A perfect summer read that’s a mix of Anna Karenina and Gossip Girl Upper East Side antics.

I promise you that if you can get past the drama queen that is Eleanor, it’s worth the read.

Thank you Dutton Books and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.


First of all:

DNF at 4%. How anyone can make it past this point is beyond me. At 4% into the book, Roxy has managed to complain about everything from her job, to her ex boyfriend living with her, to a Lululemon store going into an old video store. We get it.

Thank you G.P Putnam Sons for a finished copy.

4 stars

American Sherlock was the June pick for my true crime book club, #truecrimetober, which I host in Instagram.

As someone who reads and researches crime a lot, I know that forensics are an important part of a conviction or of an acquittal. Oscar Heinrick’s work shaped forensics through by daring to do what others hadn’t done.

Dawson picked good cases to showcase his career, but I do wish a few more would’ve been added. I also found that some of the book was hard to get through just due to pacing.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars. Rounded down to 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

See bottom of review for trigger warnings.

Short Synopsis: Tara is a 20 year old woman that was adopted by her foster mother at the age of eight after being hit by a car while riding on her bike. Flash forward to when Tara is twenty and she is pretending to be pregnant while she and her Mother are attempting to shoplift items from Target so that they can resell them on eBay. Getting caught will set off a chain of events that will change Tara's life forever.

Tara has a life all to herself in her attic bedroom and when she gets the chance of a lifetime to intern for a Youtube family, she'll do anything to get there. The Feely family isn't who they seem and who exactly is Angela?

REVIEW:

I had high hopes for What It Seems, but it fell short for me. The beginning was gripping and I liked that it started and ended with details from Tara's accident. I feel like Tara's time with the the Feely's went from 0 to 100 really quick and could've had a bit more development. I did like the development of Tara and Henry's relationship and could tell that there was a romance budding there IF Tara could become free.

I did like the twist of her Mother kidnapping another girl and how that helped Tara remember what happened 20 years ago. On the note of Mother, I wanted a bit more background on her. The "prison" idea was just introduced and forgotten about. Why was she in prison before, was it for something to do with the original Tara?

What it Seems was a quick read- it only took me about a day to read it. Perfect for a quick summer read.

Overall, I would read another Emily Bleeker book because I read some chapters that I enjoyed.

TW: Kidnapping, parental abuse, attempted sexual assault

I loved this so much. Perfect historical fiction read for a holiday weekend or a vacation. I read it in two sittings in the boat.

A great historical fiction to pick up this summer. A Hundred Suns takes place in 1933, but does not center around World War II in Europe like most historical fictions do during that time.

I’d do anything to read this again for the first time.

ALL OF THE STARS.

The perfect series to start in a time like this...if only books 2 and 3 would arrive on my doorstep.