Gorwn-up Pose

By: Sonya Lalli
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352

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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 novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A delightfully modern look at what happens for a young woman when tradition, dating, and independence collide, from acclaimed author Sonya Lalli.

Adulting shouldn’t be this hard. Especially in your thirties. Having been pressured by her tight-knit community to get married at a young age to her first serious boyfriend, Anu Desai is now on her own again and feels like she is starting from the beginning.

But Anu doesn’t have time to start over. Telling her parents that she was separating from her husband was the hardest thing she’s ever done—and she’s still dealing with the fallout. She has her young daughter to support and when she invests all of her savings into running her own yoga studio, the feelings of irresponsibility send Anu reeling. She’ll be forced to look inside herself to learn what she truly wants.

First Impressions

I read Lalli’s debut novel, The Arrangement, last year. I remember liking it but not being crazy about it. The story and the cover caught me for sure and I was intrigued. Solid first impression.

What I thought

I really enjoyed this book. There are some problematic storylines/character moments but overall I really enjoyed everything.

Anusha is Canadian-Indian, 30 years old, mother of a 5 year old, and semi-recently separated from her husband Neil. Anusha and Neil got married young and she has only known the life of being a good wife and mother. When she and Neil separate, she realizes it is time to figure out who she is and live her life to find out if she is a grown-up.

I’m going to start with a few of my issues with the book. My first issue is, well, when it’s boiled down to it, Anusha’s immaturity. It causes a lot of problems that I think could rub a lot of people the wrong way. The first is that she goes to take a yoga class at a random studio, and after she takes a one-on-one class, the owner comes in and offers for her to buy the studio and she considers it! Like, she just has the disposable savings that she can just buy a yoga studio with no thought about it whatsoever and doesn’t even consider the fact that she knows nothing about running a business.

A little later in the book, Anusha has a bit of a mental break and literally days after signing the lease on the studio, she buys a one way ticket to London, abandoning her daughter, husband, job, and home without a second thought. She just up and leaves with no idea where she’s going or when she’s coming back. The irresponsibility that stems from her immaturity is just, baffling. Like, I understand being in a position of trying to recapture a youth you’ve never had, but at the same time you need to accept where you are. You can’t just up and leave your child. After talking about this with a few of my friends, I think I was able to forgive and understand Anusha a little more than my friends were able to, so I think this could be a big sticking point for some people when they read this book.

One part that I related to was her separation with Neil. I have been in a very similar position, so I understood a lot of her thoughts and feelings regarding her marriage. I also saw a lot of the flaws in her thinking and her actions. I couldn’t figure out through the entire novel whether or not she and Neil were going to end up back together. Lalli had me guessing until the last pages.

While Anusha could be a very problematic character, Lalli does a great job of having her thought process explained. I felt like I understood where Anusha was coming from with all of her actions (except maybe abandoning her daughter) and that made it easy to relate to her. I also haven’t read a lot of novels about people who are separated from their husbands and what they do during that time, so that was fun to read. If you have gone through a separation or a mid-life crisis, I think you would really enjoy and relate to this book.

More Than Words

By: Jill Santopolo
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: G.P Putnam’s Sons
Pages: 368

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Nina has always known who she's supposed to be. But is that who she truly is?

Nina Gregory has always been a good daughter. Raised by her father, owner of New York City's glamorous Gregory Hotels, Nina was taught that family, reputation, and legacy are what matter most. And Tim--her devoted boyfriend and best friend since childhood--feels the same. But when Nina's father dies, he leaves behind a secret that shocks Nina to her core. Soon, Nina begins to see the men in her life--her father, her boyfriend, and unexpectedly, her boss, Rafael--in a new light, finding herself caught between the world she loves, and a passion that could upend everything.

First Impressions

This cover is gorgeous! The falling leaves and the silhouette are so perfect and it’s definitely a cover that caught my eye. The summary grabbed me too. I as very excited to read this book when I got it.

What I thought

This was such a thoughtful, well-written book with a romance that really resonated with me at this time in my life.

