**Many thanks to Rachel Koller Croft and Berkley for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**
"I want to go where the people dance I want some acti**Many thanks to Rachel Koller Croft and Berkley for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**
"I want to go where the people dance I want some action, I want to live I love the nightlife I've got to boogie on the disco 'round, oh yeah!" - "I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)", Alicia Bridges
Flashing lights, glittering sequins, and cocktails always at the ready - swinging London in the seventies was nothing short of a Disco Inferno. For disco fanatics Nicola and Amber, it might have been just another night of partying 'til dawn...until their paths crossed, their eyes locked, and a fast friendship was born. But what seemed like a simple soul-sister meet cute quickly becomes something far more sinister...and even deadly. You see, Nicola is a vampire, fresh on the hunt for a new companion...and Amber looks like she might just fit the bill. Never mind that Amber has a beau waiting for her back at home...Nicola really GETS her. And when she reveals her salacious secret to Amber and offers her the chance to party - well, FOREVER - Amber thinks all of her dreams are coming true. But has she instead opened the door to a nightmare that simply won't end?
Years later, Amber has settled into life as Nicola's vamp companion...but she's growing restless. Nicola has very specific rules about who they can hunt, WHEN they can hunt, and where their paths will take them next...and needless to say, Amber's had about enough of her controlling ways. After all, SHE is a full-blown, full-bred vampire now, with her own strength, smarts, and desires...why should her companion hold her back? When the two hatch a plan to create their own nightclub, Amber thinks this is FINALLY her chance to pawn off Nicola on a newer unsuspecting vampire...and perhaps forge a new path with hunky would-be beau Roddy. But with a group of other unpredictable vampires tangled up in their plans, and Nicola's frightening past still a mystery to Amber, can she execute her plan while keeping Nicola in the proverbial dark? Or will Nicola's prescience (oh, and extra HUNDREDS of years of experience) clue her in to Amber's true intentions...and turn the tables at the WORST possible moment?
Three things completely SOLD me on this book before I read a single word:
1) That PERFECT cover. 10/10. 2) Vampires. Need I say more? 3) DISCO. (Don't knock it till you've tried it....Or at least if you do, you'd better 'knock, knock, knock on wood...')...more
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin - Putnam, and Richard Roper for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 2.13!!**
"If I could you know I would Just **Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin - Putnam, and Richard Roper for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 2.13!!**
"If I could you know I would Just hold your hand and you'd understand I'm the man who loves you" - I'm the Man Who Loves You, Wilco
Brian feels like Lily's only been gone for a moment...but at the same time, it feels like an eternity. He can still picture her in that vivid blue dress, smiling at him from behind the bar as though it was yesterday...but it's been almost SEVEN long years without her...and without any explanation as to why she left him. In that time, Brian has tried his best to keep the bar he ran with Lily afloat, and keep all of their dreams alive until she returns...because with the anniversary of her departure coming up, he knows in his GUT that she will be back soon.
But one day, Brian catches himself doomscrolling (or is it stalking?) TripAdvisor and finds a username that catches his eye: PinkMoonLily1972. With his Lily's affinity for musician Nick Drake (and especially his album PINK MOON) and her name in the username, Brian is convinced he's finally found her. PinkMoonLily has been all over the place, writing reviews of her adventures...and there even seems to be a method to her madness. Brian takes this as the sign he's been waiting for, and leaves the bar in the hands of his two employees to go out on a quest to bring Lily home to him at last. With a half-formulated plan in mind, Brian sets off, not knowing what to expect...but hoping he can stay two steps ahead of Lily and run into her at long last. But with memories of their long and complicated past flooding back to him along the way....and a curious female stranger named Tess who...catches him off guard, to say the least...will Brian's quest end in triumph? Or with such a tumultuous and at times tortured past between them...is it simply too LATE for their love to FINALLY conquer all?
