Anybody see Shelby out there? Don’t tell her where I am.
“It’s the setup that is so fascinating,” said Wendy. “Two strangers meet on a tr
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Anybody see Shelby out there? Don’t tell her where I am.
“It’s the setup that is so fascinating,” said Wendy. “Two strangers meet on a train, by accident. They get to talking and we find out one of them wants to kill his father, and the other has secret fantasies about killing his wife.
“They swap murders,” said Amanda, smiling and nodding. “Right. That way each of them can set up the perfect alibi, and they can’t be tied to the crime.”
So there is 100% NOTHING wroooooooooonnnnng with this story – it’s a classic. But that also ended up being a bit of a problem for me. I will read (and read and read and read) ANY reiteration/reimagining of Strangers On A Train. Since that’s the case, it’s simply a matter of liking others more than this. If you know me you know I’m not always a giant fan of additional perspectives, so I wasn’t super in to hearing from “Ruth” (and I guessed really early on the plot twist that was going to come). Suspension of disbelief is obviously a requirement to enjoy this one, and there are some glaring oddities like insistence of using a payphone rather than cell phones (because those are on every corner still) and a seeming unawareness of how the female reproductive system works. Also, blurbing “Hitchcock inspired” on a BOOK when said inspo was first a book itself written by Patricia Highsmith and only adapted to film by Hitchcock started me off with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Give credit where credit is due, authors. All in all, though, this was pretty fun. ...more
About mid-July publishers begin offering up Christmas selections and much like the Pokemon – I gotta catch ‘em all. Having had much success with Kerry Winfrey previously, this was a no-brainer and I instantly accepted Berkley’s offer of a widget without even taking a glance at what this was about. I assumed from the title it would be a fake dating trope and dove right in on Sunday morning. To tell you the scream I scrummed when I realized this was a modernization of a very underrated holiday classic . . . .
Christmas In Connecticut was Hallmark holiday gooeyness before Hallmark movies were even a thing. The premise here is woman gets a job writing for a magazine as a Martha Stewart type – all about life on her goat farm and décor and fabulous food . . . . but really she only does the social media management and her sister actually owns the farm. All is well until the boss invites himself for Christmas Eve-Eve and Laurel has to fake it ‘til she makes it – complete with a pretend husband in the form of her brother-in-law’s bestie who she can’t stand.
When it comes to holiday romances, this was a winner.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
Before I bash this one (just a lil’ bit), can we just take one moment to delight in all that is the perfect Autumn cartoon cover? Soooooo good.
Now forBefore I bash this one (just a lil’ bit), can we just take one moment to delight in all that is the perfect Autumn cartoon cover? Soooooo good.
Now for the bashing. First, Goodreads’ effing LIIIIIIEEEEESSSSSSS that the Kindle version of this is 368 pages. My copy was 441 and lemme tell you the perfect amount of pages for a rom com is 325 and not a paragraph more . . . .
Which leads to the absolute lack of character development whatsoever and a real slog for the first 100+ pages. Really, the only thing I ever got to know about Ari was . . . .
I’m all for sex positivity, but good lord, we’re talking about a grown ass woman and she had no other personality traits than being a bangbot????? Josh’s development wasn’t much better, but at least we got to climb around in his head a wee bit more.
I will never not read a book if I know there’s some sort of “Big” or “13 Going On 30” vibes. And the vibes here were vibulating when not only Charlotte wakes up and discovers she’s 30, but due to a kerplunking of noggins while decorating for the prom, her nemesis J. T. Renner has also come along on this strange trip.
I loved every single thing about this. If you have a youngster in your life who likes to read fun, light romances this would definitely be one I’d recommend as a Christmas gift. And if you’re an oldster who likes fun, light romances then it might be a winner for you too. This was my first time with both Amy Lea (I’m so excited I have an ARC of her upcoming release from Berkley) and Mindy Kaling’s book club. So far I’m a fan of both! ...more
Rather than requesting to be “big,” when 26-year old Lucy finds herself fed up with a leaky ceiling in her flatshare, what appears to be a dead-end job despite having just earned a promotion and dodging a rainstorm after an unfortunate dating app connection with a disgusting tongue-sucker, she puts (a borrowed) eleven pence into the Wishing Machine and asks simply to “Skip to the Good Part.” You can probably figure out what happens next . . .
