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bookstasamm
Grady Hendrix does it again with his amazing dark humor. The way he turned working in a big box store like IKEA into a horror story was super clever. I didn’t love this as much as The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, but I still enjoyed it none the less.
Tabitha meets Connor Ford when they are teenagers. He’s rich and a member of the country club she works at. They immediately have a connection and fall in love, but that ends when his grandmother forbids him to see her anymore. He lets her leave and they never speak again. That is, until he comes back into her life when he walks into the restaurant she works at twelve years later. Connor is now married to the wealthy and famous Nina Levitt, but when he reconnects with Tabby they can’t stay away from each other. Problem is, Connor gets nothing if he divorces Nina and she finds out he’s unfaithful. When Nina is found dead at her annual July 4th party, Tabitha takes her place as Mrs. Connor Ford. Was it suicide or did someone murder Nina to get what they want?
First, I want to mention that this book has a great opening paragraph. ”I’m writing this to raise an alarm in the event of my untimely death. This is hard to admit, even to myself, let alone the world. My husband is planning to kill me. For obvious reasons. He’s in love with someone else. And he wants my money.” I mean this just drew me right into the book.
Tabitha starts telling her story in chapter three, and to me it was written a lot like a police interview. Like she was telling her side of the story. It was an odd way to read it when that wasn’t what was actually happening. I didn’t like this style of writing at all. I did like the few chapters written by Nina. They were much more intriguing.
I figured the big twist out very early on. I thought it was completely obvious, but I still needed to know more so stuck with it. This book held my attention and was a quick read, but it didn’t live up to its potential. I think there were a lot of unanswered questions even in the one year later chapter that I wish the author had answered.
I didn’t find any of these characters likable which made it hard to root for any of them. Tabitha was so naive and an unreliable narrator. Connor was a spoiled rich kid who became a greedy adult. Nina was probably my favorite character if I had to pick one, but she’s not in the book very much.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
First, I want to mention that this book has a great opening paragraph. ”I’m writing this to raise an alarm in the event of my untimely death. This is hard to admit, even to myself, let alone the world. My husband is planning to kill me. For obvious reasons. He’s in love with someone else. And he wants my money.” I mean this just drew me right into the book.
Tabitha starts telling her story in chapter three, and to me it was written a lot like a police interview. Like she was telling her side of the story. It was an odd way to read it when that wasn’t what was actually happening. I didn’t like this style of writing at all. I did like the few chapters written by Nina. They were much more intriguing.
I figured the big twist out very early on. I thought it was completely obvious, but I still needed to know more so stuck with it. This book held my attention and was a quick read, but it didn’t live up to its potential. I think there were a lot of unanswered questions even in the one year later chapter that I wish the author had answered.
I didn’t find any of these characters likable which made it hard to root for any of them. Tabitha was so naive and an unreliable narrator. Connor was a spoiled rich kid who became a greedy adult. Nina was probably my favorite character if I had to pick one, but she’s not in the book very much.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
3.5 stars
This was definitely an interesting take on a murder mystery. I loved the setting of a speakeasy in 1929 New Orleans during prohibition. This book was a slow burn though, and I struggled to have it keep my interest in the beginning. There were times I just didn’t want to pick it up, but I’m glad I stuck with it though. The second half of the book moved at a faster pace, and the author threw in some twists and turns that kept me on my toes. I did not pick the killer, but it wasn’t a huge shock to me. I would have preferred it be someone less predictable. Overall, the author did a good job for a debut, and I could see this book turning into a series.
This was definitely an interesting take on a murder mystery. I loved the setting of a speakeasy in 1929 New Orleans during prohibition. This book was a slow burn though, and I struggled to have it keep my interest in the beginning. There were times I just didn’t want to pick it up, but I’m glad I stuck with it though. The second half of the book moved at a faster pace, and the author threw in some twists and turns that kept me on my toes. I did not pick the killer, but it wasn’t a huge shock to me. I would have preferred it be someone less predictable. Overall, the author did a good job for a debut, and I could see this book turning into a series.
