If I Never Met You

By: Mhari McFarlane
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: William Morrow Publishing
Pages: 209

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): If faking love is this easy... how do you know when it’s real?

When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.

Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend...

First Impressions

I first heard about McFarlane years ago from an old blog I used to follow. I think I added this specific book to my to-read list, but it was difficult to find her books in the US. This book specifically I loved the cover and am a fan of fake dating tropes, so it was the one I picked.

What I thought

When one of my friends mentioned she had recently listened to and loved a McFarlane book, this one jumped to the top of my list. I hadn’t thought of looking to see if I could find them on audiobook and I was excited to finally read one.

Laurie is a lawyer. She has been with her lawyer boyfriend for 18 years. They live together but aren’t married and are in the process of starting a family. When she gets home one night from a work party, her boyfriend breaks up with her. Then two months later, he comes over to tell her he got another woman pregnant, pretty much the night he broke up with her. Completely devastated, Laurie ends up stuck in an elevator with the office playboy, Jamie. Jamie is looking to become partner, but the current partners think he’s not serious enough because he doesn’t have a girlfriend. After they hit it off chatting, Jamie suggests they fake date to get back at Dan and to get Jamie the promotion.

Like I said, I listened to this on audiobook, which ended up being a lot of fun. The narrator is British and the accents, while they took me a little while to get used to, were great. Laurie is 36 years old and has to join the dating world for the first time in 18 years. It was relatable to see her struggle with that and I understood a lot of her anxiety.

Jamie is 31 and is known to sleep around, but he wants to be taken seriously. I did appreciate that he was a deeper than what you think kind of character. And Laurie and Jamie’s chemistry was great. Laurie did occasionally get on my nerves with some of her immaturity, but not so much that it ruined anything for me. I reminded myself that it had literally been a lifetime since she had dated someone, and that helped.

Is this book anything new? No, not really. Is it executed really well? Absolutely. I now understand why people enjoy McFarlane’s books and I am really looking forward to listening to more. If you enjoy romcoms and fake dating tropes, this one is a perfect pick.

The Women

By: Kristin Hannah
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 480

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

First Impressions

Last January I finally got around to reading my first Kristin Hannah book, The Great Alone. I finally understood why everyone was reading so much of her work. I saw she was coming out with a new book and added it without much thought. The cover isn’t my favorite when it comes to her books. I think Nightingale, Four Winds, and Great Alone have much more captivating covers. I don’t dislike this one, but I don’t know if it would’ve caught me enough to pick it up off the shelf.

What I thought

Wow.

Frances, Frankie, McGrath is 20 years old when she decides to become a hero like her brother and enlist in the Vietnam war as a nurse. When she gets to Vietnam she is thrown into the thick of it, completely taken aback. The story follows her as she befriends other Vietnam Army Nurses and completes her service. It also follows her as she comes back to America and tries to deal with how anti-veteran America is as well as how many people refuse to acknowledge that women served in Vietnam.

I have never read a historical fiction that takes lace during the Vietnam war. I only know a little bit of history because my parents were alive during that time and have a few friends who served so I’ve heard a little bit about it through them. I head about how wrong their welcome home was, if you can even call it a welcome. Honestly, I was a little hesitant diving into this subject because I didn’t think it was going to captivate me.

Hannah does a fabulous job balancing the realism and horror of the war without making it feel like she’s adding gore and drama just to shock the reader. I feel a little like I lived through Vietnam with Frankie. PTSD wasn’t a known entity until after the war and all of the veterans were struggling, so this novel tackles that as well. I have always found PTSD fascinating from a therapeutic perspective.

The only part of the story I was a little iffy on was the love story. I understood it during the war service, but then some of Frankie’s love life when she came home wasn’t my favorite. Not enough so that it will even become a blip in my memory when I’m recommending this book to people, but I would say it wasn’t my favorite part of the story.

One of my favorite things about reading historical fiction is coming away from a fictional story in which I feel like I have learned and become educated on a real event. This book left me with that feeling. I had never known that people denied women were in Vietnam, nor did I fully understand the scope of the horrors witnessed.

