Serious Moonlight

Serious Moonlight
By: Jenn Bennett
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 482

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately.

Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel.

In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel.

To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.

First Impressions

Bennett’s covers are the best. Every time I see her covers I just want to crawl inside and live in them. I mean look! They’re perfection. I didn’t even need to read the summary because I had enjoyed Bennett’s two previous novels.

What I thought

Bennett just keeps getting better and better. I loved this book.

Birdie is 18 and starting her first job. Problem is, she slept with and ran away from one of her now coworkers. Daniel is a magician who works at the same hotel as Birdie. He knows that she loves to solve mysteries, so when she refuses to talk to him about what happened, he tells her he knows of a mystery happening at the hotel and asks if she would like to solve it with him.

I enjoyed this book so much that I don’t even know where to start. Birdie is such a unique character and I loved her. She has a lot of flaws, but they’re all endearing and not irritating. Sometimes I can get easily annoyed with characters that are either too perfect or too flawed, but Birdie hits that perfect balance. She is struggling to find out who she is while also dealing with typical teenage love awkwardness.

And Daniel. Oh man did I love him. He’s a great book crush. He has this cool air about him but the magician side makes him more approachable. I love the way he talks to Birdie and that he doesn’t let her get away with much.

I think what I liked best about this book was that while it is a contemporary novel (which is my jam) this one added a mystery twist and it was awesome. Daniel has discovered that recluse author Raymond Darke is coming to the hotel every Tuesday for an hour and then leaving. Daniel and Birdie investigating Darke was a delight.

I also appreciated that Bennett doesn’t shy away from adult issues. The story touches on issues like death, suicide, depression, sex, drugs, and more and it is done so well and realistically. I think often YA books gloss over the gory details because they want to please the readers’ parents. But when a book talks to the teenagers like adults and throws in real life issues, I think it’s more important.

I could not put this book down. It is easily my favorite of Bennett’s three novels, even though I did greatly enjoy her others. Daniel and Birdie’s story is unique and fun but touches on serious in just the right way. If you are a YA fan or if you’ve been in a reading slump you need to pick up this book.

Book Club April 2019- When You Read This

By: Mary Adkins
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 276

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Iris Massey is gone. 
But she’s left something behind.

For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris’s last wish.

Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris’ big sister Jade, an haute cuisine chef who’s been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other.

Told in a series of e-mails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, legal correspondence, home-rental bookings, and other snippets of our virtual lives, When You Read This is a deft, captivating romantic comedy—funny, tragic, surprising, and bittersweet—that candidly reveals how we find new beginnings after loss.

What I thought

This is an epistolary novel about a 33-year old woman who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and how her boss and sister get along after she has died. The book is told through old blog posts that Iris wrote as she was dying, emails between Smith (Iris’ boss) and Jade (Iris’ sister) and a few other various emails.

Smith’s assistant finds a copy of Iris’ death blog printed out with a hand written note on it asking Smith to publish it after she dies, so he is dealing with that in addition to dealing with her death.

Now, I love epistolary novels. Almost as much as I love saying the word “epistolary”. My love for them was sparked by Meg Cabot’s novel, Every Boy’s Got One. Since then, I have held every novel of this type to the standards of that one. Cabot wrote an amazing novel that allowed me to fall in love with multiple characters as well as see and related to a romance.

Unfortunately, this novel did not reach my standards. While it was entertaining enough to be a quick 24-hour read, I didn’t like any of the characters. I found everyone to be self-centered with little to no redeeming qualities. There was sort of a romance between Smith and Jade, which was just as flat as it was predictable.

I did enjoy Iris’ blog posts. They found a good balance between tragic, insightful, and light. I actually liked seeing Smith and Jade through Iris’ blog a lot more than through their emails. I just felt like I couldn’t connect to anyone, and if you can’t connect to people through their personal emails and therapy reports, then how are you ever going to connect to them?

What Book Club Thought

Everyone was all over the place with this one. We had one person who enjoyed it, another who disliked it, and then I was kind of in the middle. The interesting discussion that we had was regarding the tone of the novel and whether or not it would’ve been better as a typical novel instead of told through emails. It sparked some conversation about the back and forth between the seriousness of Iris’s death and the sillier tone of Carl the assistant, which led to talking about truly how much happened in this book. We ultimately decided that we felt like there was a lot that happened and a lot of heavier topics that just didn’t get the attention they deserved due in part to the writing style but also that amount that was going on. Another interesting point that was brought up was whether or not we felt like Iris’s blog actually deserved to be published or would have made a good book.

