by Roshani Chokshi. This is a very interesting and well-developed book that not only has a diverse and interesting group of characters, but also a very good heist-like plotline that has you intrigued from the beginning until the end.  I really like how diverse the characters are, they have very different personalities that makes this story feel very real. It’s rare to have people who are so different working together in YA books, and it’s refreshing that many of us can find someone to relate to in this book. And every character has a lot to bring to the story, too. It’s not like they are just there to be diverse, as I’ve found in many other books. Here, everyone has a role to play, an important role at that, and the story, and the plot, wouldn’t work without each and every character and their special skills and personality. Are they perfect? No. There are times when I feel like they come across as a little forced, a little too much “look how inclusive this book is”, which also makes the characters at times feel a little like caricatures. But I think that listening to this book rather than reading…

by Adalyn Grace. In this book we follow a young woman called Signa Farrow. She’s lived a life haunted by Death. More or less her whole family died when she was just a baby. But Signa cannot die, which not only made her the sole heir to a fortune, but gave her a connection to Death and the world beyond the living. One by one of Signa’s (very unfitting) guardians is taken by Death, making Signa more and more lonely and angry with Death. But when Signa is sent to Thorn Grove to live with her last remaining relatives, the Hawthornes, she stumbles upon angered spirits, strange illnesses, and an array of eccentric people with plenty of secrets. Soon Signa realizes that the illnesses are in fact unnatural, and that the death isn’t natural. To solve the murder and bring peace back to Thorn Grove, Signa has to make an alliance with Death himself. So, this was an interesting read with some very good elements.  I find that the writing is detailed and at times poetic and a bit “old”, which fits the story since it takes place somewhere in the 1800s. I did find it a bit jarring to…