? -According to Wikipedia

Sin eaters and the lost sacraments

Sin eaters eat your sins

Visit her author page on Simon and Schuster.

Visit her website for events, books, contact info, plays and other stuff!

Read Publisher’s Weekly review for Sin Eater.

Click here to visit Pan Macmillan’s page for Sin Eater, by Megan Campisi.

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Molly Bit, by Dan Bevacqua

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Molly first struggles to become an actress, but then battles more obstacles while navigating her life both outside of films and while on set. She adjusts and develops according to what is needed for her next career advancement, but is it what is best for her relationships and vitality? What will she do to achieve stardom on the big screen?

The novel is broken into three parts “Life”, “Death”, and “Afterlife” following Molly throughout these different stages in her career between the years 1993-2014. Narrated in third person, it is mostly told through the eyes of Molly but sometimes switches to other characters.

The story is disjointed and plot weak which made it was hard to finish. There is little character development and I was not satisfied with the ending. After finishing, I was left scratching my head as to why some chapters and characters were included. The only character I found interesting was Roger who is only detailed for about 22 pages of the entire book. Without Roger, this probably would have been one star. Overall, this was not an interesting nor a compelling book for me.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions are my own.

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Follow author Dan Bevacqua’s Twitter to read more thoughts from him.

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Toward the Midnight Sun, by Eoin Dempsey

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In 1897, a young girl named Anna is escorted to Dawson City by two men because her father has sold her as a bride to pay of his debt. She is sold to a wealthy man who has made his fortune off of the gold rush and is called “King of the Klondike”. Along the way, several people doubt her ability as a woman to make the journey. Anna then falls in love with another, but knows she must stay with her fiance in order to secure her families survival.

This map is provided in the novel before the story begins.

The writing style and dialogue were extremely dry for this novel, and it was completely different from his other novels. The first half which details their trip to Dawson City was really boring. I thought that would be the exciting part, but it wasn’t until Anna reached Dawson City and the drama between her and her fiance ensued that the plot started to pick up the pace; moving slow rather than dragging. There was a small twist at 65% (on a kindle) but it the plot still continued to be dull…..it isn’t until 86% that anything of great interest occurs.

Historically, there is mention and a brief memory of the Battle of Wounded Knee. Women’s inequality is discussed and seen throughout Anna’s journey. The overall atmosphere for the time period in this novel is very bleak. I was expecting to learn a lot about the gold rush in Alaska, but I didn’t learn a lot in this novel.

Technical notes–Anna begins her journey on a ship to Skagaway for the first 10% (on a Kindle). Their stay and encampment at Skagway is detailed from 10-20%. At 20%, they reach the Dyea settlement, and at 21% they begin the Chilkhoot Trail. The Chilkhoot Trail is detailed from 21-45% and on the trail they stop at Canyon City, Sheep Camp, and the Scales. Anna reaches Dawson at 45% and the remainder of the novel happens there focusing on the romance.

For the majority of the story, I was bored and disengaged. I was very disappointed since I really enjoyed his other novels. I will still be looking forward to his next novel, though this one was not my favorite.

Read more about Eoin Dempsey at his website.

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The Weight of a Moment, by Michael Bowe

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With an excellent premise and various great messages, I enjoyed the novel. The characters are an expression of redemption, new starts, and self-acceptance.

The main characters, Tom and Nick, battle their past missteps and the consequences they have rendered. Together, the men excavate the memories of their major fault in order to find the road to atonement. They explore how their past will fit into their future while trying to reclaim their present.

“The ultimate competition in life is with yourself…”

Nick and Tom’s story that caused their major downfall is tragic and completely conceivable. I liked both of the characters, but felt little depth related to my connection with them because of the narration style. The story is told in first person, but reads like it is told in third person. The main characters are telling the story, but I felt like I was watching the story rather than being there in the story with them in their heads. Because of this, I felt like I could relate to the characters but I didn’t feel a personal connection with the characters that deeply resonated with me.

There were several stories within the stories. The subplots caused the novel to jump around a lot. I felt like I was a school bus on my way home from school–excited to get home, but there are a lot of stops you have to make before you get there.

For an independent book, it was quite good. I really enjoyed the message about the consequences of our actions on social media. I would describe the main message as thought-provoking and relevant to our current society. With editing, it could have easily been a book that I really enjoyed and loved.

