Tag: bookworm

Book Review, Fiction, Horror

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Horror

This one was a bit more of a wild ride than I was expecting. Eve and Charlie have just moved into their new house when a family shows up on the doorstep claiming to have lived there previously and asking if they can show their kids around. Eve hesitantly says yes, but once they’re inside, she can’t get the family to leave and then odd things begin to happen around the house.

Kliewer did an excellent job of making me feel very unsettled while reading. This is really captivating writing and the things that started happening around the house were creepy. The story was also interspersed with news article excerpts and I was so intrigued to see how everything fit together.

I didn’t mind that everything kept getting crazier and crazier because I was expecting a neat ending. I did not get it. The end of the story is very ambiguous, which makes a lot of the details feel like they were randomly added rather than thought-out and relevant. I don’t mind that I immediately ran to Reddit to see what other people were saying, but I would have liked to have a slightly more solid idea of what actually happened in the book.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy We Used to Live Here at an indie bookstore near you
We Used to Live Here on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction

At 72, Sybil spends much of her time alone writing letters to folks from all different parts of her life. Through her letters, we get to know her passions, her (grumpy) personality, and some mistakes and tragedies that have defined large parts of her life.

I loved the letter format of this book. It allowed us to bounce back and forth between different tones and topics without things feeling disjointed. The thing that stayed constant? Sybil’s very distinct voice. She  is very blunt and straight to the point in a way that’s quite endearing. She takes big chances that sometimes pay off (like corresponding with famous authors she likes). Some of her letters don’t seem to ever be sent and these too helped me learn deeply what made Sybil who she was.

The Correspondent is an incredible story of one women’s life as she reflects back on parts of it and thinks about what she wants from the rest of it. I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with Sybil.

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

Fiction, Science Fiction

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: SciFi

What is there to say about Project Hail Mary that has not been said over and over in the past month? I finished the book a few weeks before the movie came out (which I have now seen twice) and absolutely loved it. I’m not a huge sci-fi person, and I did skim a lot of the super sciencey passages, but the story really held its own beyond the science.

Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher, wakes up in a space ship with no recollection of who he is or what is going on. Little by little, his memories return and he realizes he is on a mission to save earth from an extinction-level disaster. With information about his mission returning to him very slowly, he is forced to try to piece things together as quickly as he can.

This book is about so much more than just the space mission though. We get flashbacks interspersed with the present narrative that help us get to know Grace and how he became involved in the mission. We learn about the months leading up to his departure from earth and the stakes for all of humanity. I found the general science/world-building really easy to follow which was incredibly impressive to me. It wasn’t a stretch or confusing to understand what was at play.

The friendship in this book was really so outstanding. It was unexpected and endearing and so so heartwarming. To me, it spoke to the power of Weir’s writing and character development. Next on my TBR: The Martian.

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

Book Review, Fiction

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction

I’m doing a consolidated review of volumes 1-3 of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion because although I enjoyed them, I listened in close succession and can’t say I remember where one ended and the next began. (They’re also very short, so felt more like one book’s length all combined).

What a delightful world. This series is presented as a set of journal entries detailing Emma’s life as she arrives in London in the quirky St. Crispian’s neighborhood. Things are a little abnormal there (in a fun, charming way) and I loved how naturally those quirks were sewn into the fabric of the setting.

Emma is such a wonderful narrator. She’s funny and sarcastic and her wit had me chuckling. I loved her uncensored take on the people in her life. Because we’re in her journal, we see exactly what she wants to do, even if she doesn’t take action.

It took me a while to get to know all the characters in Emma’s world, but each is a bit of a caricature and serves a different purpose to the storyline. I have largely come to love them all (even the annoying ones).

I felt like I needed a break after volume three, but now that I’m finally getting around to reviewing the series, I think I’m ready to dive back in. This world is perfect wholesome untroubled escapism.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 1 at an indie bookstore near you
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1 on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, mystery

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction

My first five star read of the year! Broken Country is a dual timeline narrative following Beth. In the past, she meets and begins to date Gabriel, a wealthy boy in her village. They’re teenagers when they meet and have a big class divide. As is often the case with first love, they end things and Beth finds herself giving a chance to Frank, the boy-next-store who has always been there for her. In the present-day narrative, Beth and Frank are married when Gabriel suddenly comes back into her life. And then there’s the future storyline: a murder trial.

There are so many layers to this story. Beth and Frank lost their young son only for Gabrie to appear, newly divorced, with a son of a similar age. This alone introduces an interesting and emotional dynamic. As the book unfolded, I was holding my breath to find out what happened to Beth’s son and to start to piece together how things ended up in a murder.

It’s really hard to pin this book to any one genre. There’s a romance through line, deep character studies and layers of mystery. The big twist made me audibly gasp and I fully had to finish the audiobook at my desk at work because I could not stop listening.

