Category Archives: reviews

Feb4

Reykjavik: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jonasson and Katrin Jakobsdottir

Posted on by
Standard

The story starts with a 14 year old missing girl in 1956 in Iceland.  She was working for a couple on a small, uninhabited island off the coast of Reykjavik. When she fails to check in with her weekly call to her parents, a police detective is called out to investigate what may have happened to her. Unfortunately, the case goes cold and many years pass.

Every ten years or so, articles are in the paper about the girl who disappeared. And questions asked about where she could be. Is she dead or did she run away?

The book then flashes forward to thirty years later to a young journalist who is determined to solve the mystery. His poking into the situation happens to coincide with the two-hundredth anniversary of the city of Reykjavik.

As the young man investigates, someone starts sending him messages that lead him to believe he might be able to solve the mystery once and for all. He hopes his career will be cemented as a serious journalist if he can do so.

Excitement ramps up for the reader as well as the journalist at this point.

I love these type mysteries—set in Scandinavian or Nordic places. I like to watch the ones on streaming services as well. It seems the way Nordic and Scandinavian writers craft their tales have an appeal that speaks to me. I’m always quick to grab these off the shelf in the bookstore. Their mysteries pull me in. And the descriptions of their harsh winter climates are very evocative and lend themselves to a greater sense of urgency and mystique. This one was no exception.

Well written with a great plot by a team that includes a bestselling Icelandic author and the prime minister of Iceland, I recommend this one for a cold winter’s day of reading and mystery.

BLURB:

What happened to Lára?

Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára’s case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lára’s disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved . . .

Feb1

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney- Review

Posted on by
Standard

This book is a wow. I loved it. Great mystery and an enjoyable read.

The story is told from the point of view of Daisy. Her grandmother is a children’s book author who owns a house on the coast of Cornwall separated by a spit of land from the mainland. For many hours each night, the small island where the house is located is inaccessible as the high tide of the Atlantic Ocean cuts off the path onto the island.

A tarot reader from Land’s End predicted Daisy’s grandmother’s death in her 80th year. The book takes place on October 30 and 31st and the 31st is the grandmother’s 80th birthday.

Grandmother invites all her family to the house for the birthday celebrations. Her son, an orchestra conductor, her former daughter in law, a failed actress, Rose- the veterinarian daughter, Lily- the daughter who has never worked and is rude and self-obsessed. The great granddaughter named Trixie is fifteen. And Daisy is there as well.

Also invited is a young man, Conor, who was a childhood friend of the three grandchildren, Rose, Lily and Daisy.

The set-up of this story is much like the Agatha Christie book “And Then There Were None.” Isolated setting, people who mostly don’t have much to do with each other and some who actively are unkind to each other, a cast of characters who all arouse suspicion, and, of course, the requisite murders.

Some fun quirks of the story are that the grandmother has 80 clocks in the hallway that all go off every hour. She also has a time clock like is used with employees and she gets her guests to clock in and clock out when they visit.

I really enjoyed this one. Lots of twists and turns. There are some flashbacks to the childhoods of the granddaughters and they tie into the plot nicely.

I’m usually good at figuring these books out and I’m happy to say, other than a few small things, I didn’t on this one. Maybe that’s a big reason I enjoyed it so much (it was a bit of a Deus ex machina resolution though) Besides the great writing and building of suspense throughout the tale. Highly recommended to the point I encourage you to drop what you’re doing and dash out to the store a get a copy post-haste.

BLURB:

Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. Now after years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in her crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. When the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

But at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide goes out and all is revealed. As seen on the TODAY show and picked by Book of the Month, Daisy Darker’s family secrets and Alice Feeney’s trademark shocking twists will keep readers riveted.

Jan29

Reasonable Adults by Robin Lefler- Review

Posted on by
Standard

I received a copy of the book from Kensington Publishing in exchange for a fair review. It’s a contemporary romance. Or more accurately, it’s a rom-com. And it definitely deliveries on the comedy part as well as the romance. It’s one of the type of the genre I like. I’m not a huge fan of romances that have manufactured conflict and this book definitely has some great conflicts between not only the heroine and hero but also with a number of other characters in the story. It made for a rich tale with a lot of drama as well as a lot of fun.

The heroine, Kate, has a pet dog, named Eric of all things, who adds to the scenes he’s in and is a great character himself. He also helps to move the story along.