Overall, even though I wasn’t crazy about this book, it made for some interesting discussion, so I ended up enjoying it as a book club pick.

Tula Glow & Get It Cooling & Brightening Eye Balm Review

This past year I have become a huge fan of Tula products. I adore their Illuminating Serum and have been enjoying their Hydrating Day & Night Cream as well. I have also used their Multi-Spectrum Eye Serum, which I like but don’t love. I love the company because they are cruelty free but also a more natural brand that is free from alcohol, parabens, and mineral oil. Plus, their packaging is my favorite color which doesn’t hurt.

Every morning I use a roller ball for my under eyes (currently using the Molton Brown Anti Fatigue Bai Ji Eye Gel) to wake up my eyes. I find that the roller ball helps to depuff and it’s also cold which makes my eyes feel more awake.

When I heard that Tula was coming out with a product to specifically brighten and cool the under eye area, I was all in. Apparently, so was everyone else because it sold out. It recently came back in stock, so I bought it immediately and it is now sold out again.

The Glow & Get it Balm ($28) contains caffeine, aloe, apple, watermelon, and blueberry. The caffeine is meant to tighten and firm the skin, the aloe, apple, and watermelon are meant for hydration, and the blueberry is also meant for hydration but also protection.

The Tula site suggests putting the balm on under your eyes post-moisturizer, but I’ve found that I like it best putting it on before I put anything else on my skin. I tend to feel the cooling effects more and then I find it sinks into my skin better.

Now, the first few times I tried this product I was very disappointed. My eyes still felt their heavy, itchy, yuckiness in the morning that I found the rollerball helped take away. Since I have started putting it on before any other skincare now, I have liked it better.

What the actual balm looks like

The texture is exactly as the name describes, balmy. It’s kind of odd to put around your eyes, but it’s not hard or sticky do it doesn’t pull on the skin around your eyes. It also has an iridescent shimmer to it. I’ve noticed that it can sit on the skin if you don’t make sure to rub it in. I’ve had a few times where I applied the balm and then ran out the door and when I looked at myself in the car I thought I was going to be blinded by white under eyes, and not in a good way.

My favorite aspect of this product is the cooling sensation. The rest of it I can kind of do without. I mean, I do love the packaging and the color of the product, but not enough to make this a love for me. I find that I still kind of prefer the rollerball and I don’t know yet if it’s because that’s what I’m used to, or if it’s because it actually works better. I’ve been meaning to try putting the rollerball under one eye and the balm under the other to really feel the difference, but I’ve been a bit busy and keep forgetting that I want to try that.

While I will continue to use this product until it runs out, this isn’t one that I would repurchase. I think it’s a little gimmicky, and does a job just as well as a rollerball, if that is the type of product you are looking for.

Am I reading good books?

Last year was the first time since I set a Goodreads challenge that I didn’t meet it. I had a bit of a rough year life wise, so I know that contributed to a slow in reading pace, but I also felt like looking back on the year, I couldn’t think of a ton of great books I read. Because of that, I wanted to do a bit of a review of my ratings of books last year, as well as what my ratings were like so far this year (as we’re already about 25% of the way through 2019!)

I did a Ratings Review back in the beginning of 2017, which you can check out too.

I honestly was a bit surprised by how many 4-star books I read in 2018. I would’ve thought 3 star would’ve been my majority, but it was a close second. It did make me a little sad to see how low my 5-star ratings were. I had almost an equal amount of 5-star books as I did 1-star books which doesn’t make me happy.

I think I’ve learned that while 4-star books at the time are good and enjoyable, that they end up being a little forgettable over time.

Now, I know that I’ve only read 15 books this year so far, compared to the 78 that were rated n 2018, but I’m hopeful with the way the trend is going. No 1-star books so far this year and only 2 2-star books. Also, 3 5-star books by the end of March seems pretty good to me!

I did look back on my previous Ratings Review and saw that, unfortunately, it seems like my 5-star ratings have been on a down trend for a while. I don’t know if that’s just because of the blog and reading more critically, having some life stuff happen and impacting my enjoyment, or just the fact that I’m reading more books that have been sent to me for review as opposed to picking out my own books.

