Journalist Margot Davies returns to her small hometown of Wakarusa, Indiana to care for her sick uncle. While living there as a child, her friend and neighbor January Jones was murdered, and the case was never solved. Now, more than twenty years later, an other young girl is abducted shortly after Margot’s return. When the girl’s body is found several days later, Margot can’t shake the suspicion that this new crime is related to January’s murder. Margot’s investigation shakes up secrets, even those of her own family, on her quest to uncover what really happened to January.

For me, the mark of a good thriller is whether I can guess the ending or the plot twists. I thought I had everything figured out in this book, but the last few chapters were completely unexpected. This book had a true crime feel. The ending of the book didn’t fully resolve everything, which I know some readers don’t like but I enjoyed the lingering questions this left me with! It provided enough resolution so that major plot points are concluded and I wouldn’t consider it a cliffhanger.

This beautiful story about war, heritage, and the importance of stories follows three generations of the Dao family: Meilin, a widowed mother trying to care for her son as they are forced to flee their home in China during World War II; Renshu, Meilin’s son who grows up in war torn China and Taiwan, and eventually moves to the United States to study; and Lily, Renshu’s only child who struggles to find her identity as a half Chinese half Caucasian girl who doesn’t know much about her heritage because her father doesn’t want to talk about the past.

This was a beautiful novel that was so heartfelt and well written. I feel like it taught me so much about China’s history and the hardships Chinese people endured after WWII. I loved the telling of old folk stories that was woven throughout the book. And I also enjoyed reading the author’s note at the end and learning that this was semi-autobiographical.

Cara Romero, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, meets with a job counselor so that she can continue to receive her unemployment benefits after being laid off from her factory job in her mid-fifties. Over her sessions with the job counselor, Cara recounts the stories of her life, including her struggles with relationships, caring for others over herself, debt, and the gentrification of her neighborhood.

This book was extremely engrossing and I was sucked in from the opening line. Cara’s character is so pure and you can’t help but fall in love with her and cheer her on. I love that Cara tells her story in a mix of English and Spanish. You definitely don’t need to understand Spanish to read the book, but it adds a lot to the narrative if you know Spanish.

One of my favorite quotes: “Like my neighbor Lulú says, El Obama is good, but not God.”

Just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, Rhys Larson, has-been singer and owner of a community of vacation homes on Lake Mirror in Wales, is dead. On New Year’s Day, detective Ffion Morgan has a town full of suspects, including her own family, friends, and neighbors, as well as the residents of the vacation homes, to whom the Welsh do not take kindly. With lies around every turn, the question turns from who wanted Rhys dead to who finally killed him.

This murder mystery was really engrossing and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Every character was a suspect, and the twists kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. There wasn’t a single shocking plot twist, but lots of secrets were revealed throughout, which definitely held my interest and kept me guessing.

This coming of age story follows Nori, a child born out of wedlock to the estranged daughter of old Japanese royalty who struggles to find acceptance. Nori is dumped at her grandparents’ home as a young child, and her grandmother takes her in not as an act of love but to conceal her, fearful for how she will impact their royal status. Chance brings her only half-brother to the estate, and for once Nori has a glimpse at a world with acceptance and love. But Nori’s attempts to join that world cost her everything.

This novel is pretty much a tragedy fest, so buckle in for some real sadness with this one! The writing is beautiful. You can’t help but find sympathy for Nori’s character and all of the hardships she endured. I really wanted this book to have a happy ending for her, and while in a way it does, it certainly isn’t a happy ending in the traditional sense, and it frustrated me because I wanted SOMETHING to go right for this poor girl. Overall this was a moving story that was incredibly well written, but I wish it had a brighter ending.

Poppy and Alex met in their freshman year of college, and quickly became an unlikely pair of close friends. Every year during the summer, they plan a vacation to a new destination. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. Poppy has achieved all of her goals and feels stuck in life, and realizes the last time she was truly happy was when she was traveling with Alex. So she plans one more trip, and Alex miraculously agrees. With a week to fix their friendship, Alex and Poppy are forced to confront their feelings and fears.

I just love how Emily Henry writes and will read anything she comes up with! This was a cute story with well developed characters who had a great connection. Even though the book is told from Poppy’s point of view, you can really get a sense of Alex’s feelings as well. The banter and humor was great. Definitely a great friends to lovers story!

Rosie, escaped from Russia with her mother after her father and sister were murdered, is a cryptology student at Oxford. With a new English name and an English fiancé, all she wants is to understand and move on from her past. When her mother dies, Rosie takes a job with a Russian historian, Alexey Ivanov, which leads her back to Moscow. What she uncovers during her work is a devastating family history that spans the 1917 revolution, the siege of Leningrad, and Stalin’s purges, leading up to glasnost and perestroika. This story of betrayal, revenge, and redemption shows that answers don’t always come from the past, but you can’t run from who you are and expect to uncover the truth.

I’ve always been a bit of a Russophile, to the point of choosing Russian language and literature as one of my majors in college. I find the complex history of Russia so intriguing and this book captured so many things about Russian culture that fascinate me. I love the call back to folk stories (though the author invented them for the purposes of this novel) and how they were tied to the characters in the book. The book also felt like a love letter to some other Russian literature greats, specifically Doctor Zhivago and Anna Karenina. The plot was so compelling and had me turning the pages to get down to the truth of what really happened! I wish there was a tad more focus on historical events in addition to the characters’ personal stories in the past timeline, but I still really enjoyed this book. Definitely recommend this great historical fiction.

Savannah Cade has the chance of making her romance author dreams come true when a renowned editor in chief at a romance imprint company asks to receive her manuscript, which Savannah has secretly been writing while working as an editor herself at another publishing house. When she accidentally drops her manuscript during a company meeting and her new boss William Pennington sees it, Savannah quickly hides the manuscript in a secret room in the office. But when she comes back to get it, she finds that someone has been making critical editorial notes. Realizing that her mystery editor’s remarks will make her book better, Savannah asks for their help with editing the entire manuscript. Savannah finds her mystery editor to be pivotal to her work and her life, and she ends up falling for him…if only she could figure out who it is.

This was a very cute romance novel! I really liked all of the characters and the whole story felt cozy and bookish. Was it a super complex novel or super realistic? No, but sometimes I think that’s the entire point of fun romance stories like these. It was a very fun and sweet book that was very well written with lots of charm and humor.