If you are a historical fiction reader, pick this one up. The content is difficult but Hannah handles it absolutely beautifully and respectfully. I flew through this book like it was 300 pages rather than almost 500. Between this and Tom Lake I might have already found two of my favorite books of 2024.

Trail of Lost Hearts

By: Tracey Garvis Graves
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 304

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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): Thirty-four-year-old Wren Waters believes that if you pay attention, the universe will send you exactly what you need. But her worldview shatters when the universe delivers two life-altering blows she didn’t see coming, and all she wants to do is put the whole heartbreaking mess behind her. No one is more surprised than Wren when she discovers that geocaching―the outdoor activity of using GPS to look for hidden objects―is the only thing getting her out of bed and out of her head. She decides that a weeklong solo quest geocaching in Oregon is exactly what she needs to take back control of her life.

Enter Marshall Hendricks, a psychologist searching for distraction as he struggles with a life-altering blow of his own. Though Wren initially rebuffs Marshall’s attempt at hiker small talk, she’s beyond grateful when he rescues her from a horrifying encounter farther down the trail. In the interest of safety, Marshall suggests partnering up to look for additional caches. Wren’s no longer quite so trusting of the universe―or men in general―but her inner circle might argue that a smart, charismatic psychologist isn’t the worst thing the universe could place in her path.

What begins as a platonic road trip gradually blossoms into something deeper, and the more Wren learns about Marshall, the more she wants to know. Now all she can do is hope that the universe gets it right this time.

First Impressions

Honestly, the first impression of this one kind of stunk. I don’t like the cover at all and definitely would’ve walked by it on the shelf. In fact, I almost passed on it when they sent it to me for review because of the cover. Luckily, the summary was much more interesting, so I decided to give it a chance.

What I thought

I have some mixed feelings about this book, but mostly good ones.

Wren has just suffered two life changing events, almost simultaneously. As a result, she decides to take a geocaching trip to Oregon. Geocaching is when you sear for hidden objects using a GPS on hikes. While on her trip, she runs into Marshall. A psychologist who, similarly, is on a geocaching trip to try to recover from a life altering event. As they spend time together, they realize that maybe what they needed wasn’t a solo trip, but a trip with someone who can help them heal.

I loved the first half of this book. I really enjoyed Wren and Marshall exploring Oregon. I liked their banter and I enjoyed the description of the Pacific Northwest. The book flew by as I followed their journey and learned their stories.

When Wren heads back to Ohio at the 60% mark, I liked it a little bit less. There were some surprising plot points I don’t want to spoil that I didn’t love. I think the author did a good job writing them and I didn’t mind how they played out, it’s just not my favorite type of plot if that makes sense.

The first half of this book sort of reminded me of Happiness for Beginners. It tackles a lot of serious subject matter in a very honest yet palatable way. I never felt like this book got too heavy, nor did I feel like it was trying to make light of trauma.

This book is a solid 3.5 stars for me, but I feel good about rounding it up to 4 stars. I think if you enjoy books like Happiness for Beginners and Eat Pray Love, you will enjoy this one. It has a nice balance between romance, comedy, and drama. The pacing is quick and I had fun reading it. I just worry it might end up being a bit forgettable when I look back on the books I read this year.

Book Club March 2024- Project Hail Mary

By: Andy Weir
Published Year: 2021
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 476

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

What I thought

I don’t normally consider myself a science-fiction person, but Weir makes me question that every time.

The world is in danger of coming to an end, when a microbe threatens to essentially eat the sun. Project Hail Mary is created as the last chance to save Earth, but it begins with Ryland Grace waking up in space with no memory of who he is or how he go there. His two crewmates are dead and he has to remember his mission, and then remember how to save the world.

I really enjoyed this story. I liked the mystery of remembering what happened on Earth with flashbacks rather than having the story told chronologically and then ending up on the Project Hail Mary. Grace is a very likable character too, which I guess he needs to be considering you’re stuck with only him as a reader.