I'm new to Richard Roper, so going into this read I had absolutely no idea what to expect. The beginning of the book is a little bit jarring to start, with bits and pieces of Brian's memories of Lily presented in flashes or as lists, and I was a bit nervous it would take me a while to find my footing and dig in to this read. However, by about 20% in, not only was I used to Brian's narrative style, I can only describe my reading experience as the best kind of mix between Fredrik Backman and David Nicholls....and I was nothing short of ENTHRALLED! I love a story that brilliantly blends past and present, and this narrative slowly unfurled, showing us flashes of Lily and Brian's relationship as it developed over time, but bouncing back over and over to Brian's current quest without feeling disruptive in the slightest.
This is a relationship you won't EVER quite understand...because Brian doesn't fully understand it either. He's self-deprecating, but never in an overly dramatic way, and at the same time, he both sees his worth and doubts it constantly. Lily's family and Lily herself are complicated creatures, and since we only get to know Lily through Brian's recollection, she is as much a mystery to us as readers as she is to Brian during her mysterious journey. Brian's sense of humor might take a bit of getting used to also...but as I mentioned earlier, he is right at home with the likes of some of my favorite Backman characters and has the perfect blend of wit, silliness, and still an air of melancholy about him...all with a heart of gold beneath.
Though I won't give ANYTHING away, because trust me when I say the journey is worth it, there is a WHOPPER of a twist towards the end of this book...and it is nothing short of a gut punch. I actually gasped out loud and said "No way" TO my Kindle while reading...it is that kind of breathtaking moment that feels eerily reminiscent of the most shocking moment in your OWN life, where you had to stop and look around for a second to make sure the Earth hadn't suddenly fallen off its axis. Once you come back into your body and start breathing again, Roper gives you a fitting AND intriguing end to Brian's story, with a charming final chapter that feels like taking the first sip of hot cocoa on a cold winter night: it'll warm you up from the inside out! ☕
And though I won't say exactly WHERE Brian's journey leads him (or to whom!) Marcel Proust's thoughts on the nature of discovery sums up this quest perfectly: "The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes...but in having new eyes."...more
**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Penguin, and August Thompson for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**
It takes a special kind of book to mak**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Penguin, and August Thompson for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**
It takes a special kind of book to make you wonder "Is this a memoir? Or is this fiction?"
August Thompson's compelling debut, Anyone's Ghost, is JUST that kind of haunting, memorable, emotionally penned, and evocative read.
Our story begins with a shocking message: "It took three car crashes to kill Jake." Theron Alden is more than devastated to hear of this passing...he is forever altered. As he returns to attend Jake's funeral, we then jump back in time to a summer when Theron was just beginning to find himself...but not knowing where or how this journey was supposed to start. A strained relationship with his father has left him in a vulnerable place, but when he takes a summer job at a store in his tiny New Hampshire town, he meets Jake and is instantly blown away by this effortlessly cool 17 year old who is EVERYTHING Theron (or David, as he is called by everyone else in his life) wants to be: edgy, funny, and a bit dangerous. The pair bond over their love of the same rock music, and Jake gets Theron intimately involved with drugs, theft, and a dangerous joyride or two...until one day, everything changes.
Theron begins to realize that his feelings for Jake aren't brotherly love, or the simple, unspoken kinship of two teenage boys: they are reminiscent of first love. At first, Theron doesn't know what to make of the emotions and hormones that are coursing through him...and he's also terrified to lose the person closest to him by exploring anything more or making his intentions known. But after a planned trip away together falls apart and Jake goes off the grid for a while...Theron knows that this MUST be something more. When the two reconnect, however, Theron discovers that Jake has spent a significant portion of this time with his fiancee, Jess...and something deeper than jealousy grabs hold. After a devastating car crash that both boys are lucky to escape, however, something changes...and for the first time Theron gets an indication that perhaps he isn't the only one with burgeoning feelings. But is Jake held hostage by what society and his fiancee 'expects' him to do? Or are some feelings just too strong and too complex to be ignored? Has all of the tension building between these two been leading to a crescendo of passion...or will Theron finally get his answer and be forced to repair his broken heart all alone, WITHOUT his best friend at his side....before he eventually loses him forever?
