Two Recent 5 Star Reads! -A Short Story & A Very Unique Novel-

 Hiya bookworms! Today I'm going to be doing some mini reviews of two 5 star reads I've recently had the pleasure of reading! Let's get into it!

The first one up is a short story called Summer Frost by Blake Crouch. It's a sci-fi short story published exclusively on KU on Amazon so if you have KU, you can read this for free! Please do, because it's an exceptional read. We follow a computer game designer who has poured their heart and soul into creating a certain AI character in the video game. We follow the life of the game designer over the years and their proximity and evolving relationship to the AI character as it gets smarter and more sentient. The ending blew my mind and sort of scared me lol. I won't spoil it, just please read this. It's a very timely story especially with the beginning rise of AI in our reality. It will unsettle you and entertain you at the very same time. Loved it and I want to read more by Blake Crouch now!

The other 5 star read is this genre bending novel called The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker. I adored Sarai Walker's book Dietland so I knew I would love this new novel. And I did! The Cherry Robbers follows a famous artist named who we find out is named Iris and part of the Chapel sisters in the Northeast, a rich family who made their money from manufacturing guns. You learn about Iris's mother Belinda, who suffers from psychosis and seeing ghosts of the Chapel gun victims. The mother also bears a warning to her many daughters: don't fall in love or ever marry, or you will die. The story unravels from there. This is a very tragic book, but at turns beautifully written, sisterhood laid bare on the pages, and a sense of a New England gothic atmosphere. 

The ending is what I knew what was coming but I was at peace with it. I really commend the author for how she respectfully wrote Belinda's mental illness and the psychiatric hospital scenes. There are definitely triggers in this book so please be aware, but wow, what an amazingly written book. I think Sarai Walker can do no wrong now writing-wise!

Those are two of my recent 5 star reads that I highly recommend you read or at the very least check out to see if it's up your alley! Happy reading bookworms and enjoy your weekend!