Tag Archives: book reviews

Jun17

New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke

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Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Courtney, 40ish and Ruby, 20ish are roommates.  They have differences. Courtney is quiet, private, loves plants, and had an alcohol problem. Ruby is free-spirited, outgoing, desperately in need of a job, and wants to make her way in the world away from her family. And oh, yeah, Courtney is dead and Ruby is alive. Which makes it hard to communicate with each other, to say the least.

The two of them team up to try to solve the murder of the guy who lived across the hall.

The book was quite clever and part of the fun of solving the mystery of who done it was the mechanics of how they learned to work together once Ruby learned she wasn’t living alone in their apartment.

Courtney helps Ruby with some much needed hidden money as well as assisting her to find employment.

I enjoyed the interactions between the two main characters as well as the mystery itself. And the fact that the author named the deceased Courtney Graves and the 20-year-old Ruby Young was not lost on me. J

There’s clearly another book planned as there’s one overarching plot point that I kept screaming about that will hopefully be resolved in the next book.  I’m not a fan of cliffhangers and I’m glad this book was not one. Yes, there is an overarching plot to tie book two to book one but we got resolution of the mystery of how the neighbor died and who was responsible and that satisfied me.

Can’t wait for the next book as these characters are delightful and fun to read. Dark, yet fun, this is a great read.

This one gets five stars from me.

BLURB:

In this darkly funny supernatural mystery about an unlikely crime-solving duo that launches a commercial, unique, and genre-blending series, death is only the beginning.

Ruby Young’s new Boston apartment comes with all the usual perks. Windows facing the brick wall of the next-door building. Heat that barely works. A malfunctioning buzzer. Noisy neighbors. A dead body on the sidewalk outside. And of course, a ghost.

Since Cordelia Graves died in her apartment a few months ago, she’s kept up her residency, despite being bored out of her (non-tangible) skull and frustrated by her new roommate. When her across-the-hall neighbor, Jake Macintyre, is shot and killed in an apparent mugging gone wrong outside their building, Cordelia is convinced there’s more to it and is determined to bring his killer to justice.

Unfortunately, Cordelia, being dead herself, can’t solve the mystery alone. She has to enlist the help of the obnoxiously perky, living tenant of her apartment. Ruby is twenty, annoying, and has never met a houseplant she couldn’t kill. But she also can do everything Cordelia can’t, from interviewing suspects to researching Jake on the library computers that go up in a puff of smoke if Cordelia gets too close. The roommates form an unlikely friendship as they get closer to the truth about Jake’s death…and maybe other dangerous secrets as well.

May24

Brat- by Gabriel Smith

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I received this book in a drawing from Penguin Press for Little Free Library stewards and thank them for choosing my little library.

Intrigued by the blurb of the book, I dove right in to read it and enjoyed it. It was quirky, odd and a bit out there, but was compelling reading.

The main character is an under thirty-year-old who has recently lost his father and his girlfriend has left him as well.  He has a brother and sister-in-law who are mostly estranged from him. He gets along okay with the brother but not the wife. Several passages with the two of them are fraught with tension.

The protagonist is also a writer who is trying to work on his second book. He moves into the home ostensibly to clear it out to sell it. The house is gloomy and, as the book progresses, it get more creepy and dreary.

Weird things begin to happen as soon as he moves in, starting with his skin coming off in sheets. He finds a manuscript that keeps changing each time he reads it and sees strange people in various places.

He has a good relationship with his grandmother that keeps him somewhat grounded.

It’s an odd, strangely hypnotic journey of a book. Not quite horror, not quite literary, not quite gothic, but a conglomeration of various elements of each genre.

I read it in pretty much one sitting as it was darkly mesmerizing and the pages kept turning. Almost of their own volition. 🙂

BLURB:

We meet our ill-tempered protagonist—the story’s titular “brat”—at a low moment, but not yet at rock bottom. The Gabriel of the novel is mourning the death of his father as well as a recent breakup, and struggling to finish writing his second book. Alone and aimless, he agrees to move back into his parents’ house to clear it out for sale. Here, the clichés end.

Gabriel has trouble delivering on his promise as the moldy, overgrown house deteriorates around him, so does his own health, and large sheets of his skin begin to peel from his body at a terrifying rate. In fragments and figments, Gabriel takes us on a surreal journey into the mysteries of the family home, where he finds unfinished manuscripts written by his parents which seem to mutate every time he picks them up, and a bizarre home video that hints at long-buried secrets.