While I respect and applaud Thompson's brilliance in starting the book with the revelation that Jake would not survive his third car crash, I have to admit, this beginning made it difficult for me to immediately jump into the story. This opening points to how vital Jake is to the story, but without the context of his character, the mentions of death and the funeral from the jump felt almost off-putting to me as a reader. I was a bit concerned I wasn't going to get into the book at all, and knowing such a vital and saddening piece of information from the beginning ALMOSTmade me question whether I would feel the emotional push and pull I had initially anticipated. Much like Adam Silvera's They Both Die at the End, giving away THAT much from the very beginning can make you question the author's intent or if the story to follow will be ABLE to surprise you.
But by about 30% through this book, I honestly was questioning whether this was fiction or fact: Theron's vulnerability, openness, and frank reflective nature felt just THAT real.
This book is part coming-of-age, part light buddy comedy, and part love story...but with all the emotional heft of a no-holds-barred memoir as Jake lets his readers in on not only his transformation from boy to man, but the exploration of his sexuality and the blurred edges he experiences over the course of many years with Jake. The interplay of Jake and Theron's other relationships with their respective girlfriends, as well as Theron's complex relationship with his father are also interspersed throughout the book and help to give depth and breadth to the complexity of his journey of self-discovery. Although you know the period that will come at the 'end of the book's sentence' (so to speak) every word is worth reading along the way. Though I haven't read Call Me By Your Name (a source of inspiration for the author), Thompson also credits a long list of musical acts at the end, from the National to Metallica, and as a music aficionado, THIS I can confirm: the songs here are chosen with a purpose, and you'll almost feel as though you're riding along in the car with Jake and Theron, wind blowing in your hair, as you let the thumping bass move through you: it's simply that visceral.
Theron's connection to Jake is far more than skin deep, and despite their somewhat disparate life journeys (and Jake's untimely demise), one passage in particular sums up the pain of being alive and the sort of unwavering devotion that only the purest and most selfless kind of love can deliver:
"He told me I didn't need to say sorry because it wasn't my fault. I could never understand why people needed to clarify that. That I'm sorry is not an apology from me to you but an apology for being. I'm sorry that life is this difficult. I'm sorry that there's so much harm to be found. I would give anything to change the nature of the world, even if I could just change it for you."
**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Penguin - Putnam, and Courtney Preiss for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley Now available as of 4.16!!**
"Bu**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Penguin - Putnam, and Courtney Preiss for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley Now available as of 4.16!!**
"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack I don't care if I never get back" - Take Me Out To The Ballgame
Caroline Kline definitely cares if she never gets back to her New Jersey hometown...in fact, she'd prefer it that way. But after her ex blindsides her with a sudden breakup and all the plans she had made to start a life with him were in vain, she has no job, no direction...and in some respects, very little hope. She pursues random hookups to occupy her time, but feels a sort of emptiness that she just can't explain. All of that personal strife gets pushed to the back burner, however, when her elderly father Leo suffers a nasty fall...and Caroline must make the long journey back to her hometown to help support him.
What this also involves, however, is Caroline taking her father's place...on an all-male softball team. The team thinks they have a shot at the World Series this year, so her involvement is met with skepticism (to say the least) but she is determined to try to give it her all.
...Until one night, when a few too many drinks causes Caroline to end up getting in trouble with the law and she ends up at an AA class...and sees none other than her high school crush Crispin in the class too. Caroline is shocked to see him, but even more surprised at the lingering feelings that remain from so many years ago. In her quest to reconcile her newly single self (and a self now on a road to recovery, no less!) she finds herself bonding with Crispin...but doesn't want to put too much stock in the perceived connection, with Crispin's gorgeous bandmate hanging around. Crispin tells her he cannot date until he's made it through a year of recovery...but is that REALLY the reason...or is he simply trying to let her down easy? Will Caroline find what her heart is looking for locked away with her memories in her childhood bedroom? And can she convince The Guys that this GIRL can play ball with the best of them...and maybe even snag the BIGGEST victory of all?
This is Courtney Preiss' debut, so with no point of reference, the premise alone was enough to pull me in...although I PROBABLY should have read the blurb a bit more carefully (since I am pretty much the last person on earth I would declare a 'baseball fan.') A good coming of age story, with a late twenty-something MC who returns home to reconcile the heartache and disappointments from her past, however?