It’s 16 years later and Lucy has to figure out how to navigate marriage, motherhood and being a successful television producer – all while trying to get back to her old self.
Yep, this was the bees knees for me. Give me allllllll the 13 Going on 30, The Family Man, Big, 17 Again, Never Been Kissed, etc., etc., etc. I love this trope unapologetically and this needs to be made into a streaming movie so I can watch it on a loop until my husband threatens to murder show me.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!...more
I know in the dark recesses of my brain that I’ve probably both read and watched Our Town but it was so long ago I remember zero about it. The great nI know in the dark recesses of my brain that I’ve probably both read and watched Our Town but it was so long ago I remember zero about it. The great news for everyone else who isn’t a ride or die for Thornton Wilder is this story worked out great for me despite not having that emotional connection to its inspiration. Normally I gravitate towards more soap opera style drama in my family dramas but this was quietly wonderful. And because I'm uneducated white trash I'm more than willing to say that when I was reading this my unrefined pop-culture addled brain kept thinking to me it was like if "Baby" Houseman was reminiscing about that unforgettable summer she spent with Johnny Castle . . .
The only other book I’ve read by Patchett was Bel Canto which had some bizarro Stockholm Syndrome-y romance subplot and just was not my idea of a great time. This book had me immediately putting a request in for State of Wonder. I run about 1 out of 10 when it comes to enjoying Reece Witherspoon selections (but the FOMO has me thinking I absolutely need to read most of them). I'm happy to say this was a winner. And the cover is simply lovely . . . despite not featuring a house ; )...more
I mean, at least he owns the fact that his stuff is all knockoffs at this point, but for the first couple of releases it seemed like he/his PR team were trying to keep that under wraps until they started getting put on blast for being so unoriginal. And don’t even get me started on choosing a pen name that would intentionally lead readers to believe you to be a woman . . . . in a historically male dominated market. That just always felt . . . . well . . . . a bit gross if I’m being honest.
But anyway, now that I’m aware all of Todd’s stuff is going to be a reimagining of something else I look forward to his new releases, add my name to the library waiting list as soon as I hear another is coming out, and know that while they probably aren’t going to knock my socks off they are almost guaranteed to give me a few hours of a good time. Thus was the case with this modernization of Lizzie Borden. Totally satisfactory and I wouldn’t try to steer anyone away from it. ...more
Fatal Fungi! I didn’t even know this was such a trend until I saw Powell’s Books’ Instagram yesterday and they had an entire shelf dedicate
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Fatal Fungi! I didn’t even know this was such a trend until I saw Powell’s Books’ Instagram yesterday and they had an entire shelf dedicated to this theme. My notes to myself simply said “Mexican Gothic meets The Fall of the House of Usher and that’s about all you need to know before picking this up. While I didn’t find this latest release to be as good as Nettle and Bone, Kingfisher’s voice is certainly entertaining and I love that her main characters have a wit about them.
Fatal Fungi! I didn’t even know this was such a trend until I saw Powell’s Books’ Instagram yesterday and they had an entire shelf dedicated to this theme. My notes to myself simply said “Mexican Gothic meets The Fall of the House of Usher and that’s about all you need to know before picking this up. While I didn’t find this latest release to be as good as Nettle and Bone, Kingfisher’s voice is certainly entertaining and I love that her main characters have a wit about them.
This story is one that’s been done a time or twelve in the past. I’m sure you know it – the girl from the wrong side of the tracks gets a looky at howThis story is one that’s been done a time or twelve in the past. I’m sure you know it – the girl from the wrong side of the tracks gets a looky at how much greener the grass is on the other side courtesy of . . . .
This time around our leading lady is not Eliza Doolittle, but Maddie – entry level in the PR world, Maddie dreams of hobnobbing with high society folks and writing for the illustrious “S” magazine. With help from her friend Anya and Anya’s billionaire heir friend Tim, Maddie’s dreams might just come true as she fakes it ‘till she makes it as an “It Girl.”