I read this with Mitchell who really enjoyed it! I will say, it did make an excellent buddy read and naturally prompted great discussions. This book provides a lot of topics for a group or book club read.

Thank you Michael Bowe for the copy! I have a lot of notes and highlights throughout this one. Opinions are my own and unbiased.


The Weight of a Moment is Michael Bowe’s second novel. His first novel is Skyscraper of a Man was published in 2017.

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Trending, by Kira Vermond

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Examples of trends in this book include Crocs, Pokemon Go, Hula Hoops, Hobble Skirts, baby names, anti-vaccination movement, quinoa, Starbucks Unicorn Frap, Beanie Boos, slime, Nazi propoganda, the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Mona Lisa, the Payola Scandal, anesthesia, and Fondue.

Topics covered: supply/demand, dopamine, individualism, exposure effect, STEPPS, investors, information cascades, stocks, Robert Zajonc, scarcity, advertisements, mania, sunk cost fallacy, progoganda

Independent reading level 8 years old- 11 years old.

Ch. 1 (p.6-15) “What Makes a Fad a Fad?- How seemingly random toys, games, and fashion turn into the NEXT BIG THING”, Ch. 2 (p.16-25) “Spread The Word- How fads and the ideas and feelings that drive them spread and catch fire”, Ch. 3 (p.26-35) “Made, Not Born- How some fads are carefully crafted to make us want to jump on board”, Ch. 4 (p.36-45) “Bad Fads- How fads can have serious and even dangerous effects”, Conclusion p. 46, Index p. 48, Selected Sources p.48

My Thoughts: Trends, fads, and popularity cannot always be proven using science or economics alone. This book takes into account other elements that can help provide popular trends. For example, it notes that sometimes trends start just by word of mouth.

However, trends do not always stem from one single cause; and instead of providing the different and various reasons that provoked the trend, it only focuses one one solid reason behind each trend. For example, this book contributes the popularity of fondue as a result of Swiss advertisements alone. Rather than involving other factors, fondue is stated to have been a trend solely because of Swiss ads. But, I can see that by keeping it simple allows it to be more comprehensible for kids. In order for kids to understand easily, these are surface level explanations.

Thank you to NetGalley and OwlKids Books for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

More of Kira Vermond’s books:

Visit Kira Vermond’s website to learn more.

Read Quill and Quire’s article about Kira Vermond’s book Why Don’t Cars Run On Apple Juice?

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Followers, by Megan Angelo

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Followers is a timely debut novel about the power of social media, the internet, and technology. It demonstrates the effect it has on our relationships and the damage that can be caused because of its influence. Have our friendships and family dynamics changed because of the prominence of social media? How has the internet changed us? What is the purpose of social media, and who is accountable for what is promoted on our pages/feeds: society or individuals? In Followers, a dystopian atmosphere is painted to show different outcomes that could occur if balance is not reached.

Chapters alternate between Marlow and Orla:

Is privacy only an illusion? In Marlow’s world, in 2051, her life almost seems to be choreographed in order to keep her followers online. But, can likes replace loneliness? Marlow’s world consists of pleasing a tyrannical pharmaceutical company, Hysteryl, who helped create her brand. Marlow starts to question the difference between friends and online followers. How can her life feel so empty when she has millions who watch her every move? When asked to take the next big step in her life in order to pacify the public, Marlow realizes that she amounts to more than publicists, branding, and marketing. How will she escape when the program can track her, bots can automatically identify anyone in passing, and everyone recognizes her from the media?

“You may not know them like you know your mom and dad,” she breathed, “but your followers are your friends- your very special friends. The happier and brighter you act, the more special friends you’ll get- and the more special friends you get, the happier and brighter your life will be.”

Orla, a struggling writer in 2015, lives in an age promoting endless distractions. Until she creates a name for herself, she feels that she must rely on trends and the rich and famous to maintain a prolific workflow in New York as a budding blogger. Meanwhile, her new roommate looks for fame and wants to market herself on social media as a career. Constantly buried in their devices, how different are they really? What is the value of their work, and how does it influence their relationship and those around them?

“Did she ever think that maybe they’d all be better off off-line? Without any internet, period?”

