Extremally well written and a wonderful book. I am excited to see what else this author offers up for her readers in the future.

I'm all for escape rooms and cash prize money. This book had a slow start but once it did, it was non-stop. I love how real the characters were and how Pavlov brought the story to life.

The writing is juvenile and does not feel like it was edited enough. I was so off put by it that I couldn't get into the book and so wouldn't buy it for students as they don't enjoy books that talk down to them,

I really really wanted to like this book. But it just didn't capture me. I didn't like Lisette. The entire time, I wasn't rooting for her to win. The fact she just let other people fail, including her best friend. She was so selfish.

That being said. This book just wasn't for me. The writing style was amazing and that cover was gorgeous. So maybe you'll like it.

Definitely a different type of book. I enjoyed that it was well written and engaging. I was sucked in to the idea of a haunted house with $10,000 if you survived the night. Lisette came off as a normal teenager that has not had the easiest life, in the end when she questions herself if she is selfish or not seems to me on the harsher end. Especially since she was competing for the money to prevent from being evicted from her home with her mother Ruelle. I do wish there had been more explanation on the magic her mother held, and the pirate witches, but all in all I was entertained by the story and found it kept my attention throughout the whole book.

An aptly named book, I accidentally missed the download window for this so have bought a copy. Really enjoyable, interesting twists and more. I thought the book was very aptly named.

3.5*

*Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an ARC*

In all honesty, this book was probably the weirdest book I'd read. A haunted house, pirate witches, terrifying realms...like damn. I've never read anything like this. While I had enjoyed this book, there were a few things I didn't really liked. The MC...Lisette. She was so selfish and so ungrateful; who leaves her friend like that? Although the ending kind of wrapped up between Xavier's and Lisette's friendship but still though...but I do think that was the point of the MC to not have her as a likeable character. I just hope she wouldn't be as selfish in the second book, if there is. I did liked Kennedy though. And I'm glad Ruelle had softened up a bit towards the ending but I did wish to have more explanations about Wolfram and Ruelle's past of together and such.

I loved the realms especially the Jungle one but there were some realms that could've been more fleshed out. Also, whatever happened to Opal? I don't think we ever got an explanation as to who killed her. Maybe it did and I missed it.

Regardless, this was an entertaining book with a beautiful cover.

Lured by a $10,000 prize, Lisette recruits her best friend Xavier and together they enter The 13th Realm of Hell-an escape-room style Haunted House run by a mysterious coven. Xavier has his reservations, especially after reading the fine print on the waiver to enter. Lisette is too focused on proving herself to consider the risks. With him or without him, she is determined to complete all thirteen realms. If she wins the prize money, she'll avoid eviction from her beloved French Quarter apartment. When I read the synopsis for this book I thought it sounded like it could be a great story and even though I had never read anything by this author, I decided to request it and give it a shot. I loved it! A very fast paced, action packed story with lots of craziness and suspense to keep you reading straight to the very end! Highly recommend!

The premise of this book sounded very intriguing, and the story itself did not disappoint. I felt like the fast pacing worked well for this plot, and that plot kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. If you’re looking for a new adventurous, fast-paced fantasy, definitely put this on your radar.

Mind Like a Diamond was nothing like I expected to be but in such a good way. There was so much happening, so fast throughout the story, definitely keeping you interested as you read, During intense moments of the story you felt them as if you were in the story, absolutely wonderful!

3 stars

Mind Like a Diamond is a YA fantasy following the perspective of Lisette, who is in desperate need of money, when they are about to get evicted from the French quarter apartment that she shares with her secretive mother. When she is invited to a haunted house that offers a 10,000 grand prize, she jumps at the opportunity and overlooks a number of questionable signs that this is no ordinary haunted house. To make matters worse she drags her best friend into the mix.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the whole haunted house element, and each level was so unique and terrifying. This story was super imaginative and enjoyed all the Halloween vibes that I got. The writing was good but felt rushed at times. There were so many levels and the story spent so much time trying to write about each one, we sped through a lot of the story. I have a number of questions about their magic, society, the haunted house, and the witches. There are so many questions that I still have about a number of plot points and the story lines by the end then I had answers for. I didn't really like any of the characters, and I had a number of problems with Lisette and her mother, mostly I disliked a number of the choices that they made and their attitude towards others. Overall, while I liked the premise of this story, it was just ok, and I had a couple of problems with the details that were left out in the story.
Trigger warnings: drug use, sexual assault, murder, gore
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

This book is like a haunted house, an escape room, and a coming of age story all in one.

