Book Review, Historical Fiction

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪.5
Genre: Historical Fiction

I saw sooo many glowing review for The Frozen River and I love a good mystery so I was excited to dig into it. Martha is a midwife and healer and she is called on to examine a body found floating in the river. Upon inspection, it’s clear to her that there is foul play and knowing what she does about the victim’s past, she has theories of her own. However, she finds herself publicly contradicted and forced to investigate further in secret.

The commentary about how women were treated in this town was interesting in a painful way and I liked seeing Martha try to advocate for herself and for other women. Unfortunately however, she did so in a way that was so repetitive. This was a long book and it positively crawled along. I wasn’t even intrigued in figuring out he mystery by halfway through because I felt like I was slogging through the same chapter over and over.

Incredible setting and world building and a very interesting premise, but the execution absolutely did not work for me.

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Book Review, Fiction

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction

This was one of those books I couldn’t wait to get back to every time I stopped reading. I went into it completely blind and boy was it a wild ride. When an affair with her English professor leads to an unexpected pregnancy, Margo decides to have the baby to give her life a new purpose. Once the baby comes, despite her love of him, she struggles to support him, until she discovers OnlyFans.

This book was very self aware. There were excerpts about narration and being a reader and a writer – playing off of the English class where Margo meets the father of her child. It added an element of suspense and the reader in, becoming part of the story.

The writing was funny and ironic and just delightful. One of the funnier books I’ve ever read despite the heavy nature of the content (it explores drug addiction, infidelity, and a custody battle to name a few).

Every character was so quirky and unique and I truly never had any idea what anyone might do or say next. I can truly say this was like nothing I’ve ever read before and I can see myself revisiting Margo in the future.

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Book Review, Memoir, Nonfiction

Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Memoir

I listened to the audiobook of this memoir and could not stop. Ina chronicles her life in a way that feels like she’s having a conversation directly with the reader. She details how much of her career direction happened by chance. She answered an ad for a specialty food store on a whim and from their her incredible business acumen helped to propel her forward.

I really appreciated the stories she shared from her personal life and the wisdom she gained from those experiences. She got married while still in college and watching her relationship grow and change, and sometimes falter was really compelling.

I absolutely ate up her travels, particularly tro Paris. Much of these felt like the kind of stories you would find accompanying recipes in a cookbook or blog but in the best way, if that makes sense.

Ina’s approach to life really caught me off guard. When she wants something, she jumps in full throttle, whether that be learning how to run a business or fly a plane. I enjoyed seeing her problem solve and learn from her experiences. Obviously I knew she was going to find success, but I still found myself cheering her on along the way.

I didn’t know anything about Ina prior to reading this book and that didn’t hamper my enjoyment of it one bit. If anything, it made me want to learn more.

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Book Review, Fiction

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction

What an absolutely delicious drama. The Rumor reads as one long gossip session and I was absolutely here for it. It follows a series of Nantucket neighbors and the sordid situations they find themselves in based on a number of desperate (or not so desperate) circumstances. Grace finds herself drawn inappropriately to her handsome landscape architect while her husband, Eddie, finds himself strapped for cash despite his reputation as a successful realtor. Meanwhile, Grace’s best friend Madeline is inspired by her friend’s real life circumstances and begins penning the story into her next novel. All the while, Grace and Madeline’s teenage children are messily dating. Phew, what a twisted web.

As per always, Hilderbrand’s description of Nantucket – the landscape, the people, the food– are delectable. I could picture everything to a T which positively sucked me into the story. Each character and their missteps were distinct and often horrifying and kept me glued to the page.

I was holding my breath for things to blow up as the rumors swirled satisfied when these flawed characters had to face the music. Overall, a very quick and amusing read.

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Book Review, Nonfiction

Disney High by Ashley Spencer ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Nonfiction

I didn’t have TV growing up, so my exposure to Disney Channel was limited, but I am fascinated by the film/TV industry from a business perspective, and I love Disney in general. This book was a chronological exploration of how Disney Channel adapted from the 1980’s through its heyday in the 2000’s. It starts with the Mickey Mouse Club revival (which featured Britney Spears and Ryan Gosling, among others), and how Disney didn’t try to nurture and hold onto the young stars’ potential. From there, we see the way they changed their approach to the young talent on their shows, really kicking off with Hilary Duff.

The book includes interview excerpts from people who worked in all different parts of the Disney Channel machine as well as celebrities who participated in the shows. From a business perspective, it was fascinating to see the way young stars were shaped and commodified over the years and how the company attempted to respond and react to negative perceptions of Disney Channel stars.

I wish there was a little bit more to the conclusion of the book, it just kind of ended, but as it was an attempt at just an objective review of the channel, I can understand why there wasn’t more of an analysis wrapping things up. I read the physical version of this, but I think the audiobook would have been fun since it’s narrated by an actress from Lizzie McGuire.

