4.14.2018 - Then She Was Gone

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and Lisa Jewell for the opportunity to read and review her latest book - SO good!  I have read and enjoyed Jewell's past books but this one is the top of the heap!

It's been 10 years since Ellie, a 15-year-old girl who was the bright spot in her family, disappeared.  The police feared she was a runaway but her parents held fast that she wouldn't.  Or would she?  Ellie's disappearance of course affected her whole family and they've all gone different directions trying to cope and move on.  Mom Laurel meets a new man one day and finds herself feeling hopeful and excited about this new relationship.  When she meets his girls, she is shocked to find the youngest, Poppy, looks just like Ellie.

You will probably figure out the mystery but it won't take one thing away from the magic of this book.  It literally draws you in until the final page.  Highly recommended - a great read!

4.12.2018 - The New Neighbors

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House and Simon Lelic for the opportunity to read this great psychological thriller - 4.5 stars!!

This book was written in such a clever manner.  A young couple, Jack and Syd, are house hunting in London, where long lines to view homes are common and prices reflective of that seller's market.  Syd falls in love with a house whose owner just abandoned it, so it's full to the brim of stuff.  Then Jack discovers something in the attic and Syd discovers something wrong in the house behind her - but they keep their findings secret.  Until a body is found nearby.

In hopes of being able to tell their story, Jack and Syd sit down independently and write their versions of what happened.  This is presented in alternating chapters so you get the entire story from 2 different points of view.

Lots of twists and turns in this one that I didn't see coming - a great book - highly recommended!

4.10.2018 - We Own the Sky

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Park Row and Luke Allnutt for the opportunity to read and review his debut book - stunning.  This book will tear at your heart and is so beautifully written. 

Rob and Anna are two parents who aren't unfamiliar with loss or sadness.  But they aren't prepared for  the diagnosis they received for their son, Jack.  This book follows that journey but is so much more.  It's a love story - between parent and child, especially between dad and child, and between husband and wife.  How far would we go to save someone, to have just one more minute of hope?
It's hard to believe that this is Allnutt's first novel but when you read that he is a cancer survivor, you know this is written from a place of truth.  All of the characters were so real and the situations so realistic.

I loved the beginning notes of some of the chapters, which you won't fully understand until the end.  Highly recommended but have tissues nearby!

4.8.2018 - Go Ask Fannie

Thanks so much to NetGalley, GP Puntnam's Sons, and Elisabeth Hyde for the opportunity to read her novel - a really good story with intriguing, realistic characters.

The story takes place over one weekend when Murray invites his 3 children to his New Hampshire farm.  Ruth is a married attorney from Washington DC; George is a nurse who lives just an hour away; and Lizzie is a professor at a college nearby her dad's home.  Besides having the family all together, he has an ulterior motive to have Ruth talk to Lizzie about her relationship with a much older married man.  With all that, he just wants his kids to get along for the weekend.  We all know that sibling relationships take on a life of their own and how far do we really get from this ingrained childhood patterns?  Ruth is still in charge and wants to control everything; George has always taken care of Lizzie to the detriment that he's scared of another relationship like that; and Lizzie lives up to her reputation as being the wild one
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Intermixed with the weekend's happenings, including Lizzie possibly contemplating a jail stay because of an incident with her boyfriend involving the loss of the family copy of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, the backstory of the family as well as the mom and other brother Daniel, come out.
Just an enjoyable read with lots of family dynamics to ponder.  Would be great for a book club - I'm sure lots of sibling stories would come out of that discussion!

4.6.2018 - After Anna

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Lisa Scottoline for the opportunity to read and review her latest book - loved it!  I love everything Scottoline writes - thank goodness she is a prolific writer so I can get my fix!

The book centers on a family unit - Noah and Maggie are both on their second marriage and are happy; Caleb is Noah's son and Anna is Maggie's.  Maggie lost custody of Anna when she was an infant and she hasn't seen her since then.  When Anna appears in Maggie's life as a 17-year-old and moves in, things change quickly for the family.  Maggie is so desperate to have Anna back in her life that she allows Anna to do whatever she wants, setting up conflict between Maggie and Noah.  Then Anna is found brutally murdered and Noah is charged with the crime.

This was a very twisty book and presented in a clever format - Before Anna and After Anna.  In the Before Anna segments, it is the courtroom trial counting down backwards from the verdict.  The Before Anna is the rest of the story of the family and how everything came to be.

Couldn't put it down; loved the twists and turns.  Highly recommended!

4.3.2018 - Flying at Night

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Berkley, and Rebecca Brown for the opportunity to read and review her debut novel - I loved it.  I think I'm a sucker for books that really delve into characters and quirky characters to boot - this one was all that and more.

Piper was raised by a strict, controlling, verbally abusive father, Lance.  Her brother left at the earliest opportunity and has very little to do with the family.  Piper was always mad at her mom for not leaving her dad and putting up with and excusing his behavior. 

Piper went away for college but ended up married and back in the same town as she grew up, which means right back into her parents' world too.  But Piper quit her career and devoted herself to her son, Fred, who was difficult, quirky and all-consuming.  When a diagnosis comes to her, it throws her for a loop.  Then her father has a heart attack and is left brain damaged.  All these events and characters come together for a great read.

The best part of this book is that it is told in chapters voiced by Piper, Lance and Fred.  Each voice is so spot on that we really get to delve into their feelings.

4.1.2018 - School for Psychics

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and KC Archer for the opportunity to read and review this book.

So I loved all the Harry Potter books and this to me is the start of another fun series bending towards magic.  I can also see this being a good YA read.

Teddy is in her early 20s, smart and skilled at reading other people enough to win so much playing cards in Vegas that she gets herself kicked out of all the casinos.  Which is a problem because she is in major debt to her bookie and has no way of getting that money back.  Just when she needs it most, someone swoops in and offers her a chance at a new life - he tells her that what she thought were epileptic seizures were actually psychic happenings.  He promises to wipe away her debts if she will attend a highly-secretive School for Psychics. 

Once at the school, Teddy finds herself in with a group of so-called Misfits.  They are put through rigors of physical and mental training and challenges and Teddy begins to hone her abilities.  But mysteries begin to surface and Teddy finds herself in a position where she has to decide who she can trust - and it may be with her life.

This promises to be the start of a great series.  I read this quickly and it kept me interested and intrigued.  Book 2 please!