Tag: bookworm life

Book Review, Fiction

Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Fiction

When Meredith finds out that her husband cheated his investors out of billions of dollars, her world is turned upside down. Meredith was truly in the dark about her husband’s crimes, but finds herself struggling to convince anyone or to know who to trust. When Meredith hears from her old friend Connie with an offer to stay with her on Nantucket, it seems like the perfect place to escape and regroup.

This was one of Elin Hilderbrand’s less standout stories for me. The Nantucket setting was, as ever, beautifully depicted, and I appreciated the emotional depth of Meredith’s character and her attempts to pull her life back together. The backlash Meredith received and her trying to sort through how to deal with her situation made for a really compelling story and I appreciated the premise a lot. Because this story was so focused on Meredith and Connie’s emotional states, I found the actual plot and action to be a bit lacking, especially for such a long book.

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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman ~ Book Review

Morgan

Genre: Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

I’m a big fan of the ‘famous person dating a normal person’ trope in a romance novel, so I had high expectations for Funny You Should Ask. It was definitely not the light fluffy read I was expecting. The story is split between past and present, focusing on an interview of movie star Gabe Parker by Chani Horowitz. The article launched Chani’s writing career and sent rumors swirling that she had slept with Gabe. In the present, ten years later, Gabe’s PR team requests that the two reconnect for a follow-up.

Even though the focus is on two interviews, set ten years apart, there is a lot of nuance and layer to the story. Gabe has struggled with addiction and imposter syndrome that sent his career off the tracks while Chani went through a divorce and struggles to distance herself from her original article about Gabe. The contrast between their present day realities and their exhilarating, sexy, surface-level first meeting was powerful and kept me reading to see if the gap between the two realities could be bridged.

The ending of the book felt rushed to me and I wished there had been more of a build up. There was so much focus on the experiences the two main characters had gone through in the previous ten years and the conclusion did not do those years justice, in my opinion.

My other issue with this book is the ~magical~ article Chani wrote about Gabe that catapulted her career and gave him a much needed publicity boost. I found the article…underwhelming. The whole narrative was based off how incredible it was, and I had a bit of trouble buying into it. I was mostly able to look past this, but it really felt like it should have been more compelling.

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Buy Funny You Should Ask at an indie bookstore near you
Funny You Should Ask on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Science Fiction

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub ~ Book Review

Morgan

Riverhead Books
Genre: Science Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

What was so striking about This Time Tomorrow for me was that it was able to incorporate time travel into a story that was otherwise completely realistic, and make it work. The sci-fi element was seamlessly integrated into the story of Alice and her dad when she wakes up the night after her 40th birthday to find herself in her childhood bedroom on her 16th birthday. What strikes Alice most in her 16-year-old reality through her newly 40 year old perspective is how young and full of life her dad is, compared to him, bedridden at the end of his life, in the present.

Alice begins a quest to get to know her dad more fully and truly and to try to keep him healthy for longer. Although there are some things she plays around with changing for her potential personal benefit, she quickly becomes solely focused on her dad. Seeing the lengths Alice goes to, and the way she approaches her life with such a singular mission was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. For anyone who has witnessed their parents getting older, this will be an emotional read.

The depth behind Alice’s dad’s character and his own interest in time travel made his character stand out and I felt like I got to know him well. I loved seeing Alice change how she acted at 16 in response to what she knew about the future. It was deeply thought-provoking.

Although there was a lot of time-hopping and repetition of scenes, the narrative never felt confusing or redundant and watching Alice’s growth made for a really special story that I won’t soon forget.

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Buy This Time Tomorrow at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley ~ Book Review

Morgan

Knopf Publishing Group
Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

Nightcrawling was a heavy story that I could not look away from, but couldn’t bear to read for too long at once. Kiara is seventeen, living with her older brother who fails to help her pay rent. As her life begins to slowly spiral out of control, Kiara finds herself accidentally getting paid as a prostitute. Kiara’s desperation causes her to pursue this new avenue of revenue in order to survive.

The difficulties Kiara finds herself entangled in, particularly the corruption surrounding the policemen who pay her for her body, seemed endless. Mottley writes about them in a way that’s both straightforward, painting the pain as mundane for Kiara, and that allows you to picture and feel every detail.

Kiara’s relationships with everyone around her were marred by struggle and trauma. Her perseverance in the name of self preservation showed tremendous strength.

This is a hard read. It unflinchingly shines a light on inequities and the ripple effect that they cause. The prose are powerful and I won’t forget Kiara’s story anytime soon.

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Buy Nightcrawling at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid ~ Book Review

Morgan

Ballantine Books
Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

TJR knows how to take a single topic and run with it. In this case, it was tennis, and specifically, being an elite athlete. Carrie Soto retired from tennis after securing her spot as the best tennis player in the world. When Nicki Chan steals that title, Carrie decides to come out of retirement for one season to win her title back.

The depth and intricacies between Carrie’s relationship with her dad Javier, who coaches her, were so well written. The complexity of their relationship was so interesting, and their love for one another was palpable even at their most trying moments.

Carrie herself is framed as a coldhearted champion with her eye on the prize. By the end of the book, you begin to see more layers to her and get to know her more. I wished there had been a bit more of this throughout. For the most part, she’s just ruthless.

There’s a lotttt of tennis in this book (duh). For someone who knows nothing about the sport, it was a bit much for me, especially given the sports show commentary style that was employed. I will say, this was really fun to listen to as an audiobook since there were different narrators for the commentators, but if I’d been reading a physical copy, I probably would have done a lot of skimming.

