The story here is about Jess. Baby did a bad bad thing and she’s hightailed it from Englad to Gay Paree to squat with her brother Ben for a bit. The only problem when she arrives at his apartment is he’s not there. Like nowhere to be found and not responding to texts/calls/nada. Enter the remaining tenants who all take turns telling the story. There’s Ben’s pal Nick who resides on the second floor and is the person who hooked Ben up with this posh pad in the first place. Young Mimi lives on the fourth. Drunken Antoine and his fed up wife are on the first. Glamorous, rich Sophie and her oft absent hubbo Jacques are up in the penthouse. Oh, and I can’t forget the Concierge who inhabits The Loge.
This is a story that starts off with what may be a bit of the stabby stabby and then churns and burns until you get to the big reveal. And what a reveal it was! Delicious. Lucy Foley is such an auto request for me. I was bummed when I got denied an early copy, but in all honesty I’m such a douchebag I probably wouldn’t have read it until it was released anyway. Bonus – since I’m a library stalker I was first in line and was able to start it on pub day. I went in to this blind so it took me a minute to realize it was going to be a meander rather than a sprint, but once I got invested I never put it down. My only complaint was the wrap up. This is a thriller – don’t feel like you have to channel your inner Dorinda Medley, Ms. Foley . . . .
Since this didn’t have a house on the cover I had every intention of passing it by (if you think that’s a joke, you don’t know me very well). Then it Since this didn’t have a house on the cover I had every intention of passing it by (if you think that’s a joke, you don’t know me very well). Then it started hitting Bookstagram and the FOMO won out. Luckily I didn’t have to wait long for my turn at the library to come around and I even took a gander at the synopsis to see what I was potentially getting myself into since I had zero clue aside from I want to read all the new things.
The blurb says this one is for fans of Big Little Lies and I am oh so very happy to report that was certainly the case with me. After being let down by Apples Never Fall this was just the sort of neighborhood trash I was hoping for.
The premise here is that a group of gals who live in the same subdivision gather every month for . . . . .
They talk about the book selection of the month . . . . eventually, but they also swap the goings on of their individual families as well as the neighborhood vandal’s latest antics. And then there’s Lena. She’s pretty much been holed up in her house for the past 15 years due to a . . . .
Yeah, you’re gonna have to read this to find out her story. And everyone else’s too. All you’re going to get from me is this truly delivers like a Moriarty. We open at a party and then immediately back track one year to see how everything builds up to the climactic ending. There’s a poopton of narrators which I have noticed has been a complaint by many, but when it comes to my reaction to neighborhood tales and that delivery?????
I am ALL about suburban drama and this one sure delivered. Everything about it worked for me. The inner workings of the various families, the pacing, the completely satisfactory ending, the page turnability. I was there for it and read it in one sitting after work the other night. #nomnomnomnom ...more
Brooke is a trophy wife whose husband treats her like a queen … and seems to maybe want her kept locked in their castle. Erin is a news anchor who walks out of her job to be a housewife to her not so interested plastic surgeon hubby. Georgia (also known as the Black Widow) is rumored to have offed two husbands in short order and is getting ready to marry her third.
Boozing before noon ain’t the only thing these gals are trying to keep hush hush!
While no housewife moment may ever top my girl Porsha kicking some Kenya Moore ass . . . .
If you are familiar with me at all you are well aware that I am a cheap slut date who will auto-request pert near any book that has a house on the covIf you are familiar with me at all you are well aware that I am a cheap slut date who will auto-request pert near any book that has a house on the cover. When I saw this aerial shot of an entire neighborhood?????
I’m telling you, it’s probably a good thing that (1) I dislike human interaction so much and (2) there are fairly stringent local ordinances regarding being a peeping creeper because I looooooooove looking into fictional people’s houses almost to an unhealthy extent. This book featured not only neighbors living in the same quiet little cul-de-sac-y community, but also ones who all worked together at the local college.
