The book was an interesting sort of hypothetical of what it’s like for those close to someone who commits suicide and have to continue in the wake of that tragedy. It obviously was a heavy and sad concept as each character is sort of trying to make sense or even unravel why Alice killed herself, while also in some ways being stuck in aspects of their own lives. 

I liked the concept of this, as suicide isn’t a one time event - it has vast repercussions and has a measure of grief that doesn’t go away from what I’ve heard and witnessed. 

The characters however, I really disliked. They were all petty, selfish, self-centered and vindictive. Benji is the only one I felt had any redeeming quality, but good Lord they were awful people. 

It was also super odd how the author chose to fill the book with so many complicated and little-used words. I guess maybe it was supposed to be poetic or something but it just made it hard to relate because it doesn’t relate well to most novel readers. Just felt like it was some literary competition to the point that it seemed rather pretentious. Much like the characters in the book. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine. 

Some great themes of complicated family relationships, hardship and perseverance. I enjoyed reading about Mariah and Sabrina and how their relationship morphed and grew after a very harsh start. I think both their stories were well told and had you invested in them as people and as sisters. And I liked that their growth was a partnership of both practical and spiritual. 

The progression with Tabitha was also a heartbreaking but inspiring one, and I thought her character development was authentic and easy to relate to. It was fun seeing parts of Charleston in there as well, since I love visiting there and recognized the streets and some locations. 

There were, however, a surprising number of typos and mistakes in the book tho, even tho it was an ARC. Hopefully some more editing is done before release, as the book certainly deserves it, but it wasn’t real sufficient in this pre-release. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

This was probably the best-written nonfiction history book I’ve ever read. I was so interested in the stories of the men involved in and leading up to the capture of U505 and the way it all unfolded, I almost forgot I was reading a nonfiction book. 

I really enjoyed hearing about each of the men’s backstories - both US and German, who they were, what they did and then their investment in WW2 and the U505 capture. It was incredible to hear what they risked, how they interacted, and how they viewed their service in the war and their mission. It excellently weaved in the entire plot of the mission and happenings of it, as well as briefly touched on the after-story of each of them. By getting personal with each of the men, it caused you to become invested in what was going rather than just listing facts and stats, tho it was not lacking for information either. 

I do think the blurb for the book fell short in accurately portraying the book. The capture of U505 wasn’t even introduced until about 50% in - the first half was about U505, the individuals and their backstories on either side of the war involved with it, and set the scene for how the U boats were affecting the Allies in the fight against the Nazis. If you’re going into the book thinking it’s only about the capture of U505 because of the blurb, it’s going to feel like you veered off course. 

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, the writing, narrator etc. Highly recommend it. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine. 

So good. You know you love a book when you’re sad the series ends. Definitely that for me. Loved the story, the writing, the unpredictability, and the characters. Very different than the first with the main characters of Elm and Ione being completely different personalities, but added new perspectives to the book. 

Also, I thought the character development for the Nightmare was fantastic. Very rightly slow and believable. 

Very twisty and a bit dark, which is understandable being a murder/serial killer thriller, but super intriguing and not overly predictable. It was well thought out and I liked that I didn’t have it all figured out. I have such a hard time liking thrillers just because they seem either ridiculous or easy to see the end. This one, while I wouldn’t say it was surprising at the end, was still not something you knew for sure a mile away. You had your options for how it could go but it still made you question which direction or the details of it. Well done.

Emily Henry just has enormous skills at snarky banter that makes you smirk and laugh one second, and the next it’s insightful and deep vulnerability that feels like either a hit to your gut cuz you get it or you want to reach out to the character yourself. 

Really relatable and loved both Miles and Daphne, but also Ashleigh and Julia. Sometimes the supporting characters are just as important as the main ones and I loved their friendships. 

Book Lovers is still my favorite of hers but this is probably 2nd. (I was disappointed at the very end with Daphne but as a whole I loved the book so I’m letting it go. 😉)

What I liked: I loved to see women in higher and respected positions, especially at that point in the ‘20s when it was pretty uncommon. The portrayal of Elizebeth with how she loved her work but also her family and had to battle her priorities and mindset between the two resonates with those of us who are working mothers/wives. 

It was a great comparison between the two women in how they lived in either love or hate, justice or vengeance. And their thought process I felt, was well conveyed and immersive. 

Also liked the unique story focus of rum running in the 20s. I haven’t read anything about it before. 

What I did not care for: I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. It’s mostly a narrative, sort of removed or hovering above the characters, it felt like to me, rather than feeling like I was *in* the story. In the women’s heads, yes, but not in the story itself. 

The codebreaking part I thought fell short. I was so looking forward to this because I love codebreaking books. But this felt like it was portrayed more as a sort of spidey-sense - it kept talking about her intuition, hackles raised, hair on the back of the neck, clearing the mind, etc. Very little was written about the details or a description of codebreaking so that you understood what actually went into it or what Elizebeth actually did, which I think is a miss for how involved, intelligent and complicated it was. 

The book was interesting but just sort of disappointing based on what it was proposed to be for me and I lost interest in it a bit. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

I wish I had had this book when my teenage daughter was first diagnosed. While it’s not a ton of information or covering every scenario since it’s a memoir, it was so practical hearing Michael’s perspective and experiences both of what it looks like to be level 1 autistic, especially his social and friendship interactions. The humor added some levity into it as well so it wasn’t heavy or laborious to get thru. I appreciated his vulnerability and candidness as someone navigating the work on the spectrum. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine. 

Cute and easy romance. The dynamics between both Paisley and Adam were great and endearing, and the family dynamics of the extended family is always heartwarming. Love following the stories of each of the family members and seeing the characters show back up. 

It was written in a very poetic almost philosophical fashion. The generational threads for each character were interesting and thought provoking. I appreciated the way each son had to find his own way and battled with his past or what he went thru. 

The writing style was a little difficult to follow - both with the ambiguity at times and how the timeline and characters kept weaving in and out and overlapping. 

Possibly if I’d read the others in the series this would make more sense but each chapter and focus shift it would take me awhile to figure out what we were talking about or whom. 

It was a good book but not my favorite style of narrative. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine.