Such a creepy and disturbing read! I'd recommend it with some major caveats. If you don't want to read about unlikable characters, really sexually explicit or gritty violence, this is not the book for you. I found it absorbing and TERRIFYING. An interesting look at how impotent we all are in keeping our inner lives private, thanks to the internet and social media. I wonder what it would be like to read this book in ten years time, given that the landscape of social media changes so quickly. I'm not sure it'll stand the test of time, but it was a good read for right now.

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

I was skeptical going in, because serial mystery novels are not usually my bag. This felt a bit different, told with more depth of feeling and character development. I loved the little whimsical town, the inspector with a heart of gold and all of the unique inhabitants of Three Pines. The lack of gruesomeness was also a refreshing change for a mystery series, and there was certainly suspense - I did some frantic page turning into late hours to finish. I happened to be reading it on a rainy June day, and it was a perfect snuggy book. I will definitely pick up more in the series, probably in the fall!

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

I am really sad that I only have one book left in the Raven Cycle, and am torn between putting off the end and wanting to read The Raven King RIGHT NOW. This series is just beautiful in so many ways: it's humor, the magical realism (on a level with Neil Gaiman in my opinion), the realness of the characters, and their love for each other - not just romantic love, although there is that. My favorite part of the book is when one boy, unbeknownst to his friend, shows up to support him in court. Just lovely stuff.
"Is this okay? Was it okay? Adam had turned down so many offers of help from Gansey. Money for school, money for food, money for rent. Pity and charity, Adam had thought. For so long, he'd wanted Gansey to see him as an equal, but it was possible that all this time, the only person who needed to see that was Adam. Now he could see that it wasn't charity Gansey was offering. It was just truth. And something else: friendship of the unshakable kind. Friendship you could swear on. That could be busted nearly to breaking and come back stronger than before. Adam held out his right hand, and Gansey clasped it in a handshake, like they were men, because they were men."

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

This book held a lot of potential for me. I enjoyed Giffin's books back in the day, over 20 years ago, with the Something Borrowed series. The characters in this book are again my contemporaries, women hovering around 40. Family drama and secrets are always intriguing fodder for books, in my opinion. However, this one just didn't work for me.

It is possible for me to like a book even if I don't like the main characters (I actually liked Gone Girl!), but it IS unusual. The sisters in this book were beyond unlikable, and moving into utterly frustrating territory. I understand that they dealt with a tragedy that altered them, and the course of their lives, forever. Yet, I still found older sibling Meredith's rage inexcusable. She was insufferable and I dreaded picking up the book to see what she would get bent out of shape about next. I, too, have dealt with unimaginable loss at an early age (my father passed away at 40 and I was only seven). Maybe it was a personal affront to me, that she dealt with her grief by being so awful, and I can't imagine being that way toward my brother, or vice versa. Maybe it's because I do not have a sister, and really don't get the heightened rivalry that characterizes many same sex sibling relationships. Either way, it was a complete turn off for me and it ended up being a terribly depressing read - not at all what I was expecting from a big summer release from Emily Giffin.

There were also several underdeveloped story lines that I think had potential and could have elevated the book. I wish there would have been more drama and interaction with Josie's ex (who's daughter ended up being her student) and his wife. The relationship with her best friend Gabe, and his girlfriend who makes a big dramatic splash, was rife with possibility and then she just fades out of the picture. These complex relationships take a major backseat in favor of the bond Josie forms with Pete via online dating, which becomes a rather inane story arc. I also felt as if the main characters' parents and their drama (divorce, alcoholism) could have been more fleshed out to give the daughters some more context for THEIR drama. Alas, they seem important in the beginning of the book, but then sort of disappear.

In the end, I thought that the themes she was going for were interesting: that love can change in a marriage, the definition of family is different for everyone and we should all carve our own path. All great notions, however, I wish these issues had been fleshed out with much more empathetic characters.
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

Why did I take so long to read this book!? It's one of those 'laughter through tears' kind of stories, a semi autobiographical novel of a teen boy growing up on an Indian reservation and his struggles to succeed. I was bowled over within the first few pages, and marveled at Alexie's ability to elicit such a wide range of emotions. It is also one of those 'everyone should read it' kind of stories, to gain even the slightest understanding of what life for American Indians (or any minority) might be like in our country.

