Book Review “Girl A” by Abigail Dean

Summary (from bn.com):

She thought she had escaped her past. But there are some things you can’t outrun.

Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped, the eldest sister who freed her older brother and four younger siblings. It’s been easy enough to avoid her parents—her father never made it out of the House of Horrors he created, and her mother spent the rest of her life behind bars. But when her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the home into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her siblings—and with the childhood they shared.

What begins as a propulsive tale of escape and survival becomes a gripping psychological family story about the shifting alliances and betrayals of sibling relationships—about the secrets our siblings keep, from themselves and each other. Who have each of these siblings become? How do their memories defy or galvanize Lex’s own? As Lex pins each sibling down to agree to her family’s final act, she discovers how potent the spell of their shared family mythology is, and who among them remains in its thrall and who has truly broken free.

For readers of Room and Sharp Objects, an absorbing and psychologically immersive novel about a young girl who escapes captivity–but not the secrets that shadow the rest of her life.

My thoughts:

I picked this book as my Book of the Month for February and to be honest went in completely blind. From the description I expected a dark psychological thriller like many others I love on the market. What I received from this book was something even more beautiful (yes in a very dark way) and profound!

I expected this book to focus solely on the horrific abuse the 7 Gracie children endured during their childhoods . . . this book instead focused on their stories of resilience, different ways of coping with trauma in their lives, and their stories of survival, relationships, and “family”.

The author’s writing style beautifully blended each of the Gracie children as adults with their stories of abuse and how they each used different coping skills and styles really to survive and continue on with their lives.

Really, really enjoyed this realistic look at how trauma manifests itself differently in different individuals through beautiful story telling that is profound and hopeful yet rightfully dark and horrific at the exact same time.

And remember,

Books Are Life,

Heather

Book Review “19th Christmas” by James Patterson (Women’s Murder Club #19)

Title:  19th Christmas

Author: James Patterson

Series:  Women’s Murder Club #19

Synopsis (from bn.com):

As the holidays approach, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends in the Women’s Murder Club have much to celebrate. Crime is down. The medical examiner’s office is quiet. Even the courts are showing some Christmas spirit. And the news cycle is so slow that journalist Cindy Thomas is on assignment to tell a story about the true meaning of the season for San Francisco.

Then a fearsome criminal known only as “Loman” seizes control of the headlines. Solving crimes never happens on schedule, but as this criminal mastermind unleashes credible threats by the hour, the month of December is upended for the Women’s Murder Club. Avoiding tragedy is the only holiday miracle they seek.

 

My thoughts:  I’d love to say this series is getting better and better, but it is just not the case.  In fact, this series seems to be getting weaker and weaker to me.  When it takes me a week to get through a James Patterson book, I know there is trouble.

The last couple books in this series have just been losing their steam.  19th Christmas seemed very disjointed and basically just boring.   I understand the author has books in the series that really focus on just one character of the Women’s Murder Club – in this case mostly Lindsey Boxer, but they are much better when all the women are featured and what they are working on fits together on the same case in some way.

In this book, the main story of Lindsey Boxer solving the big case was boring in and of itself, and then the story of Cindy the journalist writing some random story was completely disjointed from everything else and just seemed to go away instantly having no purpose to the story or the book.

Yuki – the DA – and Claire – the ME – were hardly featured at all.  And don’t get me started on the odd epilogue that had absolutely no place – random, random, random.

Overall, boring, seemingly forced, and disappointing!   Ugh!  I hate to even suggest that perhaps its time for this series to fade away!!!

Well, happy reading!

Books Are Life,

Heather

Book Review: “The Woman in the Window” by A. J. Finn

Title:  The Woman in theWindow

Author:  A. J. Finn

Synopsis:

For readers of Gillian Flynn and Tana French comes one of the decade’s most anticipated debuts, to be published in thirty-six languages around the world and already in development as a major film from Fox: a twisty, powerful Hitchcockian thriller about an agoraphobic woman who believes she witnessed a crime in a neighboring house.

It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . .

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

Twisty and powerful, ingenious and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock.