I’m sure there’s an audience out there for this one, but sadly it wasn’t me. This was sooooooo juvenile and the writing was simply not great. More than anything, the pacing was a real disaster. Weeks and weeks are skipped over (when the entire story has a firm expiration date of three months) while pages upon pages are spent on each detail of the superficial things like clothing and food. None of the characters were likeable or taken to task for being so – and of course everything ends up with a happily ever after for all.
Blah.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ...more
I picked this up because in a sea of lackluster Christmas reads, I really dug The Christmas Wish. Of course, I have yet to review that one, because leI picked this up because in a sea of lackluster Christmas reads, I really dug The Christmas Wish. Of course, I have yet to review that one, because let’s face it . . .
Sadly On a Night Like This made me feel the major *womp wommmmmmp*. As I said above, I picked this up from the library immediately after finishing the aforementioned winning holiday romcom. I didn’t look at the blurb (but we all know I more than dibble dabble in some cartoony cover). And speaking of cover – I truly thought it was a bait and switch. You see the story here is our leading lady is an out of work PA who reaches out to a temp agency and lands a high paying weeklong gig working for a pop superstar in advance of the charity gala of the year in which said superstar will be the headliner. Juliette’s reputation proceeds her, but Fran is pleasantly surprised to find not only a human behind the persona, but a nice one at that . . . until the day of the event where she pulls a real Jekyll and Hyde. At that point this book completely jumped the shark for me when Fran had a (literal) run-in with some handsome fella at whatever the European equivalent of a Bodega is, got fired, crashed the party and things morphed into a Cinderall retelling.
What. The. Actual. Eff??????
This was a mess. The first half of the story was pretty much just . . . . a waste of time? Or more like wasted potential. If you love Disney princess retellings, maybe this is for you? But the whirlwind night of tarot card reading and carnival games and silent auction and slapstick comedy was most definitely NOT for me. Fran and Juliette had the chemistry that was lacking with Evan. They had the developed plotline. They had the third act “breakup” that made sense and they should have been two girls kissing at the end. Evan Shmevan. He and his whole storyline was nothing but a cardboard cutout.
Everyone and their dog has been falling all over the place expressing their love for Barbara Kingsolver’s latest release. And then there’s me . . . . Everyone and their dog has been falling all over the place expressing their love for Barbara Kingsolver’s latest release. And then there’s me . . . .
I’m not here to yuck your yum so Imma keep it real short. In a nutshell, Kingsolver is an author who is consistently trying to write the “Great American Novel” and nothing demonstrates that more than her undertaking a modernization of David Copperfield. In short, I just don’t think she’s my jam. Nearly 25 years ago The Poisonwood Bible knocked my socks off, but it’s a book I could never re-read in fear that I wouldn’t have the same reaction a second time around.
My main issue with this one is that I am so over clichéd, stereotypes of Appalachia. Boy oh boy did Demon Copperhead deliver them in spades. Our impoverished lead goes from bad to worse when it comes to an abusive household, to being orphaned, to one awful foster home situation to another (but don't worry - it ends at neglect - Kingsolver isn't ready to go to the darkest of locales when it comes to Demon's childhood). Eventually genetics get on young Demon’s side and he becomes a local high school football hero . . . until, you guessed it, his knee gets blown out and he becomes an addict. But don’t worry – he still gets a fairly happy ending and sees the ocean *eyeroll*
In addition to the been there/done that feel of this entire story, you can’t re-write history in an attempt to prove how “woke” you are. A high school English teacher (and a black teacher in the middle of the Holler, at that) in the early to mid-1990s wouldn't have dared to explain the movement of literature changing the term “black” to “Black.” Not to mention how regular folks were not aware of the dangers of opioids or how Big Pharma was controlling the narrative when they first hit the market, but the nurse in here was 100% in the know of what's going down. You want to learn more about the modern-day drug crises and how it came to be? Read Dopesick....more
Dark fairytale retellings have become sort of my jam. I intentionally held off reading my advanced copy of How to Be Eaten for an October read and boyDark fairytale retellings have become sort of my jam. I intentionally held off reading my advanced copy of How to Be Eaten for an October read and boy oh boy I sorta wish I would have read it right away. The story here revolves around a new form of experimental group therapy. All of the ladies have responded to an email directed to public figures who had suffered some form of personal trauma. Some of the faces are immediately familiar . . . .