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

Book Review, Fiction

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction

Culpability is an ambitious fictional exploration of the increasing role of AI in our lives and the ethical considerations around it. The book starts with a family getting into a car crash that kills two people. Who was driving? Was it technically the autonomous car, or teenage Charlie who was in the driver’s seat? In the wake of the incident, the family retreats to a rented house on the Chesapeake Bay to try to lay low and process what happened. As each one grapples with the fallout, we slowly learn that they are all harboring secrets related to the crash.

The family drama and secrets kept me most drawn to this story. Although I didn’t really like any of the characters, I wanted to know what they were hiding from one another and how it was all going to come to light. That part of the story did not disappoint. Lorelei, Charlie’s mother, is a leader in the AI space adding an extra wrinkle to the discussion about AI within the story and influencing perspectives and motivations.

Despite a very interesting and timely premise, I felt like this book had a lack of focus that kept it from totally working for me. There was a whole second ‘incident’ with Charlie that popped up partway through the story and seemed totally weird and unnecessary. For me, it took away from the main issues at the center of the book, in terms of both technology and the family drama.

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

Book Review, Fiction

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪

Genre: Fiction

        Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude Endicott were once bound together by the annual trips with their elusive mother, to a different state every year. They are suddenly brought back together by Jude, who initiates a new family trip, though their mother is long gone.

        I finished this book about a week ago and I can hardly remember it. The characters felt unrealistic to me, each one packed with stereotypes to try to make them feel distinct which actually just made them feel one-dimensional. It created a distinct lack of ability to care about what happened to them – maybe that’s also partially because I didn’t care for most of them. I also didn’t buy that they’d all just drop everything to fly to North Dakota.

        Central to the plot is three big secrets that Jude wants to get off her chest to her siblings. This was the most compelling part of the book for me (the rest felt very low on plot). We get flashbacks to the family’s road trips over the year that help to inform and provide context around the secrets.

        I’m kind of grasping at straws as to what else to say about this one because it was so forgettable for me.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf

Buy Fun for the Whole Family at an indie bookstore near you

Fun for the Whole Family on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, thriller

Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister ~ Book Review

Morgan

Genre: Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Release Date: May 5, 2026 (Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC)

I can always count on Gillian McAllister to deliver a thriller I can’t look away from. Caller Unknown is no exception. Simone leaves the UK to meet her daughter, Lucy, in Texas for a camping trip. On their first morning there together, Simone wakes up to find that Lucy has been kidnapped. What follows is a test of just how far she is willing to go for her daughter.

This story completely hit the ground running. McAllister does an incredible job of, in very little time, investing me fully in Lucy and Simone’s relationship and painting a picture of their personalities. It made me completely buy into Simone’s actions and reactions once her daughter disappears.

I had no idea where this story was going to go from chapter to chapter. There are a lot of different segments to the story that all felt very different to me, but each was just as compelling as the last. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire story.

We’re mostly reading from Simone’s point of view and the narrative does a good job of weaving in her relationship with her husband as well as snippets from her past that round her out really well and help inform her motivations.

This was a five star read until the end, part of which I found to be a touch unconvincing.

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

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Yours for the Season by Emily Stone ~ Book Review

Morgan

Genre: Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪.5

I was feeling ready for a light read so I picked up my first holiday romance of the year. In Yours for the Season, Mel’s ex, Finn, begs her to go on his family’s Christmas trip to Scotland with him and she…. says yes? From the get-go, I found her character hard to connect with because of that choice. She rationalizes it because she would otherwise be alone for the holidays. Call me crazy, but I’d much rather be alone.

The story bounces back and forth between their present day experience in Scotland and their past relationship. I enjoyed the parts set in the present. The forced proximity made for a cute build up of romance. Everything felt very cozy and festive with Finn’s family and I liked the holiday vibes.

The segments outlining Finn and Mel’s relationship when they were together didn’t do enough to make me care about them as a couple. There wasn’t enough chemistry for me to root for them and Finn’s decision to break up with her and the way he did it felt really poorly thought out.

This wasn’t a total loss because it did help me get in the holiday spirit, but there are other holiday romances that do a lot more.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Yours for the Season at an indie bookstore near you
Yours for the Season on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Magical Realism

The Second Chance Cinema by Thea Weiss ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪
Genre: Magical Realism

One night, Ellie and her fiancé Drake come across a glamorous old school cinema they’ve never seen before only to discover that the one thing it’s showing is memories from each of their lives. After their first showing, they struggle to decide if they should return and risk uprooting secrets they’ve been keeping from each other.

I love movies and I love magical realism, so by all accounts this book should have been totally my thing. I really struggled with the main characters though. They felt incredibly one dimensional to the point where I didn’t care about them or really buy into their love story. There kept being things set up as big secrets from their pasts and I kept waiting to be shocked, but everything felt very blasé to me.

The main redeeming element of this book was the cinema because I could perfectly imagine its glitzyness and I liked the zany employees there. It felt like much more of a fleshed out world and concept than the rest of the book. I would have loved to spend more time there, rather than out in ‘real life’ with Ellie and Drake.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Second Chance Cinema at an indie bookstore near you
These Summer Storms on Goodreads