I do think I want to make it more of a goal to read more books of my own choosing and not as many review books, but I know that at least through June I have a pretty long list of to-review books. One positive thing is that a lot of the books I’ve been asked to review in the future are ones I wanted to read anyway.

Do you keep track of your books on Goodreads? Have you checked out your reading patterns?

Play By Sephora March 2019

I know I haven’t done a review of a Play box in a while, but in all honesty, they haven’t excited me enough to do so. It’s not that they’ve been bad, but more that I’ve had one or two products I’ve liked but not the entire box.

Play! By Sephora is a monthly subscription box by Sephora. It costs $10 a month and you received 5 beauty and skincare samples plus a perfume sample each month. Previously, you needed to put yourself onto a wait-list and wait to receive an email before you could subscribe, as they were rolling it out to limited quantities.

In addition to the products, Sephora includes a booklet that includes information about the product, the brand, and then tips of how to use the products. Also at the back of the book is a Play! PASS. This Pass gives you a complimentary one-on-one session with a Sephora artist as well as an extra 50 Beauty Insider points when you scan the pass at the register with any purchase. If you have the Sephora app, you can also scan the images of the products to learn more about them.

There are a variety of boxes that get sent out based on the survey that you fill out for your profile. Each box has a theme and this month’s theme is Beauty in Bloom.

As a heads up, the boxes are a little bit larger and will not fit into a small apartment sized mailbox. For reference, a Birchbox box is able to fit almost perfectly into my mailbox, but this one has no chance.

This month the products I received were as follows:

NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment in American Woman (Full-Size $26)

I love NARS lip products and was excited to try out a new one. The color is a pretty, matte, pinky-brown. I thought it was going to be one of those colors that looks like nothing on my lips, but it actually adds a darker my lips but better coloring. I don’t know if I would call it a spring color, but it is very pretty, comfortable, and long lasting.

Sephora LashCraft Big Volume Mascara (Full-size $14)

I have received this mascara before and I have yet to get around to trying it. The brush looks nice and it supposedly has some products to lessen flaking and increase volume. While it’s a bit disappointing that it’s a repeat product, I can always use travel mascara.

Sheiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion WetForce SpF 50+ (Full-size $40)

I will be going on a few trips this summer, so I’m happy to have this product. Interestingly, it says that it becomes more effective when exposed to water or sweat. Considering most sunscreen does the opposite, I am very intrigued. I’ve also used and enjoyed Shiseido products in the past, so this is a win in my book.

Dr Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment SPF 30 (Full-size $52)

Oh my goodness this product. It’s a treatment that’s s mix between a moisturizer and SPF that lessens redness. It starts out the green of old mud masks and changes to your skintone as you massage it in. when I read the description of this product, my mouth dropped open. I immediately thought, if this product works, it will be a game changer. I don’t like to wear makeup in the summer, so having a product that not only is SPF 30 and face friendly but that can take out redness without makeup? Win! And it works! I didn’t think it did at first, but  once you let it set, it takes out all redness. I don’t know how it works but it is for sure magic.

Ouai Wave Spray (Full-size $26)

This is a texture spray that uses rice protein instead of sea salt to create beachy waves. While I have curly hair, I’ve found in the past that sea salt sprays tend to relax my curls a little. I’m excited to try this product and see if it does the same. However, even if it doesn’t, it smells amazing so I will use it just for that.

Maison Margiela REPLICA Music Festival (Full-size $125)

Perfume samples can be hit or miss. This one has notes of Cannabis Accord, Patchouli Essence, and Leather Accord. It does smell sweeter than the notes implied but has a nice spiciness to it. I haven’t tried it on yet, so I can’t make any official decisions.

This box is great. There are so many products I’m excited to try and have. I haven’t had a box this good in a while, so I’m very excited.

The Last Year of the War

By: Susan Meissner
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 389

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Elise Sontag is a typical Iowa fourteen-year-old in 1943--aware of the war but distanced from its reach. Then her father, a legal U.S. resident for nearly two decades, is suddenly arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. The family is sent to an internment camp in Texas, where, behind the armed guards and barbed wire, Elise feels stripped of everything beloved and familiar, including her own identity.

The only thing that makes the camp bearable is meeting fellow internee Mariko Inoue, a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles, whose friendship empowers Elise to believe the life she knew before the war will again be hers. Together in the desert wilderness, Elise and Mariko hold tight the dream of being young American women with a future beyond the fences.