Be patient, be kind, be good, say please, say thank you, don’t speak unless spoken to, don’t forget to smile, don’t give it all away, don’t disobey your teachers, your boyfriend, your husband, your producers. But don’t, you know, follow them blindly either. Hold this key, but don’t go in there. Don’t you dare open that door. Don’t cross the street without looking both ways, but don’t dawdle. Yeah, don’t get distracted on your way. Or, actually, you know what? Maybe don’t even be out there, on the street, not if it’s dark, not if you’re alone, not if you’re a kid, not if you’re a woman, not without a rape whistle around your neck, not without pepper spray clutched in your hand, not, anyway, if you’re wearing that outfit. But, I mean, don’t be a prude either.
I’m all about awarding points for fresh voices and originality. While this may have been a twisted take on old subject matter – it felt 100% brand new. It was not, however, funny. Dear Publicists – stop calling things funny when they aren’t. kthxbai.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
Once again this was a blind item for me. No reading of reviews or blurbs – just Tiffany D. Jackson so yep I’ll read it. Imagine my surprise when I disOnce again this was a blind item for me. No reading of reviews or blurbs – just Tiffany D. Jackson so yep I’ll read it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this was a Carrie retelling only without the . . . .
I’m not going to spend a lot of time breaking this one down (because at the end of the day it did follow along the Carrie storyline pretty accurately – only with a racial twist). My only real complaint is that not enough time was spent in Maddie’s head where all of the interesting stuff was developing. Oh, and also, can these unnecessary podcast inserts stop being a thing yet? They added zilch to the story.
It’s granny’s 80th birthday and the whole fam has gathered to celebrate. But when the tide comes in and there’s no chance of getting out until morningIt’s granny’s 80th birthday and the whole fam has gathered to celebrate. But when the tide comes in and there’s no chance of getting out until morning the bodies start piling up.
Daisy Darker was easily my most anticipated read of the Fall. I requested (and was denied) an early copy and immediately put in a library request that they purchase this. Then I waited (im)patiently for months and months until Pub Day when I was first in line for the library hold. I went in completely blind. No blurb reading, no early review peeking, nada. And now????
This one was a total snoozer. At 2% a “secret” of some sort is hinted about – and said hint repeats ad nauseam until 80% with little going on other than another dead person once an hour. It was hard not to compare this release to Lucy Foley’s The Guest List (which I really dug) – especially when it not only was a reimagining of the Christie classic, but also included a total copycat cover. More importantly – I can’t figure out why I get so stoked when Feeney has a new release. I went and looked at my other reviews for her stuff and I don’t rate them very high. You know the old saying, fool me once shame on you . . . .
Will I remember that the next time she has a new book being touted by her press team? Probably not.
I didn’t guess the ending here, but I think it was simply because by that point I didn’t really care. And it’s not like it was a twist that hasn’t been done a gajillion times before....more
”This is so awesome. I feel like we’re in The Goonies.”
^^^^Perfect quote is perfect, but up until sweet little Walt declared it, I was thinking Ch”This is so awesome. I feel like we’re in The Goonies.”
^^^^Perfect quote is perfect, but up until sweet little Walt declared it, I was thinking Christina Lauren’s latest release was the most satisfying mash-up of . . . .
Let me tell you it was exactly what the doctor ordered. I think everyone can understand what I’m talking about when I say I was in need of an escape from reality this week. The books that have been scoring high in the Stars department for me lately have all been pretty bleak and I absolutely needed zero more sad shit and the romcoms I have been selecting have left a lot to be desired. Until this. Blame it on the nostalgia of some of my favorite movies of the past, but this one checked every box for me. Action, adventure (TREASURE HUNT!!!!!!), second chance romance, non-squicky smexytimes – it had it all. I skipped over The Soulmate Equation because I had a feeling it wouldn’t be for me. I’m so happy I put my request in with the library post haste for this one so I was the first in line on pub day.