This was an interesting character study, but I wish a little more had happened. It was truly all about tennis and some more extensive plot would have bumped up my rating.

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Buy Carrie Soto is Back at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Nonfiction

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy ~ Book Review

Morgan

Simon & Schuster
Memoir
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

This book was so hard to read, but I could not stop. Jennette is an incredibly talented writer and the way she details her childhood makes it feel like everything is happening to her in the present. She unflinchingly details the abuse she underwent from her mother, and how at the time, she fully believed her mother was acting in Jennette’s own best interest. This included forcing Jennette to become a child actress, teaching her disordered eating, and showering her until she was a teenager.

The way that Jennette paints her own childhood views of her mom were so heartbreaking. She would do everything in her power to please her mom with no concept of anything being wrong with their relationship.

Although this memoir is told through the lens of someone who was a successful child actor, it is really a personal and reflective narrative of Jennette’s specific struggles. It is not a tell-all about the industry, but it does show how Jennette’s life was so heavily and negatively impacted by being part of the industry.

Jennette’s struggles with eating disorders and addiction were especially impactful. Although she invokes dry humor into her stories wonderfully, the pain of the experiences she shares will stick with me for a long time.

At the end of the memoir, Jennette talks about finally getting help through therapy. I do wish there had been a little more about how she’s doing now, to help provide some hope for those struggling with anything she discussed and to show how she has (hopefully!) grown and healed.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy I’m Glad My Mom Died at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer ~ Book Review

Morgan

Forever
Romance
My Rating: 🍪

Oof, this should have been a DNF. Honestly, the meet-cute in In a New York Minute was cute and I liked the set-up as Franny as the down-on-her-luck protagonist who’s worst day goes viral on social media. I was excited when she was brought back together with Hayes, the man who gave her his suit jacket when her dress ripped open on the subway. After that though, the story fell flat for me.

I don’t want to go into too much depth because this was clearly not for me. The writing style insisted upon itself – forcing details on the reader by just telling us things instead of showing us through the main characters.

The side plots were underdeveloped and made me not care about them, and I felt not chemistry between the two main characters. Hayes in particular had no discernible personality.

Anyway, please go read some other reviews of this book if you’re thinking of reading it. I’ve already forgotten any other relevant details about it.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy In a New York Minute at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren ~ Book Review

Morgan

Gallery Books
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

I was so wonderfully surprised by Something Wilder. Although this is definitely romance, there’s also a ton of adventure and even some mystery. The storyline felt very fresh to me. Lily Wilder leads ‘treasure hunts’ through the canyons of Utah for a living, using maps left behind by her dad, Duke, a notorious treasure hunter. The premise felt incredibly Indiana Jones-esque to me, and I loved it.

When Leo’s friends plan a group trip to Utah, the last thing expected was to suddenly find himself face to face with his first love. Leo and Lily don’t immediately rekindle things, and I liked the slow burn and buildup wondering if they would ever truly reconnect.

The setting really made this book stand out to me. I could picture the canyons so wonderfully through Lauren’s descriptions and it made the sense of adventure palpable. The hardships thrown in the way of the group on their journey were unexpected, but for the most part seemed believable and kept me eager to see what would happen next.

This was such a refreshing and interesting mashup of genres and all the pieces were done well.

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Something Wilder on Goodreads
Buy Something Wilder at an indie bookstore near you

Book Review, Fiction

Cover Story by Susan Rigetti ~ Book Review

Morgan

William Morrow
Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

Cover Story follows Lora Ricci as she embarks on a summer internship with ELLE magazine. It’s your classic naïve-girl-in-the-big-city storyline, which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the premise, it just wasn’t terribly original. The narrative was broken up by emails and diary entries which was a fun format that made the story fly by.

Lora is taken under the wing of Cat Wolff, a contribution editor who lives at the Plaza Hotel. I’m a sucker for a story set in NYC, and I enjoyed reading about the opulence of Cat’s life, especially through the eyes of Lora. Lora agrees to act as Cat’s ghostwriter, anticipating that this might be her big break.

What bumped this story up to three stars for me was the plot twist at the very end, which had me rethinking the entire book. I love it when stories do that, and certainly wasn’t expecting it from this kind of narrative. That being said, the rest of it felt a little too much like a wannabe knockoff of Anna Delvey.

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Buy Cover Story at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, mystery, Romance

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover ~ Book Review

Morgan

Atria Books
YA Romance
Release Date: December 17, 2012
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

Sky has begged her mom to let her stop home-schooling for years. When she finally caves, Sky finds herself preparing to go to public high school for the first time just as her best friend is leaving for a semester overseas. I loved how resilient Sky was in the face of this change and the quirky relationship she had with her best friend/neighbor.

When Sky is noticed by Dean Holder, of the bad boy reputation, she struggles to understand how the boy she’s getting to know could be so at odds with the rumors swirling around him.

I loved the depiction of high school and the friendships Sky forms. Hoover does an incredible job of capturing the mindset and the experiences of a teenager. I didn’t realize this book was YA when I picked it up, and I definitely think some of the extreme overreactions that I had trouble with were just a product of the genre.

I felt the chemistry between Dean and Sky right away, but I also was pleasantly surprised that there was a vein of mystery running through the romance. I had no idea what the connections could be between all the characters and I couldn’t read fast enough to figure everything out.

This book has some dark and very disturbing themes that I was not prepared for, but the way that Sky’s past tied everything together made for a thought-provoking and intense story.

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