Tag: fiction book review

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

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

The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction
Similar to: Our Place on the Island

Daphne, Lanier, and Mary Stuart met at Camp Holly Springs as kids and it will forever hold a special place in their hearts. When they find out that the camp’s future is on rocky ground, they join forces as a group to raise money to save it. Coming back to the camp brings up ghosts from each woman’s past and causes them all to reassess their past and their present.

The setting of this book was so nostalgic and perfectly captured the feeling of being carefree at summer camp as a child. Some of the narrative is set in the past, allowing us to see our narrators coming together for the first time and experiencing the thrill of lazy summers away from home.

I really appreciated the way these friendships were portrayed, partially through email exchanges between the grown women. It was clear how much they cared for one another and I love the depiction of childhood friends turned to lifelong friendships.

In the present, each narrator is dealing with some sort of difficult drama, creating a tangled web amongst them, all as they attempt to navigate what they are personally dealing with while also trying to save the camp. I was holding my breath to see who would find out about what and how the fallout would be resolved.

The story got a little cheesy toward the end for me and there were some choices that made me like some of the characters less, but overall, this was a wonderful escape into summer and a great exploration of female support and friendship.

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

Book Review, Fiction

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction
Similar to: Remarkably Bright Creatures

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise follows an unlikely duo, 84 year old Louise and 21 year old Tanner. Following an injury that led to her losing her soccer scholarship, Tanner is desperate to make enough money to return to college. She begrudgingly takes on the job of Louise’s caretaker, anticipating that she’ll largely be able to hang out and play video games. What she doesn’t expect is to find herself on the run with Louise.

As the two journey across the country with little explanation to Tanner, the two form an unexpected and increasingly heartwarming connection. Both women are funny and witty in their own way and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with both of them.

Interspersed between the chapters of their adventure are text and in-person conversations between Louise’s children when they realize she is missing and get the police involved. Their sarcasm and dry humor were so fun and made these passages fly.

I definitely wasn’t expecting the turn the story took toward the end, but I appreciated the added depth it brought particularly to Louise. It seemed a little out of left field, which wasn’t my favorite thing, but it was interesting and painted the women’s adventure in a new light.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise at an indie bookstore near you
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, mystery

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio ~ Book Review

Morgan

Flatiron Books
Mystery
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

What a perfect fall read. If We Were Villains takes place at an elite boarding school and centers on a group of seniors in the acting program. We know early on that our protagonist, Oliver, ends up in jail for murder, and we learn through flashbacks what led to him being convicted.

As with many academia-centered books, there are a lot of central characters and, as is usual for me, I found it hard to keep track of everyone. There are a lot of changing intra-group dynamics and those were focused on more than the actual background or characteristics of each particular person. I wish I had gotten a chance to really know them all a bit more.

The atmosphere of this book is fantastic. I could practically feel the creaky old boarding school drenched in the legacy of thespians past. The acting program focuses solely on Shakespeare, so there are a lot of passages interspersed throughout the story. This is fun to some extent, but I found myself skimming them toward the end. I do think they were creatively intertwined with the narrative, but it was a little over the top for me.

This one was kind of a mixed bag for me. Overall, I thought the setting was incredibly interesting and well crafted, but I wish the characters had more development and I was not satisfied with the ending.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy If We Were Villains at an indie bookstore near you 
If We Were Villains on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Morgan

Ballantine
Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

I was entirely enthralled by Mad Honey. The setting this author duo created was so vividly detailed that I felt like I was with the characters in small-town New England. Olivia brought her son Asher back to her hometown, where she takes over her father’s beekeeping business, in an escape from an abusive marriage.

When Asher’s girlfriend Lily is found dead, Asher is brought in for questioning. Olivia calls in her brother to act as Asher’s lawyer as he becomes more and more of a suspect.

There was so much depth and richness to Mad Honey. From the details about beekeeping that were seamlessly tied into the narrative, to the flashbacks to the burgeoning relationship between Lily and Asher, to Olivia’s fear that her son has taken after her ex-husband in ways she doesn’t want to face, there was always something thought-provoking to dissect in this book.

The present-day trial is interspersed with flashbacks from Olivia, and Lily’s past, and their perspectives kept me guessing about Asher’s nature and what had really happened to Lily.

I was surprised multiple times through the story, and it ended up covering much more than I anticipated. An utterly thought-provoking and captivating exploration of characters who I will not easily forget.