Nina is the heiress to her family’s hotel fortune. When her father dies, she is going to inherit the business, whether she wants to or not. And at this point it’s pretty much, not. She is dating her lifelong best friend Tim, who is the son of her dad’s best friend and everything her dad wants for her. It’s also what she thought she wanted for herself, until she met Rafael whose campaign she’s writing for in his run for Mayor of New York Ci

I think I’ve mentioned once or twice on the blog that I’m going through a divorce. My ex and I had been together since we were 19, so he was my comfort and everything I had known. Now, I didn’t meet someone while I was with him, but after we had separated I did meet someone who made everything feel different. The feelings that Nina is dealing with I could really relate to. She struggles throughout the novel with whether she should stick with what she knows and what feels comfortable or plunging into the unknown, letting go of what she has always dreamed for herself, and going after what makes her happy.

While there were some predictable plot points, they were well written and handled very realistically. Nina finds out a few secrets about her father after he passes away, and while I wasn’t surprised by what the secrets were, I appreciated how they moved the story forward. I think the reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did is because Nina was so relatable. She wasn’t perfect, but she reacted in a lot of ways similar to how I see myself reacting to those situations.

Her friendships were some of my favorite parts and I wish they had been a little bit of a bigger part, but I also get why they weren’t. Nina had a lot of growth and self-discovery to go through and she needed to do that on her own.

I wouldn’t say this is an un-putdownable book, but the more I talk about it and sit on it, the more I realize how good of a book it was. The writing is great, the characters are likeable even with their flaws, and the story is relatable. I think this is one of those books that the further I get away from reading it, the more it will settle and stay with me. I wish that I had chosen this as a book club book, so if you had a book club I would highly recommend picking this one up. I haven’t read Santopolo’s first book, but this one definitely moved it higher up my to-read list!

Lucky Caller

By: Emma Mills
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Pages: 336

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): When Nina decides to take a radio broadcasting class her senior year, she expects it to be a walk in the park. Instead, it’s a complete disaster.

The members of Nina's haphazardly formed radio team have approximately nothing in common. And to maximize the awkwardness her group includes Jamie, a childhood friend she'd hoped to basically avoid for the rest of her life.

The show is a mess, internet rumors threaten to bring the wrath of two fandoms down on their heads, and to top it all off Nina's family is on the brink of some major upheaval.

Everything feels like it's spiraling out of control―but maybe control is overrated?

First Impressions

I love Mills. I have read all of her novels and greatly enjoyed each one. While I have liked some more than others, I have never been disappointed by one of her books. I will say, I am a little disappointed in the cover of this book. It’s not that it’s not cute, but I liked how unique Mills’ previous covers were but that I knew it was a Mills book just by looking at it.

What I thought

This book was a lot of fun from beginning to end, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Mills.

Nina is taking a radio broadcasting class and gets grouped with Jamie, her childhood friend who she has drifted apart from since an 8th grade incident. They start to rebuild their friendship over their 90s themed radio show and attempts to make it more popular.

The funny thing is that while trying to give you guys a little summary I realized that there really isn’t much that happens in this book. But it definitely doesn’t feel like that as you’re reading it. Nina is a fun character to read as she’s comfortable with herself and a bit sarcastic. Her two sisters are also fun and I enjoyed their banter and relationship. Jamie is, of course, totally sweet, and even Nina’s mom and her soon to be stepdad Dan are great.

It’s a very character driven novel and is propelled forward by their relationships and interactions. There is a conflict that occurs with Nina and trying to get her radio host dad to come talk on her high school radio show, but it’s not the focus of the novel.

The interesting thing about the relationship development with Jamie and Nina is that it is built through flashbacks. It’s not always completely clear when they’re happening but I enjoyed them.

This was a fun quick read that put a smile on my face. It’s hard to review because there’s not a lot to it when I break it down, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. If you’re looking for a cute YA book with fun characters and solid writing, I would recommend checking this one out. It’s not going to be a standout of Mills’ for me, but it was solid.