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

My 9 year old son requested this book, and I was unsure of how he'd mesh with 90s teen girl angst. Well, he freaking LOVED it, as did I! It was equal parts horrifying (all the dental stuff poor Raina has to go through), heartbreaking (oh, teen insecurities whilst dealing with major dental woes), and hilarious. Naturally, my son latched on to the hilarity and sibling rivalry stuff while glossing over a lot of the teen girl drama. Meanwhile, I latched on to the memories of being an early 90s teen, while also having major empathy for Raina's mother. This true tale of the author's early life has something for everyone and I can't recommend it enough.

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

I really wanted to love this YA action/romance, but the characters were very two dimensional and the prose was eye-roll inducing for my taste. ("...brushing his thumb across her cheek with the warm caress of a summer breeze.") It's basically the bones of Twilight set in Arabian Nights, but not as good. Womp.

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

Man, this was not at ALL what I was expecting from the happy looking cover and description: comedic? more like tragic! and tender? more like gritty and harsh. It is rather angsty, depressing fare about the toxic relationship of the two main characters who are kind of star crossed lovers, as well as all the toxic relationships with which they surround themselves. The characters are frustrating, use way too many F bombs to be taken seriously, and there are just so many uncomfortable scenes. It would make for good book club fodder on questions like what would you sacrifice for love? for religion? for happiness? It was also an eye opener about misogyny and fame, and was somewhat compelling, but I wish I had been warned!

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

This series shows no signs of slowing down in it's excellence! I thought it lived up to the first installment: still emotional, gripping stuff with great pacing and plotting. Darrow is a hero for the ages. It got a teeny tiny bit mired in battle scenes, but I'm confident it will be one of very few trilogies that are great start to finish.

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

This book bowled me over in SO MANY ways! It's not at all what I would normally gravitate towards: a fictional take on the Manson Family, or a novel described as 'gorgeously written' (which, for me, is usually code for BORING). This was not at all the case for The Girls. The story of Evie's adolescence, and eventual assimilation into a cult, is told in such a hypnotic and intense way. It bounces back and forth between present day, middle aged Evie looking back on her fourteen year old self in the late 60s. Each perspective would switch on a bit of a cliffhanger, pushing me to read well past my bedtime.

Cline's stark portrait of a troubled teen girl was uncomfortably intimate and spot on. Highly sexualized, melancholy, gritty and hard to read at times, it reminded me a great deal of Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. That awful and intense time of life can be hard to put into words, but these writers have manged it beautifully.


"...it was an age when I often conflated liking people with feeling nervous around them."

It also served as a brilliant trove of feminist observations, especially from the present day Evie when she interacts with the similarly self conscious teen Sasha, with whom she's thrown together.

"Poor Sasha. Poor girls. The world fattens them on the promise of love. How badly they need it, and how little most of them will ever get. The treacled pop songs, the dresses described in the catalogs with words like "sunset" and "Paris." Then the dreams are taken away with such violent force; the hand wrenching the buttons of the jeans, nobody looking at the man shouting at his girlfriend on the bus. Sorrow for Sasha locked up my throat."

And ultimately, it gave a preternatural look into the psyche of what might have made these girls so vulnerable, so willing to give up their lives for this disturbing one, for this man.

"Suzanne and the other girls had stopped being able to make certain judgments, the unused muscle of their ego growing slack and useless. It had been so long since any of them had occupied a world where right and wrong existed in any real way. Whatever instincts they'd ever had- the weak twinge in the gut, a gnaw of concern - had become inaudible. If those instincts had ever been detectable at all."

The narrative preyed on my morbid curiosity and made me fascinated, and ultimately horrified by the real life events it was based upon. I found myself googling Charles Manson, trying to compare the fictional Russell.

It's not for the faint of heart, but it's so very worthwhile - definitely on my list of top books for the year.
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)