Ibby discovered she had a grandmother just a few months ago and now, her mother is dropping her at Fannie’s while she figures things out.  Clutching her father remains, Ibby arrives in New Orleans, unaware how her arrival will affect the household.

There were many layers to this novel which added to its enjoyment.  Just when I thought things were smoothing out, something else would pop up and add to the drama.  The novel takes place in New Orleans in the 1960’s where Fannie has settled and she has a few individuals helping her out.  

Fannie is an outspoken tough, gambling woman who begins to change slowly when Ibby comes into her life.  Queenie came with the house when it was bought many years ago and she arrives every morning with her daughter, Dollbaby to tend to the house.  Dollbaby, has her own daily responsibilities in the house, as she works alongside her mother.  I noticed right away that there seemed to be a mutual understanding and respect between Queenie, Dollbaby and Fannie as they had a great relationship, considering the region and the time period. 

Ibby arrival added to the peaceful flow of this household.  It was entertaining to see what this twelve-year-old girl could do as she gets accustomed to the South.  A quiet girl when she arrived, Ibby begins to have a voice and she uses it.  I feel that Ibby’s experience in the South has given her insight and judgement and that by living with her grandmother, she has been given her some options which some other individuals don’t have.  There are family secrets that have been hidden and buried for many years.  These secrets of the past have a powerful message for the present. 

I don’t want to give too much away for this fantastic book. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it!  

This is definitely a book for fans of epic fantasy. We follow a young boy, and his 2 companions ,on their quest to find a mythical figure called "the Stewart". But somewhere in the middle the tension wavers. There are too many storylines, different factions and the story becomes, unnecessary, over complicated. 

Fortunately, the story, and tension, picks up again and it ends( at 553 pages no less) with a feeling that one wants to read the second instalment. 

*Book source ~ NetGalley

Jeremy Johnson Johnson of Never Better can hear voices and ever since he made the announcement as a child the townspeople have treated him like crap which got worse after his mother skipped town and his father became a recluse. But Jeremy usually doesn’t let it get him down. He has the ghost of Jacob Grimm as his companion and a goal to go away to college to keep him going. Until one day Ginger Boultinghouse turns her considerable charms on him and things go mostly downhill from there. With one of the Brothers Grimm by his side, do you think Jeremy has a happy ending?

This fairy tale retelling is a weird one to follow. Jeremy is kinda boring except for his ghost friend Jacob and his daring friend Ginger. But the tale is told from Jacob’s POV so it’s actually more interesting than it starts out. Jacob is supposed to be protecting Jeremy from someone or something called The Finder of Occasions. As the story is told, Jeremy goes about his fairly unremarkable life, trying to figure out a way to keep from getting evicted and the tension builds and builds and builds because this sinister-sounding Finder takes plenty of time (nearly the entire book!) to show up. The suspense was almost unbearable! I kept wondering when the shoe was going to drop. And when it does? Holy shit! Yeeeks! I can’t really go into detail without giving it away, so I’ll just say I was unsatisfied with the Finder’s part of the story. The why is left hanging. Or maybe I missed it. Not sure which. Anyway, this is still a decent read.

I really loved the cover of this novel and I was excited to get my arms around it. The author’s writing propels you through this novel as many voices narrate the text. Laura revealed the facts about the incident, slowly.   I loved how the author was able to entice the reader to listen to the voices of the characters as they gradually share their knowledge of the event. It’s the variety of the characters and the slight bit of information that they might possession that puts this novel together for me. I was surprised at some of the evidence that slipped by me.   Reading the synopsis and the title, we learn that Thisbe is depressed. This depression stems over Clay, a boy who has stopped seeing her and now has lead her to take drastic measures atop a bridge. What actually occurred on top of that bridge is hidden inside this novel and it seems like everyone has a voice in the matter.

I was impatient at times as read along as I wanted to know the truth and I wanted to know it, immediately.   I wanted to know what happened as Thisbe climbed out of the car because I knew what she was thinking that day as she drove over the bridge and then somehow, she disappeared.   I was meeting some interesting people, people who were family, people that claimed that they were just acquaintances but boy did they have stories, and others who were connected to this traumatic event. As each individual revealed their role and it started to come together, I started to get anxious as I felt as there were not enough pages left in the novel to suffice a complete ending.  But Laura came through, her words pulled it together and it was over.   This story intrigued me, I enjoyed the way the author put the story together.