Strange people and figures emerge—perhaps directly from the novel’s embedded fictions—and despite his compromised state (and his more successful brother’s growing frustration) Gabriel is determined to try to make sense of these hauntings. Part ghost story, part grief story; flirting with the autofictional mode while sitting squarely in the tradition of the gothic, Brat crackles with deadpan humor and delightfully taut prose.

Smith’s arrival heralds the next generation of fiction writers—formally inventive, influenced by the rhythms of the internet, and infused with a particularly Gen Z sense of alienation. Irreverent and boundary-pushing, but not for its own sake, the novel that follows is muscular yet lyrical, riddled with paradox, and told with a truly rare and compelling clarity of voice. Brat is a serious debut that refuses to take itself too seriously.

May9

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan- A Review

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I read this one back in March of this year. It was an ARC from NetGalley and I thank them for the opportunity to read and review this lovely book.

The story was set during the Blitz in London and follows the lives of three young ladies. One, Julie, is a new under-librarian at Bethnel Green Library. She has moved to London from her small village and has big dreams about her work at the library. She is met with resistance from the head of the library, a man. She is also boarding with a woman whose husband is serving in the war. The other tenant of the house is the man her mother wanted her to marry, but she thought he was too much of a ladies man and flirt to be taken seriously as a husband,

The second girl, Katie, is working at the library until she leaves for university. Her family is very conscious of reputation even though her father is a bit of a cad. Her fiance is at the front and she gets devastating news about him. And she is hiding a big secret from everyone.

The third girl, Sofie, a Jewish refugee, came to London to escape the Nazis. She is on a domestic service visa with a horrible man as her sponsor/employer. She misses her family and is worried about their safety. She visits the library down the street in order to find some relief from the hard work and the worry about her kin.

A Nazi bomb hits the library, damaging some books, but many survive. Katie moves some of the salvaged books to the underground station and starts reading to people who are sheltered there. Eventually, she convinces the board of the library to allow the lending to continue from that location.

Many events occur with the lives of these three women, including issues with family, a theft, a trip to the Isle of Man, and some heartbreaking scenes with Katie.

A great book, written in a simple style that would be easy for teens to read. Some of the subject matter is sensitive, but there is nothing here that would take this book to the level that it isn’t appropriate for anyone over the age of fifteen. As well, it is also suitable for older readers. I enjoyed it immensely. Lots of conflict for all three protagonists and the journey of each is well done and believable.

BLURB:

When the Blitz imperils the heart of a London neighborhood, three young women must use their fighting spirit to save the community’s beloved library in this novel based on true events from the author of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.

When the new deputy librarian, Juliet Lansdown, finds that Bethnal Green Library isn’t the bustling hub she is expecting, she becomes determined to breathe life back into it. But can she show the men in charge that a woman is up to the task of running the library, especially when a confrontation with her past threatens to derail her?

Katie Upwood is thrilled to be working at the library, although she is only there until she heads off to university in the fall. But after the death of her beau on the front line and amid tumultuous family strife, she finds herself harboring a life-changing secret with no one to turn to for help.

Sofie Baumann, a young Jewish refugee, came to London on a domestic service visa only to find herself working as a maid for a man who treats her abominably. She escapes to the library every chance she can, finding friendship in the literary community and aid in finding her sister, who is still trying to flee occupied Europe.

When a slew of bombs destroys the library, Juliet relocates the stacks to the local Underground station where the city’s residents shelter nightly, determined to lend out stories that will keep spirits up. But tragedy after tragedy threatens to unmoor the women and sever the ties of their community. Will Juliet, Kate, and Sofie be able to overcome their own troubles to save the library? Or will the beating heart of their neighborhood be lost forever?

Mar25

The Banker’s Wife by Cristina Alger

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I have a Little Free Library at my office and sometimes books are left there by others that intrigue me. This was one of those. I pulled it out to read it before putting it back to let someone else enjoy it.

The book has two protagonists who we follow through most of the story. Annabel, the banker’s wife of the title, who lives in Geneva, Switzerland and Marina, a journalist, who lives in New York City.

Before moving to Geneva two years prior, Annabel was an artist and gallery owner. Her husband worked as a lawyer but was offered a job working for a private bank, with a large salary bump, in Switzerland. They chose to move there for two years to earn enough money to buy a house near the sea back home in the United States. Annabel was lonely and isolated in Geneva as her husband worked many hours. She isn’t happy with their life there.