My thoughts:  One word . . . WOW!  I thought this was an amazing read.  It has been a long time since I have read a book that I literally couldn’t put down . . . I kept trying to put it down to go do some housework and I kept picking it up.

Think Hitchcock meets Girl on the Train . . . although even better.

The psychological nature of this book was just spellbinding . . . creepy, mesmerizing.   The way the author crafted the writing, I could literally feel the main character spiraling out of control in her mental illness and drinking, getting more and more confused and isolated!  What a ride.

I will admit that I am not one who figures things out in books before they happen and I did figure out the interesting plot line about 2/3 through the book, was pretty much a no brainer.

People online were just raving about the ending of this book . . . I must admit it wasn’t my favorite, it was a bit anticlimactic to me.  The rest of the book made up for it in spades for me though.

Loved, loved, loved this book!

Do yourself a favor and jump on this one.

And remember,

Books Are Life

heather

Book Review: “16th Seduction” by James Patterson (Women’s Murder Club #16)

Title:  16th Seduction

Author:  James Patterson

Series:  Women’s Murder Club #16

Synopsis (from bn.com): 

Detective Lindsay Boxer faces a heart-stopping threat in the newest Women’s Murder Club thriller.

Fifteen months ago, Detective Lindsay Boxer’s life was perfect—she had a beautiful child and a doting husband, Joe, who helped her catch a criminal who’d brazenly detonated a bomb in downtown San Francisco, killing twenty-five people. But Joe wasn’t everything that Lindsay thought he was, and she’s still reeling from his betrayal as a wave of mysterious, and possibly unnatural, heart attacks claims seemingly unrelated victims across San Francisco. As if that weren’t enough, the bomber she and Joe captured is about to go on trial, and his defense raises damning questions about Lindsay and Joe’s investigation. Not knowing whom to trust, and struggling to accept the truth about the man she thought she knew, Lindsay must connect the dots of a deadly conspiracy before a brilliant criminal puts her on trial.

My thoughts:

I don’t care how much others make fun of James Patterson and his writing, I just love a couple of his series including of course the Alex Cross series, NYPD Red, and this series . . . the Women’s Murder Club.

I find all of his writing extremely fast paced, interesting, with great characters and interesting story lines.

In this novel he again weaves together at least 2 storylines that while seemingly wonderful separate, don’t always seem to fit together nicely into one cohesive story.

I felt as if in this book Patterson was really keeping the focus on one of the Women’s Murder Club – Lindsay Boxer and her struggling relationship with her husband.  Therefore, although the other 3 women were woven into the story – I could have used a bit more of their camaraderie in this one!

Overall, a great offering in a wonderful series!  Give it a try if you haven’t.

And remember,

Books Are Life,

Heather

 

 

Book Review: “Doing Harm” by Kelly Parsons

 

Title:  Doing Harm

Author:  Kelly Parsons

Synopsis (from bn.com):

There are many ways to die in a hospital…being sick is only one of them.

Chief resident Steve Mitchell is the quintessential surgeon: ambitious, intelligent, confident. Charged with molding a group of medical trainees into doctors, and in line for a coveted job, Steve’s future is bright. But then a patient mysteriously dies, and it quickly becomes clear that a killer is on the loose in his hospital. A killer set on playing a deadly game with Steve. A killer holding information that could ruin his career and marriage. Now, alone and under a cloud of suspicion, Steve must discover a way to outsmart his opponent and save the killer’s next victim before the cycle repeats itself again and again…

A chilling and compelling thriller that also takes you into the hospital and details the politics and hierarchy among doctors, as well as the life and death decisions that are made by flawed human beings, Kelly Parsons’ Doing Harm marks the gripping debut of a major fiction career.

 

 

My thoughts:  If you like medical dramas, drop what you are doing and head out and buy this book right NOW!  This book was an absolutely excellent medical drama filled with twists, turns, unbelievable plot surprises and drama, drama, drama!

As one who has spent her entire career in healthcare, I personally found some of the medical explanations rather simplistic and unnecessary to the storyline, but of course not everyone knows the terminology!

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book.  I started it on a plane and literally didn’t want to get off the plane so I could keep on reading!  For me, this one is one not to put down!