So real briefly, the story here is about the Hollow’s Edge subdivision and the people who reside there. A year and a half ago Ruby was convicted of the murder of two of the residents. Due to a mistrial she’s now out of jail and back in the ‘hood and making everyone uncomfortable with her presence. And then at the halfway mark things took a twist and . . . .
That’s all you get. If you aren’t a fan of murder mysteries or neighborhood shenanigans you should probably avoid this like the plague. If you are like me and really dug All the Missing Girls only to find Miranda’s other releases to not be quite up to snuff, rest assured that she’s back with a good ‘un this go around.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!...more
Sometimes they have heavy issues (like this one), sometimes not so heavy, sometimes someone gets stabbed or otherwise made dead, sometimes they wind up with HEA. I read them all. But since I read them all, there are some that simply shine like beacons in the recesses of my brain and those ones don’t allow me to always enjoy others. I think that was the case here.
So the story goes that Eliza has been running a neighborhood forum where women can ask advice on pretty much anything. When she runs into a couple of gals talking about some apparent competition to her site who then also point out . . . .
It makes Eliza feel like a real boomer and she decides to spice up the original board by creating a fictitious post about a supposed extramarital affair going on in the ‘hood. And then the shit sort of hits the fan, eleventy characters get introduced and you hear about all of their problems.
I really think my wrongreading with this was due to combination of some level of stupidity/naiveté with several of the characters (in particular the supposed high power Manhattan attorney who never thinks twice about getting her baby daddy to sign off on his parental rights or come to some sort of written agreement regarding the child whatsoever and the husband who doesn’t know his wife has pretty much not left the house in months) and that when the comparison is made to Big Little Lies I expect a little bit of humor – even if serious subjects are being tackled. Blame it on Lianne Moriarty and Abbi Waxman that I just can’t enjoy all the things. They ruined me ; ) ...more
The story here is about Sophie. She used to be some sort of big muckity muck in the fashion magazine biz up in Chicago, but after she and her husband had their son they decided to slow it down and move to Texas. Sophie has plans of becoming some sort of blogger, but is pretty okay for the time being with just being a great mom. She does have a serious case of FOMO, however, and when she gets invited to hang out with Margot’s clique of fabulous women she is all in. And then she finds out just exactly what type of hunting the ladies like to dabble in on Friday nights and there’s also that unfortunate incident involving a dead body.
Okay, so know before going in that this is completely over the top and Sophie is a total nincompoop who will have you wanting to chuck the book across the room because she’s so fucking dense. If you are like me, you might be able to just go with it and have a super fun time because . . . .
I have noticed some discussion of this book being more than your average neighborhood drama – which is true – but for those of you like me who almost I have noticed some discussion of this book being more than your average neighborhood drama – which is true – but for those of you like me who almost didn’t want to read it any more because you were afraid of it becoming some preachy diatribe about global warming when you just were hoping for an escape, allow me to take a moment and assure you . . . .
Resulting in a horrible accident and a missing child. As tensions (as well as the heat) rise, a once quaint neighborhood becomes something else . . . .
With accusations raised and fingers pointed at two different families that culminates in a real shocker of an ending.
Please note above when I say this was trash that’s about the highest compliment my nasty self can offer a book. This was a page turner with all sorts of awful skeletons tumbling out of closets. I’m going to go ahead and shelf it with the Lifetime Stabby Stabs books, but please note the reveals in this one might be too dark for some readers. ...more
And raise you “so do all these dang neighbors and families and couples” in today’s book titles. You’d think they lived next door to a creeper like me who just wants to peep them but never actually meet them!
Second, I requested this book because it had a house on the cover. The version I received had hemlock or some shit instead, but trust that the house cover auto-request truly is a sickness that I have to fight tooth and nail to avoid. Bonus when I discovered it was by Lisa Jewell who I have really enjoyed in the past. But that’s all I knew. I just assumed it was going to be some “ drunken unreliable narrator on a train in a window who may or may not be gone” type of storyline. When it turned out to be . . . . .