Kate, a marketing manager, has her life turned upside down when she catches her fiancé in his office in a compromising position. This situation finds her deciding to get drunk to drown her sorrows. While in that state, she posts some damning things on line about her fiancé. Plot twist: His law firm just happens to be one of the largest clients of her employer.

After losing her job, she takes another at an isolated, off the grid resort. A place that’s deep in the woods and is in desperate need of renovations. Never mind it’s soon going to be the off season and her task is to attract more business as occupancy of the resort drops dramatically in the winter months.

An almost impossible task, an office that’s woefully inadequate, and a cabin that’s hard to heat add to Kate’s woes and problems. While most of the other employees are friendly and approachable, there are a few who aren’t.

The stage is set for a lot of drama as well as humor.

The author is very witty and the dialogue —both the heroine’s internal thoughts and the interactions between her and the other characters—are well done and keep the story moving at a nice clip.

I enjoyed this fun read and hope for more from this writer as this was her debut. The underlying message of belief in self and redemption from mistakes made is served up in fine fashion.

BLURB:

The morning after a humiliating post-breakup social media post (#sponsoredbywine), Kate Rigsby learns she’s lost her marketing job along with her almost-fiancé. Worse, she realizes how little she truly cared about either. Craving a reset, Kate flees the big-city life she spent many years building—and almost as many doubting—to take a temporary gig at Treetops, a swanky, off-the-grid creative retreat in Muskoka, complete with meditation circles, deluxe spa, and artisanal cocktails. At least, that’s what the brochure promises . . .

The reality is a struggling resort that’s stuck in the 1990s, fax machine included. Kate’s office is a bunker, her boss is a nightmare, and at night she shares a freezing hut with her seventy-pound Goldendoodle. Then there’s the sexy, off-limits coworker whose easy smile and lumberjack forearms are distracting Kate from the already near-impossible task of making this snowbound oasis profitable.

On the upside, the surroundings are breathtaking. The Treetops crew is quirky and (mostly) kind. And somehow, Kate’s starting to feel new enthusiasm for her career—and her life. In fact, she’s daring to challenge herself in ways she never dreamed of before.

With wit and heart, Reasonable Adults explores the crossroads we all face—and how a detour born of disaster can take us just where we need to go.

Jan21

London Tales by Tim Walker

Posted on by
Standard

London Tales is a collection of short stories through time that all have a central London theme. There are a range of styles and some are more snippets of action rather than full tales.

I enjoyed the first few stories and I particularly liked the third one about Wat Tyler because it was told from the point of view of the peasants as well as the lords.

The story of Holly and the girl who fell through the ice in 1814  was fun to read during an ice cold day in my town. It made me glad to have heat and warm socks! 

I thought that the build up to the story set during the London Blitz was good, but the ending left me a little disappointed.

There are several other stories in this collection but they were less appealing to me and overall the book was okay, but not as good as I had hoped.

3 Stars

Jan18

The hiking Trip by Jenny Blackhurst- Review

Posted on by
Standard

I picked this one up when I was out shopping before Christmas as it sounded intriguing and the cover was enticing.  I enjoyed it immensely and read it in one day.

A ten day camping/hiking trip gone wrong for the protagonist ends up affecting her whole life when she meets up with various strangers on the trail.

It is a fast paced story that keeps you on your toes.  I figured out some stuff early on but didn’t figure out one of the main things until pretty late in the tale. Which I love since I usually figure out solutions easily. A book that keeps me guessing is always a joy.

This one has a cool premise and the author executed it to perfection. She writes in a way that keeps the tension going but also gives the reader a bit of a rest in spots so it’s not a frantic read, but rather a story that has ebbs and then spurts of high action. A veritable roller coaster ride of a story. I can’t say much more than that due to the risk of spoilers but I can say it’s in your interest to go grab a copy if you like suspense as it’s well worth immersing yourself in the ups and downs of this one.

It was a quick read even though it was a densely packed almost 300 pages.

Jan5

Off the Air by Christina Estes, A Review

Posted on by
Standard

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Jolene Garcia is a reporter for a television station who is sent to a radio station to cover the scene of a death of one of their talk radio hosts. Jolene is ambitious and wants to get the scoop on the story.

When another reporter, one who scooped her on an Emmy award the year before, grabs an interview with the man everyone wants to talk to and the same woman later breaks the news that there might be poison involved, Jolene is on an even more urgent quest to get the story first.