THAT you can sign me up for time and time again.
However, this book felt more like a amalgam of themes and ideas...and while some of them clicked for me, others either felt out of place entirely or in the case of the (many) baseball scenes, overly drawn out and needlessly detailed.
From the off, we are introduced to Caroline via her dating life, which post breakup involves meeting men from apps and grabbing drinks with her bestie in NYC (many, MANY drinks sometimes) and Caroline's attempts to sort of 'fill the void' that had been left by her ex. I actually found these chapters pretty engaging, and they seemed to point at a certain complexity and a battle of the angel on my shoulder vs. devil on my shoulder, partaking in behaviors that are somewhat destructive but knowing at the same time that she deserved better...just not how to find it. Once Caroline got the call to return home though, the narrative took a pretty sharp turn into her relationship with her family, which again, was still interesting...and then we got to the sports.
...Sigh.
As much as I was hoping to feel 'part of the team', as it were, the crotchety old men and all of the machinations of the games themselves were SO DRAWN OUT, I felt like I was sitting at an ACTUAL baseball game...and unfortunately in my book, that isn't a compliment. I know Caroline had to have a reason to go home and an objective to shoot for once she arrived there, but I just wish it hadn't been sports...or at least, not this sport. The men were sort of awful to Caroline (unsurprisingly) so not only were the ins and outs of the games painfully long and seemingly unimportant to the plot, I'll be honest, a couple of weeks after finishing this book, I hardly even REMEMBER the outcome of the final game...THAT'S how unimportant I felt it was to the whole book.
What that points to more than anything else was that Caroline as a character had so much potential and seemed at first to have moved beyond her high school years and failings...but when she returns to that environment, everything sort of comes rushing back and she makes mistake after mistake, seemingly learning from NONE of them. As someone who started off this book really liking Caroline and finding her intriguing (she even randomly tosses in a spicy tidbit from a short lived affair with a WOMAN ...more
**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Berkley, and Rachel Harrison for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley! Now available as of 9.19!**
There's o**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Berkley, and Rachel Harrison for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley! Now available as of 9.19!**
There's one in every family...
Vesper considers herself lucky to have made it out alive. Growing up in a hyper-religious cult, she was taught not to question and that her future would consist of perpetuating the next generation of cult members...so Vesper bolted at age 18 and hasn't looked back. Sure, her job at a local restaurant isn't exactly ideal, but who can put a price on freedom? She grits her teeth at the stereotypical customers who drive her crazy and tries to stay on her boss' good side (despite a couple unusual run-ins with the patrons that only seem to happen when she gets VERY angry......more
**Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Breanne Mc Ivor for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 5.16!**
"In the end, you will not see the **Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Breanne Mc Ivor for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 5.16!**
"In the end, you will not see the physical beauty in others that caught your eye, but the fire that burned within them."- Shannon L. Alder
Bianca Bridge is just that sort of firecracker. Blessed with both brains AND stunning physical looks, she has been modeling just to get by...but writing is her true MO. After graduating from college, she was full of vim, vigor and that It Factor that could propel her to fame. And she IS famous, in a sense. Her face is known all around Trinidad and Tobago. However, what she's known for is far from literary: she had an affair with a married man....a married man who just HAPPENED to be the Minister of Planning, a government official.
Desperate for a fresh start, Bianca plugs away at the book she is determined to publish in her mother's memory and is willing to pursue just about any opportunity in the meantime...and that's how she ends up meeting make-up artist and "God of Good Looks" Obadiah Cortland. Their initial interview is a bit rocky (to put it gently) and Bianca is instantly put off by Obadiah's holier-than-thou air. After some reflection, however, she figures that a job working for Obadiah's beauty magazine is better than the alternative and after all...pain is beauty, right?
When Bianca's ugly past with her famous ex resurfaces in an unexpected way, and time spent with Obadiah reveals that he might not be part of the Haughty Elite, however, Bianca's worlds collide and she's forced to make a potentially life-changing decision. Does she have the courage to speak her mind and amplify her voice...no matter what the ultimate cost? Or is the price she must pay for a good reputation simply too steep?