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

Book Review, Fiction, mystery, thriller

I’ll Be You by Janelle Brown ~ Book Review

Morgan

Random House
Thriller
Release Date: April 26, 2022
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

Janelle Brown has a unique skill for creating characters with detailed backstories and layers that make them believable and deeply intriguing. Sam and Elli, the twin main characters of  I’ll Be You are no exception. Once childhood actresses, Sam is single and now struggles with addiction while Elli is married with her own floral business. That is, until one day when she mysteriously disappears to a retreat and stops responding to all communication. As Sam begins to worry about her sister, whom she’s been estranged from for years, she realizes that Elli’s happy life may be a mere façade.

Brown shows the progression of the sisters and their bond as they are discovered, become famous, and first learn to switch places. These flashbacks add such a richness to their present-day story and helped me understand their motivations.

I didn’t expect the cult aspect of this book going into it, but I found it especially fascinating, particularly the introspection into the members and how they ended up where they did.

This wasn’t a thriller in the traditional sense, and definitely was a little slower moving, but it kept me glued to the pages trying to guess how everything fit together and how the sisters would end up at the end of it all.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.Your.Shelf
Buy I’ll Be You at an indie bookstore near you
I’ll Be You on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover ~ Book Review

Morgan

Custom House
Romance
Release Date: January 18, 2022
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

I could not look away from this book. The emotional rollercoaster Colleen Hoover took me on was truly impressive.

When Kenna is released after five years in prison, she’s desperate to find her four-year-old daughter who was taken away as soon as she was born. Finding her means returning to the town where the accident took place that landed Kenna in jail.

Soon after her return, Kenna meets Ledger, a local bartender, who turns out to be an unlikely link to Kenna’s daughter. The more time the two spend together, the more they put both of their relationships with Kenn’s daughter at risk.

The romance was so well crafted in this book. The pacing and slow build up of chemistry was palpable and there was a perfect level of steam. The forbidden nature of the romance didn’t hurt either.

I found Kenna to be an extremely compelling character. She was clearly and understandably haunted by her past, but the work she put in to try not to let it define her was so admirable.

I already can’t wait to reread this book (once I’ve emotionally recovered).

My Bookstagram: @Treat.Your.Shelf
Buy Reminders of Him at an indie bookstore near you
Reminders of Him on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle ~ Book Review

Morgan

Atria
Genre: Fiction
Release Date: March 1, 2022 (Thank you NetGalley for my eARC!)
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

The setting in One Italian Summer is everything. Rebecca Serle paints a tactile description of Positano Italy. I could practically feel the summer heat as Katy, the main character, climbed the historic steps to look out over the town and the sea beyond. Katy was supposed to take the trip with her mom, who spent her own solo summer there when she was young. Desperately needing an escape to gather her thoughts, Katy goes alone after her mom dies. Shortly after she arrives on the Italian seaside, however, Katy finds herself face to face with a young version of her mom.

I was completely enchanted by Positano – the history and beauty of it, the people Katy meets there, and the atmosphere. I loved exploring with Katy and seeing her begin to appreciate the beauty around her, even as her grief simmers just under the surface. Objectively, this was a beautiful story.

My expectations were really, really high going into this one, and unfortunately I did feel a bit let down. I was fine with suspending reality as Katy befriends the young version of her mom, but the ending felt unfinished. I was confused about what Katy had really taken away from this experience, and ended the book feeling like there were loose ends.

Buy One Italian Summer at an indie bookstore near you
One Italian Summer on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand ~ Book Review

Morgan

Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Fiction
Release Date: October 9, 2018
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

When a man and a woman are killed in a helicopter crash off a Caribbean island, their loved ones are forced to grapple with what the truth behind their clandestine relationship and what it means for their future. Irene Steele finds herself reeling from the lies her husband was keeping from her. When her sons arrive on the island, they quickly meet and are both enchanted by Ayers, the best friend of their father’s mistress.

In true Elin Hilderbrand fashion, Winter in Paradise is full of never ending drama. The relationships she introduces are complicated and layered with secrets. The setting provided wonderful escapism filled with picturesque tropical outings and adventures.

I felt like the grief that should have permeated this book wasn’t really present. No one seemed quite as upset about the deaths of their loved ones as I would have expected. It seemed weird that the characters were able to focus on pursuing romance and galavanting around the island instead of the deaths that brought them together.

I happily consumed the drama and the tropical beaches in the pages of this book, but I don’t think I liked it enough to read the rest of the series.

Buy Winter in Paradise at an indie bookstore near you
Winter in Paradise on Goodreads