I felt really bad last year when Julie Murphy’s If the Shoe Fits didn’t end up being a fave of mine. I chalked it up to a swing and a miss
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I felt really bad last year when Julie Murphy’s If the Shoe Fits didn’t end up being a fave of mine. I chalked it up to a swing and a miss due to me not being a fan of the Bachelor franchise and added my name to the library list for this second installment of the “Meant to Be” stories. Now that I’ve finished I think I can blame this one on the fact that I’m pretty sure there are only two types of people in this world. This kind . . . .
And me. I’m just not a Disney princess gal. At this point I’m pretty sure I’m not a Jasmine Guillory fan either. The writing/storyline/characters all here were so blah – and when you already have a popular tale that you’re basing your work off of that’s not a great thing. ...more
I know! Trust me, no one is more upset about this crappy rating than me. Good news is it looks like I read it wrong . . . or in this case m
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I know! Trust me, no one is more upset about this crappy rating than me. Good news is it looks like I read it wrong . . . or in this case maybe just too often . . . . and that’s why I didn’t love it. Better news, is Peter Swanson has a bunch of other books and they are all great so go buy his stuff or check it out from the library. He’s worth your time.
I think my main failure when it comes to Nine Lives is that the inspiration came from one of my all-time favorites - And Then There Were None. I’ll go on record and say I probably won’t ever stop reading ANY book that is either a revamp or pays homage to that story, but the apples vs. apples comparison tends to not be great because Christie is simply perfection. The big reveal here was less than stellar for me and the offing of each victim proves that maybe Swanson is simply too nice of a human to write a story like this because talk about dullsville. If you’re worried about the high character count, have no fear. The entire purpose of this is for these folks to start dropping like flies. The wannabe serial killer dude, though? WTF was that? Talk about some unnecessary page wasting.
I’m assuming most everyone else’s mileage will vary with this one . . . .
I think most people are familiar with the story of the Donner party, but for those who aren’t, it’s a tale from back in the olde days of yore when a bI think most people are familiar with the story of the Donner party, but for those who aren’t, it’s a tale from back in the olde days of yore when a bunch of people did something like this . . . .
In the hopes of obtaining some free land and a chance at a better life and somewhere along the way they ran in to bad weather which made some people go a little . . . .
And since this book was one of the library’s recommendations I finally decided to get off the pot.
Despite running the gamut of ratings amongst my friends, I actually kind of dug this one. I enjoyed the backstories of the various wagon train members and I’m always down for some potential zombie action. Even if it’s of the actual brain eating variety and not just my best pal Ed . . . .
Saying this was my most anticipated spooooooooky read for October is the understatement of the year. I was sooooo bummed when I was denied an early copy. But then I read it and really all I have to say is . . . .
Horseman takes place in Sleepy Hollow twenty years after the infamous Headless Horseman wreaked his havoc. Ichabod Crane apparently hightailed it out of town pronto, leaving his intended betrothed Katrina behind where she married Bram Bones and had a son who eventually died (along with his wife), leaving his child Ben to be raised by the grandparents.
Now the townsfolk fear the Horseman may be back as another child has been found murdered – and sans head and feet, no less. Then it happens again. Either it’s the Horseman or . . . . . Ben????? Because Ben found the kid?
Yeah, that’s about as much sense as this plot makes. Mainly because all focus regarding amping up the creep factor or developing any sort of story that flows gets thrown waaaaaaay far out the window while Ben beats us over the head that he’s a boy not a girl. I realize I’m running the risk of being “cancelled” for complaining about this plot point, but please be very aware I take no issue with the subject itself. The problem is nothing about it is relevant to the tale at hand. Also, this book takes place like back in the dark ages and these folks are in a teensie little town who see Ben’s long hair and dresses and have no clue what all the chatter is about. I actually was waiting for a little twist that it was perhaps modern times and this village was maybe Amish or something to explain away the olde timey clothes and horseriding mixed in with the modern theme of sex and gender, but alas that did not happen. Apparently it was simply a vessel to sell more books and that, my friends, is a gross sort of moneygrab.
I’ve been the gal to sing Henry’s praises multiple times. I highly recommend both Lost Boy and Alice if you are in the mood for a dark retelling. This one, though????
Kelly (and the Book Boar)
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