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Category: Book Reviews

Published on Leave a comment on The Moment I Met You
The Moment I Met You Book Cover The Moment I Met You
Debbie Johnson
Fiction
William Morrow
March 8, 2022
Advance reader copy
304
Free from publisher

Elena Godwin has scrimped and saved for a relaxing dream holiday in Mexico with her handsome but laddish boyfriend Harry. Life has felt a bit less exciting than she'd imagined her twenties would be, and she's hoping the trip will add some sizzle. But on a gorgeous summer evening an earthquake strikes--shattering their peaceful vacation. The trauma changes Elena's life forever.

Ten years later, Elena still can't forget the face of the stranger she met that night--the man who may have saved her life. When they're suddenly and unexpectedly thrown back together again, Elena starts to uncover the truth around that fateful night, and question whether she should have lived her life differently in the years afterwards.

What if it's not too late?

My review:

Hooray, a book that looked like your typical romance read that turns out to not be at all what I was expecting! Don't let the cutesy cover fool you, this book deals with some super heavy (and sad) subjects, namely how to deal with your life in the aftermath of a catastrophic event. An earthquake hits when the protagonist (the book is told in first person from her view) is on vacation in Mexico. The immediate and long term after effects are the main subject of the narrative. I loved this main character, as well as the secondary characters of Alex and Em. Without giving too much of the plot away, I really felt for Elena, and thought the decisions she made along the road to recovery were vey believable, even if not what the reader may have wanted. I did have a tiny issue toward the end when I thought the final twist was revealed too early (to sleuth-y thriller readers capable of picking up on subtle hints), but the ending justified the slight disappointment in guessing it. I thought the pacing and descriptions of place and mood were spot on, and I never felt the book dragged in any portion. Excellent examination of how different people respond to trauma, especially the long term effects.

Not what you expect when you see the cover, this book is an excellent portrayal of grief, trauma, and life choices in the wake of a life altering event. You will get your romance sprinkled in, but that is not at the heart of this one, and I was a huge fan of that!

Published on Leave a comment on Piranesi
Piranesi Book Cover Piranesi
Susanna Clarke
Fiction
Bloomsbury Publishing USA
September 28, 2021
Paperback
272
Purchased

Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

My review:

What in the world would possess me to pick up a fantasy book you ask? Blame it on this one winning last year's Women's Prize for Fiction. I follow that prize more than any other, and I usually have luck with their choices, but this one was a huge stretch for me and I put it off for months. This was certainly the strangest book I may have ever read, but yet I actually enjoyed it. It's not going to end up on any best of lists from me, but I was actually pretty captivated by this little guy named Piranesi. You spend most of this book with him exploring the world he is in, and it is composed of endless corridors in what can only be described as a mythical castle. He meticulously catalogs his surroundings, as well as patterns of the tides that fill up portions of his dwelling, in journals. He is visited on a certain day of the week by someone he calls The Other, who brings him his necessities and receives updates on Piranesi's projects. Strange things start happening when yet another person shows up in his space, and The Other tells him to stay away from this bad creature. The plot then intensifies from there as the reader tries to figure out who is telling the truth, and who exactly is Piranesi? I will say that even though it takes a while to get going, I found the descriptions of his house with all its statues and labyrinths fascinating! I am a pretty meticulous person so I also loved his sense of structure and record keeping. I found the ending to be satisfying, but just vague enough to promote further contemplation.

I definitely went out of my comfort zone with this one, and while I didn't love it, I enjoyed it enough to recommend it to others also looking to dip their toes into the fantasy genre. Once again I can say that The Women's Prize didn't let me down (although I would have personally picked Unsettled Ground had I been the sole judge!).

Published on Leave a comment on The Club
The Club Book Cover The Club
Ellery Lloyd
Fiction
Harper
March 1, 2022
Advance reader copy
304
Free from publisher

Envisioned as a luxurious home-away from-home for Very Important People, The Home Group is a collection of celebrity members clubs dotted across the globe, from London to Lisbon, Malibu to Manhattan, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, far from the prying eyes of fans and the media.

