booklistqueen's Reviews (634)

 When their babysitter bails at the last minute, new parents Anne and Marco Conti decide they can still attend a dinner party at their next-door neighbor's house. Despite checking on baby Cora every half hour, when they return home, she is gone. Suspicion immediately falls on the panicked couple because they are both hiding secrets. A must-read psychological thriller, The Couple Next Door instantly pulled me in and didn't let me go. I thought the tension and timing of the revelations worked well, and I loved all the twists despite the fact that I guessed the ending. 

 In her poignant memoir, Michele Harper shares what it has been like being a Black woman in a predominantly male and white career as an emergency room physician. Recently divorced, Harper started her first job in New York City where she learned how to heal her own wounds from childhood abuse through examples from her patients

In The Beauty in Breaking, each of Harper's anecdotes hits on specific systemic issues in healthcare today: racial profiling, sexism, sexual abuse in the military, mental health treatment, etc. However, as a whole, the memoir fell a bit flat, diving into Harper's childhood but just skimming her adult life with odd tangents about meditation and yoga. 

 Jacqueline Woodson shines in this middle-grade coming-of-age book hitting on important issues of today teaching children that it's easier to face things when we aren't alone. Every week, six children from a special class are given an hour alone to talk among themselves. Gradually, they begin to open up to each other, discussing Esteban's father's deportation, Amari's worries of racial profiling, Haley's father's incarceration and her mother's death, and their fears and hope for the future.  

 On a trip to the Channel Islands to write about her parents' epic romance, Laura accidentally switches suitcases with a stranger and falls for its unseen owner based on the items in his case. With the help of a surly cab driver, she tries to find the mysterious owner while researching her parents' epic love story and comes to realize that real life isn't nearly as perfect as she imagined.

A cute romantic comedy, Just Haven't Met You Yet endears with a quirky protagonist stumbling through love in an idyllic setting. The novel hits the right tone with Laura's epitome that a great story doesn't make a great love, yet I didn't connect with the story, feeling the plot was over-the-top. Also, I would not recommend the audiobook as the narrator mumbled through all of the cab driver's lines, making the story extremely hard to follow. 

 In Tokyo Ever After, Princess Izumi learned that her absent father is the Crown Prince of Japan. As she settles into her life as a princess, Izumi is thrilled when her parents get engaged. However, the Imperial council is refusing to approve of the marriage. Izumi must become the perfect princess to win the Imperial council's favor while dealing with her own romantic troubles.

Although I adored Tokyo Ever After, a Princess Diaries meets Crazy Rich Asians mash-up, I thought the sequel was cute but unremarkable. I know some fans will swoon over Izumi's new love triangle, but I was disappointed in the lack of character development and the retread drama from the first book.

Although communist countries are falling all over Europe, in 1989, Romania is still ruled by the cruel dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. Blackmailed by the secret police, seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu is forced to become an informer, walking the edge between deceiving the Securitate while still protecting his family. I Must Betray You is exactly what you want from young adult historical fiction. Sepetys showcases the everyday teenage life in a unique setting with a narrative that is as compelling as it is informative. 

 A decision made in an instant can change the course of so many lives. Just before Sarah and her family are arrested by the Germans in Paris in 1942, Sarah locks her little brother in a cupboard, assuming she will be back soon. Now 60 years later, as journalist Julia Jarmond investigates the past, she learns volumes not only about that fatal day in history but also about herself.

When I mentioned I was reading Sarah's Key, I got a million messages that it was the best and most heartbreaking book ever. Suffice it to say that my expectations were sky high, and, unfortunately, were not fully met. Don't get me wrong, the premise of Sarah's Key is beyond sad, but not in a sob your heart out way. Admittedly, I already knew the tragic plot event before I read it. Otherwise, the rest of this World War II novel was interesting and taught me new aspects of the war, but I wasn't nearly as gripped as I expected to be. You win some, you lost some. 

Narrated through the eyes of a philosopher dog unlike any other, The Art of Racing in the Rain tells of Enzo and his beloved master Denny, a race car driver, as Denny navigates love, marriage, fatherhood, life, and death. At first, I found this dog-narrated story sappy and overrated, but then halfway through a custody battle ensued that completely hooked me and left me emotionally wrecked, but in a good way. 

 Born with mixed-race heritage to parents who were born as slaves, Walter F. White's skin was light enough that he could easily "pass" as white. A leader of the Harlem Renaissance and an important member of the NAACP, White used his ability to lead a dual life, going undercover to investigate some of the worst racist murders in America, White used is access to shape public opinion, push forward the Civil Rights Movement, and alter the mission of the NAACP toward legal and political activism.

I absolutely loved A. J. Baime's biography of Walter F. White, which I picked up only because I loved his previous book on autoracing, Go Like Hell. Unsurprisingly, I had never heard of the NAACP leader and activist who had a handle in almost every major civil rights advance from 1920 to 1950. Baime focuses on White's life and details the race relations that wove through the decades of American history, making it a fascinating, albeit sobering, read.

 Born with face blindness, Eleanor witnesses her grandmother's murder but can't identify the killer. Terrified the murderer will come for her, Eleanor begins to have severe anxiety and nightmares. When she unexpectedly inherits her grandmother's vast estate in the Swedish woods, Eleanor also inherits the dark secrets that come with it.

Camilla Sten's Swedish thriller has the perfect spooky setting at an abandoned estate in the woods. Eleanor's face blindness and the tensions between the characters give the whole novel a suspenseful vibe. Yet, the lackluster character development left me wanting more depth. That said, you will appreciate Sten's twist, as the backstory of Eleanor's grandmother collides with the present-day events.