Marina was engaged to a man whose father was preparing to announce his candidacy for president. She worked as a journalist for a fluff publication, but wanted to be a hard hitting reporter. She planned to stop working as soon as she married in order to be a supportive wife to a CEO since her husband to be would be taking over the family business from his father.

Both protagonists’ lives changed during the course of the story. Annabel’s when her husband’s plane went down in the Alps. Marina’s when her mentor was murdered.

The parallel story lines run through the book with each woman’s life escalating into danger and each woman under pressure. Both not knowing exactly who to trust and who to be wary of. The story is fast paced and edge of the seat in many of the chapters.

I enjoyed the book and pretty much read it all in one afternoon. I hadn’t read this author before and I’m sure I’ll be seeking out other of her books. If you like suspense and fast-moving drama, this one is for you.

Jan2

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner- Review

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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.

Aug8

A Haunted History of Invisible Women by Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes- A Review

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Interesting, informative, and sometimes insulting.

I am somewhat torn about this book. There were some things to love about it and some things to hate as well.

Being someone who is intrigued by the spiritual and historical and having read/enjoyed some of Leanna’s fiction work, the premise and authors of this book intrigued me and led me to want to read it.

Quite a number of the ghost tales were known to me—in fact, one of them was very well known as I spent a semester at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama in high school in a program called Step Ahead where incoming high school seniors could take two classes (for credit) in the summer. I was pleased that one of the first tales told in this book was about the red lady from there. That summer I lived on campus, we used to walk down to the dorm (Pratt Hall) where the poor girl supposedly died and talk about how tragic that was. A few times, it seemed there was a face at one of the windows on the top floor. Perhaps a flight of fancy since we were told the room had been boarded up. Nevertheless, it was nice to see the story in this book.

Clearly, the authors did a wonderful job fully researching the various stories they chose to share. The way the tales were sorted into categories made sense and the organization was well done. The book had a nice flow to it and a good variety of stories.

Some of the prose was a bit too woke and strident for me. There were also some places that it seemed as if the authors were lecturing or looking down on the reader. It was odd to me for them to basically attempt to shame the very demographic of people who would be attracted to reading the subject matter of this book. It was also strange since one of the authors owns a ghost tour company and the other one leads ghost tours. If you make your living from the industry, how can you legitimately look down on your customers? Seems a bit cynical to me. I almost stopped reading a couple of times because of this, but eventually picked it up again as the actual ghost stories and histories of the places were intriguing.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. I recommend the book for the stories and thorough historical research. Just skim over the parts where the writers’ judgment of the reader is problematic. I’m giving this one 3.5 stars for the historical detail and quality of the tales.

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. September 27, 2022 release date.

Jan17

Murder on Mustique- Anne Glenconner- A Review

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I picked this one up when Barnes and Noble had their hardbacks 50 percent off. I liked the cover and the blurb sounded good. Of course, I’d heard of the island of Mustique and how it was made into a place for celebrities to build homes and find peace and quiet, so the idea of a murder mystery set there was intriguing.

As I started reading, I realized why the author’s name sounded familiar. She was the wife of the man who bought the island in real life and gifted Princess Margaret with the land to build her own escape home. The author started the story by having the fictional narrator explaining she was a former lady in waiting for the princess and that her husband bought the island in the 1950s. I don’t want to say this was a Mary Sue type story, but it skirted the edge—except the heroine was seventy years old rather than a young girl.

This was a novel, but there was a whole lot of truth in it—not the murder mystery part nor the person who committed the crime (I hope- LOL) but a lot of the history of the island and of the author herself.  I did enjoy the story—even the totally unrealistic parts. The author did a good job with the red herrings and the culprit, so I can forgive her for the use of herself—perhaps an idealized version—as the heroine of the story. It was kind of refreshing to have an older woman in good physical shape as a strong protagonist even though I couldn’t get it out of my head that she was a real person.

One of the parts of the book that resonated with me near the end was this comment by the heroine: “My own grief is harder to define. Why do I care so much about losing something that never really existed? The space left behind will fill, as time passes.”

That passage reminded me of when I finally realized that someone who I’d considered a friend was actually a malignant narcissist and then, for my own protection, I cut off contact with the person. I grieved over the loss of that relationship for a long time and almost got sucked back in again—until I came to that same realization. None of my memories of that person were based on real feelings on the part of my “friend” and our relationship never really existed. It was all an act on that “friend’s” part even though I invested myself in our friendship. 