The most spectacular and exclusive of all is Island Home--a sprawling, closely-guarded complex of faux-rustic guest cabins, spas, bars and restaurants just off the English coast. To mark its opening, Home's mercurial CEO Ned Groom and his team have planned a glamorous three-day launch party, easily the most coveted A-list invite of the year.

But behind the scenes, tensions are at breaking point. Years behind schedule and vastly over budget, the project has stretched a long-serving and long-suffering team to their limits. There's Ned's trusted PA, who has over decades maneuvered her way from coat-check girl to Home's inner circle; Ned's younger brother, who has sacrificed his marriage and morals to be Ned's right-hand man; the Head of Membership keeping the world's most spoiled and jaded individuals entertained using any means necessary; the Head of Housekeeping, who plays silent witness to the guests' very worst excesses. All of them have something to hide - and that's before the beautiful people with their own ugly secrets even set foot on the island.

As tempers fray and behaviour worsens, as things get more sinister by the hour and the body count piles up, some of Island Home's members begin to wish they'd never RSVP'd at all.

Because at this club, if your name's on the list, you're not getting out . . .

My review:

I feel like the synopsis of this one does a very good job of setting up the premise and mystery of this book. However the first couple of lines in the prologue were a definite setup for me to keep reading to find out more.

By the time the Land Rover was halfway across the causeway it must have been obvious they were never going to make it. Not at the speed that tide was coming in.

After the explosive first pages, this book does take a bit to set things up and get going, but then it is a wild ride with many surprises as you try to figure out who makes it off the island and who doesn't (and who is in the Land Rover?). The twists and turns are leaked out a few at a time (just the way I like my thrillers) and the story is told from the perspective of four people, all elemental in the functioning of the Club. There are really not any likable characters in this one, they are all either spoiled celebs or nefarious grudge holders, but for me that was what made it more fun. You are more invested in the secrets they all have, and why they all have such an affinity for this club, rather than rooting for any one character. I definitely didn't figure many parts of this one out, and certainly not the major plot twists.

Despite a bit of a slow start to set up the ensuing drama, this one has a nice payout. If you are a fan of rich people behaving badly, you are definitely going to want to get your hands on this one.

Published on Leave a comment on Black Cake
Black Cake Book Cover Black Cake
Charmaine Wilkerson
Fiction
Ballantine Books
February 1, 2022
Hardcover
400
Free from publisher

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage, and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to "share the black cake when the time is right"? Will their mother's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

My review:

First can we marvel at this amazing cover? I'm really enjoying these books being released with swaths of color, I can't imagine it doesn't help to catch the eye of anyone browsing books, as it did me. There is a lot to unpack in this family story. First we have siblings Benny and Byron who have not exactly been close since they were children. When they come back together for the reading of their mother's will, their relationship will undergo a lot of soul searching, but will it cause them to come together or break apart again? Second is the story of Eleanor, and her will which consists of a traditional Caribbean black cake and a fifteen hour audiotape that will tell the parts of her story her children have never heard before. Third is the story of the Black Cake itself, and how a certain food can play a significant role in our lives. I found this book fascinating and engaging albeit a bit long (more on that shortly). I was definitely more invested in Eleanor's story than the siblings, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they were well drawn characters. To me it did get a bit bogged down in the middle with too many characters and plot points, and the people and timelines jumped around a bit, but this didn't impact my enjoyment of the novel as a whole. I will say that I'm positive from the description of the cake that I would probably not enjoy it (dried fruits in rum.....no thank you!), but I've seen lots of book groups attempt to make one for their meeting, which is such a fun idea.

A really interesting story full of secrets and memorable characters that will live up to the praise it's been given. I may not want to sample the cake, but I can certainly find the cover and story delicious.

Published on Leave a comment on With Love From London
With Love from London Book Cover With Love from London
Sarah Jio
Fiction
Ballantine Books
February 8, 2022
Paperback
375
Purchased

When librarian Valentina Baker was a teenager, her mother, Eloise, unexpectedly fled to her native London, leaving Val and her father on their own. Now in her thirties and fresh out of a failed marriage, Val feels a nagging disenchantment with her life--and knows she is still heartbroken over her mother's abandonment.

