Patchwork by Karsten Knight.
Renata Lake thought her relationship would be the only casualty of prom. Then the bomb went off.It was supposed to be a night to remember—a cruise through Boston Harbor, dancing beneath the stars. But when an explosion tears the ship apart, Renata wakes up in Patchwork, an ethereal world where all her memories have been stitched haphazardly together. In order to catch the assassin who murdered her friends, she’ll have to navigate the twisted landscape of her mind and relive critical moments from her past in search of clues. Can she uncover the killer’s identity and find her way back to the man she once loved before it’s too late?
A very good read with good characters. Likeable story. Slow until the bomb then I couldn't put it down. 4*.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, while the blurb really interested me, I have been unable to get into the book.

What should have been an intriguing story of twists and turns left me wanting more. I wasn't intrigued, and I didn't care for the main character from the get go.

I've unfortunately tried to read this numerous times since receiving an advance copy but I am unfortunately not connecting with the story.

I'd never even heard of her and had no idea what to expect.....................................................😀

It's prom night, it's supposed to be a magical evening, but it hasn't gone quite the way Renata Lake has expected when the cruise ship she's on is rocked with an explosion which leads the ship to a watery grave. Renata wakes up in an alternate world where she watches the events unfold in reverse, only to run for her life as the world crumbles around her, trying to escape, only to wake up a day in her life she has already lived where she must face her emotions head on and figure out what happened.
This story was refreshingly new to me. The main character, Renata, was surprisingly likeable and real and the other characters were interesting enough, although I would have liked to see more depth to them. It was fast paced and well thought out, I loved the ending. There were parts that resembled mini horror films that were especially thrilling, secluded lodge with a murderer on the loose, count me in. Karsten Knight does a really good job at describing the way things feel and unravelling the consequences of our actions. Renata actually learned things about life and herself throughout the book which was actually beautiful in a way.
Thank you netgalley for my copy.

So good, I loved this genre bending read! Combining mythology and time-travel, Renata finds that not only did she survive a bomb, and has new powers, but she also has a killed on her tail!

1.5 stars

I HAVE RETURNED ---- just so I can give a proper review.



This book left me wholeheartedly confused. Not in a what in the world just happened but more in a I have no idea what to feel about this right now, so I am going to avoid labeling it type feeling. So I cleansed my palate with a re-read of Starflight and now I feel I can compose myself in words.

What are words?

Patchwork is kind of a "new" take on the Greek myth of the Phoenix, rising from the ashes, complete with Osiris (Egyptian god of regeneration) and Thanatos (Greek personification of death).

Our "heroine," Renata Lake discovers that she is a Phoenix, quite by accident as she is thrust into an alternate dimension where time is rewound. She watches her friends die many deaths because Osiris, her arch nemesis, is coming to kill her. The only problem is she has no idea who Osiris is, it could be anyone.

*Side note: Renata is a Latin based first name meaning "born again." Props to Karsten for the Latin shout-out.

I put the term heroine in quotations because for...well...almost the ENTIRE book, I had no real care for her. We are thrust into her life right as she is figuring out this power and the book focuses more on that than how she feels about most things. Except Troy. And her complicated relationship with Wyatt.

Also, as a person who suffers from panic attacks as well, I feel that Karsten did a good job of conveying what a panic attack feels like. At least in my experience.

Here is where I rant. I feel it building. I am putting in a spoiler tag, so don't click it unless you want to know what happens.

(view spoiler)

In the end, this book made me really mad at some points. But for the majority of it, I couldn't care less about the characters or whether they lived or died. Amazing premise. I just wish the character development had been a touch A LOT more flushed out.

Me RN:



Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am truly bummed I wasn't a big fan of it.

Really interesting and different... I requested this from netgalley due to the comparison to other works that I enjoy but I found it to be very much its own specific story. Renata Lake survives a horrific situation where those around her perish and she finds herself thrust back in time after the survival. The story continues to start and stop at different periods of time in Renata's life as she is faced to relive those moments knowing those she loves could/will die a terrible death if she doesn't solve the mystery of who and why her. The suspense of the story actually grabbed me right away and I was intrigued by the story. It was a good read but there were some things I didn't truly understand and wished there had been a bit more explanation (like the time travel). Overall I will definitely recommend this story to my students and I will be looking for more by Karsten Knight!

