Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC. 

Well..I finished it so that's something. I considered DNFing (and I probably should've, but I wanted to see if it would somehow redeem itself). 

I think the premise of this was great, it just got derailed...quickly and it never saved itself. Too much was promised and too many plot holes made the plot unbelievable. Also, let's not forget the shootout/hostage situation that was way too long. I think this probably could've been at least 100 pages shorter and it possibly would've been more successful. Maybe. Probably not. 

Congrats on joining the list of veteran thriller authors publishing duds in 2021, joining Riley Sager and Alex Michaelides 

My issues:
- Problematic, racist commentary on the Asian community 
- Obvious lack of research when it comes to the area of Montana
- Lack of editing when it comes to making sure physics matched up. A human body and a gun would not fall at the same velocity off of a bridge. 
- POV switched randomly multiple times throughout the same chapter. It was hard to determine who was speaking
- A lot of plot holes 

I was considering reading No Exit, but I don't think I will now. 

This book will be for someone, but it wasn't for me. 

Apparently it seems that I'm leaning towards hard-hitting literary fiction in Q4 2021 and I'm okay with that. 

This is the first time in a long time that I've grabbed a piece of paper to start writing thoughts down only 20% into it. 

<i>Songbirds</i> is heartbreaking and evocative and I know I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. As someone who hasn't read either of Christy Lefteri's previous works, I'm glad I picked this one up first. 

Somehow, Lefteri managed to craft an astounding story inspired by real events in Cyprus surrounding how foreign domestic workers are treated in Cyprus by the middle class families they are employed by and by the police. 

Nisha is a domestic worker from Sri Lanka that has been working for Petra for 9 years when she suddenly goes missing on a Sunday night. We then follow her employer Petra and her lover Yannis on their journey to attempt to get justice for her in a country that has no love for foreign workers. 

I found myself hooked from the start and was overall satisfied with the ending that seemed tied up to me.  Make no mistake, like me you may be incredibly infuriated with Nisha's employer at the beginning of the book, but unlike one other person in this story (Mrs Kostas), Petra does end up having some character development and ends up seeing Nisha as an actual person instead of just a "Shadow of myself". Shocking that your domestic worker will have life outside of caring for your daughter Petra, so shocking. 

Personally, I am wondering if there is symbolism between the songbirds and the foreign domestic workers. As in in Cyprus, they both seem to be 'delicacies' that only the middle class and up can afford, but they don't care enough to take care of them properly to keep them safe. 

What is keeping me from rating it five stars is the pacing between the two POVs as well as the lack of plot movement surrounding Nisha herself. I just wanted the pacing to be a little quicker in Yannis'. I also had an issue with some dialogue being repeated when Petra was having a flashback multiple times on a bus ride. 

I think that this would make a great book for a book club because just by looking at the DNFs, the one start ratings, and the two ratings, it may lead to a great discussion. 

On the topic of DNFing, if you do decide to pick this one up but decide that it is not for you, please at least consider flipping to the author's note at the end. 

I highly recommend this, but please be aware of the following trigger warnings (one of which I haven't seen anyone else mention in their reviews because everyone seems to be focused on the song birds): 

What a fantastic work of meta fiction!! I haven't read anything else by Richard Chizmar, but now I want to. That being said, this is not horror and shouldn't have been nominated for that category in the Goodreads Choice Awards (insert side eye).

The concept? A+
The execution? A+
Did I, an avid true crime reader and documentary watcher guess the ending? Nope

Perfect use of memoir and fiction to discuss a true crime story to draw the reader in from the start. Not only was I drawn in, but I felt like I was in Edgewood with Richard and Carly trying to piece things together outside of the police search. 

I recommend listening to it on audio and following along with a physical copy, it had great narration as well. 

Plus those pictures included in the book? SO SMART. 

This may just be the most throughly thought out release of 2021. 

What a fantastic fast paced Scandinavian thriller to close out the month with! 

I stayed up to finish it and it was well worth it. 

As someone who loves thrillers and noir that have different plot points added in - this one was perfect! Full of forensic science, poisonings, murder, missing people, and much more and I don’t think the plot was bogged down at all with so much going on. Plus, the sense of place was so great that I felt like I was right there in the middle of the investigation. The only things keeping me from giving this five stars was that some of the actions from multiple characters weren’t explained at the end which felt like loose ends to me. Maybe just one more chapter could’ve summed it up a little better, but overall I loved it. 

Highly recommend. 

“The only thing that matters is that the Martini exists. And to me it matters a great deal that it resist in its driest form.” 

I think Stanley and I would get along well at a dinner 

Okay - if you like Insta love but also love slow burn (emphasis on slow) romances with guys that give you unrealistic expectations for love - PICK THIS ONE UP. 

I honestly was worried when it went from instant connection to a slow build because I was beginning to think  that I would end up not enjoying this. I’m so glad I wasn’t disappointed.

Set in Carmel by the Sea, this is a picturesque romance with writers and you get different take on dual perspective in this romance!