Sravika's Book Reviews Blog

 The Housemaid is Watching  ( The Housemaid #3) By Freida McFadden  Published Year: 2024 Page Count: 402 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre: Thriller, Murder Mystery, Suspense, Drama, Family Dynamics, 2026-read.  Rating : 4/5  I really, really didn't like the ending. The last three to four chapters are so incredulous that it is hard to accept them as plausible. Yes, I agree the author wanted to add an element of surprise and also bring Millie's family out of the trenches but the way she did it is laughable! You don't just go and threaten a person into taking the fall for something they haven't done, right? Is it ok to do bad things to bad people and get away with it? The answer seems to be an yes here. Shouldn't it be the job of the justice department to decide who goes free and who gets punished, once all the secrets are laid bare in front of them?  Apparently not. It is easy to trick the system, to fool the people involved. Just so unbelie...

 The Iron Trial  (The Magisterium #1) By Cassandra Clare, Holly Black  Published Year: 2014  Page Count: 276 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre : Fantasy, Magic, Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, High Fantasy, 2026-read.  Rating : 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 At the beginning, the plot felt a lot like reading from the Harry Potter series. I would definitely say that the authors have taken inspiration from it. But only just an inspiration. A basic outline. The rest is their own brain material. The main character cast consists of two boys and a girl. They are in their first year of training at a school for magical kids. There is a dark lord called the Enemy of Death who happens to be an ex-student of the school. But that's where the similarities end. There are wild creatures that are ingested with chaos - the Enemy of death has put chaos into their souls and made them his spies. There are creatures which have given up their souls to the elements of nature like Earth, Fire,...

 A Good Girl's Guide to Murder  (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder #1) By Holly Jackson  Debut Novel  Published Year: 2019 Page Count: 396 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre: Murder Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult, Science and Tech, Detective, 2025-read.  Rating : 5/5  This happens to be my last read for the year 2025. Today is December 31st and I am super glad to wrap this year up with this sensational book. This story starts out with Pippa Fitz-Mobi, alias Pip, picking up a homicide case, that was closed five years ago, as her school project. The major focus of the plot is how she solves the case, finds the perpetrators who are still walking free, with little to no help from the police and all the while being haunted/chased by someone threatening/warning her to stop her research. She strongly believes in the innocence of the accused, Sal Singh, and resolves to prove herself right. She approaches and takes the aide of the accused's brother, Ravi Sin...

The Book Of Lost Hours  By Hayley Gelfuso  Published Year : 2025 Page Count: 391 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre : Science Fiction, Time Travel, Alternate Universe, Romance, Young Adult, Adventure, 2025-read.  Rating : 4.85/5 😀😀😀😀😀  I was munching candy while reading the book and the last few chapters, I forgot the count of how many I ate. I was surprised to find that I finished quite a lot of them. I was glued to the story. I was very invested in what the next chapter would unveil. I want to say wow, what a fantastic book this is. But I don't think I will. The main character is not flawless, moral and selfless which made her less of an adorable protagonist to me. She kept her lover and daughter first and foremost - above all other concerns. She killed, manipulated, hurt and harmed others so that her daughter would be safe. Yes, she was a typical mother. I think I could see her point to a certain extent and might very well do the same if I wer...

 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking  By T. Kingfisher  Published Year: 2020 Page Count: 282 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Fantasy, Bread Men, Magic, Action, Young Adult, 2025-read.  Rating : 4.25/5  This is my first book by the author. I have many other books from her in my tbr and having read this, I feel she is worth checking out! This book felt more targeted for children and adolescent audience but I also enjoyed it. I felt a bit of disconnect with the story because the narrator is so objective and detached in her style of writing. I didn't feel that invested in the plot as I would have had if there was more emotional depth created through the narrative. The Duchess,one of the key characters, in the story, seemed more interested in bestowing laurels, badges of honor on heroes of war than controlling the wild elements of her council or running her government efficiently. Lol. But still, this felt like a good enough story if not the most cr...

 Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) By Seanan McGuire  Published Year: 2018 Page Count: 174 pages  Medium Used : Kindle Scribe  Genre: Novella, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Multiverse, Multiple Worlds, Academia, Adventure, 2025-read.  Rating: 3.65/5  Weaving this series around children at a school for special kids, magical worlds which are tempered and curated for each of their innate desires, which feel like true "home" for them, is very appealing to me. It feels warm, cozy and like a drug to my imagination. 🥰 Even when I come across one not so spectacular a story(a partial dud, in short😆) like this one - it doesn't put any significant dent in my opinion of the over all series. I guess what I didn't like about this book is that it is set in a very bright, colorful and frothing Sugar world where everything is made up of sugar syrup, candy or bread. I would have liked a world that is more darker.🤫 I am drawn to the drowned worlds, the underground wo...

 Rebel Witch  (The Crimson Moth #2) By Kristen Ciccarelli  Published Year: 2025 Page Count: 464 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Adventure, Magic and Sorcery, Witches, Witchcraft, 2025-read.  Rating : 3.5/5  I usually take a detour between books of a series but with this Crimson Moth, I liked the first one well enough to pick up the second one right away. This book started on great promise for me but then got to the point of me desperately trying to not DNF it. The romance angle between the lead pair, Rune and Gideon, felt distracting and after a while, I have had enough. This is one of the main drivers of  the narrative and I felt exhausted with all the repelling misunderstandings and attracting sexual tension between them. In this book we see their non committal, suspicious bonding evolve into trusting and selfless love. The other important thing is Cressida,the evil witch from book 1 who is revealed to have...