Written in first PoV, with some chapters dedicated to Osiris, this YA paranormal mystery / suspense / romance was fast paced, with an interesting enough storyline, but the execution didn’t really thrill me. I couldn't get myself to care enough about the characters, but I did like the whole ‘time-traveling’ concept and its implications, and I liked her father :)

<<Whenever I used to get really stressed about all the little things, my dad had this saying: “Whether a jigsaw puzzle has three pieces or a thousand, you still put it all together one piece at a time.”>>

Not really my kind, also it didn’t stay with me after one month or so has passed since reading it.. hence the rather low rating.

I was provided a Copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I will be honest I requested this book because the cover was cool!!! So I went in somewhat blind to what the book was about – however, yes, yes you can judge a book by its cover 
I loved the books premise and I thought the main character was snarky and great! The book starts off action packed and doesn’t stop….I LOVED how she would relive certain days and change the outcome of those said days and hopes it changes something down the road all while running from the “bad guys with a twist”, and saving her friends.
What a great book, very fast paced, great characters, and the mythology hint was a great twist. I felt the fast paced feel to the book actually worked for this story since there was a sense of urgency to the character and her actions.
I would recommend this book to others and I WILL be checking out more from the author: Karsten Knight

Solid 4 stars!

This book was incredibly enjoyable! The story of a girl constantly being dragged back in time to prevent the deaths of all her friends. As things continue she realizes that someone is maliciously trying to get at her specifically, because of an ancient ability she was born with.

I admit when I started and through the first 50 or so pages I was a bit unsure about this book. The writing was strong but it felt like it was going to be just your standard teenage drama (even though the summary made it clear that was not the case). By the time I hit the 10% mark though, I was completely hooked.

I knocked off one star because I really would have liked a better explanation of how the phoenix-thing works. And I know we don't find out because this story is told through Renata's perspective and she herself doesn't know, but it left me wondering at the end. Why Renata? How did this power start? How is it inherited?

I'm also not sure if I missed foreshadowing or if the reveal of the Big Bad came out of nowhere. It was certainly a surprise but I'm not sure if I liked how surprising it was or if it just felt totally tacked on.

Overall I was very impressed with this book and I'll definitely be watching out for other books by Knight in the future!

I'll start with the positives. I liked the premise for this book. Renata is your average teenager girl attending her high school prom when suddenly she witnesses all her classmates, friends and boyfriend get murdered. Somehow, she ends up being thrown back through time in order to try and catch the assassin, and prevent a mass murder. The beginning genuinely drew me in and was relatively fast paced. I also liked the little references to Greek mythology scattered throughout the novel - Daedalus Minotaurs, Tantalus, a boyfriend called Troy.

The Patchwork world came off as creepy and atmospheric. The first time Renata enters the world, and the shipping containers starting rattling and talking was well thought out. I wanted to spend more time in the Patchwork world to be honest, rather than in Renata's past.

I think this is where the story began to unravel slightly. There wasn't enough world building. I wanted to explore more of the Patchwork world, and spend less time with Renata's friends, who I didn't really connect with at all. I thought Troy in particular was a bit of a drip, and I found myself not caring if any of them lived or not.

I also didn't really care for the Osiris 'mini chapters'. I though they were a little unnecessary and broke up the story too much. Also, for a supposedly ancient assassin he was really rubbish at his job. Renata was fumbling about all over her time line and he missed so many opportunities to just get shot of her. Also, I never really got why he wanted to kill her in the first place? Maybe I missed that bit?

I didn't figure out the twist ending right away though. Credit where credits due.

Patchwork is a YA novel which combines mythology, time travel, friendship and vengeance.

Renata Lake is lucky enough to consider her friends very, very close to her. She has a boyfriend who loves her, a best friend she can share anything with and the rest of the Amaranthine Society with whom she can pull pranks on unsuspecting victims. Prom night's prank is a doozy - throw a mannequin overboard the cruise ship they are on and make people believe that someone is actually drowning. Cue a fireball explosion and Renata finds herself in the water where her whole world changes. She enters into the time travelling world of Patchwork where she is thrown into scenarios that have already happened in her life and where she knows the outcome. Surely if she knows a bad ending is coming she can change it? As she stumbles blindly through the maze that is Patchwork, not knowing exactly how the rules work, she realises that someone is after her. Someone strong enough to move between the Patchwork worlds with her. But who is this person and what do they want with her? As Renata continues to try and change the future she realises that some things are meant to be and that she might not be part of the future at all.

The book was mainly a hit for me. I enjoyed the idea of Patchwork and the blending of mythology as well as the phoenix concept that ran through it. To be able to go back in time and try to correct a wrong that may have happened is definitely a plus - but since we all know what happens with a butterfly effect it might be best to leave it alone. The writing was very good - simple enough that you didn't have to stumble over words or bad editing but complex in weaving together a story that had to be joined from so many angles.