This is Mc Ivor's debut, and in many ways, it's an impressive first look (so to speak). As a Trinidadian and make-up artist herself, she is perhaps the perfect voice to inform Bianca's sensibilities. The opening of this one isn't for the weak: Bianca first tells us about a time she was modeling that involved Hershey's chocolate syrup....more
**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, NetGalley, Berkley, and Melanie Hamrick for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 6.20!**
When you see this cover **Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, NetGalley, Berkley, and Melanie Hamrick for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 6.20!**
When you see this cover and read the words "First Position," you might think that this is a simply a book about the dark side of ballet...you know, first position, second position, etc.
But this book felt more at home with the likes of those describing, uh, certain OTHER positions....if you catch my drift...and voyeurism of this kind is a BIT more R rated than the vision I had of toe shoes and tutus (not to mention one that was also supposed to be peppered with thrills!)
Sylvie Carter has always longed for the post of prima ballerina, and five years ago, it seemed well within her grasp. She had a 'leg up' on her competition (so to speak) and was handling the ballet world (filled with plenty of sex and drugs) with just enough grace to keep her goal within reach. But when a whirlwind 'courtship' with a powerful and handsome magnate in the dance world goes awry and winds up in scandal territory, Sylvie's one shot seems to have evaporated...for good.
...Until now. Sylvie is in a new city and is still dancing: now as part of the North American Ballet company (NAB). When the stunning, masterful Alessandro Russo arrives, however, Sylvie's world is once again rocked and she quickly falls under his spell. Is Sylvie able to take this second chance, move on from the mistakes of her past, and ascend to true greatness? Or will the allure of sex, drugs, alcohol and yet ANOTHER forbidden romance keep her ultimate dream as nothing MORE than a fading, furtive dream?
This book is pitched as being Black Swan-esque...but I'm sorry to tell my thriller loving friends that there is NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, thrilling about this book. At all. NONE of what plays out could even be considered remotely frightening, unless you find sex clubs or hooking up with older men terrifying. There is no murder, no gore, and DEFINITELY no mystery to solve. 80% of this narrative is about ballet...but more specifically, the 'dark' side of ballet...which translated means "lots and LOTS of sex and drugs." When I saw this book was 'dark' I guess I was assuming there would be more in the way of stakes and tension.
What I didn't expect, however, was the aforementioned overabundance of spicy sexual scenes that took up SO much of the book that I often had a hard time remembering what else in the plot was supposed to be relevant. Between this and Sylvie's constant drug abuse (often for no reason at all) I got pretty frustrated trying to stay invested in her journey. The dialogue also at times felt very clunky and fake...one such scene had the 'alluring' older man watching Sylvie and best frenemy Jocelyn and urging them: "Have fun, girls-do not forget to have fun! For god's sake, you're on drugs!"
...Seriously? As if he'd need to REMIND them?
This timeline also bops around to THREE different points in time for absolutely no reason, and also has narratives from Sylvie AND occasionally Jocelyn: so unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. The one upside to this is at least Jocelyn's sections had a bit more energy and punch, although she's just as unlikable as Sylvie, if not moreso. To give you a bit more insight into the bulk of her personality, here's how Jocelyn's mind works: "He pushes his hips into mine and I remember again why I'm having this fling. He's got no personality but he's an amazing dancer with a huge d***" (Yep, this is ACTUALLY Jocelyn's inner monologue...such as it is.)
Sadly, the world of ballet often got lost here, although there's plenty of technical jargon and authentic descriptions of dance sequences, the machinations of rehearsals etc. (based in part on Hamrick's own experience as a ballerina) to add that sense of reality that so much of this book seemed to be missing. The odd and somewhat saccharine ending felt even more out of place and left me wondering what message the author was truly hoping to convey to the reading audience. I can't tell if this was supposed to be a convoluted love story, a coming-of-age story, a lesson in identity...or proof positive of why you should "Just Say No to Drugs."