First Impressions

I have read (and reviewed) two of Meissner’s previous novels. I liked them well enough that when I saw she was coming out with another one I was intrigued. Between knowing I liked the author and an                          

What I thought

Elise and her family are sent to an internment camp for being German during World War II. There she meets her best friend Mariko. About a year after meeting at the internment camp, Elise’s family is repatriated, or traded for Americans to be sent back to Germany. Mariko’s family is eventually sent back to Japan and Elise and Mariko lose touch. In present day, Elise has decided that since she is getting older she wants to find Mariko.

This story is something else. It is a wonderfully written historical fiction. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions and found myself unable to predict what was going to happen next. The story followed Elise’s story from before her father was taken to the internment camp, through her journey to Germany. The previous novels that I read by Meissner had a lot more frequent back and for the between the past and the present. This one mostly occurred in the past with a little bit at the beginning of each part.

Elise and Mariko’s friendship was so wonderful and so pure to read. There is nothing quite like a young friendship born from circumstance. I have experienced friendships that were some of the closest relationships I had when I was young because of being on vacation and being the only two girls of the same age. I related to their friendship in a way that I thought would be hard to do since it happened in such a rough situation a long time ago.

I was fascinated by the historical aspect of this story. I have read a lot of WWII fiction (it tends to be my favorite) and I had never heard about repatriation. The idea that innocent German and Japanese families were traded with American diplomats in the midst of such a hostile war is mind blowing. Reading about the Germany that Elise goes back to is heartbreaking. Adding the layer of her being American and not even knowing how to speak German it was hard to read.

The first third of the book was a pretty quick and enjoyable read. The second third was heavy and depressing. It didn’t take me a long time to get through, but I definitely took a break to watch some light and fluffy TV to recharge. The final third went back to being lighter, while still shocking. I even told my mom what I predicted would happen and I was so far off. I also love when a book takes me in a direction I didn’t expect without using any cheap tricks.

When I was in the middle of this book I felt like I was leaning towards 3 stars because it was so heavy. I don’t normally love books that wear me out like that. But then with the surprises and the change of pace in the final third, I couldn’t help but bump up my rating out of pure appreciation for the writing and the story. While I do recommend this book, I don’t do so lightly. It is a solid story and I think it could spark a love of historical fiction in someone because the content is so interesting. I also think if you already have a solid foundation of appreciation for historical fiction, you will enjoy this one as being different from any that you have previously read.

99 Percent Mine

By: Sally Thorne
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 368

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach…

Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that's inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.

First Impressions

When Thorne came out with her first book, The Hating Game, it seemed to take the world by storm. I enjoyed it but I didn’t seem to like it as much as everyone else did. However, I did enjoy it enough that I got excited to see Thorne came out with another book. The cover is so bright and cheerful and by now you all should know I’m a sucker for cartoony covers, so I was in.

What I thought

I really enjoyed this book. I flew through it and enjoyed every moment.

Darcy has spent her life running away from everyone by traveling the world. As a result, she doesn’t have many people in her life nor does she have a place to call home. When her grandmother dies, she leaves her home to Darcy and her twin brother, Jamie. However, they have to fix it up and sell it to get their in heritance. Tom, Darcy and Jamie’s lifelong best friend, is also in charge of the renovation. He is also the object of Darcy’s affection, except he’s engaged.

Darcy took me a little while to get into, but I loved Tom immediately. She is a bit rough around the edges, so I needed to see some of her softer side before I connected with her. Luckily, the person that she is with Tom is very enjoyable which helps to move the story along. I liked seeing their banter and the fact that you could tell they immediately cared for each other was great.

This isn’t a hate-to-love trope which tends to be my favorite, but there is some of that sassiness between the two characters. I also appreciated that there wasn’t truly a big argument or misunderstanding that happens so often in romance novels. There is, of course, a bit of a conflict in the second half of the book, but it’s handled reasonably and quickly.

I really enjoyed Jamie too and almost wish he had made more of an appearance. I do want a book just on him with appearances from Darcy and Tom. Besides the fact that this book didn’t 100% follow the romance formula, which I appreciated, it isn’t the uniqueness of the story that makes this book enjoyable. It’s the characters and the writing. It’s such a refreshing book and one of the few in a while that I was choosing over watching TV.

