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1.38k reviews by:
emilyisoverbooked
4.5 ✨
Thanks to Atria Books for the gifted copy!
A generational story about a family cursed to only have daughters with multiple POVs, mother/daughter and sister relationships, and an exploration of new generations and old traditions. Perfect if you like laugh-out-loud family drama (that reunion chapter had me HOWLING), colonialism jokes, and OwnVoices stories. There was mourning and difficulty, but also strength and hope. A magnificent story of Vietnamese women.
Thanks to Atria Books for the gifted copy!
A generational story about a family cursed to only have daughters with multiple POVs, mother/daughter and sister relationships, and an exploration of new generations and old traditions. Perfect if you like laugh-out-loud family drama (that reunion chapter had me HOWLING), colonialism jokes, and OwnVoices stories. There was mourning and difficulty, but also strength and hope. A magnificent story of Vietnamese women.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted copy of this book.
I loved In My Dreams I Hold A Knife, Ashley's first book. This one had great potential and Ashley is a great writer and is able to connect philosophy and themes from her past studies well, but I think seeing how far you can take things and then going even farther is not necessary and takes away from the storyline. I ended up skimming / skipping parts and putting the book down and coming back later to try and see if the ending improved. While it did get slightly better in the second half, I predicted the major twists early on and found the "dumb female MC" role out of place in a feminist book on misogyny.
I loved In My Dreams I Hold A Knife, Ashley's first book. This one had great potential and Ashley is a great writer and is able to connect philosophy and themes from her past studies well, but I think seeing how far you can take things and then going even farther is not necessary and takes away from the storyline. I ended up skimming / skipping parts and putting the book down and coming back later to try and see if the ending improved. While it did get slightly better in the second half, I predicted the major twists early on and found the "dumb female MC" role out of place in a feminist book on misogyny.
Thanks to Blackstone Publishing for the copy of this ARC.
WOW what a debut! I could NOT put this one down. Lilian and Rosie are estranged sisters, who are finally getting together after 3 years. Rosie has something "life or death" to tell Lilian and then they get into a car crash, leaving Rosie with a traumatic brain injury, unable to communicate, and skeptical of Lilian. Lilian thinks the car crash was deliberate and is determined to figure out who's behind it.
Bradeigh is a doctor by trade and you can tell - the medical knowledge was spot on in this book and I really appreciated that. It totally added to the thriller element of the book, and memory loss, medical ailments, and secrets are all great elements in a thriller. I also really appreciated the narrative on postpartum anxiety. Highly recommend this one for your spooky TBR!
WOW what a debut! I could NOT put this one down. Lilian and Rosie are estranged sisters, who are finally getting together after 3 years. Rosie has something "life or death" to tell Lilian and then they get into a car crash, leaving Rosie with a traumatic brain injury, unable to communicate, and skeptical of Lilian. Lilian thinks the car crash was deliberate and is determined to figure out who's behind it.
Bradeigh is a doctor by trade and you can tell - the medical knowledge was spot on in this book and I really appreciated that. It totally added to the thriller element of the book, and memory loss, medical ailments, and secrets are all great elements in a thriller. I also really appreciated the narrative on postpartum anxiety. Highly recommend this one for your spooky TBR!
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for the copy of this book!
A truly atmospheric thriller in hurricane-devastated Florida Keys on the set of a horror movie, Always the First to Die is a suspenseful dual timeline story that pays homage classic slasher films. I loved the setup and thought the ending was very fast-paced and had me on the edge of my seat, but the middle lost me for awhile. Overall, I liked it and would read other books by R.J. Jacobs, and think this would be a good addition to spooky season reads!
A truly atmospheric thriller in hurricane-devastated Florida Keys on the set of a horror movie, Always the First to Die is a suspenseful dual timeline story that pays homage classic slasher films. I loved the setup and thought the ending was very fast-paced and had me on the edge of my seat, but the middle lost me for awhile. Overall, I liked it and would read other books by R.J. Jacobs, and think this would be a good addition to spooky season reads!