And this book DID leave me wanting to jeté, alright....but rather than a grand and graceful leap, I just wanted to jeté on OUT of there....more
**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, NetGalley, Berkley, and Anissa Gray for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 4.11!**
"Life's a long song But the t**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, NetGalley, Berkley, and Anissa Gray for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 4.11!**
"Life's a long song But the tune ends too soon for us all"-'Life's a Long Song', Jethro Tull
Have you ever had the urge to get up and just walk away from your life?
Oz Armstead MAY have fallen prey to this particular compulsion...but no one can say for sure. After a lunch with brother Tommy, Oz doesn't make it back to the office. But this was no pre-planned trip...his sportcoat lingers on his desk chair, and his wife Deborah and daughter Trinity eagerly await him with a birthday celebration at home...but he never arrives. After many years of heartache and strife among the members of this family, Deborah starts to revisit the moment she met the man she THOUGHT she knew better than anyone else. What she comes to realize is that their collective journey, from strife during the riots of the 1960s, the following Great Migration of the 1970s, and the shifts in their family life following the paths of Deborah's music career and other struggles may have led Oz to seek an escape...with no intention of return. Trinity has her own complicated feelings about her relationship with her father and is struggling to find her own path. Will a dark secret from the past tell Deborah and Trinity where Oz has gone...and has too much time passed for hope of a family reunion? Or could Oz TRULY be gone for good?
This novel is somewhat of a cross between historical fiction and literary fiction, and the perspective shifts between the three main characters (Oz, Deborah, and Trinity) as it moves along. We first go through the beginning stages of the relationship between Oz and Deborah, and in some ways, this was the most compelling part of the first half of the book. Deborah is also exploring a career in music, and although her journey becomes a bit cliche later in the story, there are some graphic and startling scenes along the way that held my interest and kept the plot moving.
However, once I reached the middle third of the book, I'll admit I started to struggle with my connection to the characters. Oz came off as very selfish and secretive, and despite Deborah's own problems, I started to honestly think she deserved better in a partner and was sort of grateful Oz was gone. The hardest character for me to connect with by FAR was Trinity, and in some ways, I almost wish she hadn't narrated at all. There was plenty of angst and conflict between Oz and Deborah to fill the narrative. Some of the historical events mentioned also could have been explored in a more detailed way, especially as I was unfamiliar with the specifics of the riots, etc. (outside of the basics) and I would have liked to learn more by the end of the book.
By the third act, I figured there was no hope for redemption and this was going to end up as a 3 star read...but Gray surprised me with a couple of plot points and I began to reconsider everything I thought I knew about this couple up until that point. Much like in life, you can't ALWAYS jump to conclusions, even those that seem obvious beyond measure. I didn't expect to feel so won over by story's end, but this was the sort of slow burn that creeps up on you and gets underneath your skin in ways that aren't immediately clear, but begin to become apparent over time.
A slow burn with an ending like this one is reminiscent of that last, perfect chord hanging in the air: you just don't want the magic to end.
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Shelf Awareness, Berkley, and Ren DeStefano for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 3.21!**
Can murder REALLY run in t**Many thanks to NetGalley, Shelf Awareness, Berkley, and Ren DeStefano for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 3.21!**
Can murder REALLY run in the family?
Sissy is about to discover whether or not she has what it takes to TRULY run with her sisters. As the third in command (so to speak), up until now her role in the trio has been clean-up artist after her murderous sisters Moody and Iris take out their lovers, moving from town to town and leaving no evidence behind. The group arrives in Arizona, and now it's finally Sissy's turn to step up to the plate and claim her first kill. She finds her mark in Edison, a handsome church goer who is still grieving the loss of his wife...but has an opening in his heart perfect for Sissy...or as he knows her, Jade.
As her perfectly curated romance blossoms, Sissy is surprised when images of exactly HOW she'll murder Edison, and WHERE she'll bury his body are replaced with dreamy romantic fantasies about running away together and leaving her sisters to their own deadly devices. But with this 'blood debt' owed and so many secrets between the three of them, can Sissy abandon 'Jade' AND the sisters who have always had her back to show Edison her TRUE self? Or will the mere threat of betrayal cause Sissy's sisters to take 'Jade' out...for good?