In a bittersweet twist of fate, Val receives word that Eloise has passed away, leaving Val her Primrose Hill apartment and the deed to a bookshop Val never knew she'd owned. Though the news is devastating, Val finds herself more determined than ever to discover who her mother truly was. She jets across the Atlantic, departing Seattle for a new life in charming London.

Slowly but surely, Val begins to piece together Eloise's life in the UK, falling in love with her pastel-colored flat, cozy neighborhood, and tucked-away storefront. But when she discovers that The Book Garden is in danger of going under, Val must work with its eccentric staff to get it in working order. In the process, she learns more about Eloise than she ever thought possible. And as Val races to save the shop, Eloise's own story unfolds, leading both mother and daughter to unearth revelatory truths.

My review:

Sometimes when a story is told in dual timelines and perspectives, I tend to gravitate to one or the other. Not the case with this one. I really loved both characters. Eloise is the mother whose timeline begins in 1968 London, and moves forward chronologically until 2013. Valentina is her daughter, and we pick up her story in 2013 when she goes to London to try and find answers as to why her recently diseased mother abandoned her when she was eleven years old. Through the dual narration we learn more about Eloise pre and post leaving her daughter, and we slowly learn the why as well. From Valentina we experience her anger and hurt about being left by her mother, and also her present time in London as she explores the life her mother was leading prior to her death. Hint.....there is a quaint and lovely bookstore with an elderly shopkeeper and a fabulous tenant rounding out the great characters. This was well written, with not a paragraph of dull filler, and an absolutely beautiful ending that may have brought a tear to my eye. There is a bit of a romance in this one (we all know how I feel about the obligatory romance), but one was lovely and swoon worthy, and the other was tolerable and not at the forefront of the story.

This was a really enjoyable read focusing on love and forgiveness, loss and discovery, that will leave you with a full heart and wistful smile. And don't forget there is a bookstore 🙂

2

Published on 2 Comments on Beautiful Little Fools
Beautiful Little Fools Book Cover Beautiful Little Fools
Jillian Cantor
Harper Perennial
February 1, 2022
Paperback/Audio
368
Free from publisher

On a sultry August day in 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of George Wilson, a local mechanic, is found in the woods nearby.

Then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire.

Daisy Buchanan once thought she might marry Gatsby—before her family was torn apart by an unspeakable tragedy that sent her into the arms of the philandering Tom Buchanan.

Jordan Baker, Daisy’s best friend, guards a secret that derailed her promising golf career and threatens to ruin her friendship with Daisy as well.

Catherine McCoy, a suffragette, fights for women’s freedom and independence, and especially for her sister, Myrtle Wilson, who’s trapped in a terrible marriage.

Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unraveling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession, with devastating consequences for all of them.

Jillian Cantor revisits the glittering Jazz Age world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, retelling this timeless American classic from the women’s perspective. Beautiful Little Fools is a quintessential tale of money and power, marriage and friendship, love and desire, and ultimately the murder of a man tormented by the past and driven by a destructive longing that can never be fulfilled.

My review:

When I read that this was a retelling of The Great Gatsby, my first thought was whether I was going to have to re-read that book in order to enjoy this one. I'm not a re-reader....so many books, too little time is my mindset. My most prominent memory of the story is actually the movie version with Robert Redford (yes, I'm that old!). I decided to just jump in and perhaps my takeaway would suffer a bit, but hopefully some of the details would come back to me. I can't say that many of them did, but I didn't even care, because this book is fantastic! While the original book is told from the perspective of Gatsby's neighbor Nick, this book is told from the viewpoint of three women entangled in Gatsby's life. The characters were brilliantly portrayed and I was sucked into their stories immediately. They may have been beautiful, but they were anything but little fools. Then of course there is the time period of the roaring twenties and the Jazz age. The settings made you feel totally immersed in that era and you could see and feel everything down to the minutest detail. In between the women's stories is the testimony of a detective who is convinced one of these three women knows more than she's letting on. While I did think this was the weakest part of the story, I understand how it was necessary to tie in with the mystery surrounding Gatsby's ultimate end. I listened to this one on audio, and that experience is one I highly recommend for this book (provided you enjoy this medium). The characters are all narrated by different voices, pulling you into the story even more.

