I made it through the prologue, but there’s no way I can continue on. Nothing made sense

I haven't picked this up in 49 days, so I'm just going to officially DNF. Not enough to going on to keep my interest. The writing is beautiful, but it's just moving too slow for me. 

A friend also gave me a warning that there is some pedophilia later on and I usually don't keep going with books with that anyways.

While I thank the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC, I cannot finish this. 

The sentence structure is so choppy and does more telling than showing with minimal dialogue to move the plot forward. Beyond that, is the character's name Todd or Gregg because changing the name of an accused killer within a few chapters was a horrible idea?

Wow this was boring. I tried to get through it to review for NetGalley, but nothing was holding my attention.

I'm disappointed that this turned out to be more domestic noir than espionage that it seemed to say it was going to be. I also had zero idea this was part of a series (number 2 I believe?) 

I just didn't find myself interested in anything going on because I was busy looking for more excitement.

Thanks St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this eARC.

I was really excited to read this one, but I personally cannot spent any more time in the main character’s head. I don’t know if it’s because I have a cold, dead heart or she’s just too annoying and whines too much. 

Plus, her actions seem more like actions of someone right out of high school instead of someone approaching their 30s.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for an ARC copy in an exchange for an honest review. 

DNF @ 25%

Okay - let me start out saying this is one book that I was so excited for in 2022. I mean come on  - science fiction with time travel, an impossible crime to solve, set in a hotel? What is there for me not to like?

Turns out - there was just enough for me to want to put this down. I think the best way to describe my thoughts is that this was trying too hard to be too many things at once. 

I basically clocked out on paying attention when there were dinosaurs running around, a random guy acting like he ran the place, and January was hallucinating her dead girlfriend all in the same scene. Just pick one and run with it. I know science fiction is supposed to be one of those things that can get messy, but this gave me whiplash all in about three or so pages. 

I also feel like the inclusion of a nonbinary character here felt more like "I need to add a token charter for diversity" and then the author plopped in the character and did not try to cohesively add them in. 

Lastly - I fell asleep twice while reading the 25% I did read. So that goes against it too - can't keep me awake enough to at least set my Kindle on the nightstand. 

This book will have an audience, it's just not me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Crooked Lane Books for this audio ARC for an honest review. 

Sadly, this one did not work out for me. First, while many said you don't need to read the other books in this series before picking this one up - I think you should. I feel like there are so many characters that seemed to pop out of nowhere that I didn't know the background about and therefore, you should read the earlier installments. 

Also, while I'm new to cozy mysteries - I think I already know what I like and don't like in them. I like cozy locals, animals, and friend groups that solve mysteries. 

I don't like unlikeable narrator - Lucy is absolutely insufferable, I hate gossip (seems like everyone in gossipy southern woman), and I hate when the author makes characters look down on anyone for how they look or how they dress. Which this had all of that above. 

Also - if any of the men talked to me like they talked to Lucy - I'd punch them. Then again, I'm a midwestern woman who doesn't take that gaslighting. 

Anyways: pick up the rest of the series before diving into number nine.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio galley. 

I can't help but feel anything besides duped by the genre description from the publisher.

This is NOT a mystery/thriller.

I DNF'd at about 16.3% in and kept waiting for the smallest smidge of mystery or thriller to start appearing because this is around the point that it does. Sadly, it didn't. I would say this is more of a women's fiction domestic drama and it would probably be perfect for a Lifetime movie. 

Can't Look Away follows Molly, a woman who used to live in NYC and used to date Jake Danner in 2013, but now lives in Flanner Cove, CT with her husband, Hunter, and daughter in 2022. Molly is lonely surrounded by 40 something country club wives - enter Sabrina, the mysterious new newlywed that befriends Molly after attending her yoga class and running into her at the doctor. What are her motives and was meeting Molly an accident? What happened to Jake Danner?

I'll say the narrator performance did keep me going so bravo with that. Great combination of narrators. 

HUGE trigger warning for infertility and miscarriage. Infertility was a huge topic in just the first 16% so I'm assuming it would be carried throughout. 

I have the author's most recent release from 2021 sitting on a shelf and I'm still looking forward to picking it up, but I can't recommend this one to anyone looking for a mystery/thriller. Looking for a women's fiction with domestic drama? Take a crack at it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy I’m exchange for a review. 

I was so looking forward to this one. Dystopian novels are usually right up my alley, but Harrow just didn’t deliver. From what I’ve seen from rave reviews, the writing style for this one is similar to her other novels. However, the style seemed clunky and nothing seemed to connect. If I’m being honest, if this is how her earlier works are, I’m surprised she won the Pulitzer in 2001.

Book 1 was a hot mess. Random scene changes with so many characters and nothing seemed to connect. Book 2 was getting better, the plot seemed to be tying together but the characters were insufferable. 

Also, what’s a dystopian novel without science? From the bit I read, there was little science and little mention of how America plunged in this dystopia. It was all theory. 

She’s obviously a well beloved author, but she’s not for me.