Renata came across as an up and down character; very selfish and wrapped up in herself at times and then trying so hard to save her friends that she lands up flubbing her good intentions. I guess bearing in mind that this is a YA novel, some important morals must come through and maybe a reader will recognise some "iffy" qualities in the way they treat people themselves and take a good look in the mirror. Each of her friends had a great supporting role and it was interesting to see each scenario when you had hindsight into it. I did however find Patchwork and the concept of time travel confusing at times and I was wondering exactly how many scenarios we would have to go through before finding out who the killer was.

I would definitely recommend this for a quick read where what you see is not exactly what you get.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review the book.

Renata Lake is a typical high school girl in most ways, she plays sports, has a boyfriend and likes to get into a bit of mischief now and then when things are a bit boring. Renata and a couple of her friends have formed a secret club to pull pranks and have what they think will be a great one set up for prom night. However, things go a bit off course for Renata and her friends after their prank and the next thing Renata knows she’s in the water and the ship with her friends on it is exploding.

When Renata awakes from her near drowning after the ship attack she finds herself in a strange place. Renata comes to know of this in between area she’s would up in as Patchwork that she has traveled to between times finding herself then headed back to her life a month before prom night. Now Renata believes she has the chance to make things right and save her friends before the tragedy can happen but little does Renata know that the evil that attacked is going to follow her through Patchwork and through time trying to finish what it started that night.

Patchwork was described as a young adult thriller that is a cross between Before I Fall and Inception. Now I wasn’t a huge fan of Inception myself but my curiosity was up on what this book would contain so I decided to give it a try. I will say that perhaps the Inception side of the book is what kept me from giving a full five stars as when finished the one thing I thought was parts of the book could perhaps been a bit more clear, more specifically the Patchwork and how the time traveling worked.

Otherwise, though I found this story certainly contained some interesting ideas when it came to the plot. Renata going back through time trying to fix things and save those she loved kept me engaged in the story and wanting to know how it would all turn out in the end. I also enjoyed that as she goes farther back she’s questioning her life choices and events that she had lived. The story was also definitely action packed and a fast pace which had the pages turning all throughout.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Renata Lake expects prom night to be full of the typical things one finds on prom night: moonlight, dancing, teenage hormones, and an epic prank by her group of friends involving throwing a dead body over the side of the boat into Boston Harbor. What she doesn’t expect is a proposal or a bomb explosion, leaving real bodies in the water before she sinks beneath the waves.

Renata wakes up in Patchwork, a ghostly world where all her memories come together in a crazy pattern, and her friends’ murderer chases her through these memories, determined to kill her—and everyone she loves—once and for all. Reliving her memories and watching her friends die over and over is enough to drive anyone insane, but Renata must rise above that if she is to figure out who the killer is, and get back to her real life.

Patchwork is a fantastic read, fast-paced and with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing all the way to the final pages. There’s a bit of mythology here, not enough to overpower the action and the mystery, just enough to spice it up. I wanted to read this straight through, but real life had to take priority. This is a must-read for anyone who loves fast-paced fantasy with an edge.

Renata is a junior in a private boarding school. When her prom night goes from bad to worse, she realizes she has powers that allow her to travel back in time. But with those powers comes a huge threat, a nemesis that hunt her through time and every time tries to kill her and everyone she loves.

The story in itself was very interesting.
The characters were nice enough, I didn’t truly connect with any of them though.
Also, I had a lot of trouble picturing / understanding the Patchwork scenes. They seemed very unclear to me, and every time they ended, I was very relieved… So I started dreading those. Maybe it’s just me and my exhaustion though.
Finally, the end didn’t seem all that satisfactory somehow, like something was missing.
Still had a good enough time reading this though, I really did like the concept of the book and it kept me on my toes the entire time.

A fast-paced read that blends time-traveling, Greek mythology, and a modern day protagonist who suddenly finds herself with powers and a killer on her trail. A full review can be found at [a cup of tea and an armful of books] at the link below!

When Renata survives an explosion, she is thrown into an alternate universe which is like patchwork and is full of strange voices and a mysterious and scary figure. Then she goes back in time and decides to set right her mistakes and hope that this time, the future doesn't turn out as worse as it did before. A gripping and sensational read, just right for a rainy afternoon.

Patchwork is gripping, action packed, and an emotional rollercoaster at the moments when you least expect it. It broke my heart to have to put it down for a few days when life got busy but the ending was well worth the anticipation. This modernized retelling of the phoenix myth is the perfect read for lovers of YA action, fantasy, and thrillers and I can’t recommend it enough!