This book took me completely by surprise by how much I loved it! The time, place, and characters all combined to make this a hit. Even if you know nothing about the original, I cannot imagine you won't be completely hooked by this re-imagining. I can't imagine it not making my best of the year list.

Published on Leave a comment on The Appeal
The Appeal Book Cover The Appeal
Janice Hallett
Viper/Atria
July 1, 2021 (UK) January 25, 2022 (US)
Paperback
447
Purchased

Dear Reader - enclosed are all the documents you need to solve a case. It starts with the arrival of two mysterious newcomers to the small town of Lockwood, and ends with a tragic death.

Someone has already been convicted of this brutal murder and is currently in prison, but we suspect they are innocent. What's more, we believe far darker secrets have yet to be revealed.

Throughout the Fairway Players' staging of All My Sons and the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick's life-saving medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. Yet we believe they gave themselves away. In writing. The evidence is all here, between the lines, waiting to be discovered.

Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth?

My review:

Side note before review..... I bought this copy of the book from the UK because I loved this cover compared to the US version. If you look for this book, you will find a different (mostly blue) cover, but it's the same book.

I cannot even begin to express how much I loved the experience of reading this book! Actually that's not entirely true since the writing was super small in the copy I had (see above) and my eyes were burning since I could NOT stop reading it!! This book was such a breath of fresh air, particularly for someone who consumes a ton of books. Sometimes it seems like the format and plots are things you've seen before. Not for this book which is told entirely through emails, texts, and news articles revolving around the death of someone in the small town of Lockwood. Two law students are handed tons of media and tasked with finding out if the correct person has been convicted of the murder. And YOU the reader get to go along and read it with them, all the while figuring it out with them. It was a brilliant concept and I was hooked from the start. There are lots of side plots going on leading up to the murder (which you don't know who it is) including a theater company play, a fund raising effort to save a little girl, and several people with ties to Central Africa. It was captivating and addictive as I tried to figure it all out. In the end I was on the right track, but not entirely correct (no surprise there, I'm awful at whodunnit stuff!). I will warn you that there are a ton of characters right from the start. There is a glossary of who's who, but if that kind of stuff bothers you, be forewarned. I didn't really get too hung up on it and it worked out just fine, the people fall into place as you keep reading.

Such a unique concept for a book, and I was there for it! I could not put this book down until I figured out what was ultimately happening with each of these characters. I absolutely cannot wait to see if this author puts out another gem like this! Edit to add....a new book has been released in the UK called The Twyford Code 🙂

Published on Leave a comment on The Family Chao
The Family Chao Book Cover The Family Chao
Lan Samantha Chang
Fiction
W. W. Norton Company
February 1, 2022
Advance reader copy
320
Free from publisher

The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao Restaurant’s delicious Americanized Chinese food for thirty-five years, happy to ignore any unsavory whispers about the family owners. But when brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo Chao is found dead—presumed murdered—his sons discover that they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town.

The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three brothers: Dagou, the restaurant’s reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. Brimming with heartbreak, comedy, and suspense, The Family Chao offers a kaleidoscopic, highly entertaining portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with the dark undercurrents of a seemingly pleasant small town.

My review:

I loved the premise of this book. I'm a fan of family sagas, and this fit that perfectly. The fact that it was an Asian family was also a plus since I like to read about diverse populations in my fiction. Loved that much of the story takes place in a Chinese restaurant, it was fun to read about the food and cooking. I thought the author did a great job in writing these characters, none of whom were particularly likable at one point or another. For the most part I found the writing propelled the story along, however there were a few places it seemed a bit stilted and did effect my overall enjoyment. I liked most of the ending, but there was one thread left hanging that bothered me. I waited through the whole book and never got a definitive answer.

Good story with great characterization, but the ending left me wanting more answers.

