⛵ Nautical Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

🌦 Literary Weather Report: Hurricane Warning! This book sweeps you up in a storm of twists, leaving no safe harbor for the reader. Expect unpredictable gusts of suspense, waves of chaos, and a final revelation that hits like a rogue tide.

📖 The Book’s Voyage:
Sami Kierce’s life has been adrift since a backpacking trip to Spain turned into his worst nightmare—waking up next to his girlfriend’s lifeless body, with no memory of what happened. Now, twenty-two years later, he’s an exhausted private investigator, teaching sleuthing classes on the side when Anna—the woman he thought was dead—walks into his classroom. And then? She disappears.

What follows is a breakneck chase through the murky waters of memory, deception, and a past that refuses to stay buried. Coben masterfully steers readers through a twisting mystery that seems utterly impossible—until Kierce, sharp as ever, finds his way to the truth.

⚓ Final Docking Thoughts:
This was an absolute thrill ride—fast-paced, high-stakes, and completely immersive. I devoured it like a sailor lost at sea, finally spotting land. Nobody’s Fool is perfect for readers who love their mysteries tangled, their stakes high, and their endings oh-so-satisfying.

🌊 Would I sail these waters again? Absolutely. Coben proves once again why he’s the captain of the twisty thriller genre. 

I recently read Jesmyn Ward’s Let Us Descend, a reimagining of slavery that follows an enslaved woman sold by the man who fathered her. The narrative carries us from the Carolinas to the New Orleans slave market and finally to a sugar plantation in Louisiana, offering a clear and impactful look at the realities of slavery.

The story centers on a woman whose life is shaped by the oppressive system of slavery. Ward tells her story with unflinching honesty, revealing the harsh conditions of the time and the personal toll of exploitation. The focus remains on the lived experience of enslavement and the tough choices imposed on her.

Ward’s straightforward writing style captures the events of the past with clarity. The book explores themes of control, survival, and the lasting impact of slavery on individuals. While it presents the facts without embellishment, it also invites us to reflect on resilience in the face of profound hardship.

*Let Us Descend* is a compelling choice for book clubs interested in discussing history and the human spirit. It not only sheds light on a difficult chapter of the past but also sparks meaningful conversations about resilience and human rights.

Thank you to Lisa Unger, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Lisa Unger's "Close your eyes and count to 10."

Imagine a real-life game of hide-and-seek in a remote location with the top survivalists on the planet. That's where Unger drops us in her newest thriller. Our main competitor, Adele, is a newly single mother after her husband disappeared. Adele's teenage children have mixed emotions about her competing—the winnings would set them up for success, but this game, run by Maverick Dillan, is dangerous. A competitor from a previous season went missing, and there are still zero leads on her whereabouts or condition.

Unger does a great job setting the scene and making the reader feel the remote nature of the island. Some other individuals are on the island, but because of an impending storm (of course), the officials demand the game pack up and leave. But like any good thriller, the game does not stop.

The characters are where the story fell flat to me. Influencer-type characters feel fatigued to me - they're popping up everywhere. Also, the social network name changes felt cringey. I suppose that's due to Copyright. 

Literary fiction lovers, rejoice! Elizabeth Strout's "Tell Me Everything" will leave you in a state of reflection and peace. 

A crime has been committed in Crosby, Maine. Bob Burgess is the defense attorney but is also plagued with his own questions from a childhood trauma. While Bob is working on the case, Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton trade stories - regular stories about regular people. Some had triumphant endings, and others were more malaise. Lucy trades these stories with Bob on their weekly walks - as the reader, we're sucked into these other worlds questioning life, love, and the meaning of it all. 

The story takes place primarily in Crosby, Maine, but characters jaunt between the New England states throughout. The Maine setting offers a sense of community - the people who live there depend on each other to survive and for entertainment. (read: hot gossip). Olive Kitteridge is a trip and a half, the way she engages with Lucy Barton. Strout’s ability to create stories of such heavy topics is unmatched, and I found it hard to put this book down because I was so immersed in this world. 

I loved the flow and pacing of this character driven story - what’s funny is that the stories, as I mentioned earlier, well some where kind of plot less or pointless, but Strout’s way with words reminds us that these are stories of people. And people are people. And that’s what makes this story so special. 

Sarah Pearse came in hot with the trilogy finale of the Elin Warner detective series, and we finally figured out who has been following Elin! Let me just say I was not expecting that. 