This book has been marketed as an 'up all night thriller', so I'd put it aside hoping for the sort of deliciously devilish narrator found in some of my favorite serial killer thrillers (You, My Lovely Wife) and a page-a-minute read that would hook me from the beginning and leave me exhilarated.
Well...this book is simply not that.
In fact, it's a classic case of an instance where the author tried to write three different books and cram them into one. This is part suspense (I wouldn't call it a thriller), part family drama, with a HEAVY dose of romance...so much so that at times I felt like I was entirely reading a romance novel. A little bizarre for a book that is supposedly a serial killer story.
The other half of this problem is that I had such a hard time buying the characters' motivations, especially Sissy herself. I couldn't understand WHY she wouldn't have just abandoned ship after falling for Edison. Being a witness to ALL of her sisters' murders, but not having taken part in them (and based on details in the book, it would be iffy to even consider her an accessory after the thorough cleanups involved) would have given her more than enough leverage to leave that life behind and put them in jail, if she really felt like it. And yet she feels she owes them somehow...?
The "backstory" provided was muddled at best, and I had a hard time buying the characters based on the little bit of description they received. This is an instance where having multiple narrators COULD have significantly bettered the narrative, but we are stuck with Sissy's perspective from page one till the bitter (and I MEAN bitter) end.
DeStefano also had the option to go down the humorous route and I was at least hoping if this book wouldn't be thrilling, that there would be traces of this in the overall tone, but no such luck. This book is not dark enough to be scary, and not light enough to be satirical, and I feel this is where it suffered the most. There is also just enough overly scientific description of just how you hack up a body and clean up the parts, etc. etc. to demonstrate that DeStefano did her research, but instead of this detail feeling eerie, I felt like I was reading a dry and dusty forensic pathology textbook.
In every tug of war, there is push and pull until one side wins. And in this book, rather than romance or suspense "winning" the day...I think the rope just snapped.
**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, NetGalley, Berkley, and Ella Berman for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 4.4!!**
"Make as many friends as you**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, NetGalley, Berkley, and Ella Berman for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 4.4!!**
"Make as many friends as you can, but don't build your life on them alone. It's an unstable foundation." -Sean Covey
Elizabeth 'Bess', Joni, and Evangeline: three vastly different girls who would forge a watertight bond...until a fateful night in Greece, where one of them is lost forever. At 19 years old, the girls have a lot to learn...and when rich girl Evangeline offers to bring her two friends to Mykonos, they jump at the opportunity. There is plenty of fun in the sun and an escape from some of the drama from back home...and even a possible romance blooming between Bess and a certain dreamy brother who just happens to be on the island too. But when Evangeline finds out after a night of drinking and debauchery with her besties, a fight breaks out...and within an hour Evangeline is at the bottom of a cliff...dead.
Bess and Joni struggle to clear their names, but over time, they manage to sweep their scandalous teenage exploits under the carpet and start fresh. Joni is a motivational speaker now, with a book on the way, and Bess is simply trying to lead a quiet life and leave her past firmly in the past. But when Joni makes a passionate plea to Bess to provide an alibi for her after Joni's lover, Willa, disappears, it feels a little bit TOO much like déjà vu and Bess starts to question just how much she can trust her friend...or trust her own heart. Could the past simply be repeating itself...or has something even MORE devastating happened to Willa? Or is her mysterious disappearance as FAR from a mystery as could be?
Ella Berman's The Comeback dealt with some heavy and timely topics (namely the #MeToo movement) and although I was underwhelmed by the book itself, I felt that with some time and growth, I might enjoy her next novel. The premise of this book is intriguing enough, even without too much originality, and I figured this would read as a sort of coming-of-age suspense novel, with a heady dose of nostalgia to top it off. What I got instead was a long, meandering look at territory that probably could have been covered in far fewer pages...and could have benefited heavily from some TRUE emotional depth, since it was sorely lacking in thrills.