With the weather warming up, I find myself needing these lighter happier reads. 99 Percent Mine is a great book if you want something feel-good or if you feel like you’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. The characters are delightful and the story moves quickly. I couldn’t ask for any more from this book. I definitely enjoyed it more than The Hating Game and will be recommending this a lot! I look forward to more books by Thorne in the future and really really hope the next one follows Jamie.

If, Then

By: Kate Hope Day
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 272

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): The residents of a sleepy mountain town are rocked by troubling visions of an alternate reality in this dazzling debut that combines the family-driven suspense of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere with the inventive storytelling of The Immortalists.

In the quiet haven of Clearing, Oregon, four neighbors find their lives upended when they begin to see themselves in parallel realities. Ginny, a devoted surgeon whose work often takes precedence over her family, has a baffling vision of a beautiful co-worker in Ginny’s own bed and begins to doubt the solidity of her marriage. Ginny’s husband, Mark, a wildlife scientist, sees a vision that suggests impending devastation and grows increasingly paranoid, threatening the safety of his wife and son. Samara, a young woman desperately mourning the recent death of her mother and questioning why her father seems to be coping with such ease, witnesses an apparition of her mother healthy and vibrant and wonders about the secrets her parents may have kept from her. Cass, a brilliant scholar struggling with the demands of new motherhood, catches a glimpse of herself pregnant again, just as she’s on the brink of returning to the project that could define her career.

At first the visions are relatively benign, but they grow increasingly disturbing—and, in some cases, frightening. When a natural disaster threatens Clearing, it becomes obvious that the visions were not what they first seemed and that the town will never be the same.

First Impressions

The title was actually what initially drew me to this book. A few years ago, Idina Menzel and Adam Rapp were in a musical by the same name that dealt with what direction would your life go if you made one different decision. Two stories ran simultaneously, one that followed the characters after decision A, the other after decision B. I loved the concept, so when I saw this book I thought it could be something similar. I read the summary and saw that it was about alternate realities (although not in the same way as the musical) and was immediately intrigued).

What I thought

I was so highly disappointed by this book. If you do not enjoying negative reviews, just scroll to the end to get my rating and wrap up summary.

If/Then follows 4 main characters; Ginny, her husband Mark, and their neighbors Cass and Samara. Ginny is the chief of surgery and is never home, leaving Mark to raise their pre-teen son Noah. Cassie is the mother to a newborn and her husband is away on a research trip. Samara has just lost her mother and is trying to figure out where her life should be. One day, Ginny sees another version of herself lying in bed, not with her husband, but with a female nurse that she works with. Mark, Samara, and Cass also start to see alternate realities of themselves and their loved ones. No one knows why, but Mark gets a feeling that something terrible is about to happen.

Basically, I have a few major issues with this book so I will try to express them in the clearest and nicest way possible. Issue number one is the reason that everyone starts seeing alternate realities. To me, it was such a let down. It was something I immediately guessed and kept hoping that maybe it wouldn’t be the explanation I was expecting but then it was and just, ugh. I also thought there would be more to do with the alternate realities, while in actuality the visions were few and far between. I also completely did not understand the point of Samara. She could’ve been taken out of the story with little to no consequence. I’m not saying I didn’t like her, but when you have so much going on with so many characters already, why throw in another one who really doesn’t bring anything to the story?

I feel like if Samara had been taken out of the story, it could’ve resolved another one of my issues which is that because of the jumping around, I never felt like I got a good understanding or connection with most of the characters. This made it hard to be sympathetic toward their actions and resulted in me not liking most of them.

There was one twist to the story that I did enjoy, but then just confused me even more. But I think the confusion with that was more along the lines of sometimes thinking about alternate universes making my head hurt and not the actual twist.

There are a lot of books and movies that do a great job of dealing with alternate realities and, unfortunately, I don’t think this is one of them. I read a review comment on Goodreads and someone stated it read as though someone was writing a TV script and I feel like that’s a solid point. This book might make a good mini-series if they could work out some kinks, but as a book it just did nothing for me. I enjoyed the book until about half way through which is why I didn’t give it 1 star, but once I hit the halfway point I struggled to pick it up and just found myself getting mad at it. I know this book has been on a lot of peoples’ lists for being one of the most anticipated books of 2019, but I’d say give it a pass.