The story here is presented by siblings Lucy and Henry and “the baby” Libby. Libby has just turned 25 and inherited what is known as The Chelsea House (basically code name for mansion) due to no one else on the trust coming forward in time to claim their share. The remainder of the story tells the family history, the house’s history and all of the goings on that occurred between the now and the back then when the parents and another man were found . . . . .
If you are looking for a lot of action and plot twists, this might not work for you. But if you enjoy slow rollers and family secrets it might be just what the doctor ordered. You’ll probably find the big reveal to be pretty obvious if you are an avid thriller reader, but it didn’t make me any less entertained while I was reading. Lisa Jewell has become a go-to-gal for me. I’ll happily auto request anything she puts out at this point – even if there isn’t a house on the cover ; )
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!...more
A woman goes missing in an upper-middleclass neighborhood. Of course the other residentsFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
A woman goes missing in an upper-middleclass neighborhood. Of course the other residents feel bad for her, but really how much can they do? Especially in a case like this – obviously the husband did it . . . .
There’s only one little problem, Olivia and Paul’s son Raleigh has admitted to breaking into a couple of the neighbors’ houses in order to hone his hacking skills. Olivia makes the rash decision to leave anonymous apology notes to the unknowing victims of her little cat burglar and assumes that will be the end of things. But like with most situations in life, nothing is ever simple and one of the houses Raleigh broke into just so happens to be Robert Pierce’s – the guy whose wife disappeared. Now the neighbors are not only talking about the missing wife, but who could be the kid breaking into homes. It’s only a matter of time before everyone’s skeletons start falling out of their various closets and . . . .
And also in some more immortal words of Aretha – who’s zoomin’ who????
I thought this was great fun. Despite not having a house on the cover (my old lady brain did appreciate the similarity to the cover art of An Unwanted Guest, though), this was right in my wheelhouse. Nosey neighbors! I do not interact with other humans voluntarily so I can’t say I’m of the caliber of people like this that I enjoy so much in books, but I do totally sit in the reading room and watch the only house I can see from my perch as the inhabitants come and go. (SIDENOTE: I’d say I’m a regular Edna Kravitz (and I’m sure only like two of you are old enough to even get that reference), but I am pretty much just a lazy peeping Tom. However, the only person in the neighborhood to ever tear down my walls and make a true friend out of me did so by knocking on my front door and saying “Hi, I’m Liv. I live across the street and I was wondering what color you painted your living room. I can see it when I look at your house from my house. Can I come in?” Anyone who has the balls to admit they have been spying on you is either destined to be your bestie or murder you so I decided to roll the dice on friendship and I’m still alive so I guess it worked.)
Where was I again? Oh yeah, this book that was enjoyable because it was about a potentially dead person and followed the basics. You know . . . . .
Shari Lapena’s first release The Couple Next Door was a bit “meh” to me, but after reading the aforementioned An Unwanted Guest and now this one, I have this to say . . . .
Hey looky there. A book with a bunch of houses on the cover. I never request those *winkFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Hey looky there. A book with a bunch of houses on the cover. I never request those *wink emoji* (If you’re new here please note – I request allllllll of these.) I have no idea why I didn’t review this one in a timely fashion because I really dug it.
The story this time around features a woman named Amy. Amy lives a cookie-cutter life in a cookie-cutter neighborhood where the biggest excitement is the monthly book club and probably shit like BUNKO. Don’t know what that is????
When new neighbor Roux shows up, she tries to spice Moms Night Out up a bit by playing a new game – Never Have I Ever. In case you aren’t familiar with that one either, it’s where someone makes a generally saucy sort of non-confession confession like “Never Have I Ever Had Buttsex” and then all the squares are like . . . .
When Amy shoots down participating in the new-and-improved frivolities because she'd rather stick to the plan of talking about the latest Reese Witherspoon selection, Roux confronts her to inform her she already knows Amy’s dirty secrets and that if she wants them kept under wraps she better cooperate.
