Book Review, Fiction, Magical Realism

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Romance/Magical Realism
Read if you liked: The Seven Year Slip

Ooh I loved this book. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: I’m a sucker for a story with a whisper of magical realism. In The Good Part, Lucy is tired of struggling through her days as a defeated-feeling twenty-six year old. When she stops into a little shop to hide from the rain and notices a whimsical wishing machine, she makes a wish to skip ahead to the good part of her life. When she wakes up, Lucy finds that her wish has been granted.

I was definitely stresseddd for Lucy at times as she tries to adjust to her new life in the future and scared that she would really screw things up. There were moments, particularly with her husband, that were heartbreaking as she tries to communicate her reality while also feeling utterly disconnected from the life around her. I was obsessed with the fact that her little son was trying so hard to help her find her time machine. Their relationship was so sweet and I loved its unconventional nature.

Lucy quickly realizes that skipping out on a huge chunk of her life is perhaps not exactly what she wanted for herself. As she grows closer to the new people in her life, she’s forced to decide if she wanted to go back in time and get to live out all those missed years even though there is no guarantee that her actions will lead her back to this exact future.

Spending time with Lucy and her friends and family was such a joy. I loved the support systems around her and seeing everyone’s attempts to help her. The dilemma she has to deal with was especially thought-provoking and made my heart hurt for her in the way only great writing can do.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Good Part at an indie bookstore near you
The Good Part on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, thriller

One of Us is Dead by Jeneva Rose ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Thriller

One of Us is Dead follows a group of women in uber-rich Buckhead. Jenny runs an exclusive salon, giving her direct access to the latest drama and gossip. With Shannon, the queen bee, going through a divorce sure to dethrone her, tensions are at an all-time high.

The book is set up with excerpts in the future when Jenny is being interviewed by the police about a murder. As the story unfolds in the past, we cut to these scenes, slowly understanding the underlying group dynamics more and more. This set-up kept me invested in the story and I was sooo curious about who had died and what caused it. It’s clear that Jenny is frustrated with the way the police are carrying out the investigation and I was intrigued as to how she played into everything.

I loved the addition of Jenny’s perspective overall. As an outsider, it helped to get a more objective view of the other women and was a great way to add a voyeur-esque feel. The other women I found mostly insufferable. Shannon was delusional to a point where it wasn’t even fun to read, she just made me roll my eyes. Olivia, poised to take Shannon’s spot in the group, was ruthless in a way that wasn’t likable, but was fun to read.

There’s not really all that much happening in this book in the sections set in the past besides kind of repetitive backstabbing, until the end. There’s a big shocking reveal that changes everything and I did not see it coming. It was wayyy more serious than the rest of the book which made it kind of hard for me to feel like it fit into the story…still processing how I felt about that, but I did like how it tied into the ultimate murder and the incentive behind that.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy One of Us is Dead at an indie bookstore near you
One of Us is Dead on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

Florence spent a lot of time during her childhood at a funeral home – the family business, especially notable since she has the ability to see ghosts. When she returns home unexpectedly for her father’s funeral, she finds that the ghost of her hot new editor, Benji, has come with her.

I really loved the romance in this book. Florence and Benji have palpable chemistry, particularly impressive since he’s a ghost for most of the book, and I was holding my breath to see what would happen with the two of them. There’s a mystery swirling around Benji’s life and death and why he seems to be following Florence, and the exploration of it unfolded very naturally.

The book also included a storyline about Florence’s work as a ghostwriter for a well-known romance author and her struggle to come up with her next book following a brutal breakup.

This was such a lovely mix of eccentric family, romance, career, and grief (and a little bit of paranormal obviously) and it made for a well-rounded story that was unique and hard to stop reading. I loved the conclusion and how wonderfully everything came together.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Dead Romantics at an indie bookstore near you
The Dead Romantics on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance
Read if you liked: The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise

Former childhood star Millicent is on a journey to reunite her elderly friend Mrs. Nash with the woman she fell in love with decades before. Well, not Mrs. Nash exactly, but her ashes. This story follows Millicent as she joins forces with Hollis, a man from her past, as they battle travel obstacles to get across the country.