I really enjoyed this novel and recommend it to readers who enjoy dystopian fiction. My only complaints about this novel is that there were several subplots that caused the intensity of story line to subside. Also, in the end, there was a big moment where I had to suspend belief regarding a city in the future called Atlantis, especially concerning the economics involved. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Visit Megan Angelo’s website to learn more.

Read Publishers Weekly review on Megan Angelo’s Followers.

Read Entertainment Exclusive’s article that calls Followers one of the most anticipated books of next year.

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The Weddings, by Alexander Chee

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How do we measure the value of marriage? What is the purpose of the marriage ceremony, and what should a wedding reflect? Does the ceremony echo the vows of the couple, or does it mirror something else? How has it changed and why has it changed?

Jack and Caleb have enthusiastically returned from their first gay wedding when Jack is invited to Scott’s wedding. Though he has not heard from Scott in years, his invitation to Scott and Soon-mi’s wedding causes old memories in Jack to resurface. What is Jack hiding in his past? Jack worries about attending Scott’s wedding because of the past, but Jack’s boyfriend Caleb ensures that everything will turn out fine. When they attend the wedding, both Jack and Caleb are met with a surprises.

“Jack wasn’t used to weddings. His friends were mostly people who didn’t, wouldn’t, or couldn’t- until this year- marry.”

The layers shaped underneath the weddings were intricately scaled and finely calculated. I really enjoyed the irony of relationships, purposeful characterizations, and cultural significance presented in this short story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Visit Alexander chee’s website to learn more.

Read The New Yorker’s article on Alexander Chee.



The Weddings by Alexander Chee is part of a 5 story Amazon series called Inheritance. Each story can be read alone and in any order.

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The Wife and the Widow, by Christian White

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“If they didn’t talk about the monsters in this world, then they wouldn’t be ready for them when they jumped out from under the bed.”

Chapters alternate between The Widow, Kate, and The Wife, Abby.
Within the few first chapters, Kate’s husband goes missing without a trace. She finds out he quit his job months earlier without telling her and lied about the trip he was supposed to be on. Where is he? Why did he lie? What is he hiding?“…are some monsters better left hidden.”
Abby’s chapters start off slower in the beginning. But then a something happens on the island she lives on and she notices that her husband has began to act different. Does he have something to do with Kate’s husband’s disappearance? What is he hiding?

As a reader, I kept trying to piece the connection together between the two of them (Kate and Abby). I had so many guesses. But when it hits you, it hits you HARD! O-m-g.

“What now? she thought. What the fuck now?”

The suspense was incredible and I could not put it down. This is not your average mystery/thriller; there is a powerful message buried in the end that surpasses just a thriller ….and I recommend it!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Visit Affirm Press to read more.

Read Christian White’s top tips for authors and screenwriters.

Christian White is the co-creator for the thriller series on Netflix, Clickbait.

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The Other Mrs., by Mary Kubica

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“If it wasn’t for you, I said, leaning in to whisper the words in his ear, I’d be dead.”

A lot of twists and turns in The Other Mrs. takes readers on a thrilling ride. Within the first three chapters, Sadie and her family move into her husband’s sister’s house in Maine to take guardianship of her husband’s niece because his sister committed suicide. (Yes, they move into the house his sister killed herself in.) Sadie thinks about how her husband was having an affair back in Chicago and is grateful for the move, but then uneasiness creeps into her life as events begin to unfold. She wakes up in the morning to find the word “DIE” written on her car. They find out the neighbor has been murdered, a case is opened, and Sadie is on edge. ALL WITHIN THE FIRST 3 CHAPTERS!

I kept trying to figure this one out, but there were so many twists it really made me keep guessing. Did Sadie just black out?! What is up with her son’s behavior? Did Sadie’s husband murder their neighbor Morgan? Did Camille? Was he cheating again or was it Morgan’s suspicious husband who killed her? Who the heck is Mouse…which girl is it?!?

Netflix has recently signed a film deal for The Other Mrs. Read more about this here!

Visit Mary Kubica’s website to learn more.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

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The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories, by Sam Pink

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This contains one short story that made sense and had a purpose. Mostly they are incoherent and have no end goal. There is a lot of babble. There is a two page story about him jumping rope, the end. A few stories reminded me of people talking about what happened at a party the night before or what happened at work earlier that day. For example, the opening story is the narrator and two others in the alley drinking, smoking, and chatting it up while watching a rat scurry about.

I recommend this book to no one. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

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