Eva Pohler

I finished this way back in July 2023 and should have reviewed it closer to that time. I've forgotten a lot of the details of the plot of this book, but basically seventeen-year-old Therese ends up in a coma after the car accident that kills both her parents. While in her coma, she meets the sons of Hades, Hypnos and Thanatos, and kisses Thanatos in what she thinks is just a dream. Than, of course, falls in love with her and makes a deal with his father to go find her and try to win her heart. Meanwhile, Than's sisters investigate Therese's parents' death, which was not just an accident.

I met Eva Pohler at a past Book Bonanza and thought her books sounded appealing enough that I bought four of them - a set of the first three books in this series, and one of the books in Pohler's Mystery House series for adults. It's probably a good thing I read the Mystery House book before this one, because that was definitely the stronger work. This book, unfortunately, wasn't good at all, and now I'm bummed that I bought it as part of a set.

Therese was supposed to be seventeen but generally came across to me is being about twelve or thirteen years old. It was tough to believe that a god would ever fall for her. The romantic aspects were cringe-worthy at the best of times, and there were some unintentionally hilarious moments, like the time Therese noted one character's bowl-cut while admiring how gorgeous he was.

I don't like offloading books unread, especially ones I bought brand new, but I may end up doing just that with the next two books in this series. It's possible the series might improve, but the thought of continuing on isn't appealing.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (mer)

Content warnings for parental death and mentions of sexual abuse.

This stars three friends who I suppose you could say are going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. All of them have something going on at home that's dragging down their mood. Ellen feels like she and her husband are gradually growing more and more distant from each other, and she isn't sure what to do about it. Tanya's mother has dementia and can't remember who she is most days. Meanwhile, Sue lets her own mother badger her.

To get their minds off things, they're debating buying and renovating an old Greek Revival house near one of San Antonio's historic districts. The house may be haunted, which the three friends have varied feelings about. Ellen doesn't believe in ghosts, but after some research she learns that this house does have a lot of history - it used to house several female psychiatric patients. The more Ellen learns about how they were treated, the more determined she is to get the house and turn it into something that can shine a light on their lives. While Ellen, Tanya, and Sue try to renovate the house and uncover its mysteries, they must simultaneously deal with someone or something who wants them off the property.

This is one of those rare cozy mysteries that isn't about a murder. Although a lot of it's focused on the house's history, that isn't entirely disconnected from the fate of living, breathing people in the present, as Ellen and her friends gradually discover.

Overall, I thought this was a decent read, although I felt about a decade too young for it. Or maybe the issue was that I'm neither married nor a mother - I could sympathize with Ellen's feelings of invisibility and distance from her husband now that their son had moved out, but I didn't relate to that as much as I did, say, to all three characters' issues with their parents.

The story did have some confusing aspects, though. The ending came across as largely positive/happy, which didn't really gel with what we'd learned about one of the characters. This is kind of a spoiler but I don't know how else to say it: pregnancy and marriage don't magically cure the lasting effects of childhood sexual abuse. I really wish there had been mention of her receiving treatment of some sort.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (mer)