There were two things that got on my nerves a little bit with this story. The first was how conveniently smart Grace is. Yes, he’s a scientist and obviously was chosen for the mission because of his intelligence, but he seems to have such a wide range it’s a little unbelievable. For example, he’s a microbiologist and a science teacher, yet when he needs language translating software he creates his writes his own computer program. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but every once in a while I wanted to see him come across a problem he couldn’t find a solution to.

The other minor issue I had was that Weir is a scientist and sometimes I think he gets a little too excited about that. I think he loves to explain processes and science and so occasionally, he gets carried away with the explanations. A lot of the time I liked the explanation because it did make it feel more real and believable, but occasionally it was a little too in depth and over my head so I would just skim past it.

For an end of the world sci-fi novel, the ending also was very good. I was worried about how the story would end, but was pleasantly surprised. I don’t know if it’s how I would’ve chosen to end the story, but I was very content with it.

I know my review is kind of vague, but I think a lot of what made this book enjoyable was not knowing much about it and learning the information along with Grace as the story went on. Even if you don’t find yourself to usually be a science fiction reader, I would say to give this one a chance. It was very interesting and I’m curious to see how this becomes a movie!

What Book Club Thought

Unfortunately, due to some library hold issues, I was the only one to finish the book in time for discussion. However, one of the other book club members finished it recently, so I was able to chat with her about it. We both loved it! She cried at the ending and enjoyed the adventure. She has a few more issues with some of the light speed/time travel stuff whereas I had more issues with Grace being all knowing, but both of us agree that neither of these issues were hugely impactful on our enjoyment of the story. I also found out that Ryan Gosling is slated to play Ryland Grace which I think will be a perfect fit! I definitely recommend reading this book along with someone because I do feel like there is a lot to talk about. Luckily, my dad had also previously read this book so I was able to talk to him about it as I read which I loved.

Killers of the Flower Moon

By: David Grann
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Vintage
Pages: 416

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And this was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.

As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

First Impressions

I heard about this book on TikTok. A Native man and his daughter were talking about some of his favorite books that he read in 2023 and this one was on that list. When he described it, it sounded like something my dad would enjoy, so I looked into it further. He had apparently read it a few years ago and loved it. Between that knowledge and finding out it was going to be made into a movie, I knew I wanted to read it.

What I thought

This book was so interesting!

Grann tells the story of the Osage murders of the early 1900s. The story starts with telling about the Osage tribe and how they made their money by negotiating for underground rights and then it moves forward with the murders. Finally, it gets to the development of what we now know as the FBI, with discussions about Hoover and the earliest big agents.

I was fascinated and horrified learning the history of the Osage. I’m so glad that a movie was made about this story so that more people would learn about this history. It’s unfair how much our history has been whitewashed. I had never even heard about the Osage history, let alone the tragedy that struck their people.

I thought that I was going to enjoy learning more about the development of the FBI, but I actually enjoyed the part of the story learning about the Osage more. Don’t get me wrong. Reading about how Agent White solved some of the murders and learning about his history was fascinating. But this story made me hate J. Edgar Hoover more and I still wasn’t exactly sure the direct connection of this story and trial to the birth of the FBI. I mean, it gave Hoover good press so that he could launch the bureau to federal levels, but I don’t know if I would classify it as the birth.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I don’t usually read non-fiction unless it’s a celebrity memoir. Grann’s writing style really worked for me. It moved at the pace of a fiction story and wasn’t bogged down with pretense. The only other writer I find to be as compelling when it comes to stories such as these is Erik Larson.

This book was a solid 3.5 stars for me, but good enough to round up to a 4. I found the story educational and intriguing. I think it’s an important story to not forget and it inspires me to find more stories like these. If you want to learn more about native history, I recommend checking out this book. It does a nice job pointing out how the Osage were wronged and it doesn’t paint the FBI as perfect. It feels like a true unbiased account of the events and it was very interesting.

