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The Long Farewell
The Long Farewell is a haunting and relatable story set in the grim rise of Nazi Germany. It follows Marina Nesdrova, a Belarusian refugee trapped in a loveless marriage to an ambitious German officer, and her son Hermann, a boy torn between the warmth of his mother and the cold ideology consuming his father. Through their eyes, the book reveals the slow poisoning of ordinary lives by fanaticism. Love, guilt, betrayal, and fear mix with the heavy shadow of history, turning the personal into something almost mythic. Author Bob Van Laerhoven writes with the precision of a historian and the soul of a poet, weaving the domestic and the political into a tapestry that feels both intimate and terrifying.
What I liked most was the raw, unfiltered emotion beneath the words. Every page hums with quiet menace. The author doesn’t let us look away, and I found myself torn between admiration and discomfort. Marina’s despair feels like a slow drowning. Hermann’s innocence is eaten away scene by scene until you realize there’s no escape for him. Laerhoven’s prose is elegant but never showy. He keeps the sentences sharp and grounded, and the translation by Vernon Pearce carries a dark rhythm that lingers. It’s not just a story about Nazis and victims, it’s about what happens when love rots in the shadow of power.
I won’t lie, reading it was emotionally difficult. I felt angry, then sad, then strangely numb. The violence is understated yet suffocating. It creeps in like a chill. I found myself wanting to shake the characters, to warn them, but they kept walking toward their fate, blind and hopeful in equal measure. What I loved most, though, was how the book refuses to moralize. It just presents life as it was, messy, cruel, and tragically beautiful. It’s that honesty that makes it unforgettable.
The Long Farewell is not a book you finish and set aside. It’s a book that keeps you thinking well after it’s ended. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction that bites deep, who doesn’t mind feeling a little broken when they turn the last page. If you want to look straight into the heart of human weakness and still find traces of grace there, this book will stay with you for a long time.
Pages: 365 | ASIN : B0FPK7P459
GIRL GLOW: TITAN OF TRANSFORMATION
I’ve read a lot of self-help books, and honestly, most of them start to sound the same after a while. Calm advice, predictable structure, and a polite tone that makes me feel like I’m in a corporate workshop. Girl Glow: Titan of Transformation is nothing like that. Dr. Alexandra Elinsky throws subtlety out the window. This book is loud, fiery, and almost rebellious in its honesty. She talks about power, self-worth, spirituality, and womanhood in a way that feels more like a late-night heart-to-heart with your boldest friend than a formal lecture. Each chapter pushes you to stop waiting for permission and start taking up space.
What I loved most is how different it feels from the usual “love yourself” fluff. Elinsky doesn’t hold your hand or soften her words. She tells it straight: the world conditions women to play small, and it’s time to stop doing that. Her voice is big and unapologetic, and at times it almost feels like she’s talking directly to you. I found myself nodding, laughing, and sometimes rolling my eyes, but never bored. There’s something refreshing about her confidence. She mixes psychology, spirituality, and straight-up attitude into one wild ride.
Chapter 7, Are You Hiding Behind That Pretty Face, hit me harder than I expected. I’ve read plenty of self-help takes on confidence, but this one felt personal. Elinsky digs into the idea that women often use appearance as armor, smiles, style, and politeness to hide pain or self-doubt, and that called me out in the best way. The way she writes about peeling back those layers, about letting people see your real power instead of your mask, made me stop and think.
By the end, I felt strangely energized. The book isn’t calm or balanced, it’s electric. It’s not trying to soothe you, it’s trying to ignite you. Compared to other self-help voices, Elinsky is more like Jen Sincero (You Are a Badass) if Jen had a PhD and an even sharper edge, or maybe like Mel Robbins but with more sass and less filter. If you’re tired of the same polished advice about journaling and gratitude lists, and you want something with real bite, Girl Glow: Titan of Transformation will jolt you awake in the best way.
Pages: 254 | ASIN: B0FNLZ3VBF
Inheriting Karma
I went into Inheriting Karma expecting a mystery, maybe some crime or supernatural twist, but this book was something else entirely. It’s mysterious, sure, but not in the usual “whodunit” way. It’s like stepping into someone’s mind after everything has fallen apart. The story is fragmented, poetic, and even a little trippy. It talks about guilt, fate, and what happens when your past won’t stop chasing you. It’s weird, dark, and hypnotic in a way that’s hard to explain and hard to look away from.
It wasn’t easy to follow. The writing feels like a code at times, like the story wants you to dig through the mess to find the meaning. But there’s something addictive about that. The mood is heavy, almost haunting, and I found myself flipping back pages trying to piece together what was real and what was just in the narrator’s head. It’s got that eerie, unsettled vibe that keeps you tense even though you don’t know why.
If you’re the kind of mystery reader who likes neat clues and clean endings, this might throw you off. But if you enjoy stories that play with your head, that make you question what’s happening, this book has that in spades. It’s like a psychological puzzle wrapped in poetry. I wouldn’t call it a traditional thriller, but it definitely gave me chills.