Here’s the part that got me hooked. Rather than being some mealy-mouthed wimp (or, even more redonkulous, murdering the new neighbor), Amy is like . . . .
“I want to wish you a sincere and hearty ‘Welcome to Stepford.’”
A quaint little hamlet nestled somewhere in Connecticut, Stepford is a place where you can buy your dream home for a mere $52,500 (obviously this book is kinda an oldie but a goodie), your children will attend Grade-A schools and have plenty of friends to play with, and your husband can unwind after a rough day at the office at the local Men’s Club . . . . .
And how will you occupy your free time? Well, if you are even a halfway decent wife you won’t have much of it with all of the housekeeping you need to focus on. But on the off chance you do have a minute or two, it’s nice to find new products to test out while your husband is watching the big game . . . . .
Walter and Joanna have just recently moved to Stepford. It should only take a few months for them to discover all of the amenities their new town has to offer, but hopefully sooner than that because poor Joanna . . . . .
File this under “I can’t believe I never read this before now.” At less than 150 pages this is a tiny little nugget you can easily devour in one sitting. Aside from the aforementioned real estate prices and a couple of outdated pop culture references this 40+ year old novel withstands the test of time remarkably well. My husband should probably read this in order to figure out how to get me to be a little more like this . . . . .
“We deserve to be left in peace. A parent is dead. The entire school community is grieFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
“We deserve to be left in peace. A parent is dead. The entire school community is grieving.”
“Hmmmmm, I wouldn’t say the entire school community is grieving. That might be a stretch.”
There begins our tale. A parent has died at the local elementary’s “Audrey & Elvis” fundraising trivia night and the cops are trying to figure out if any shenanigans were afoot. A quick rewind is conducted taking the reader back to the beginning of the school year and covering the goings on up to the night of the incident . . . .
“Oh, calamity.”
That’s how Madeline meets newcomer Jane – a woman mistaken for a nanny at new student orientation . . . .
“She’s a mother. She’s just young. You know, like we used to be.”
^^^^Those were Madeline’s words, not mine. Allow me just a moment to express my adoration for Madeline . . . .
As much as women across the interwebs claim to be the nicest people in the universe, who would never *gasp* dare talk about another female and proclaim to always fart rainbows and spread sunshine and roses amongst the land I GUAR.AN.TEE. a ginormo chunk of you will find Madeline completely relatable (and probably very much like your real self) . . . .
“Never forgive. Never forget. That’s my motto.”
Own it. It’s okay to embrace your inner asshole.
Madeline is the person you want to be within earshot of if you want to know what’s up without having to suck ass for the info . . . .
“The Blond Bobs rule the school. If you want to be on the PTA, you have to have a blond bob.”
She’s not a regular mom, she’s a cool mom - okay not really. Her teenager might think she’s kind of the worst, but her teenager also thinks it’s cool to sell her virginity to the highest bidder on the intertubes for charity and idolizes her new “earthy” breed of stepmom . . . .
“This must be how Jennifer Anniston feels, thought Madeline, whenever she hears about Angelina and Brad adopting another orphan or two.”
She also converses with her spouse in a similar fashion as many of us . . . .
“Shut up.” “I thought we didn’t say ‘shut up’ in our house.” “Fuck off, then.”
And does awesome things like create an “Erotic Book Club” that doesn’t really read erotic books but simply uses that name in order to keep the goody-goodies away.
Madeline needs a release because her little corner of Australia is full of pretty much the worst people you’ll ever meet . . . . .
“We’re doing a petition to ban parents from sending in cupcakes for the whole class on their kids’ birthdays. There’s an obesity crisis.”
Harper is one of the petition pushers and the type of mother who wants your 5-year old kid expelled for “bullying” when they dared to notice her kid’s barrettes didn’t match one day. Blech. Enjoy having your speshul snowflake live in your basement until you’re dead, dipshit.