Tom Lake

By: Ann Patchett
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 309

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

First Impressions

This book is one of Reese’s book club picks, however, it wasn’t one that jumped out at me. I think I saw this cover and heard about this book multiple times before finally picking it up. So, not the strongest first impression. I just don’t think the color or the title does much to draw anyone in.

What I thought

I LOVED this book.

This story takes place during the shut down portion of 2020. Lara and her husband own a cherry farm in Northern Michigan and their three adult daughters are back living at home due to the pandemic. In order to pass the time, the girls ask their mother to tell the full story of the time that she dated a movie star. This story flips back and forth between the summer that Lara acted and dated Peter Duke and 2020 with her husband and daughters.

I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t expect much from this book but I absolutely loved it. The story moves so smoothly and I devoured it in a weekend. I needed to know Lara’s story and how she ended up where she was. There were twists and turns I didn’t expect and I enjoyed every minute of the journey.

Someone asked me if this was a character driven novel and I feel like sort of? It feels hard to pinpoint. Yes, it’s about Lara ad her journey as well as he daughters, but there is a plotline that pushes the story forward. I never felt like I was bored or just hearing Lara spew boring nonsense.

My family vacationed in Northern Michigan so I loved reading about that setting. One of my friends listened to the book on audiobook since it’s read by Meryl Streep. She pointed out, before I started reading, that the book sometimes jumps abruptly from the past to the present and it can take a second to reorient yourself to the story. Having read a physical copy, I found it pretty easy to keep track of who was talking and when we were in the story. However, I could see if you’re not fully focused or if you’re listening to it, how this could be a little jarring.

Interestingly, I’ve read one other book by Patchett and I don’t remember loving it. This book has changed my mind a little, so I’m curious to read some of her other books. I think what I loved most about this story was the simplicity. It feels like a very real story that could have happened to your mother or grandmother. I loved all of the characters in this story. The daughters were so unique and I loved the reveal of where their names came from as the story went on.

I should know never to doubt a Reese’s book club pick. If you enjoy family stories that don’t depend on familial infighting and drama, I highly recommend this book. It’s like a warm hug. I loved every minute of this story and wish I had read it with book club so I could have spent even more time talking about it.

Village in the Dark

By: Iris Yamashita
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 288

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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): Detective Cara Kennedy thought she’d lost her husband and son in an accident, but harrowing evidence has emerged that points to murder--and she will stop at nothing to find the truth in this riveting mystery from the author of City Under One Roof.

On a frigid February day, Anchorage Detective Cara Kennedy stands by the graves of her husband and son, watching as their caskets are raised from the earth. It feels sacrilegious, but she has no choice. Aaron and Dylan disappeared on a hike a year ago, their bones eventually found and buried. But shocking clues have emerged that foul play was involved, potentially connecting them to a string of other deaths and disappearances. 
 
Somehow tied to the mystery is Mia Upash, who grew up in an isolated village called Unity, a community of women and children in hiding from abusive men. Mia never imagined the trouble she would find herself in when she left home to live in Man’s World. Although she remains haunted by the tragedy of what happened to the man and the boy in the woods, she has her own reasons for keeping quiet.
 
Aided by police officer Joe Barkowski and other residents of Point Mettier, Cara’s investigation will lead them on a dangerous path that puts their lives and the lives of everyone around them in mortal jeopardy.

First Impressions

I haven’t been on a huge mystery kick to be honest. I find that I’ve been getting bored with them by about 50% and then I just skip to the end to find out what happened. However, when I saw the Northern Lights on the cover and saw that this one took place in Alaska, I knew I had to give it a shot.

What I thought

Cara is a detective with the Anchorage PD. In book one, she went to Point Mettier to solve a mystery. That small town is actually a town where everyone and everything is in one big condo building. In this book, she heads back there after finding a picture of her husband and son on the phone of a thug. Her husband and son were found dead a year ago, but now she’s not so sure about what happened.

I do want to preface this with the fact that I have not read book 1. So, I don’t know any of the history with Cara or what went down previously in Point Mettier. This book alternates between Cara’s point of view, Ellie’s point of view and Mia’s. Ellie is a long time resident of Point Mettier and is old and crotchety. Mia is a young woman who grew up in a small native town off the grid.