Published on Leave a comment on The Saints of Swallow Hill
The Saints of Swallow Hill Book Cover The Saints of Swallow Hill
Donna Everhart
Fiction
Kensington Books
January 25, 2022
Advance reader copy
384
Free from publisher

In the dense pine forests of North Carolina, turpentiners labor, hacking into tree trunks to draw out the sticky sap that gives the Tar Heel State its nickname, and hauling the resin to stills to be refined. Among them is Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, who run a small turpentine farm together.

Though the work is hard and often dangerous, Rae Lynn, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, is thankful for it—and for her kind if careless husband. When Warren falls victim to his own negligence, Rae Lynn undertakes a desperate act of mercy. To keep herself from jail, she disguises herself as a man named "Ray" and heads to the only place she can think of that might offer anonymity, a turpentine camp in Georgia named Swallow Hill.

Swallow Hill is no easy haven. The camp is isolated and squalid, and commissary owner Otis Riddle takes out his frustrations on his browbeaten wife, Cornelia. Although Rae Lynn works tirelessly, she becomes a target for Crow, the ever-watchful woods rider who checks each laborer’s tally. Delwood Reese, who’s come to Swallow Hill hoping for his own redemption, offers “Ray” a small measure of protection, and is determined to improve their conditions. As Rae Lynn forges a deeper friendship with both Del and Cornelia, she begins to envision a path out of the camp. But she will have to come to terms with her past, with all its pain and beauty, before she can open herself to a new life and seize the chance to begin again.

My review:

I'm not usually one to always believe the comparisons when it comes to books, but this one is said to be Where the Crawdads Sing meets The Four Winds, and I think that is a pretty apt description. It takes its lush descriptions of place from Crawdads (minus the mystery part) and the time during the Depression from Four Winds. I will say that I enjoyed the characters in this story much more than Four Winds (ugh, don't get me started on that insufferable daughter!). These characters were really well developed and I found myself rooting for them as they endured their intolerable situations. This was not an easy read, but the prospect of a semi happy (as much as could be in those times) ending drove me to compulsively read on. The other thing I found fascinating was the derivation of the term Tar Heel, which is what my state of NC is known as. I remember when we first moved to the state trying to figure out what in the world a Tar Heel was, and while finding a vague answer at the time, this book does a much better job of explaining it all! I seriously never knew what came from a pine tree other than all those insufferable needles that drop in my pool! I thought the pacing of this story was perfect, the writing was lovely and not overly rambling, and the ending did leave me satisfied.

While not an upbeat story, this historical fiction combined a great sense of place and time with wonderful characters. It's a must read for those interested in novels set during the Great Depression, and will be especially enlightening for those in the southeastern states.

2

Published on 2 Comments on The Magnolia Palace
The Magnolia Palace Book Cover The Magnolia Palace
Fiona Davis
Fiction
Penguin
January 25, 2022
E-book
352
Publisher via NetGalley

Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, twenty-one-year-old Lillian Carter’s life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists’ models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge. But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate—the work has dried up and a looming scandal has left her entirely without a safe haven. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion—a building that, ironically, bears her own visage—Lillian jumps at the chance. But the longer she works as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family—pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the stakes just may be life or death.

Nearly fifty years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career—and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home—within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of New York City’s most impressive museums. But when she—along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua—is dismissed from the Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica’s financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.

My review:

This author is a favorite of mine. I really like the way she melds a historical place with fictional characters and plot. I’ve said this before, but the only way you’re ever going to get this science gal to learn about history is via a fictionalization. The author has a style that is both highly immersive and engaging. This particular story was great in that I was equally invested in both the older timeframe and the modern day one. This is usually not the case for me with dual timeline books, I typically gravitate more towards one of the time periods and those characters. I also loved how the reader didn’t have to make it to the end of the novel to see how the two stories were going to overlap, it was evident fairly early on. I think that kept me more interested in both stories and the way in which they were connected. I thought the author did a great job with characters and setting, and while I’m not an art buff, it was interesting learning about the various pieces at the Frick mansion (now museum). I also found Angelica’s story of modeling for some of the iconic statues to be fascinating.

I can highly recommend this fascinating historical fiction look into Henry Clay Frick, his family and his art collection.