Rating ***** (5 stars)

​I cannot remember why I added this book to my long to be read pile, all I know is that I am so glad that I did. This book is powerful in a way that so few books are able to achieve. It is a fictional account of two sisters who found their voice to fight against slavery. In the process they found they also had to fight for the right to fight and unintentionally helped found the feminist movement. 

This book is historical in nature. Yet, the themes that it represents are still needed in our current day. Slavery may be outlawed, but African Americans have the police called on them just for being black. Women are 'equal,' except we still receive lower pay, less opportunity, and still must fight for a voice. 

The Invention of Wings is also about the personal struggle to find one's place in the world. It is about the struggle with God. It is about what it means to be human. It is about accepting others, despite their difference from yourself. 

The writing is beautiful. The characters are brilliant. I am left wondering how I have not read Sue Monk Kidd before now, yet grateful that I have started. 

Rating *** (3 stars)

​Turtles All the Way Down is an own voice book by John Green about a girl struggling with her fathers death, and with Obsessiveness Compulsive Disorder. 

In the past I have loved the way that Green is able to build these dynamic characters. His books are one of the few that have caused me to shed tears. Yet, all the emotion is missing from this book. I wonder if it was just too close to home that he distanced himself off when he wrote it. 

I also wonder at the way he described OCD. I do not have OCD. I do have a form of autism that consists of compulsive behavior, and I have a child that has extreme anxiety and obsessive and compulsive behavior. Yet, nothing that Green described really resonated with me. It also did not connect me to the main character. If anything I felt distance was continually being built. 

To top it off the plot was not really anything spectacular. I felt like it was an over done story that did not add anything new. The actual writing was fine, but not breathtaking. Without the strong characters that Green is amazing at, I felt this book was lacking. 

Rating **** (4 stars)

​The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is a book that I have been seeing all over BookTube and various book blogs. It took a few reviews before I decided that it was worth trying out. It is a different read for me. I am not big in historically set fiction, and this book is set in Europe of the past. 

Monty is a player. He is also bi in a society that considers male relationships as depravity. He is also a gentleman expected to play a part and settle down to run an estate. Monty is not an extremely likable character. He makes a lot of bad choices and is pretty self absorbed. Considering he was raised with a friend who is mixed you would think he would be a bit more sensitive to the way the world works. Yet is his entitled and clueless. 

There is thankfully a lot of growth in this book for all characters. Although it comes about slowly. There is also a weird plot twist involving alchemy, giving the story a fantasy element. 

Overall it was a good read. I like that it took me out of my element. Although, it did not really wow me.