I always have fun with epic road trip adventures and this story was no different. The people they meet along the way and the experiences that cause Millicent and Hollis to open up to one another and get closer were a joy to read about.

Millicent’s character in particular was easy to connect with and believably quirky and nuanced. I loved her humor and eccentricities and the detail Adler included about her past. It made her seem layered and real and helped me understand the choices she was making.

Interspersed with this journey is the story of Mrs. Nash and Elsie, meeting and falling in love when they are both overseas during World War II. Millicent recounts their story to Hollis as the two drive and it made for such an organic way to include both timelines.

The romance in this story was so wholesome and heartwarming and I was rooting so hard for both couples (even though I knew that ultimately Mrs. Nash and Elsie would not be reunited). The antics of the road trip, complete with a stop in a Stars Hollow-esque small town of well meaning busybodies, along with the poignancy of Elsie and Mrs. Nash’s story made for a really complex and wonderful book.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Mrs. Nash’s Ashes at an indie bookstore near you
Mrs. Nash’s Ashes on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Adelaide by Geneveive Wheeler ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction
Read if you liked: Really Good, Actually

I saw Adelaide hyped allll over bookstagram and I have to say I don’t quite get it. I was pretty much infuriated at the main character during the entire book as she consistently poured her soul into a man who couldn’t care less about her. I understand that this was a depiction of an experience that happens all too often and Wheeler did an incredible job of depicting the internal gymnastics Adelaide performs to justify staying with Rory Hughes.

If the intent of this book was to explore a toxic relationship in excruciating detail, it succeeded. However, it also kept hinting at something huge and drastic happening that would completely rattle everyone. When this actually happened it seemed to lead to more of the same behaviors just a bit more acutely. I felt like I’d been holding my breath for no reason.

If you’re down for a book that interrogates the decisions we make to try to cling to a love that may not exist, this one’s for you. Writing that is able to make me feel so consistently uncomfortable is impressive in itself. That said, it’s a pretty long time to be reading about the same actions over and over again.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Adelaide at an indie bookstore near you
Adelaide on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Magical Realism

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Magical Realism
Similar to: T.J. Klune

The Wishing Game is kind of a literary spin on Willie Wonka. Jack Masterson, author of the children’s Clock Island series, invites four contestants to his home on Clock Island to compete for the single copy of his new manuscript. As a child, each contestant ran away to Clock Island in an attempt to meet one of the series’ main characters, who they believed could grant their wishes and help them escape from hardships in their lives.

Lucy, our main character, fell in love with the Clock Island series as a child and has shared that love with the children she teaches as an adult. In particular, she has shared their magic with Christopher, an orphan who she wants nothing more than to foster. Her financial circumstances make this an impossibility, but if she’s able to win Jack’s contest, it could change everything.

I loved how whimsical this book was. Jack is so eccentric and fun and I loved the way he was balanced out by the grumpy illustrator living on the island with him. The premise of the contest added an element of thrill to the story, as the contestants had no idea what to expect next. I loved that despite the fact that they were competing, the four of them were supportive of one another and understanding of the paths that led them each there.

Overall, this was such a heartwarming, feel-good story. Despite the heavy topics it delves into surrounding each character’s past, it ended on a high note and leaves everyone in the story believing that wishes can come true.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Wishing Game at an indie bookstore near you
The Wishing Game on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Magical Realism

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction/Magical Realism

I went into Shark Heart with highhh expectations. Usually, I really enjoy books set in the normal world but with one fantastical element, and this one fit the bill. Lewis, a newlywed, is diagnosed with a mutation that will cause him to transform into a shark within a year. Together, he and his wife Wren face the tremendous grief that comes with his diagnosis as they both lose grasp of the lives they had expected for themselves.