The Honey-Don't List

By: Christina Lauren
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 320

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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): Carey Douglas has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and—more than anyone would suspect—has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There’s only one problem: America’s favorite couple can’t stand each other.

James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus.

Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses’ secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along—and start playing for keeps—they may have the chance to build something beautiful together…

From the “hilariously zany and heartfelt” (Booklist) Christina Lauren comes a romantic comedy that proves if it’s broke, you might as well fix it.

First Impressions

I mean… do I even need to tell you my first impression at this point? It’s a Christina Lauren book. It was added to my to-read list before even reading the summary.

What I thought

While this wasn’t my favorite of their books, it was still a lot of fun.

Carey and James work together for two of the biggest home decorators in the US. Think Chip and Joanna Gaines big. But Melissa and Rusty Tripp’s relationship is not everything it appears to be. They have just written a book on how to have a successful marriage but there is falling apart. Carey has been working for them for 10 years, whereas James is new. They end up forming an unexpected bond when they are forced to babysit the Tripps on their book tour.

The interesting thing about this book is that it has a similar feel to a Liane Moriarty book. It starts with Carey and James being interviewed by the police regarding some event that happened. They then go back to the beginning to talk about how they ended up at this event but it is still interspersed with flash forwards to present day.

While I liked Carey, I felt like this format didn’t work for me to build a romance. I also wasn’t crazy about James and I don’t know if that’s due to the writing style, or if it was just James. I do like this book better than Twice in a Blue Moon, but it didn’t have that Christina Lauren spark that I loved in Josh & Hazel or The Unhoneymooners.

It’s not that it’s bad by any means. I enjoyed the book a lot and flew through it. I think I just automatically compare it to their other books and it falls a little short. It’s a little bit more serious than their previous novels.

I did like that Carey had a lot of layers to her story. I found her relationship with Melissa Tripp to almost be more interesting than the one that developed with James. The history that they had and the dysfunction that it led to was interesting and I would have gladly delved into it more. The relationship between James and Carey seemed like one of convenience and while James was nice enough, he was very vanilla.

While this isn’t one of my favorite Christina Lauren novels, it is still a solid three star read. If you’re looking for a silly or light hearted romance, I would recommend some of their other books, but if you want something with a little bit more weight to it, then you should check this one out. The writing and the characters are still solid and I will definitely continue to read and enjoy all of their books.

Darling Rose Gold

By: Stephanie Wrobel
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Pages:

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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): For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold.

Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.

After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes.

Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she's forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score.

Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling...

And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

First Impressions

The cover is a very pretty color and grabbed my eye. Then you look closer and it’s creepy. I’ve watched a lot of true crime shows and documentaries, so when I read the summary it reminded me of Mommy Dead and Dearest, which piqued my interest further.

What I thought

This book left me feeling so gross.

Rose Gold Watts grew up thinking that she was deathly ill. When she turned 16, she realized that her mother had been poisoning her to make her think that she was sick all along. Patty Watts has been in prison for 5 years, but when she gets out, Rose Gold picks her up and takes her home. Will they be able to put their past behind them? Or will old patterns repeat themselves?

The HBO documentary, Mommy Dead and Dearest, tells the story of a girl who was poisoned by her mother her entire life and made to believe that she was terribly sick but with no diagnosis of everything. She was wheelchair bound, lost her hair, and had a feeding tube. When she was a teenager, she accessed the internet and became suspicious that her mom was poisoning her after talking to her online boyfriend. She plots with her boyfriend to kill her mother, is successful in doing so, and went to prison.

I’m more than a little curious as to how this book has been allowed to be written considering how close it is to the real life story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. I mean, even with the Rose reference with the name. The only real difference in this book versus the real story is that Patty is alive and Rose Gold gets revenge via other means that aren’t murder.

The story is a little confusing in that the chapters are written not only in alternating perspective, but in alternating timelines. Patty’s chapters are told from present day, whereas Rose Gold’s chapters start a year or so after Patty goes to prison. It adds to the disorientation of what is real and what is a mind game.