Even though I haven’t read the first book, I think this one does a nice job of letting you know some of the history without it feeling like you’re re-reading everything. I enjoyed Cara and her type of work. It didn’t seem like she fell into solving cases and she didn’t scare easily. Though to be fair, I don’t think she truly did much of the work in solving this mystery.

I’m a sucker for books that take place in Alaska because the culture just seems to different. I enjoyed all of the characters in this story and didn’t find it to be overly predictable. I think maybe it would’ve been more so if I had read the first book but, it was still enjoyable. I did get a little bit bored around the 50% mark but it did pick back up and I flew through the last 30%.

This is a solid 3.5 stars for me. The characters are strong and the plot was enjoyable and moved quickly. It was semi-predictable and, as you know, I do judge mysteries a little more harshly on that aspect. But I will say that it was nice that it wasn’t like some random solution just showed up in the end. I would be open to reading more of this series, especially given the set up for the characters at the end of the story. I would recommend this to you if you enjoy mysteries and don’t find that you need them to be overly complicated or surprise you too much.

Book Club February 2024- I Heart New York

By: Lindsey Kelk
Published Year: 2009
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 309

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, get ready for the summer debut of the year...When you're running away from a broken heart, there's only one place to go...Adjusting tiaras at the foot of the aisle, Angela and her best friend prepare for the wedding of the year. But events don't go as planned. And when a girl is in possession of a crumpled bridesmaid dress - and can't go home - New York (for the very first time) seems like an excellent idea. Angela's new friend Jenny Lopez gives Angela a whirlwind tour of the city that never sleeps, and a makeover. Who hasn't dreamed of starting afresh with a sassy New York wardrobe, a new haircut and a trip to the make-up counter? Before she knows it, the new Angela is getting over her broken heart by having dinner with two different boys. And, best of all, she gets to write about it in her fabulous new blog. But it's one thing telling readers all about your romantic dilemmas. It's another trying to figure them out for yourself! Warm, funny and unputdownable, I Heart New York is an unforgettable debut.

What I thought

This book is probably one of the older books I’ve read in a while, so I was curious to see how it held up.

Angela finds out that her fiancé is cheating on her at her best friend’s wedding. She makes the impulsive decision to take everything that she has with her and flee to New York City from London. She has never been and has no plan except to be as far away from her ex as possible. While in New York, Angela meets Jenny who helps her with a makeover, both inside and out.

This book felt soooo 2009 in a good way. She goes on a shopping spree and she buys Mac makeup and Marc Jacobs clothing. I felt like I was watching an old YouTube video. Angela is a bit annoying at times. I think overall I liked her, but I also sometimes just wanted to slap her.

The issues I had were that she just magically falls on her feet this entire story. She hops into a cab with zero destination and ends up at a great hotel which happens to have a concierge who becomes her best friend. She then, within days of moving to New York and probably hours of a makeover, becomes the object of affection of not one but two super hot men. Nothing seems hard for her. I think the cheating issue is supposed to make us feel bad for her the entire time, but it got harder to feel bad for her when every step she took was successful.

I did like Angela and Jenny and that was probably my favorite relationship in the story. I had a little more difficulty liking either of the men she was with. I knew exactly who she was going to end up with, and felt that the way they made the decision happen felt a little cheap.

I think if I had read this book when it came out I would’ve fallen in love with it and wanted to read the rest of the 8 book series. I am intrigued enough that I read through the summaries of the rest of this series to find out what happened to Angela, but I don’t know if this is the type of book I’m currently into anymore.

What Book Club Thought

This one was not a hit. I seemed to like it the most compared to the rest of our members. It was interesting to talk about the issues that we had with the book and it did make me realize that parts of it annoyed me than I originally thought. We discussed how the writing felt immature and we couldn’t wrap our heads around how lucky Angela was in her first few days in New York City. I would say if you’re a younger reader, maybe still give this book a shot. But if you’re older than 21, maybe not.