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onmalsshelf
When a book makes me cry, it’s almost always an automatic five star read. I’m glad I stayed up to finish reading it.
Libby as a narrator just didn’t do it for me. I feel like Libby was used as a narrator so that it wouldn’t be a book copying Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. This book seemed like an ultimate #richpeopleproblems book with a narrator going through a midlife crisis.
The Other Einstein was between 3.5 to 4 stars for me. I can’t decide which.
I really wanted to love this one because it’s not often when a woman of science is introduced into a historical fiction. However, I just couldn’t get hooked. A warning for historical fiction lovers, this does read more like nonfiction than historical fiction.
I would have loved to hear more about Mileva’s life in Serbia before Einstein and also more on how she got back into tutoring female academics after they divorced.
I do applaud Marie for all of the research she did to try to make this historical fiction read like nonfiction with only a few parts that were complete fiction. For more on her research, I recommend reading the author’s note.
Final thoughts: If only Mileva had more people in her corner to get back into science besides Helene and Madame Marie Curie.
I really wanted to love this one because it’s not often when a woman of science is introduced into a historical fiction. However, I just couldn’t get hooked. A warning for historical fiction lovers, this does read more like nonfiction than historical fiction.
I would have loved to hear more about Mileva’s life in Serbia before Einstein and also more on how she got back into tutoring female academics after they divorced.
I do applaud Marie for all of the research she did to try to make this historical fiction read like nonfiction with only a few parts that were complete fiction. For more on her research, I recommend reading the author’s note.
Final thoughts: If only Mileva had more people in her corner to get back into science besides Helene and Madame Marie Curie.
2 stars.
Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Books, and Libro.fm for the Galley and ALC in exchange for an honest review.
Note: The author identifies as queer and I am not sure of their correct pronouns, so I will be using they/their.
Synopsis wise, I will be sharing what the true crime portion of the book is about:
June 25, 1980, Pocahontas County, West Virginia: Vicki Durian, 26, and Nancy Santomero, 19, were found shot in an isolated clearing. The two women had been hitchhiking together from Arizona to West Virginia to get to the Rainbow Gathering (a counterculture gathering) in the area and had last been seen alive in Richmond. Immediately suspicion was thrown onto local men because no one from out of town would know the isolated field.
Multiple men were arrested during the investigation of the slayings, and eventually one man was convicted. However, when a convicted serial killer confesses to the murder, the conviction of Jacob Beard is called into question.
The author tells you from the beginning who is currently in jail for the murders. I'll let you read to find out who.
First and foremost: this is not a true crime book and should not be characterized as such.
It's more of a hybrid of a memoir and true crime book where the author uses their personal life in Pocahontas County, West Virginia to say why they had the right to write a book on the Rainbow murders.
It was about 1/3 facts on the Rainbow murders and 2/3 a memoir on their life of moving from New York to West Virginia to work for VISTA after graduating college.
What I liked about The Third Rainbow Girl: The author went into the misuse of power by the cops and the prosecution misconduct that went into the wrongful conviction in the murder of Vicki Durian, 26, and Nancy Santomero, 19, when they were on their way to the Rainbow Gathering in the area.
What my rating boils down to: I was expecting a true crime book on two murders that I haven't read or heard much about, but instead I got a memoir of reasoning as to why she looked into the murders after living in West Virginia.
Trigger Warnings: Gang rape, murder, drug use, sexual assault, animal abuse, unexpected pregnancy
Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Books, and Libro.fm for the Galley and ALC in exchange for an honest review.
Note: The author identifies as queer and I am not sure of their correct pronouns, so I will be using they/their.
Synopsis wise, I will be sharing what the true crime portion of the book is about:
June 25, 1980, Pocahontas County, West Virginia: Vicki Durian, 26, and Nancy Santomero, 19, were found shot in an isolated clearing. The two women had been hitchhiking together from Arizona to West Virginia to get to the Rainbow Gathering (a counterculture gathering) in the area and had last been seen alive in Richmond. Immediately suspicion was thrown onto local men because no one from out of town would know the isolated field.
Multiple men were arrested during the investigation of the slayings, and eventually one man was convicted. However, when a convicted serial killer confesses to the murder, the conviction of Jacob Beard is called into question.
The author tells you from the beginning who is currently in jail for the murders. I'll let you read to find out who.
First and foremost: this is not a true crime book and should not be characterized as such.
It's more of a hybrid of a memoir and true crime book where the author uses their personal life in Pocahontas County, West Virginia to say why they had the right to write a book on the Rainbow murders.
It was about 1/3 facts on the Rainbow murders and 2/3 a memoir on their life of moving from New York to West Virginia to work for VISTA after graduating college.
What I liked about The Third Rainbow Girl: The author went into the misuse of power by the cops and the prosecution misconduct that went into the wrongful conviction in the murder of Vicki Durian, 26, and Nancy Santomero, 19, when they were on their way to the Rainbow Gathering in the area.
What my rating boils down to: I was expecting a true crime book on two murders that I haven't read or heard much about, but instead I got a memoir of reasoning as to why she looked into the murders after living in West Virginia.