3.5 stars
Rachel Krall hosts a true crime podcast, and is heading to the small town of Neapolis, NC to cover a rape trial on her show. She keeps her face out of the public eye though and is only recognized by her voice. When she finds a note on her car windshield addressed to her asking for help, she wonders how this person knows who she is. These letters keep showing up until Rachel gets involved in solving this mystery from 25 years ago which seems to have connections to the rape trial she’s covering.
I had a hard time with my rating. I went between 3 and 4 stars so ended up giving it 3.5 stars. I received the audiobook ARC to review, and I think that had something to do with my rating. I probably would have preferred to read it myself. The narrator who voiced Rachel spoke very slowly, and I didn’t get a lot of emotion from her. With a book about two different rape cases, you would think the main character would be more emotional, but she was very flat.
The book goes back and forth between Rachel’s narrative, snippets of Rachel’s podcast, and another narrator, Hannah Stills. Hannah’s sister drown 25 years before, but she believes it was murder. I did prefer her storyline and narration. Most of her chapters were a flashback leading up to what happened to her sister. I found her more invested and these chapters more intriguing.
There is a very strong storyline of sexual assault and violence against women. If this is a trigger for you, I would avoid this book. I do think this is an important topic to focus on, and I thought the author did a good job of showing us a rape trial and how the victim can be unfairly judged by the lawyers and public.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
Rachel Krall hosts a true crime podcast, and is heading to the small town of Neapolis, NC to cover a rape trial on her show. She keeps her face out of the public eye though and is only recognized by her voice. When she finds a note on her car windshield addressed to her asking for help, she wonders how this person knows who she is. These letters keep showing up until Rachel gets involved in solving this mystery from 25 years ago which seems to have connections to the rape trial she’s covering.
I had a hard time with my rating. I went between 3 and 4 stars so ended up giving it 3.5 stars. I received the audiobook ARC to review, and I think that had something to do with my rating. I probably would have preferred to read it myself. The narrator who voiced Rachel spoke very slowly, and I didn’t get a lot of emotion from her. With a book about two different rape cases, you would think the main character would be more emotional, but she was very flat.
The book goes back and forth between Rachel’s narrative, snippets of Rachel’s podcast, and another narrator, Hannah Stills. Hannah’s sister drown 25 years before, but she believes it was murder. I did prefer her storyline and narration. Most of her chapters were a flashback leading up to what happened to her sister. I found her more invested and these chapters more intriguing.
There is a very strong storyline of sexual assault and violence against women. If this is a trigger for you, I would avoid this book. I do think this is an important topic to focus on, and I thought the author did a good job of showing us a rape trial and how the victim can be unfairly judged by the lawyers and public.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani have been best friends since they were young girls. They live in the same town, and now their teenage sons are best friends too. When tragedy strikes leaving one son dead, one in a coma, and the other so traumatized he can’t speak; this will test the strength of their friendship. How can these ladies remain the best of friends when they don’t even know what happened to their sons?
This was my first book from Lucinda Berry, and it was a heavy read. The chapters alternate between Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani’s perspectives. I liked how the author did this since we see what’s going on and how it affects each one differently. She also included how the tragedy affects their immediate families which makes sense in this sort of book.
There is a bit of a mystery involved in finding out what happened that lead to the awful events that night, but I would not classify this book as a mystery. It’s really about coping with a tragedy and how each person handles if differently. This was a very emotional read, but very worth it.
The author did elude to something that happened to Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani when they were teenagers, something they never spoke of, but didn’t ever reveal what that was. For that reason I had to rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
This was my first book from Lucinda Berry, and it was a heavy read. The chapters alternate between Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani’s perspectives. I liked how the author did this since we see what’s going on and how it affects each one differently. She also included how the tragedy affects their immediate families which makes sense in this sort of book.
There is a bit of a mystery involved in finding out what happened that lead to the awful events that night, but I would not classify this book as a mystery. It’s really about coping with a tragedy and how each person handles if differently. This was a very emotional read, but very worth it.
The author did elude to something that happened to Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani when they were teenagers, something they never spoke of, but didn’t ever reveal what that was. For that reason I had to rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
This is a very hard book to read, but the author did such a good job with it.