"The Wilds" is a thriller that takes place in a remote Portuguese national forest. Detective Elin Warner is visiting with her brother, Isaac, under the guise of a sibling getaway to re-connect, but Isaac has other motives for getting Elin to Portugal: persuading her to use her sleuthing skills to solve the disappearance of Kier, the twin sister of Isaac's friend, Penn. Mix in a creepy campsite with mysterious individuals who don't want to be found and well, it's definitely a mystery. 

Pearse does a great job with character development, pacing, and intrigue - I read this book in just a few days. I couldn't stop thinking about Elin and Kier, and I just needed to know if Kier was OK. While the book is 400 pages, the chapters are short and definitely hook you in. 

I've read the first two books in the series; you don't need to read them prior to book three, but it does make the story richer. If I had to rank Pearse's trilogy, "The Sanatorium" is #1, "The Wilds" is #2, and "The Retreat" is #3, but it's a tough rank, because I love her writing style and plots. 

Thank you to Liz Moore for writing such an incredible book!

I was so excited when I saw this as a BOTM pick, and I knew I had to select it. "The God of the Woods" takes place in 1975 at a summer camp. One of the campers goes missing, and we find that her younger brother had also gone missing many years before from the same area, as her family owned the land nearby and the summer camp. I'm personally enjoying stories that take place before the tech boom lately. If you know what I mean, it's nice to take a break from the world of influencers and smartphones. These characters are living in the moment. 

This was my first book by Moore, and her writing style is unflawed. Her attention to pacing, plot lines, and suspense is done well. This slow burn weaves together multiple timelines and perspectives, and it doesn't end how you expect. I heard feedback from others that it went on too long, but I don't see it this way. This is a sad story. It has a strange albeit realistic ending. Things aren't always what they seem. The book's length keeps you connected to the characters and the story - you're invested in this sad tale. 

Something new that I'm trying is forcing my family to read a book for a "family book club" book discussion while on vacation. Since we're going to Maine next week, this seemed like the perfect book for all members of my husband's family to read. 

Before reading the book, I had never heard of Christopher Knight or the "hermit" up in Maine. The description seemed too wild to be true—a man who leaves society for almost 40 years and never interacts with a soul? It's perplexing and mysterious. 

I listened to the audio of this book, and it tells the story from the investigator's perspective on the case. Knight was living in the wilderness, ironically, not far from society at all, but he was so well hidden up in rural Maine. The investigator details how Knight survived for so long and his existence's impact on society because, yes, folks in Maine knew of his allusive existence.

The latter parts of the book delve more into psychology and try to understand Knight's mental state, which I found interesting. He clearly enjoyed being alone, but he didn't exhibit some other typical behaviors of someone who is neurodiverse. 

As someone who enjoys both being around people and solitude, this book is a fascinating look at someone who couldn't be a part of society, and so he forged his own path. Probably the line that stuck out to me the most was about learning to live with what's missing vs. seeking out what's missing for all of our years. We get one go-around; let's not waste it. 

Review: One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
Rating: 3⭐️

I’ve been a Ruth Ware fan ever since I read “The Woman in Cabin 10,” and “The IT Girl” was one of my fav reads in 2022. “One Perfect Couple” missed the mark for me, which I’ll tell you about, but I’ll also share what I enjoyed.

What I enjoyed:
- The setting! Give me a closed door mystery any day and I’m in. All hail the Queen, Agatha!
- Tropical island, which I guess is also the setting, but I liked the summery setting and this incredibly remote island.
- Girl pact vibes - I love a good female friendship or females become friends storyline. The friendship evolution was well written and even surprised me towards the end

Where this fell short:
- Is anyone else tired of reading about influencers? Granted, probably seems hypocritical since I’m posting on a bookstagram vs a private account, but I’m tiring of the influencer characters. They don’t always feel real to me, which I have a hard time feeling as though any influencer “sees me” and I can “relate to them,” because they’re just trying to make money
- It wasn’t realistic enough - I’ll avoid spoilers here but the actual setting upon arrival to the island wasn’t believable.
- We find out the killer almost too early, definitely way earlier than when Agatha lets on. I think Ware could have gone a different direction and truly fooled us…

So because of the latter three points, I’m giving Ware’s newest ⭐️⭐️⭐️. A quick palate cleanser if that’s what you need!