This is certainly a novel full of rich girls doing bad things, a trope that has sort of been overused in the genre as of late, and what I hoped would set this novel apart (the push and pull of a toxic friendship, the wistful longing for the past) got lost in the overly verbose (and at times repetitive feeling) prose. There are two timelines, but in some ways, I think focusing the story ONLY on the present timeline with FLASHES of the past would have been far more effective. Instead of feeling like I knew these characters inside and out with all of the sordid details of their past, I just felt bored.
I think the length of this book might have been its weakest attribute. I can't even count the number of times I glanced down at my Kindle, feeling like I must have read more than I actually did. Although it took me just under a week to complete, it felt more like a month. I got so irked after a while by the LONG sentences that I actually took the time to count the words in a couple of them...and when I hit 70+, it started to feel like maybe it wasn't just me. It feels like Berman was trying to make this a literary fiction tale, but the plot didn't lend itself well to this idea, and Bess' romance plot line in particular was far more cringe worthy than it was compelling.
Though there were relatable moments of both teenage silliness and heartache buried amidst lengthy descriptions of Greece and 'should or shouldn't I trust my best friend' soul searching, much like a toxic friendship itself, the most important thing about it is to know exactly when to just cut it off.
3 stars, rounded up from 2.5
Now in paperback, and now a Reese’s Book Club Pick!...more
**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Putnam, and Kia Abdullah for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley! Now available as of 9.12!**
“The single stor**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Putnam, and Kia Abdullah for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley! Now available as of 9.12!**
“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren't true, but they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story." - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Moving to the lovely neighborhood of Bleinheim was supposed to be a fresh start for Salma, Bil, and their son Zain. They soon discover that they are some of the only Bangladeshi inhabitants of their area, however, and their neighbors don't exactly greet them with a fruit basket. When they put up a Black Lives Matter flag in their front yard, stickler neighbor Tom icily informs them that banners aren't allowed...by knocking said banner down with a rock. Salma and Bil are stunned by the dramatic action, but Salma tries to adjust accordingly and moves the flag inside to display through the window instead. But the neighbors once again up the ante, and cover the front of the window with white paint so the flag is no longer visible...and Salma is furious.
Tom's glamorous wife Willa has appearances to maintain, and she feels the need to protect her husband Tom when he steps out of line. So when Salma shows up on her doorstop to confront Tom, the situation escalates and shouting ensues. When racial commentary TRULY enters the picture and is caught on video, things spiral even further out of control. In the background, Salma and Tom's son Jamie is forging a friendship with Zain, despite their feuding parents and the building hostility. But when a family dog goes missing...and then someone ends up in the HOSPITAL with an ominous diagnosis, leading the families to the courtroom...will it be determined WHICH member of these families was the one to go TOO far...and will the victim even survive?
Kia Abdullah is so gifted: her prose never fails to weave an intricate tale of law and order, right and wrong, all while exploring hot-button social topics in a thoughtful and unexpected way. Though this is only my second novel of hers, I noticed some fabulous commonalities between this and Take It Back: namely, the exploration of perception vs. reality and the class divide that seems to have been exacerbated by the rise of social media and also the tumultuous political clashes occurring both here in the US, and in the UK (where this book is set) as well. With such a dramatic and ever-changing cultural shift, it's easy for so many of us to lump people into "us vs. them" (even those striving to be accepting of all and to pass NO judgment) based on the stereotypes and preconceived notions that we get bombarded with on a daily basis.
What Abdullah does in this book though, is allow YOU the reader to change YOUR mind over...and over...and over again. Not only will you cycle through trusting each of the main characters while determining the perpetrator, you'll never truly feel like you can put full stock in any of their opinions: or your own either. Whether your political ideologies seemingly line up with one couple vs. another, trust me when I say you will be SHOCKED at least once before the credits roll (so to speak). Abdullah keeps enough tension and doubt throughout to keep any plot point from seeming like an obvious one, and much like the people you might meet on the street, there is more to ALL of these players than meets the eye at first glance.
And perhaps Adichie's statement could be pushed a bit further. Maybe there is not only more than one story to be told in general, but there is instead limitless potential for MANY stories, always lying dormant in each of us...and we simply need to have the courage to pen the bravest, kindest, and most compassionate one.
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