Tori Talks Books & More

Hey everyone! Sooo... I did a thing. I went WAY outside my comfort zone and uploaded a quick mini review of Becoming The Dark Prince on BookTube. It's something I'd contemplated doing a long time and finally bit the bullet. It may not get many - if any - views, but it's something that I wanted to try. If you have a couple of minutes to spare, please feel free to  check it out here and leave some feedback <3

"Most folks associate the city of Salem, Massachusetts with witches, but for Lee Barrett, it's home. This October she's returned to her hometown--where her beloved Aunt Ibby still lives--to interview for a job as a reporter at WICH-TV. But the only opening is for a call-in psychic to host the late night horror movies. It seems the previous host, Ariel Constellation, never saw her own murder coming.  Lee reluctantly takes the job, but when she starts seeing real events in the obsidian ball she's using as a prop, she wonders if she might really have psychic abilities. To make things even spookier, it's starting to look like Ariel may have been an actual practicing witch--especially when O'Ryan, the cat Lee and Aunt Ibby inherited from her, exhibits some strange powers of his own. With Halloween fast approaching, Lee must focus on unmasking a killer--or her career as a psychic may be very short lived..." I received this one as the final rotati...

I had seen this book all over social media but didn't know much about it. One day I was on Libby and the audiobook was available. Since that's my typical method of getting books in during the week (since I can listen to them at work), and it has a comparison to a Gillian Flynn novel, I jumped on the chance to check it out. Again, I didn't really have any idea what I was getting into. " HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE. As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve. But Ani has a secret. There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything." That's the synopsis taken from the Goodreads page. What it ...

I checked out this Audiobook via Libby and listened it in 2 days (only because I HAD to stop in between!). Here's the Goodreads synopsis, followed by my thoughts.  📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚 Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions. The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals. Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the tr...

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. First below is the Goodreads summary, then my actual review. 🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑🔑 No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen's new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind. As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it of...

3.5🌟 "When Elizabeth Andes was found bound, stabbed, and strangled in her Ohio apartment in 1978, police and prosecutors decided within hours it was an open-and-shut case." I received Accused free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The book is comprised of transcripts from a podcast the authors did based on the murder, and includes interviews with some key players in the victim's life, as well as a few of the investigators who actually agreed to talk about the case.  Unfortunately this wasn't many, as all the investigators thought they knew who had murdered Elizabeth right away. They were disgusted when not one, but TWO separate juries found the suspect not guilty. The case soon went cold. When Amber & Amanda decide to dive into the case, they realized there were multiple other potential subjects. However, none of them can ever be tested against forensic evidence, as it has all somehow managed to vanish... I enjoyed reading this on...

We all know the Disney movie and how it turns out... But what if it were totally different? What if Mulan had to travel through the underworld?   In Reflection , the opening scene takes place in the Pass during the battle with the Huns. Mulan quickly thinks to shoot a firework at a cliff, thus breaking it and causing an avalanche. This much stays true to the Disney version. It's the subsequent events that show the complete diversion from the tale we are most familiar with.  Shan Yu tries to attack Mulan with his sword for causing the avalanche and the loss of his army, but Li Shang jumps in and takes the hit. It is soon obvious that Shang is dying, but Mulan - still in disguise as Ping - refuses to leave him behind. She takes care of him as their army marches toward the Emperor to celebrate their victory over the Huns. Until, that is, Mulan is sent on a journey to Diyu.  Diyu is the Underworld, ruled over by King Yama. It is he who ultimately decides whet...