I’d recommend Inheriting Karma to readers who like their mysteries a little offbeat. Fans of surreal or psychological thrillers where the real tension comes from the mind, not the crime. It’s strange, but it’s the kind of strange that sticks with you.
Pages: 328 | ASIN : B0FM6TTGJG
GIRL GAME: BALLS OUT
Dr. Alexandra Elinsky’s Girl Game: Balls Out is a raw, fearless, and deeply personal exploration of female empowerment and emotional rebirth. The book blends psychology, self-help, and memoir in a way that feels like both a sermon and a conversation with a brutally honest friend. It unpacks the weight of female conditioning, our people-pleasing habits, the shame of self-doubt, the quiet suffering of women who forget their own power. Through stories, coaching insights, and bold declarations, Elinsky challenges readers to stop hiding, to grow metaphorical “balls,” and to live with unapologetic confidence. Her central message is clear: healing and ascension start when we stop shrinking.
The writing felt personal and passionate. Elinsky doesn’t just give advice; she hands you her own pain and shows what she built from it. Her words about emotional neglect, self-abandonment, and the ways women are conditioned to serve everyone but themselves resonated with me. She writes like she’s fighting for you. The mix of faith, psychology, and blunt empowerment talk was strange for me at first, but it works.
At times, her confidence borders on defiance, and that can be polarizing. There’s an energy behind every page, sometimes chaotic, sometimes tender, that makes it impossible to stay passive while reading. I liked that it wasn’t polished in a corporate, self-help way. It’s messy and real, like healing usually is. You can feel the heart behind every sentence.
I personally liked Chapter Six, The Fight of Your Life, because it feels like the emotional center of Balls Out. It’s fierce, heartfelt, and painfully honest. In it, Dr. Elinsky dives deep into the internal battles women face, the war between self-worth and self-doubt, between the desire to please others and the need to finally please ourselves. She writes about pain like it’s a sparring partner, not an enemy, showing how struggle shapes strength. I could feel her voice pushing me to stand taller, to stop backing down from my own potential. The tone is part battle cry, part therapy session, reminding readers that the hardest fights are usually the ones happening inside us.
I walked away feeling both humbled and fired up. Girl Game: Balls Out isn’t for readers looking for a quiet, clinical take on empowerment. It’s for women who’ve been through the wringer, who are tired of pretending, and who want someone to shake them awake. It’s a guide, a confession, and a pep talk all rolled into one.
Pages: 335 | ASIN: B0FNLZFD7D
A Dark Night In Oregon: A Short Story
This short story grips you from the first flash of lightning. It begins in a lonely Oregon diner, rain pounding outside, and ends with the revelation that the frightened waitress, Linda, isn’t who she seems. She’s Jo Jordan, a wanted criminal tangled in a past of violence, betrayal, and survival. The tension builds fast. What starts as a quiet night at a retro café turns into a deadly standoff, where trust collapses and hidden truths crawl into the light. It’s short, sharp, and intense. Every page hums with unease.
Reading this, I felt caught in Jo’s turmoil. She’s dangerous but relatable. The writing doesn’t beg for sympathy, but it gives her enough raw honesty that I couldn’t help but feel torn. I liked how Ana Cortes layered Jo’s history through quick flashes of memory rather than long explanations. It kept the story moving and my nerves tight. The dialogue felt real, too. Short, clipped, sometimes almost choking on itself, just like real fear does. The violence hit hard but wasn’t overdone. The only thing that tripped me up was how fast it all happened.
What stuck with me most was the quiet sadness under the action. This isn’t just a story about crime. It’s about running, from others, from guilt, from yourself. I felt the rain, the loneliness, the weight of being hunted. The author writes with a movie-like rhythm, but she sneaks in emotion between the bullets. It made me think about how far someone might go just to start over, and how the past has a way of finding you, no matter where you hide.
I’d recommend A Dark Night in Oregon to readers who love fast-paced thrillers with a human edge. It’s perfect for anyone who likes stories that twist crime and emotion together. It’s dark but not hopeless. If you want something that makes your pulse race and your chest ache a little too, this one’s worth your time.
Pages: 10 | ASIN : B0FBW4292Y
GIRL GRIT: SAVAGE NOT AVERAGE
Girl Grit is a fiery and unapologetic manifesto for women who have ever felt small, unseen, or silenced. Dr. Alexandra Elinsky takes readers through the pain and power of womanhood in two sweeping parts: the first unearths the wounds society inflicts on girls as they grow up, and the second rebuilds from the rubble, offering tools to reclaim confidence, purpose, and joy. The book is both personal and universal, weaving raw anecdotes, candid confessions, and psychological insights into a defiant call to self-worth. It’s not a gentle read, it’s a blazing one, written with the urgency of someone who has clawed her way out of the fire and now teaches others how to dance in it.