Initially, I liked Jolene as she seemed klutzy and quirky. As the book went on, I started to dislike her. She was definitely ambitious and didn’t hesitate to be unkind or rude when she was stressed or jealous. Her back story explained some of her behavior but her alienation of colleagues and friends was annoying and made her dislikable.

The story itself was great. Lots of mystery and wondering how the talk show host died. A plethora of suspects were woven into the story and made the book fully rounded and a good read.

The obligatory detective friend who gets annoyed at the amateur sleuth and the obligatory bone-headed move by the same amateur sleuth was true to the tropes of the genre.

Overall, I liked the story and it was well worth the read. I just wish the protagonist was a bit more pleasant and a little less jealous and unkind.

Three and a half stars.

Jan2

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner- Review

Posted on by
Standard

This is a follow up book from Bloomsbury Girls which I read and reviewed for Rosie’s Book Review team. I appreciate St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this book for me to read and review.

The story is set in the 1950s and is the continuation of the life of one of the women who worked at the bookstore in Bloomsbury, London. Vivien, in addition to working in the store, is also a playwright and chose to leave for Italy for a period of time when her success as a playwright was called into question. She took a job working at a film studio in Rome and worked on rewriting some of the screenplays being filmed there. Rome is still recovering from WWII and all the various issues that time period caused in Italy.

While there, she has to deal with the censorship of the Vatican as they have full control of what is acceptable or not in what film audiences are allowed to see.

Vivien also meets some interesting people and forms friendships with them. As well, she forms a romantic entanglement with an older man.

The story is richly layered with individual characters who are uniquely drawn and have multi-faceted personalities.

Vivien is a character we grew to admire in Bloomsbury Girls and this book finds this reader still rooting for her and hoping she gets resolution of a matter that has haunted her since the war. One of the young men she meets while working at the studio also has an interesting story line about events that happened to him during the war. Both of them were characters this reader grew attached to and hoped for the best outcome.

The author is very talented and the prose is beautifully written. The flow of the story is well done as well. This book does not have to be read after Bloomsbury Girls as the story is complete without it being necessary to know the events of the other book. Some of the characters are recurring, but it’s not vital to know those back stories. I do love how real life famous people are woven into the tale. Sophia Loren and Ava Gardner even make appearances. Such fun to addition to the story.

A lovely read.

Dec29

First Date Prophecy- By Kate and Danny Tamberelli- A Review

Posted on by
Standard

What a fun book this was. I read it on a car trip back in September and kept thinking I’d already reviewed it when I realized the other day that I hadn’t posted the review. I did receive this book from Kensington Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a light read that made a long car ride very enjoyable. 

When your first date with someone ends in a prophecy about you as well as the death of an old lady, you wonder what else might go wrong in the potential relationship. No matter how interesting the date was, is there an inherent risk in trying to go out again with this person?

This book was written by a husband and wife team. The husband was a real life child star and was one of the two brothers in the Pete and Pete show that was popular on Nickelodeon Channel. The male protagonist in the story was also a child star and that forms part of the challenges he has in the dating world. Wondering if he’s liked for himself or for his former role and fame. His older brother is a big movie star now and our hero, Rudy, also has some angst about that success of his brother—making for an edgy relationship between them.

The female protagonist, Lucy, is witty, klutzy, and has a plethora of crazy date stories and failures.  She works at odd jobs which find her in all kinds of scrapes. I have to confess, I wasn’t too sure about this book in the first chapter as she seemed so over the top and silly. I wasn’t convinced I was going to like her but I pushed on and, after Chapter one, I found her to be quite a charming character and someone I could root for. 

This was such a cute story and read. It also had some deep messages about forgiveness and finding ways to make life work when expectations don’t quite come to fruition. 

Humorous and engaging, yet full of wisdom. I recommend this one. 

Dec14

South of Sepharad- A Review

Posted on by
Standard

This book will be released on February 20, 2024- Mark that date on your calendar as you are going to want this one. Many thanks to History Through Fiction for the pre-release copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

When most of us initially think of 1492 and Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, we think of Christopher Columbus and his journey to the new world (which is a whole other problematic tale). We might also think about their daughter Katherine of Aragon who married two Tudor princes. What we might not think about is the edict this king and queen sent out in 1492 to require all the Jewish citizens of Spain to leave the country or convert to Catholicism. Under penalty of death.

The story of Vidal and his family, South of Sepharad, by Eric Z. Weintraub, takes us past these better known happenings affecting Spain in 1492 to something sinister and evil. The expulsion of a whole population of people from the country of Spain.