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Buy Disney High at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Nonfiction

There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: True Crime

There is No Ethan explores the experiences of three women who are catfished by Ethan Schuman, a man on a dating website who appears at first to be charming, committed, and emotionally intelligent. As he throws excuse after excuse at each of them for why he can’t meet them, they independently begin to question his authenticity.

The manipulation tactics used by ‘Ethan’ to pit these women against each other and make them question themselves was truly wild. It is hard for me to fathom continuing to communicate with someone for as long as they did when they keep making excuses for why they can’t meet me, but it speaks to how very convincing this catfish must have been and how deeply entwined in his manipulation tactics these women were.

I found it hard to stop reading because I was so eager to find out the truth and to see ‘Ethan’ get taken down. I unequivocally rooted for these women to band together and uncover the truth. I was also soooo horrified by the lack of accountability once the truth was uncovered, which again, I believe speaks to the power this individual is able to assume over people and just how convincing they must be.

It was frustrating to me how long these women continued talking to Ethan and letting him impact their lives, which definitely affected my feelings towards the book. That said, it was the truth of their experiences and made for a fascinating read.

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Buy There is No Ethan at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, thriller

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Thriller

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are our three narrators who receive a call one day pulling them into the investigation of human remains that were found under a home they were all fostered in as children. We get flashbacks from each of them recalling their time in foster care with Miss Fairchild and the darkness that underscored their time there.

I liked that each of the main women was very different from one another and we got to see how that played out both when they were children in foster care, and as adults. I didn’t find their adult lives terribly compelling and it kept me from feeling fully invested in their stories.

The central mystery was intriguing and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to figure out what had happened. It wasn’t necessarily a jaw dropping plot-twist kind of story, but there were enough questions swirling around to keep me engaged and the ultimate conclusion made sense and was not where I anticipated the story going.

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Darling Girls on Goodreads
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Book Review, Fantasy

Bride by Ali Hazelwood ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romantasy

I had fun with this book. I’m not a huge fantasy reader, but a vampire/werewolf romance seemed pretty palatable (despite the choice to spell both creatures in a random different way). Misery Lark, a Vampyre, agrees to a marriage of convenience to the Alpha Were, Lowe. Misery, however, has an ulterior motive to her agreement and is really on a quest to discover what happened to her best friend.

The intricacies behind how the Were/Vampyre worlds and politics came to be did not particularly interest me, but I liked that there was a mystery that was central to the plot. This made the story feel like a little more than a fluffy romance. I found that I wanted to know what was going on that had led to the disappearance and I was looking for clues along the way.

The romance between Lowe and Misery was a slow burn and I enjoyed watching it unfold. The somewhat forbidden nature of it made it especially fun. The details about Were anatomy were…less fun. Honestly it really took me out of the scenes that were supposed to be steamy.

Overall I liked this more than I expected to. I liked both main characters and found the plot intriguing. 

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Book Review, Fiction

The Beach Club by Elin Hilderbrand ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction

The Beach Club takes place over a summer at the Nantucket Beach Club. There are a number of narrators, each who have a connection to the club and we watch them from the time they arrive for the summer until the season ends. I liked uncovering each of their motivations and watching how their plans for the summer changed as relationships developed or devolved.

There was a ton of drama in this story and I felt that all the storylines were equally adept at holding my attention and keeping me invested. All the characters are believably flawed and I was impressed at the complexity of each of their storylines and the way it still created a coherent and easy to follow narrative.

I loved the Nantucket setting and could perfectly picture the club and the surrounding areas. Hilderbrand painted a map of the setting so vividly that I could imagine everyone traveling around and exactly where each scene took place.

I didn’t realize until writing this review that this was Elin Hilderbrand’s first book. In hindsight, it checks out. There were some kind of random moments and ideas (someone randomly pulls a gun, two parents want their college-age daughter to marry a thirty year old), and I think she has really refined storytelling in the years since this came out. That said, I still largely enjoyed this read.

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Buy The Beach Club at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction

Blue Sisters follows Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky in the year following the unexpected death of their fourth sister, Nicky. Each of them has their own distinct lives, goals, and challenges. The detail included about each narrator made it easy to distinguish between them and to become immersed in their lives. They are all believably flawed and, though they didn’t always do what I wanted them to, they seemed real.

We learn how each of them reacted and responded to Nicky’s death and the influence it had on where they are in the present. The different ways they handle grief were nuanced and heartbreaking and we got to see the ripple effect their often destructive behaviors had on the people surrounding them.

The writing in Blue Sisters is wonderful, from characters I felt like I truly knew to settings I could perfectly picture. There was no real big ‘aha’ moment for me with this book. The ending didn’t leave me feeling any particular type of way, but I enjoyed spending time in the Blue sisters’ worlds along the way.

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Buy Blue Sisters at an indie bookstore near you
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