Though I was immediately drawn to the synopsis of THE PRECIOUS JULES, my expectation that it was going to be a heavy, depressing read was not entirely accurate. Shawn Notcher has written the story of the Jules family with a great deal of sensitivity. The characters are all quite complicated and many are flawed but they are presented with a unique objectivity that made them realistic and, for the ...
book blogger
Review: Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon
Do you enjoy books with characters you just love to hate? Me too! And that's only one of the reasons why I have such high praise for NEVER COMING HOME. Lucas Forester is just a guy who has done what he needed to in order to meet his goals. Taking the hit out on his wife, Michelle, was never personal. Sure, she had a few annoying characteristics but don't we all? Lucas is not a man with no ...
Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
"Humans. For the most part you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you are remarkably bright creatures." — Marcellus I came for the octopus narrator and stayed for the beautiful story and all of the wonderful characters contained therein. For like the ocean itself, REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES is far deeper than can be appreciated on its surface. Shelby Van Pelt did an amazing job of ...
Blog Tour Review: The Heart Keeper by Alex Dahl
I'll first start by saying that I loved Alex Dahl's debut, The Boy at the Door. Therefore, it was an absolute no-brainer when I was asked to join the blog tour for her sophomore novel, The Heart Keeper. It would have been an immediate yes regardless of what she'd written. When I found out that this book was centered around a greiving mother who had chosen to donate her daughter's organs after her ...
Blog Tour: Overkill by Vanda Symon @vandasymon @orendabooks @annecater
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Overkill by Vanda Symon. There were many things that attracted me to this book. First off, cover love!! Next, it's location. I don't recall ever having read a book set in New Zealand. I was also excited to be starting with the first book in a new-to-me series. Oh, and the synopsis sounded great as well! Overkill begins with a prologue that was very ...
Blog Tour and Review: The Cold Cold Sea by @LindaHuber19 #LoveBooksGroupTours
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Cold Cold Sea by Linda Huber. Though reliably disturbing, stories about missing children never fail to attract my attention. When I had the opportunity to join the blog tour for this one, I couldn't say anything but YES! The Cold Cold Sea is told in the third person but straightaway events and twists brought the phrase "unreliable narrator" to mind. I ...
Review: Our House by Louise Candlish
If you've been monitoring my tweets (and why wouldn't you be?) you've seen that I started fangirling over Our House the moment I started it. I don't really do the fangirl gushing thing very well or very often but I've found some difficulty in restraining myself with this book. I will do my best to maintain some level of coherency in an effort to convey to you, as best I can, why I loved it. The ...
Review: The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
If you, like me, have been seeing The Book of Essie everywhere, it's with good reason. Meghan MacLean Weir's debut novel is a fearless and timely story that's bound to elicit visceral emotional responses in the reader. One can't help but make comparisons between Essie's story and that of a certain reality television show family. Thankfully, there were enough departures to make the story feel fresh ...
Review: Every Single Secret by Emily Carpenter
Straight out of the shoot, I knew I was going to like this one. I immediately questioned the reliability of the narrator and I was intrigued by the secrets Daphne and Heath were keeping from one another. What engaged couple agrees to never bring up their past? Not just their relationship past, but ever-y-thing. Living for the present is one thing, but if your finance is telling you they don't want ...
Review: The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers
I'm going rogue here. I'm going to do something I've never done. I'm going to talk about a book without giving it a rating. I'll try to explain. I knew when I began reading The Widow of Wall Street that there would be parallels to the life of Ruth and Bernie Madoff. I didn't realize just how closely related the stories would be. This book is basically a fictionalized retelling of the rise and fall ...