I had heard of the horror of the Inquisition, of course, and seen films and read other books about it. This story from Mr. Weintraub was so well-written and had characters so vividly drawn that the absolutely horrific events were brought home in a way that, while hard to read, made the journey of these Jewish people who had to leave with what few possession they could haul on a wagon really hit hard. They didn’t do anything wrong to warrant expulsion except practice their religion.

I’ve always been shocked and saddened at the number of deaths and amount of torture inflicted on others in the name of God. And this story didn’t shy away from the Inquisition and what those so-called holy men were capable of. If they wanted you dead, they would plant words in the mouths of the person they were interrogating. They would also twist what the person said to match their own agenda.

This book hit all the harrowing parts of the journey out of Spain for the Jewish people. From having to sell homes that had been in their families for generations, and selling their possessions and heirlooms, to leaving people behind, and the way their feet hurt and boots became full of holes on that journey. It also covered the food shortages and lack of water. I felt as if I was on the journey with them.

Even the few who stayed behind and converted to Catholicism weren’t really safe as they were always suspected of converting for purposes that weren’t sincere. And it was a forced conversion so how sincere could it have been? To betray the religion of your people must have been very difficult to decide to do. In short, these poor people were in a no win situation.

This book is an important one for us to read in these times. This horror of disliking or even hating people of other religions seems to have never gone away, but it seems to be coming back to the forefront of being acceptable to treat those who do not share certain beliefs as less than human.

The story in this book is obviously fiction and it’s well told. The author has a beautiful way with prose. Even though it’s hard to read in places, it’s an important and captivating tale (with moments of heartbreak) of one family’s life and the changes they are forced to make by a king and queen who were absolutely vile human beings.

The author did meticulous research and immersed us in the world of Spain in 1492. He gives some excellent resources at the end as well. The cover is so vivid and attractive too.

I give this one five stars

Dec5

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Posted on by
Standard

I came to this book with a white woman’ perspective because that’s what I am. Before I posted this review, I read some reviews on Reddit and Goodreads as I was afraid my being white had colored (forgive the pun) my perception of this novel. But it appears it did not. Many people of other races seem to agree with the thoughts I have on this book which gives me comfort that my perceptions were not skewed by my own race.

I picked this book up as the premise sounded intriguing and also because I’m trying to read more diverse fiction to try to educate myself more about how Black and other People of Color move through the world. I think that’s an important thing in our current climate.

I enjoyed the book in the beginning, but it did have some issues as it went on. There were two subplots that initially added to the story but eventually were disappointing. They were tossed in and never resolved or were not explained well or were ultimately not necessary.

The protagonist was kind of meh. She had some good points, but she seemed ashamed of her background—she came from a wealthier background than her best friend—the best friend who was the best character of the book. I did root for the protagonist as I wanted her to succeed. But the ending made me feel betrayed by the author. There was no real resolution and I wanted the villains to get their comeuppance. They didn’t. Which leads me to the subplots that weren’t resolved.

There was a “resistance” to the villains but they didn’t actually do any resisting. They watched and listened but were ineffective other than that.

The other subplot was about two women, one a writer and one an editor who had a hugely successful book launch in the 1980s. There was some sort of scandal (not really explained) and one (the editor) went into hiding and the other (the writer) became a sell out in her work—betraying what she initially stood for in her writing—or at least that’s what I gleaned from the disjointed flashbacks. The story skipped to them off and on, but the book would be okay without that subplot- maybe even better. All the subplot did was set up the work of the villains. It didn’t really add much to the tale as it was muddled and never really explained or resolved.

In short, this book didn’t seem complete. It dragged on too long for about 250-270 pages. Then there was a big rushed ending. Like there was a page count the author wanted to get to and then she stopped writing even with lots of parts hanging and not completed.

The protagonist betrayed the reader as well as herself with the way this book ended. Certain expectations are built in to a story as the reader gets to know the characters and when they don’t stay consistent with expectations, at the end, it leads to disappointment.

When I was in high school, we had to read ‘The Good Earth’. I hated the ending so much, I threw the paperback across the room. I wanted to do that to this book but it was a hardback and I was afraid of what I might hit. 🙂

I’m giving it 3 stars as I did enjoy parts of it and the writer is definitely talented. I just can’t get behind a higher rating for it.

I understand this is a mini-series on Hulu as well. I’ll be giving that a pass as I don’t want to get mad all over again at the ending.