Reading this book felt like sitting across from a best friend who refuses to let you settle for less. I could feel Elinsky’s heart pulsing through every page. Honest, angry, hopeful. Her writing is raw and often blunt, but that’s what makes it so gripping. There’s no sugarcoating here, just the real stuff like loneliness, heartbreak, abuse, and the messy road back to self-love. Some moments punched me in the gut, especially when she wrote about invisibility and the hunger to be chosen. I caught myself nodding, even wincing, as she spoke truths I didn’t want to admit. Her tone flips between tough-love coach and soulful sisterhood preacher, and though at times the language runs wild, it always feels intentional, like she’s shaking the reader awake.
What impressed me most was how Girl Grit balances emotion with empowerment. It doesn’t just rage, it rebuilds. Elinsky’s background in psychology shines through as she unpacks the inner workings of shame, self-worth, and resilience. Still, it never reads like a textbook. It’s fierce and conversational, almost like a long journal entry laced with caffeine and conviction. Some parts made me laugh, others made me want to cry.
I’d recommend Girl Grit: Savage Not Average to any woman who’s tired of pretending she’s fine when she’s not. It’s perfect for readers craving authenticity, for those navigating heartbreak or rediscovering their power, and for anyone ready to burn down old narratives and build new ones. It’s bold and honest. A love letter to the parts of us that refuse to quit.
Pages: 261 | ASIN: B0DGPKMG3M
Sociomom: My Story of Terror, Truth, and Triumph
Kevin Hughes’s Sociomom is a raw and gut-wrenching memoir about surviving a childhood dominated by abuse, manipulation, and the long road toward emotional healing. The book begins with a haunting scene at the deathbed of Hughes’s mother, a woman he portrays as both magnetic and monstrous. From there, he guides the reader through the labyrinth of trauma recovery, recounting his experiences with therapy, memory, and faith. The story is both personal and universal — an unflinching portrait of how the scars of childhood shape the adults we become and how confronting buried truths can lead to redemption.
Reading Sociomom felt like sitting across from someone who’s finally ready to tell the story they’ve held inside for decades. Hughes writes with an honesty that is as uncomfortable as it is necessary. His prose isn’t flowery; it’s direct, sometimes even harsh, but that’s what gives it power. There’s no pretense, no dressing up of pain. I found myself angry at times, heartbroken at others, but always drawn in. The way he weaves memory, faith, and self-reflection gives the book a rhythm that feels human, messy, and real. You can sense his years of emotional armor cracking as he writes, and that vulnerability pulls you right into his experience.
What hit me hardest wasn’t the horror of the abuse, but the quiet aftermath, the way Hughes describes trying to live as a functioning adult while feeling half-alive inside. His exploration of therapy, especially EMDR, and his struggle to reconnect with emotion felt deeply relatable. There’s pain in every line, but also resilience. The book doesn’t beg for pity; it asks for understanding. At moments, it’s almost too heavy, but then he grounds it again with flashes of humor or self-awareness that make it bearable.
Sociomom is a survival story and a testament to what healing can look like after a lifetime of emotional ruin. It’s not an easy read, but it’s an important one. I’d recommend this book to anyone who’s walked through trauma or works with survivors. It’s also for readers who crave truth told without varnish, who want to see what courage looks like when it’s stripped of polish and performed in real time.
Pages: 183 | ASIN : B0FDLFFLH8
14 Hours of Saturn
14 Hours of Saturn is a slice-of-life story told through the eyes of Saturn O Syres, a 24-year-old woman spending what seems like an ordinary Saturday that slowly becomes anything but. The book unfolds in real time, each chapter named after the hour, moving from morning to evening as Saturn’s day reveals her past, her regrets, her humor, and her heart. She speaks straight to the reader like an old friend over coffee, weaving stories about family, faith, and self-discovery while the rain taps outside her apartment window. It’s a quiet, thoughtful narrative about being alone but not lonely, about making peace with who you’ve been and who you still want to become.
Kizman’s writing is plainspoken and unpretentious, which makes Saturn feel real. She rambles sometimes, circles back, drifts into childhood memories, then lands hard on a feeling that hits home. I liked that her voice wasn’t polished or filtered. It’s messy, but that’s how real people sound when they’re figuring themselves out. The pacing surprised me. Nothing explodes or catches fire, yet I couldn’t stop turning the pages. The small moments like a dream, a broken yolk, or a memory of a sister, pile up into something relatable. The humor sneaks in when you least expect it, softening the heavier reflections about family and faith.
Kizman writes like someone who isn’t afraid of detail. A scene about breakfast can stretch into pages, but then I’d catch myself smiling at a line or nodding at a truth tucked inside all that talk. There’s a rhythm to it, like spending a rainy day indoors when you’ve got nowhere else to be. The emotional honesty makes up for the slower pace. It’s warm, a bit awkward, and completely sincere. You can tell the author loves his characters, flaws and all.
By the end, I felt like I’d spent those fourteen hours with Saturn myself. The story leaves you calm but thoughtful, the way a good talk with a friend can. I’d recommend 14 Hours of Saturn to readers who appreciate character-driven stories more than action-packed ones. If you like books that make you feel seen in small, ordinary ways, and honest writing that sounds like conversation, this one’s for you. It’s gentle, a little quirky, and full of heart.
Pages: 332 | ASIN : B0FRB8589W
LITERARY TITAN 