Trigger Warnings: Gang rape, murder, drug use, sexual assault, animal abuse, unexpected pregnancy
Thank you Netgalley and Inkubator Books for the eBook in exchange for my honesty review.
3 stars
The Good Mother is a Desperate Housewives meets My Strange Addiction with a side of everyone ignoring the issues right in front of them thrown into a domestic thriller. I'd also like to compare this to a train wreck that you just can't look away from.
I'd recommend this for a quick read on vacation or if you need something to ignore the stress of life, like I did when I read this.
What I did like: This book seems to be addressing some issues that are in the news right now. Men and women thinking women are raped because of what they wear. People thinking everyone in jail is there for a violent offense. It's like Cathryn was basically trying to say with this book, "This is what happens when you assume things and stop blaming women for their own rapes."
Everything that was eh:
Amy reminds me of that girl in high school that everyone knows that expects to always get her way. She grew up thinking women asked to be raped because of what they wore and the things the did that let men into their lives. She lets this get the best of her when Charlotte moves to town and seems to be drawing the attention of her husband and her daughter seems to want to be friends with Charlotte's daughter. She doesn't like that Charlotte is different and assumes that Charlotte's boyfriend is in jail for a violent offense. Amy, you know what they say about people who assume. Also her friends and husband are enablers. Jane, Kit and Rachel's husband Greg seem to be the only sane ones in the group of couples.
Charlotte is just trying to start over her life after her boyfriend gets arrested, but since she's an outsider that doesn't like to wear a bra and likes to take photographs of things (so she can make a living), Amy hates her. Charlotte isn't afraid to confront those who don't want her there. Overall, I really liked Charlotte and wanted to see more of her in the plot.
TW: Rape, paranoia, dead animals, unaddressed alcoholism
3 stars
The Good Mother is a Desperate Housewives meets My Strange Addiction with a side of everyone ignoring the issues right in front of them thrown into a domestic thriller. I'd also like to compare this to a train wreck that you just can't look away from.
I'd recommend this for a quick read on vacation or if you need something to ignore the stress of life, like I did when I read this.
What I did like: This book seems to be addressing some issues that are in the news right now. Men and women thinking women are raped because of what they wear. People thinking everyone in jail is there for a violent offense. It's like Cathryn was basically trying to say with this book, "This is what happens when you assume things and stop blaming women for their own rapes."
Everything that was eh:
Amy reminds me of that girl in high school that everyone knows that expects to always get her way. She grew up thinking women asked to be raped because of what they wore and the things the did that let men into their lives. She lets this get the best of her when Charlotte moves to town and seems to be drawing the attention of her husband and her daughter seems to want to be friends with Charlotte's daughter. She doesn't like that Charlotte is different and assumes that Charlotte's boyfriend is in jail for a violent offense. Amy, you know what they say about people who assume. Also her friends and husband are enablers. Jane, Kit and Rachel's husband Greg seem to be the only sane ones in the group of couples.
Charlotte is just trying to start over her life after her boyfriend gets arrested, but since she's an outsider that doesn't like to wear a bra and likes to take photographs of things (so she can make a living), Amy hates her. Charlotte isn't afraid to confront those who don't want her there. Overall, I really liked Charlotte and wanted to see more of her in the plot.
TW: Rape, paranoia, dead animals, unaddressed alcoholism
Loved this audiobook, it lived up to all of the hype! Now I think I need to find a therapist.
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Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for a eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Three women from three different time periods connected by one castle and the secrets it contains. What does a painting of Queen Elizabeth have to do secrets the castle walls hold?
Do not be afraid of reading this book when you see that it's the third in a series. I haven't read the first two in the series, and to me it seems that you don't need to.
The Painted Castle is a very well researched historical fiction. With three different timelines, I never got confused because each timeline was distinct and well thought-out. This is not your typical historical fiction as it has one timeline in the 1840s, one in the 1940s, and one in the present day. Personally, my favorite was the one in the 1940s as WWII historical fiction is one of my favorite genres.
It was refreshing to read a historical fiction that didn't include espionage, but I am giving this four stars as I wish that the story between Kiera and Emory in the present day would have been more developed. If that third of the story would have been more developed, I would have given it the extra star.
I look forward to reading more of Kristy Cambron's work as I couldn't put this one down.
Three women from three different time periods connected by one castle and the secrets it contains. What does a painting of Queen Elizabeth have to do secrets the castle walls hold?
Do not be afraid of reading this book when you see that it's the third in a series. I haven't read the first two in the series, and to me it seems that you don't need to.
The Painted Castle is a very well researched historical fiction. With three different timelines, I never got confused because each timeline was distinct and well thought-out. This is not your typical historical fiction as it has one timeline in the 1840s, one in the 1940s, and one in the present day. Personally, my favorite was the one in the 1940s as WWII historical fiction is one of my favorite genres.
It was refreshing to read a historical fiction that didn't include espionage, but I am giving this four stars as I wish that the story between Kiera and Emory in the present day would have been more developed. If that third of the story would have been more developed, I would have given it the extra star.
I look forward to reading more of Kristy Cambron's work as I couldn't put this one down.