I think that the writing is good. The story moved along well and I was interested to see where it was going. There are some parts that seem like they don’t follow the same track and divert unnecessarily, but it always came back.

This book left me feeling so uncomfortable that I couldn’t rate it higher. They are both terrible people and I’m definitely not a “two wrongs make a right” type of person, so a lot of this book didn’t sit well with me. I think people who liked the Mommy Dead and Dearest documentary will enjoy this book. I’m curious to see what Wrobel writes next, because I did like her style.

Book Club March 2020 - The Girls at 17 Swann Street

This month was another book that I had read previously. Luckily, it was one i had read only a year ago, so I remembered it a lot more than the previous one. Enjoy this re-post of this review.

By: Yara Zgheib
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 384

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

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists’ list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound.

Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears – imperfection, failure, loneliness – she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day.

Yara Zgheib's poetic and poignant debut novel is a haunting, intimate journey of a young woman's struggle to reclaim her life. Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance, and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street. 

First Impressions

The cover doesn’t do much for me but the summary grabbed my attention. I am (was?) a dancer so anything that involves dancers will always get a look from me.

What I thought

This was such an interesting read and I wish that I had read it as a book club read because I want to discuss this with other people.

Anna has been admitted to 17 Swann Street, a recovery home for women with eating disorders. Anna’s husband Matthias admitted her after he found her passed out in their bathroom. Anna used to be a dancer until she got injured. She and Matthias moved from France to Saint Louis for a job, and that it when her eating disorder really started to take a hold.

The chapters alternate between Anna’s life at 17 Swann Street, her health reports, and her life before anorexia took hold. The interesting, and slightly irritating thing about this book is the unique formatting. The paragraphs are double spaced (similar to the formatting of my blog) and there are no quotation marks. Instead, spoken words are italicized. But this is still a little confusing because the past chapters are all italicized. I liked that the italics made it seem as though the whole book was told from the inside Anna’s head. It gave it a more intimate feel for sure. However, it also made it difficult at times to follow who was speaking.

I haven’t read many books about eating disorders, but I felt that this one handled it wonderfully. It was honest and gave insight in a way that I haven’t read before. There were a lot of ups and downs and I liked the balance of Anna’s present struggles with her past ones. I did expect to see her work through a few more of her issues than she did, but I still enjoyed following her progress.

I also enjoyed the dynamics of all of the girls in 17 Swann Street. To see the way that eating disorders impacts a variety of lives in a variety of ways was insightful. I think that discussing the factors that caused each girl’s life to take the path that it did would be interesting. I will definitely have to pass this book on to some of my friends so we can discuss it.

Regardless of the formatting issues that I could never quite get used to, this story was one I couldn’t put down. I enjoyed watching Anna’s journey and I want to pass this book onto other people. I know that it was very different from The Book of Essie, it had a similar feel to me. If you have read that book and liked it, I would recommend checking this one out.

The Antidote for Everything

By: Kimmery Martin
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352

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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): Georgia Brown’s profession as a urologist requires her to interact with plenty of naked men, but her romantic prospects have fizzled. The most important person in her life is her friend Jonah Tsukada, a funny, empathetic family medicine doctor who works at the same hospital in Charleston, South Carolina and who has become as close as family to her.

Just after Georgia leaves the country for a medical conference, Jonah shares startling news. The hospital is instructing doctors to stop providing medical care for transgender patients. Jonah, a gay man, is the first to be fired when he refuses to abandon his patients. Stunned by the predicament of her closest friend, Georgia’s natural instinct is to fight alongside him. But when her attempts to address the situation result in incalculable harm, both Georgia and Jonah find themselves facing the loss of much more than their careers.

First Impressions

Martin’s book covers are just gorgeous. The colors and the designs jump out at you and make you want to display them in your home. What I love about this cover is that once you read the summery you learn that it’s about gay and transgender patients and the cover features what is often call the Little Boy flower. I loved the little design hint at what the book was going to be about. Wonderful first impression.

What I thought

Martin does it again! A smartly written book with a whole ton of heart.

