Tag: netgalley

Book Review, Fiction, Magical Realism

Once and Again by Rebecca Serle ~ Book Review

Morgan

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

I am SUCH a big Rebecca Serle fan and it physically pains me to write a not glowing review of one of her books, but man did Once and Again make me mad. Lauren learns as a teenager that every woman in her family is granted the ability to turn back time once in their life. Her mother used this gift to prevent a deadly car accident from killing Lauren’s dad and Lauren has spent her life wondering when she will need to use hers. Conceptually, I loved it. It made for interesting dynamics between Lauren and her mom and grandma and I appreciated the explorationof the mental toll the gift took on each of them.

I found Lauren’s decision making absolutely horrible. I could not stand the choices she made and the way she handled the aftermath of those choices that she was in complete control of. It made the *very cool* concept lose a lot of its power for me.

The split setting between the Malibu beach and New York City was wonderfully written and I could picture Lauren’s life in each place so well. Serle absolutely made the settings come alive which was a huge redeeming factor for me.

Something felt lacking with the intercharacter relationships. I felt like I did not know Lauren’s husband or her childhood sweetheart well enough to really feel invested in them. I felt the same way with her mother and grandmother. There were a couple chapters from their perspectives, but it was so little in the grand scheme of the book that they felt misplaced to me.

TONS of potential here and I largely could not stop reading, but ultimately I couldn’t look past the weakness of the relationships and the main character’s choices, which steered the narrative.

Thank you to the publisher for my ARC!

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

Book Review, Fiction

Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction
Release Date: March 11, 2025 (Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC!)

I was struck most by how unique this book is. Set entirely in the same restaurant for the whole book, it could be incredibly slow, but it has enough character introspection that it doesn’t drag too much. Jane and Dan go out to dinner to celebrate their anniversary at a very upscale restaurant they can’t afford. Just as Jane has announced that she wants a divorce, a masked group bursts in and holds everyone in the restaurant hostage. As if that wasn’t surprising enough, the group’s actions are eerily similar to the plot of Jane’s failed novel.

This isn’t a thriller by any means, but I truly never knew what was going to happen next. There were several twists, one of which completely caught me off guard, and those kept me interested in the plot.

This book was funny and charming and unexpected, but not terribly exciting. I really enjoyed Jane’s inner monologue, her humor (often inadvertent) and how she caught herself thinking about things utterly inappropriate for the situation.

Things started to get somewhat convoluted toward the end for no good reason (in my opinion) which made it harder to stay invested. This was definitely unlike anything I have read before, which was fun, but I think it was trying to do a little bit too much at times.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
ane and Dan at the End of the World on Goodreads
Buy Jane and Dan at the End of the World at an indie bookstore near you

Book Review, Fiction, thriller

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: February 25, 2025 (Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC!)

A classic Gillian McAllister thriller. On Cam’s first day back at work after her maternity leave, the police show up to tell her that her husband, Luke, is involved in a hostage situation. And he is the captor. So begins Cam’s yearslong hunt to figure out what possible motivation Luke could have had for this situation to unfold.

Famous Last Words is a split narrative between Cam and Niall, the hostage negotiator in Luke’s case. Each one, in their own way, is caught up on the situation long after it’s over. We got solid backstory on each narrator and I felt like I understood what motivated them and how the events fit into the rest of their lives.

McAllister is great at creating complex, unexpected twists that tie up her thrillers and this was no exception. There were many layers (maybeee one too many) that I never would have thought of, but did not seem unbelievable. I found myself rooting for Cam and Niall to uncover the truth and was on the edge of my toes watching them do so.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Famous Last Words on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Is She Really Going Out With Him? By Sophie Cousens ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

When the newspaper column Anna writes becomes threatened by a rival columnist, Will, she finds herself suddenly agreeing to have her two small children set her up on dates for future stories. Meanwhile, Will writes an opposing column about meeting women online.

I’m a big fan of Cousens’s previous books and the writing in this one was no less delightful. Each chapter started out with a series of Anna’s recent Google searches which always made me chuckle.

Anna’s relationship with her kids and with her ex husband were so well written and I enjoyed watching her navigate the changing landscape of her family. Her snarky unfiltered feelings about her ex and his new life made her so relatable.

The romance in this book was so well done. It was sexy, but not over the top and kept me flying through the book waiting for the two to get together. The build-up was predicated by work outings which made it a little bit scandalous and very fun to read.

Another wonderful romance by Sophie Cousens!

Thank you to NetGalley for my Arc!
Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Is She Really Going Out with Him? on Goodreads
Buy Is She Really Going Out with Him? at an indie bookstore near you

Book Review, Fiction, Romance, Uncategorized

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle ~ Book Review

Morgan

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Atria Books
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Genre: Women’s Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

This book was a perfect storm of a five star read for me. I picked it up on a bus ride home from New York City, not realizing that the entire story takes place there. With the lights of NYC literally fading in my rearview mirror, I could completely visualize the nonstop hustle Serle introduced through the main character Dannie, a corporate lawyer, and her fiancé, David. Their drive and passion for their careers reminded me so much of people in my own life, that I melted into the plot instantly.

Serle is a new author for me, although her previous book has been sitting on my shelf for months now. I will be reading it promptly. Her character descriptions were poignant, touching, believably flawed, and relatable. Dannie has her life planned out. She knows where she wants to be in five years, and she takes steps to get herself there every single day. On the night of her engagement, Dannie has a dream, vision, premonition, call it what you’d like, of her actual reality in five years time. It is nowhere near what she is striving for. Discomfited, she tries to shake it off and go about her life as usual. She takes a new job, she gets lunch with her flighty, ethereal best friend, Bella, and she thinks about her dream.

Rebecca Serle knows how to create characters that readers care about. The backstory of each person, and the sheer number of details that went into creating each of them is remarkable, and the way that they relate to each other is, simply put, wonderful. The setting was perfect for the narrative, something I don’t often consider while reading. New York City seemed to take on a life of its own, pulsing throughout the story, and carrying the characters along the never-slowing whirlwind of life.

I could not have guessed where the narrative was going. My heart was wrenched in a million different directions as I read, and emotions were rampant. I read this in one day, and although I received an advanced eGalley on NetGalley from Atria Books in exchange for an honest review, I fully expect to purchase the finished novel once it is published.

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Buy In Five Years on Amazon
In Five Years on Goodreads