The main character is solely focused on one thing, saving the only stable home she's ever known after coming face to face with eviction. When she learns of a contest to make it through the night at a haunted house, with a prize large enough to save her mother's apartment, she doesn't think twice.

Throughout the book are themes of poverty, family secrets, and personal growth. The journey it takes you on goes beneath the surface of survival and much deeper into the challenges that make us face our weaknesses and grow as people.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest, personal opinion review. Pirate witches is what caught my eye and pulled me into reading this book. Then you add a escape room called the 13th realm of hell to win $10,000? Count me in! The prize money to me sounded like a trap in order to lure people into doing the escape room by the coven running it. Each realm is great and has you clamoring to read what the next one will entail. Fantastic read, looking forward to more coming from this author.

This was so good! Anything in new Orleans usually draws me and this did not disappoint! Plus it had WITCHES! I mean how can you lose? Thank you to netgalley ARC in exchange for my honest review

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book.
This book was very unique and it was refreshing to read something with a different concept from what is usually out there. Lissette is a very complicated character and she kept me so engaged throughout the book. This book was incredible and would love more books like this one.

This book wasnt that good.
From the beggining i was lost, then i thought i understood something but again, lost.
Es un libro sobre brujas contemporaneas que no aparecen hasta el final de la historia. Mientras tanto, la protagonista tiene que sobrevivir 13 niveles mientras se "rebela" contra su mamá super protectiva. Ah, y antes la protagonista se rompe la espalda, por lo tanto, le piden a un amigo (que hace magia y ponele que es doctor) que la cure, en vez de ir a un hospital :)
Si, no me gustó tanto.
Un libro pedorro.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for this chance to read and review this book. This does not in any way influence my honest opinion or review.

The cover for this book is beautiful and it definitely helped with my decision into requesting this book. However, not quite sure what the book or the title had to do with the story as I couldn't get into it.

The first few chapters I really struggled with as there didn't seem to be much going on. The Lisette which wasn't a character I favoured decided to jump off a balcony and break her back.

I couldn't warm up to the characters, Lisette was very much woe is me but projected her issues onto everyone else. Ruelle was way too secretive and Xavier was way too good of a friend to Lisette.

I will certainly try this book again in the future but for now, it wasn't for me.

Mind Like a Diamond was largely enganging and fast paced. The action was the most interesting part - the emotional stakes (Lisette's relationship with her mother especially) largely fell flat and resolutions felt unearned

Well, this book was a wild ride! I was intrigued from the very first chapter. Even though we didn’t know what was happening yet, the author weaved a magical, atmospheric and mysterious world that I wanted to climb into. It was fast-paced and I tore through the story so fast, I finished the book in a day. We’re thrown right into the story and that meant it gripped me from the start. I thought some of the events that happened were so unique and the author added a flair to the genre.

The characters were super interesting. Not just the protagonist but also the supporting characters, and I wanted to find out more about all of them. They were all colourful and real. Lisette the protagonist started to annoy me around halfway through. She was whiny and mean to her best friend Xavier, and even though we know why she’s desperate to get through the haunted house and win the money she still bugged me. However, as the book went on I grew to like her, even though she made some stupid decisions.

I wouldn’t say it was scary but it was eerie, and it was hard to know who you could trust. But that’s what made this book so good. Always suspicious of every character and not knowing what was going to happen next.

I loved how all the realms in the haunted house were different — each creepier than the last. I felt like I didn’t know what I was walking into, just like the characters. I liked how it wasn’t the only mysterious thing to figure out. We also had the character development of Lisette and her mother. What were her mother’s secrets? Why was she so against her going to the haunted house, and what was their connection to it? It added another complex layer to the story, making me root for Lisette to survive and find out the truth.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

I won’t lie..I picked this book up because of the cover. It looked a little sci-fi and felt very promising. The plot of the 13 different levels of the escape room and the money was super interesting! I was captivated and there was many twists and turns, and I couldn’t stop reading.
I didn’t like Lisette that much, though. She was an u likable main character, and is willing to throw anyone under the bus to try to get to the goal. She was super desperate. Overall, 4 stars.