Georgia is urologist in Charleston. She works with her gay best friend Jonah who is a general practitioner. When the hospital and clinic decide to release Jonah’s patients on the ground that they are transgender, he challenges the hospital and gets fired himself. This story deals with the injustice of the healthcare system and the option to turn away patients as well as how Georgia and Jonah deal with how it impacts their lives.

One of my favorite things about Martin’s books is that she is an ER doctor and you can tell that from her writing. That doesn’t mean it’s dry, but that it’s smart. Her doctors know what they’re doing and know what they’re talking about. Everything has a level of intelligence that makes me as a reader more invested because the characters are so believable in their careers. Georgia is a strong and intelligent female doctor in a specialty dominated by men. While she may have faults in the way she handles her personal life, she is good at her job.

One unexpected element that I greatly enjoyed was a secondary love story. Was it necessary? No. Did it end up being one of my favorite parts of the book? Yes. It definitely added a lightness to break up the seriousness of the other plot points.

Speaking of the other plot points, this book touches on some sensitive yet very important topics. Now, I am a straight, white, female, so I can’t fully speak to how well Martin handles these topics or writes a gay character, but in my opinion she does a wonderful job. Jonah is so great and I adore the relationship between him and Georgia. The book also made me just angry enough that I am mad about the topic but not so angry that I couldn’t read the story. I think this book sends a strong message and a lot of people should read it.

I loved this book. I think this should be a top book club pick for 2020. There are a lot of solid discussion points balanced with well-written relationships and fun moments. The characters are all likeable which makes the story more enjoyable and easy to read. I never once felt like I was being preached at and I didn’t experience any reader fatigue. I love Martin’s writing. I would probably give this a 4.5/5 stars, if only because I don’t know if I would re-read this book. I will, however, be passing it on to a lot of people!

The Sun Down Motel

By: Simone St James
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 336

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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 novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn't right at the Sun Down, and before long she's determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

First Impressions

I haven’t read a good thriller in a while and this cover screamed spooky. This is the exact type of book I would pick up around Halloween and makes a solid first impression.

What I thought

This book was just like reading a true crime podcast.

Carly’s Aunt Viv disappeared in 1982. After her mom dies, Carly decides to go to the last place her aunt was seen, Fell, New York, to see if she can find answers. In 1982, Viv ran away to Fell, New York. She worked the night shift at the Sun Down Motel, until one night she disappeared.

The story is told in alternating perspectives from Carly in 2017 and Viv in 1982. It is interesting because there are multiple mysteries going on. It kept me interested because with so much going on, it was hard to figure out exactly what was going to happen. I did prefer Carly’s chapters to Viv’s, but I think that’s because Viv’s were more dangerous and made me more anxious.

St. James said that when writing this book she was inspired by true crime podcasts and that is very obvious wen reading this story. Viv is like the original amateur detective in 1982, trying to find out who killed multiple girls in the town of Fell. The one thing that’s a bit odd is how a girl who has no connection to the town or any of the girls who have gone missing gets so involved in figuring out what is going on. But I guess some peoples personalities just lend them to that and once you get sucked in, you’re in.

Carly’s connection makes a little bit more sense, since she’s looking for her aunt. The one funny thing is, either Carly and her aunt are amazing detectives, or the Fell PD is terrible. Not one, but two young 20 year old women manage to solve the murders of 3 women while the police department could not.

The sign of a good thriller is whether or not it keeps me interested from beginning to end. This book did that. I was curious to find out what happened to Viv as well as the other girls of Fell. There are definitely parts of the book that are hard to read. Murder and young women is not an easy topic. The writing is solid and the pacing is well done. It was a solid read and definitely pulled me back out of a reading fatigue I was starting to slide back into.

I would probably rate this one a solid 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, but there was some sort of spark missing that makes me hesitate to give it 4 stars. If you like true crime, I would highly recommend checking this book out. It kept me interested and I wasn’t able to guess what was going to happen until right before it happened. There is a lot that goes one and all of it was entertaining.