It makes me wonder if this author also had a real life experience with such a narcissist. It sure seemed to me like that was one more of the truths she expressed in this fictional tale. Until you’ve actually been a victim of a malignant narcissist, it’s hard to understand just how awful they can be. Her passage above rang true. 

Overall, the book was good and I enjoyed the tale.

Oct10

The Family Upstairs – Lisa Jewell- a Review

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I went to a wedding a week ago in Tallahassee and, on my drive back, stopped at a couple of Goodwill Stores as they always seem to have a good selection of used books. One of the ones I purchased was The Family Upstairs. I hadn’t read any of this author before, but I’m a fan now. The book was intriguing as well as a quick read. A house with dark secrets is at the center of the tale.

The story is told from three points of view and I enjoyed all of them. Each had a distinctive voice and were compelling in different ways. The movement from each voice to the other was smooth and kept me turning pages.

In the author note, she stated her inspiration for the book came from seeing a woman in Nice, France sneaking her children into the public baths near the beach. From that, a tale of family terror, loss, and lives shattered was born. I loved how all the threads of the story came together. I figured out most of it, but a surprise or two in the pages made this reader happy as I usually solve it all before the end.

Each of the three protagonists were dramatically affected by their upbringings and the way the author showed how those experiences carried over into their adult lives was genius. It’s a dark tale, but moments of light and love shine through. I throughly recommend this one for a few hours of entertainment mixed with a little anxiety for the characters.

Sep7

The Gilded Shroud by Elizabeth Bailey

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This story set in the 1790s was intriguing and a solid read. The heroine (a widow) becomes a companion to a dowager marchioness when her nephews she was helping raise left for school. Her brother wanted her to stay on with him and his wife but the heroine wanted an adventure and the job was temporary as the dowager marchioness’ regular companion was recovering from a broken leg.

Our heroine definitely got her adventure. Pretty soon after she arrived at the home of the dowager, the current marchioness was found dead in her bed—strangled. And the kicker? The lady had been heard to be arguing loudly, in the middle of the night, with her husband, the marquis. The marquis ordered his carriage and horses shortly after the argument was heard and that morning when the body is discovered, he’s nowhere to be found. Maybe he absconded to France where he has a second home? Or did he run elsewhere after killing his wife?

The heroine, a sharp lady with a keen mind, sets herself the task of finding the murderer—she doesn’t know the marquis but with the family in disarray over their fears for his life if he’s found and convicted of his wife’s death—to say nothing of the scandal—she feels she needs to pitch in and assist the marquis’s younger brother in the task of clearing the marquis’s name.

The dowager is a plucky lady too and won’t tolerate anyone treating her as if she’s elderly and incapable of being in on the unmasking of the villain. She plays a big role in the book and I liked that she wasn’t shunted aside.

As the investigation ensues, the reader is caught up in the clues with the three main characters. I confess, I figured out who did it early on, but still enjoyed the story and how the author tied up all the parts and loose ends. A bit of romance thrown in as well made this an enjoyable read.

Feb24

If She Dies- by Erik Therme – A Review

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The blurb for this story set me up for a certain kind of story and, surprisingly, it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, there were twists and turns and some surprises, and it definitely held my attention despite not leading me where I thought it would. The beginning was not like a traditional thriller. It was a slow start that built through the first almost ¾ of the book. I liked it a lot and being surprised by a few things made it even more enjoyable. It didn’t take me long to read it, because it moved fast and held my interest.

There were a couple of places where I thought the protagonist, Tess, was a little naïve and slow on the uptake, but it served the plot, so I can get past that. She wasn’t one of those heroines that make the reader want to slap some sense into her and the naivety was somewhat understandable.

The minor characters like Tess’s brother and husband were well-drawn with good back stories and motivations for their actions. Her husband, Josh, was a bit OCD, but that showed the author put a lot of thought into how he would act as well as react to Tess. I did get a bit peeved at Josh a few times, but to me, that’s a sign of a good story since it means I am relating to the characters.

I have a friend who lost her child in similar circumstances to how Tess and Josh lost Lily and so much of how these characters dealt with their grief was familiar to me from what my friend and her husband went through, the scenes dealing with the sadness, loss and lack of communication really resonated with me. Well done to the author for being able to realistically write about such horrific loss as well as making the story suspenseful.

This one is a 4.5 star read for me. A hard subject handled skillfully.