I really wanted to love this book! The beginning was great. I loved Christopher and his friends, and I loved Christopher's relationship with his mother, Kate. There was great character development as well. Then the book just got weird. I found myself confused at times especially towards the end. This book is 700+ pages, but I feel that it would have worked better if it was shorter. There was too much going on to always keep track of it.

I also want to mention, that the age of Christopher and his friends felt off to me. Their language and independence (sneaking out, not listening to their parents, etc.) didn't seem right for 7 year-olds.

I listened to the audiobook and want to mention how great the narrator was.

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors, but sadly this was not one of my favorite books by her. I felt there were too many characters to keep track of, and I didn’t really feel a connection with any of them.

I listened to the audiobook because I enjoy Imogen Church as a narrator. She narrates all of Ware’s books.

This is a very interesting story of survival. I struggled in the beginning with Jack, a 5-year old boy, as the narrator. I do wish there were two points of view to include Ma's perspective as well, but do understand why the author went with just Jack. A story as awful as this seen through the eyes of a 5-year old is definitely an original idea.

I thought this book was beautifully written. There were a couple of slower parts during the world building. At these times, it was a struggle to hold my interest, but overall I really enjoyed this story.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors. I’ve loved everything she has written that I’ve read. When I saw she had a Christmas book, I knew I had to read it. With that said, I did figure out a big plot twist very early on. It didn’t ruin the story for me though.

I found Part 1 moved a lot faster than Part 2. I guess I preferred the parts with Bobby and Daniel over the parts with Joy’s sister.

Overall it was a cute story especially for this time of year. You will need to suspend your disbelief a little while reading it though!

Morgan and her daughter, Clara do not always see eye to eye. Morgan and Chris were only teenagers when they had Clara, and she does not want her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Clara, a teenager in high school just wants to be an actress and dislikes all of the rules her parents have in place. When an unexpected event occurs, things between Morgan and Clara become more strained as trusts are broken between them.

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover tells the story of how once a trust is broken can it ever be fixed. The story is told from two point of views, Morgan and Clara. It starts when Morgan is 17 and finds out she is pregnant. This chapter was the only one set in the past, but definitely was necessary to set the story. The remainder of the book is told when Morgan is 34 and Clara is 16/17. We get to learn about their family dynamic as the chapters alternate between the two narrators.

I do not read a lot of romance novels, but really enjoyed this one. I liked how it was told from the two perspectives. It was nice seeing how in the same situation, Morgan felt one way and Clara felt another. It definitely seemed like a typical mother daughter relationship however when the unexpected event occurs things totally change between them. Clara becomes very distrusting of her mother without giving her a chance to prove her wrong. There was a point where I found this behavior of Clara’s a bit much (chapter 24) which is part of the reason I only gave this book 4 stars.

There are two other characters who really made the book for me. Clara’s love interest, Miller, and family friend Jonah. I don’t want to give too much away so I’m just going to say that Jonah was my favorite character throughout the book. He was so patient and understanding with everyone.

The other reason I did not give this book 5 stars is that there is a part of the book where letters are found, but the fact that they were never read really upset me. Once they were found, all I wanted was for them to be read so I did find it disappointing they weren’t. Overall, this book was very good though, and I would highly recommend it to fans of Colleen Hoover and the romance genre.

Being the second wife can be murder...

Marcie Maddox has worked hard to get away from her past and into the world of country clubs and large houses. Her husband, Jason left his wife for her, and now she has everything she wants...or so it seems. Jason's boss William, returns from a trip to England with a new, younger and very attractive wife, Keisha. Marcie starts thinking her husband is having an affair with Keisha, but when Keisha and Marcie start out a friendship it turns out to be something else completely. What exactly is Jason hiding from her and is Keisha involved?

Dead to Her was not exactly what I expected. Since this is a story about the overly wealthy, of course there was a lot of backstabbing and cheating, but it's not only about the affairs of the rich in Savannah, GA. A large subplot to the story was based on voodoo so if that is not your thing, than this book is probably not for you. I found that none of the characters were likeable so there wasn't really anyone I was routing for in this crazy and twisted story. Everyone was awful in their own way which isn't a bad thing, but I usually like to have one character I actually like.

There were some parts that I felt moved slowly, and I could have done without the entire voodoo subplot. I don't think it was necessary for this book at all. I also feel like the part with the "ghost" in Keisha's past was unnecessary as well. If these parts weren't included than the book definitely would have moved the plot forward faster. With that said, I do think the storyline of these horrible people made a good story, and the author did a good job of throwing in some twists and turns throughout.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up

A life no one will remember. A story you will never forget.

France, 1714, Addie LaRue makes a deal with the devil to live forever, but is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. When a door closes, people forget ever meeting her. Addie does not even tell people her name since they will never remember it. The story is told over centuries and set in different countries as we learn what Addie will do to leave her mark on the world. In 2014, when she meets Henry, and he actually remembers her and her name, her real story begins.

I was really excited about this book, but honestly it took me a really long time to read it. I started it in November and finished it in more than a month. It was beautifully written almost poetic, but I struggled at times to get through it. I found some parts a bit slow and repetitive, but overall I did enjoy the story. To me the best part was when Henry was introduced. I really loved his story and felt the book picked up more at this point. I found Luc to be an interesting character as well, but felt that him and Addie played the same game in every scene they were in together.

My rating might have been a bit lower, but the ending really made all the difference. I loved it so much, but of course will not give it away. I know everyone raves about this book so I hope my review does not dissuade anyone from reading it.