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Child X by Jamie Mustard * * *

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I read Child X by Jamie Mustard for the 2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge, for prompt number 36 “A book about a mob (fiction or nonfiction)”. I interpreted “mob” more loosely here, as a high control group rather than organised crime. Though honestly, when it comes to Scientology, the book could fit the original intent of the prompt as well. This book is Jamie Mustard’s memoir about being born into Scientology and eventually leaving the movement at nineteen. I ended up feeling quite ambivalent about it, because there were parts I genuinely loved, and parts that I found frustrating. One of the strongest aspects of the book is just how intelligent it feels. Mustard constantly references history, literature, films, music, philosophy, and cultural events. The narration itself is also extremely sharp. His use of language is thoughtful and deliberate, and there is a real sense that this is somebody who thinks deeply about everything around him. Even ordinary moments are layered with associatio...
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Bloodstone by M.K. Deoradhán (The Mythic Artifacts, #1) * * *

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I received an ARC of Bloodstone by M.K. Deoradhán from the author in exchange for an honest review. I’m giving it three stars. I enjoyed the story, but there were enough issues that kept pulling me out of it. The novel follows Mel Hawkins, a 22-year-old American archaeologist, in 1936. It opens in Egypt and then moves through places, mainly in Italy. The premise is strong, and the beginning reflects that. There is no slow introduction. Things start happening immediately. You are dropped into movement, danger, and decisions from the first pages, and that sense of constant forward motion continues throughout the book. This is an adventure that keeps going. Mel is a first person present tense narrator, so we are fully inside her head at all times. That becomes one of the book’s biggest weaknesses. She constantly revisits earlier events, repeating what has already happened. It feels like the story does not trust the reader to remember. During action scenes, this becomes especially frustra...
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Murder Is a Piece of Cake by Valerie Burns (Baker Street Mystery #2) * * * *

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I read Murder Is a Piece of Cake by Valerie Burns as part of the 2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge for prompt 14, “A book set in Michigan or written by an author from Michigan”. Valerie Burns herself is not from Michigan, but the book clearly is set there, so it fits the prompt through the setting. The story takes place in New Bison, which is a fictional small town based on New Buffalo, Michigan. It has that classic cosy mystery atmosphere. Close knit community, familiar faces, and just enough secrets under the surface to keep things interesting. This is the second book in the Baker Street Mysteries series. I had already read and enjoyed the first one, so I decided to continue with the series. That turned out to be a very good decision, because the first book leaves a few threads open, and this one continues to build on them rather than resetting everything. The plot follows Maddy, who is still settling into her new life as a bakery owner. Her development is one of the strongest aspects...
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Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns (Baker Street Mystery #1) * * * *

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I read Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns for the 2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge, prompt 12, “A book with "pop" or "sugar" in the title”. I gave it four stars. This is a straightforward cosy mystery. Maddie is an influencer in Los Angeles whose life collapses after she is left at the altar. She then inherits a bakery, a house, and a dog from her great aunt in a small town called New Buffalo. The will requires her to stay there for a year. Soon after she arrives, the town’s mayor is murdered, and she gets involved in the investigation, while using her influencer career to the advantage of her new bakery, and the whole town. The strongest part of the book is the cast. Maddie works as a main character because her situation forces a clear transition. She is used to a curated online life and has to adjust to a slower, more personal environment. That contrast drives a lot of the early interactions. The side characters are distinct and easy to keep track o...
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Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (The Brown Sisters #1) * *

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I read Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert for the 2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge, prompt number 6, “A book with an overweight main character whose story isn't about losing weight”. I went into this expecting a light but eventful romantic comedy, something built around Chloe’s list and the idea of her stepping out of her comfort zone. What I got instead was a very slow, very internal, and very repetitive romance that did not work for me. I ended up giving it two stars. The premise is simple and promising. Chloe Brown is a wealthy woman living in the UK who, after almost being run over by a car, creates a list of things she wants to do to “get a life.” She has fibromyalgia, which limits her energy and shapes how she navigates the world. To complete her list, she enlists the help of Red, the building’s handyman, who is also a painter. From there, the story focuses almost entirely on their developing relationship. The problem is that the list, which should have driven the narra...
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Doctor Who: Ghosts of India by Mark Morris * * * *

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I read Doctor Who: Ghosts of India by Mark Morris for the 2026 Popsugar Reading Challenge, prompt 30, “A travel ghost story”. I did not read it fully in print. I started the book, but it did not quite feel like Doctor Who on the page, so I switched to the abridged audiobook. That version worked much better for me and shaped my overall experience of the story. The novel is set in 1947 in India, during the final days of British rule. This is not just a backdrop. The setting is very present. There are tensions between communities, people moving, uncertainty about what comes next. The story builds on that instability and places a supernatural mystery into it. At first, the events appear ghostly. There are sightings, fear, and confusion. Gradually, the science fiction layer comes in, and the explanation shifts toward something more typical of Doctor Who, with an alien presence behind what initially looks like a haunting. The main characters are the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble, which is on...
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The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke * * *

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I read The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke as my April pick of the month for 2026. This is a collaborative novel written by Cat Clarke and V. E. Schwab, which already sets up an interesting premise before the story even begins. The novel follows six mid-list authors who are invited to a remote Scottish island by a famous, reclusive writer. The setting is very contained. A single house on a small island, cut off from the outside world, no devices, no communication, just the writers and their work. Once they arrive and sign strict NDAs, they are given their task. The famous author whose house they are staying in is already dead, and they must each write the final chapter of his unfinished manuscript. They have 72 hours to do it, submitting their work to an editor who stays separately in a nearby cottage. The cast is deliberately varied. Each writer comes from a different genre, which shapes both their voice and their approach to the challenge. There is a thriller-writing duo, Malc...
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