The chapters and narration in this book were short and to the point. For me, it helped express how rapidly things were changing in Lewis and Wren’s life and the times when all they could focus on was a singular event signaling that Lewis’s mutation was escalating. I was able to wrap my head around this strange world, but I would have appreciated a little more world-building to explain what supports were in place for people dealing with mutations and how common they were.

In the middle of the book, the storyline changes completely, moving back into the past to Angela, Wren’s mother. This part of the book did not tie neatly into Lewis and Wren’s section and really threw off the story for me. Although it wasn’t a poorly written plot line, I just didn’t get how it fit into the rest of the story. I would have preferred more depth into Lewis and Wren’s lives before and during the mutation.

This one definitely left my heart aching and deeply explored the ideas of loss and grief through a bizarre lens that somehow worked. I read it within 48 hours and even though I did enjoy it, it left me wishing there had been a little more to it.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Shark Heart at an indie bookstore near you
Shark Heart on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction
Read if you liked: Hello, Beautiful

Pineapple Street focuses on the lives of three women who are all, whether through blood or marriage, part of the ultra-wealthy Stockton family. Each one, Darley, Sasha, and Georgiana treats her approach to her wealth and its impact on her life differently. I liked the way that their relationship with money impacted how they approached life and treated/were treated by those around them.

It took me a little while to be able to keep the characters and their perspectives straight, particularly since the main three all interacted with the same secondary set of family members. I understand that this was an exploitation of entitled rich people, but that made it was maybe a little to successful because it made me not really care about them.

I appreciated the deep dive into these three women, but the lack of significant action to push the story along was notable the whole way through and the way they all supposedly had changed for the better at the end was pretty thin. An interesting character exploration for sure, but it didn’t feel like the kind of story that hadn’t been done before.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Pineapple Street at an indie bookstore near you
Pineapple Street on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Love, Holly by Emily Stone ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance
Read if you liked: A Winter in New York

Holly takes part in a lonely-hearts letter writing program every holiday season – an opportunity for anonymous strangers to share their stories and their struggles at a time that can be particularly challenging. For Holly, it’s a time to reflect on her lost relationship with her sister following a car crash when she was driving. When she receives a letter from an older woman named Emma, Holly realizes she might be able to actually help her in person.

The whole premise here seemed kind of off to me since the whole point of the letters was that they were anonymous. Emma got over that point a little too quickly when Holly, a total stranger, showed up in her life, lied to her, and started trying to meddle. Holly was somewhat unremarkable to me as a main character, but that said, I loved all the other characters in her life who she surrounded herself with, and the found-family aspect of the book between Emma and Holly. Their relationship and bond was very special and I appreciated the way they learned from one another.

I really enjoyed the romance as well, from the initial electric chemistry between Holly and Jack when they first meet to the slow-burn rekindling in the present day. The complexity of their lives that kept them from fully embracing their connection felt realistic and kept me on my toes.

This was a cute, if predictable, read, but not my favorite by Emily Stone.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Love, Holly at an indie bookstore near you
Love, Holly on Goodreads

Book Review, thriller

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Thriller

Daisy Darker’s Nana was told by a psychic that she won’t live past the age of 80. For her 80th birthday, she summons her whole family to her island home where they are soon cut off from the mainland for eight hours as the tide comes in. As the night wears on, family members are found dead one by one.

I love Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, so I was excited about the similarities in this thriller. There were a lot of characters and it was a bit hard to keep track of them. I could have used a little more time distinctly introducing each one before the action set in.

Feeney did an excellent job of building tension as she marked how many hours were left of isolation before the tide went back out. I felt largely in the dark about who to suspect. There may have been hints I didn’t pick up on, but I wish there had been a little more of that.

As a ‘thriller,’ this felt somewhat repetitive. It didn’t seem like there was anything particularly distinct about each murder.

The ending was completely unexpected and changed my view of the entire story. It was really unique and nothing I could have seen coming. Understanding the actions of the murderer based on the information we gain at the end was really fascinating and redeemed the story somewhat for me.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Daisy Darker at an indie bookstore near you
Daisy Darker on Goodreads