Overall, a great medical drama, fast-paced, plot twists, great characters!  I sincerely hope this author continues with his writing and gets us out another book soon!

And remember,

Boos Are Life,

Heather

Book review: “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah

 

Title:  The Nightingale

Author:  Kristin Hannah

Synopsis (bn.com):

In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France–a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

 

My thoughts:  My book club chose this book and my immediate thought was “how am I going to get through this book as it is totally outside out of my normal reading genre”.   I soon realized this wasn’t going to be a problem as the book quickly grabbed my attention and hung on to the very end.

A book set in a very difficult time in World History, namely WW II Nazi  occupied France!   A beautifully written story of two women’s perspective of war – strength, empowerment, family, redemption, passion!

Overall, I am very glad I had the opportunity to read this book as I was taken on an unexpected heart wrenching journey of love, loss, finding one another, renewal, and fighting for what is right!

Definitely worth the read!

And remember,

Books Are Life,

Heather

 

Book Review: “After You” by Jojo Moyes

 

Title:  After You

Author:  Jojo Moyes

Series:  Sequel to “Me Before You”

 

Synopsis (from bn.com):

When one story ends, another begins. After You is the “Charming sequel to Me Before You” (People Magazine).

“We all lose what we love at some point, but in her poignant, funny way, Moyes reminds us that even if it’s not always happy, there is an ever after.” —Miami Herald

“You’re going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. But I hope you feel a bit exhilarated too. Live boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Just live well. Just live. Love, Will.”
 
How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

 

My thoughts:  Jojo Moyes returns with a lovely sequel to the wonderful “Me Before You”.  At the end of “Me Before You” Will Traynor passed this amazing advice on to Louisa Clark  “You’re going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. But I hope you feel a bit exhilarated too. Live boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Just live well. Just live. Love, Will.”

This book is an amazing journey through Louisa’s attempts to find her life and her living after Will’s death!

This book brings us a wonderful story of grief and grieving, its process, its timing, its ups, its downs, its moving forward, its moving backward, its triumphs, . . .

In this review I am not going to retell the story or give a synopsis of the characters and storyline, I am simply going to share how this book made me feel, what it made me think of . . .

I love how this book portrayed deep, profound grief . . . it is a process that every individual person must do in their own way, there is no formula for it, there is no timeline for grief!  It is different for every individual – which was beautifully portrayed by a number of characters in this book including Louisa who struggled mightily in her grieving Will and the different members of the Moving On support group Louisa attends.

This book is about grace, redemption, taking chances, moving on, letting go, love, loss, . . . I could go on all day!

If you allow yourself to really let go into this book you can find lovely metaphors throughout the story that reinforce the themes . . . (of course perhaps the author didn’t intend these at all but I am going to pretend she did) . . . Louisa works in an airport bar watching plans take off and soar into the sky everyday taking people into their lives while she herself is stuck, grounded in one place . . .

I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel . . . beautiful, profound . . . and yes I now have a book hangover where I simply am missing my characters, the story, I want them back, . . .

And remember,

Books are life,

Heather

 

 

Book Review: “Dead to the Last Drop” by Cleo Coyle (Coffeehouse Mystery #15)

Title:  Dead to the Last Drop

Author:  Cleo Coyle

Series:  Coffeehouse Mystery #15

Synopsis (bn.com):  After the White House asks coffeehouse manager and master roaster Clare Cosi to consult on the coffee service for a Rose Garden Wedding, she discovers a historic pot was used as a CIA “dead drop” decades before. Now long-simmering secrets boil over, scalding Clare and the people around her…

Clare’s visit to the nation’s capital is off to a graceful start. Her octogenarian employer lands her a housesitting job in a charming Georgetown mansion, and she’s invited to work with a respected curator on the Smithsonian’s culinary salute to coffee in America.

Unfortunately, Clare’s new Village Blend DC is struggling to earn a profit, until its second floor Jazz Space attracts a high-profile fan—the college-age daughter of the U.S. President. Clare’s stock rises as the First Lady befriends her, but she soon learns a stark lesson: Washington can be murder.