Anyway, obviously Madeline was my favorite and pretty much the only type of mom I’m willing to befriend in real life, but she actually had the least juicy storyline. Jane and Celeste each had a much more interesting arc, but I’m scurrrrred of being spoiley. Please note, even though this is shelved by many as a “mystery” the delivery is much like What Alice Forgot - someone is dead so there is a “mystery” aspect, but it’s really a character study and discovering . . . . .
“It occurred to her that there were so many levels of evil in the world. Small evils like her own malicious words. Bigger evils like walking out on your wife and newborn baby or sleeping with your child’s nanny. And then there was the sort of evil which Madeline had no experience: cruelty in hotel rooms and violence in suburban homes and little girls being sold like merchandise, shattering innocent hearts.”
And without spoiling anything, let me just say – DAT ENDING . . . . .
Also, this author writes the best kids. She’s smart that they aren’t in it enough to really be the focus, but their interactions are so real . . . .
“I love you so much, Ziggy.” “I need that spoon pretty fast,” said Ziggy.
I think I used “real” about one hundred and twelve times too many in this review, but that’s the word that comes to mind with both of Liane Moriarty’s books I’ve read. I’m quickly becoming her number one fan . . . .
This one gets 4 Stars instead of 5 for the simple fact that it was too long and when the pacing went off the rails it was pretty noticeable to me. NOW SOMEONE GIVE ME YOUR HBO-TO-GO LOG IN AND PASSWORD STAT SO I CAN WATCH THIS MAH FAH!
Okay, now I’m going to get spoiley because I just can’t stop myself. DO NOT CLICK IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THINGS!
(view spoiler)[ I have not been so satisfied with a story’s outcome since . . . . .
And for any trolls out there who might be seeing this and wanted to tell me how I read that Colleen Hoover wife-beating piece of shit wrong, you can all fuck off and you should read this if you want to know about broken fucking women and how they wake up and deal with life every damn day after being treated like a pile of garbage . . . .
“I could actually do anything right now because he still feels so bad about what happened the last time. So right now everything is great. Better than great. That’s the problem, see. It’s so good right now, it’s almost . . . .” She stopped.
EDIT: Because I'm a moron and forgot the most important thing. This was #3 in my quest to earn my new mug through the library's "Read to Reel" Winter Reading Challenge!
Yep. I’m still 30th in line at the non-porny library (and yes I just removed this request – I’m an old lady and forget these things sometimes).
Since this is a mystery you’re going to get an even crappier review than I normally barf out. The basic premise of The Couple Next Door is that Marco and Anne’s babysitter cancelled at the last minute due to a family emergency, leaving the couple all dressed up with nosomewhere to go. Not willing to let a new baby cramp their style, the two decide to leave the baby monitor as babysitter and a promise to rotate shifts every 30 minutes in order to make sure said baby is okay so they can still go next door for dinner and draaaaaaaaanks . . . .
Save your breath if you feel the need to tell me how horrible I am for judging this couple because #1 I know I’m horrible, #2 it’s a book so calm yo tits, and #3 I would still judge these a-holes the same if it was real life and I give zero shits.
So anywho, Anne and Marco return home around 1:30 a.m. to find their door partially open and zero baby in the house. I was a bit worried for a minute when the detective showed up because Anne’s reaction was. . . .
“When a child goes missing, are the parents usually the prime suspects? Surely not.”
But luckily the detective was not a dummkopf and he totally thought they offed their own kid.
I will say I didn’t like the direction of everyone thinking “time was running out” in order to find the baby alive. Obviously I’m not an expert, but I am a geezer and every time a baby kidnapping story has been on the news for the past 412 years it’s been some crazy bitch who stole it in order to raise as her own who was the culprit. Murder doesn’t usually seem to be the M.O. in those cases. But I’m probably wrong.
Bottom line is this was like watching a decent movie on this channel . . . .
Kelly (and the Book Boar)
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