First a stylish State Department employee suspiciously collapses in her coffeehouse. Then the President’s daughter goes missing. Is she a runaway bride or is something more sinister in play? After another deadly twist, Clare is on the run with her NYPD detective boyfriend. Branded an enemy of the state, she must piece together clues and uncover the truth before her life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness come to a bitter end.

My thoughts:  I absolutely love this series . . . but I will have to say that “Dead to the Last Drop” has got to be the best one in the series yet!  LOVED IT!

Welcome to the Village Blend, DC coffee shop and Jazz club – yes!  Welcome to a new location, new characters, new intrigue – Yes!

I absolutely love the fresh perspective that this installment takes having our wonderful coffeehouse characters Clare, Matt, Quinn, and the gang taking their show on the road for a new Village Blend opening in Washington, DC.

I loved the wonderful blend of new characters based in the DC coffee shop and our favorites based in New York!

I must say I am a huge cozy mystery fan and often find they can easily tend toward the formulaic, cheesy side . . . but not this one.  This Coffeehouse Mystery felt as if it totally broke from the cozy mold and almost felt to me like a true mystery/thriller than any type of cozy.

I loved the intrigue of the Washington DC scene . . . I loved the historical perspective of learning about DC, its landmarks, Presidential politics and the like.

Are you getting the overall impression that I loved this book . . . then you are right!

Best book in the series . . . and of course I very much look forward to seeing where #16 takes us.  I’m a little sad I have to leave my coffeehouse friends for another year!

Get your hands on this book now!

And remember,

Books Are Life,

Heather

Book Review: “Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins

Title:  The Girl on the Train

Author:  Paula Hawkins

Synopsis (from bn.com):

A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.

 

My thoughts:  Well, well . . . the buzz was going around about this book and it happened to be on sale ebook at Amazon so I decided to give it a shot!  I loaded it on my Kindle, set off for the gym (one of my favorite places to read as it numbs the pain of working out), and embraced on this book!

Ok, I really really wanted to like this book, but I simply did not!  In all honesty I really don’t see how so many people just fell head over heels in love with this book.

I very rarely find a book that I can’t find even one character that I enjoy or even care an iota about – but I found it here.  I know it was a deep, dark psychological thriller, but all of these characters were just plain terrible, I hated every single one of them and as the story continues the reader realizes that each character is more messed up and evil than the one before.

I won’t lie, this book is very fast-paced, grabs the readers attention, and takes the reader on a great ride, but it was just a bit too over the top for me.

I think this book tried to hard to be “Gone Girl” and it just simply wasn’t.

How come I never find the books that are all a buzz as good as everyone else does?  I promise I try 🙂

Girl on the Train was a definite miss for me.

And remember,

Books Are Life,

Heather

Book Review: Hope to Die by James Patterson (Alex Cross #22)

 

Title:  Hope to Die

Author:  James Patterson

Series:  Alex Cross #22

 

Synopsis (from bn.com): Detective Alex Cross is being stalked by a psychotic genius, forced to play the deadliest game of his career. Cross’s family–his loving wife Bree, the wise and lively Nana Mama, and his precious children–have been ripped away. Terrified and desperate, Cross must give this mad man what he wants if he has any chance of saving the most important people in his life. The stakes have never been higher: What will Cross sacrifice to save the ones he loves?

Widely praised by the greatest crime and thriller writers of our time, Cross My Heart set a jaw-dropping story in motion. Hope to Die propels Alex Cross’s greatest challenge to its astonishing finish, proving why Jeffery Deaver says “nobody does it better” than James Patterson.

 

My thoughts:  I absolutely love James Patterson’s Alex Cross series.  I will admit however that the last couple of books it felt a little forced and stale to me.  I always feel like his focus on some of his many other series was negatively effecting the Alex Cross series.  However, in my opinion Patterson is back at his best with this latest installment of the Alex Cross series!

Wow!  is all I have to say about Hope to Die!  The plot is exciting, incredibly fast, intriguing, scary, twisted . . . excellent!!!

If you are a fan of Patterson . . . this book is not to be missed!

Another superb, fantastic read . . . go get your hands on it now!!!!

And remember,

Books Are Life,

Heather