Lots of Books Lately

I haven't done one of these posts recently, so there are lots of books I need to review. Hopefully you'll see one you want to pick up! I know I love getting good recommendations off these types of posts.

4 stars

From the publisher's website: 

Jerry Grey is known to most of the world by his crime writing pseudonym, Henry Cutter—a name that has been keeping readers at the edge of their seats for more than a decade. Recently diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of forty-nine, Jerry’s crime writing days are coming to an end. His twelve books tell stories of brutal murders committed by bad men, of a world out of balance, of victims finding the darkest forms of justice. As his dementia begins to break down the wall between his life and the lives of the characters he has created, Jerry confesses his worst secret: The stories are real. He knows this because he committed the crimes. Those close to him, including the nurses at the care home where he now lives, insist that it is all in his head, that his memory is being toyed with and manipulated by his unfortunate disease. But if that were true, then why are so many bad things happening? Why are people dying?

What I thought: I definitely liked this book. It was interesting and the suspense kept me turning the pages- is Jerry committing these murders or not? The reason it didn't get 5 stars and almost got just 3.5 was because I didn't think Jerry was that likable of a character, and I also figured out the mystery a little easier than I expected too, but all in all I'd say read it if you haven't already! 

2.5 stars

From the publisher's website: 

Rachel Blum and Andy Landis are just eight years old when they meet one night in an ER waiting room. Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she’s intrigued by the boy who shows up alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy’s taken back to a doctor and Rachel’s sent back to her bed, they think they’ll never see each other again.

Rachel grows up in an affluent Florida suburb, the popular and protected daughter of two doting parents. Andy grows up poor in Philadelphia with a single mom and a rare talent for running.

Yet, over the next three decades, Andy and Rachel will meet again and again—linked by chance, history, and the memory of the first time they met, a night that changed the course of both of their lives.

What I thought: I really expected to like this book more. I like the author and have enjoyed many of her other books, but this one fell pretty flat. It definitely dragged on too long, and the back and forth relationship of Rachel and Andy drove me insane. I also really didn't like the characters, they were so selfish and self-pitying. 

3.5 stars

From the author's website: 

Love ties. Murder binds. 

Maggie never felt as though she belonged until Chris Stevens showed her what true happiness meant. Ten years into their marriage, miscarriages and infidelities have scarred them both. Despite their perfect-couple image, Maggie can’t look at Chris with anything but resentment. When a charismatic stranger offers the opportunity for a little harmless flirtation, she jumps into the game. 

But charm soon turns to malice, and a deadly split-second decision forces Maggie and Chris onto a dangerous path fraught with secrets, lies, and guilt. With no one else to turn to—no one she dares trust—Maggie will ultimately learn just how binding marital ties can be.

What I thought: This book could have been better if the characters were more likable and relatable! This seems to be the theme of a lot of the books I've read lately- I just can't stand the characters. But this book did keep my attention and I couldn't stop reading it, and I actually really liked the ending!

4.5 stars

From the author's website: 

“I’ve been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don’t know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she’s scared. But I will.”

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn’t show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his smooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia’s life.

Colin’s job was to abduct Mia as part of a wild extortion plot and deliver her to his employers. But the plan takes an unexpected turn when Colin suddenly decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota, evading the police and his deadly superiors. Mia’s mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them, but no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family’s world to shatter.

What I thought: The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars is because I figured out what was going on pretty early on in the book. That didn't stop me from really liking the book though and not being able to put it down- highly recommend!

4.5 stars 

From the publisher's website: 

What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.

Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her “nest” of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?”, Nora (Lee?) tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora (Lee?) must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past. 

What I thought: Apparently I've been reading some suspenseful books lately (it was Halloween, what can I say?). I loved this book! I think the author did a really great job piecing the story together slowly without making it too confusing, and again, I would have given it 5 stars if I hadn't figured it out early on.

5 stars

From the publisher's website: 

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.

What I thought: I liked this book more than it's predecessor Me Before You, and I really liked that book too! I think the author did a great job telling Lou's story and making her a realistic and likable character. I wish she'd write another! A must-read, especially if you read Me Before You.

4 stars

From the author's website: 

Balmy ocean breezes…sweet coconut oil…glistening tanned bodies. There’s no better place for romantic sparks to fly than at the beach. As a professional volleyball player, Dune Cates attracts scores of pretty women who flock to his side. But only one has managed to get under his skin—sweet, naive, shy Sophie Saunders. Unlike the skimpily-clad beach groupies, Sophie marches to a beat all her own. And though she’s afraid of the surf, burns in the sun, has two left feet, that doesn’t stop her from trying every daring sport available on the boardwalk. Dune knows Sophie spells trouble, and he should keep his distance, especially since he’s a no-strings-attached kind of guy. But he can’t ignore an overwhelming instinct to protect her. And with the promise of ice cream sandwiches, merry-go-round rides and dreamy sunsets, it’s only a matter of time before Dune gives in to the temptation of Sophie’s soft lips. Love is always sweeter in the summer.

What I thought: This is actually book 2 in a "series," but I never read book 1 and it wasn't necessary. The books are all based in the same town, but each picks a different couple's relationship to focus on so you don't need to read the others to figure out what's going on. I probably will read the others though, because I liked this book. It was super light and easy reading (perfect for the Bahamas) and it was cute. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because the characters could have been more developed, especially Sophie. Her "transformation" was so quick too, that it was a little unrealistic. 

1.5 stars

From the author's website: 

Maya and Rebecca Ward are both accomplished physicians, but that’s where the sisters’ similarities end. As teenagers, they witnessed their parents’ murder, but it was Rebecca who saved Maya from becoming another of the gunman’s victims. The tragedy left Maya cautious and timid, settling for a sedate medical practice with her husband, Adam, while Rebecca became the risk taker.

After a devastating hurricane hits the coast of North Carolina, Rebecca and Adam urge Maya to join them in the relief effort. To please her husband, Maya finally agrees. She loses herself in the care and transport of victims, but when her helicopter crashes into raging floodwaters, there appears to be no survivors.

Forced to accept that Maya is gone, Rebecca and Adam turn to one another first for comfort, then in passion, unaware that, miles from civilization, Maya is injured and trapped with strangers she’s not certain she can trust. Away from the sister who has always been there to save her, now Maya must find the courage to save herself-unaware that the life she knew has changed forever.

What I thought: This could have been such a great story if the ending wasn't so bad! I mean truly, truly awful and unrealistic. Also, the whole substory of the crazy island people and how quick Rebecca and Adam are to accept that Maya is dead, ugh. Oh, and the other substory of a complicated shooting in their childhood (oh, and the miscarriages substory), there was just way too much going on in this book. Don't read it unless you want to drive yourself crazy. 

5 stars

From the author's website: 

Eight-year-old Sophie Donohue wanted to be like every other little girl, which is why her mother, Janine, reluctantly agreed to let her go on a camping trip with her Brownie troop. But when Janine arrives to pick up Sophie after the trip, her daughter is not among the others. Somehow, along the forested route from West Virginia, Sophie has disappeared.

Sophie suffers from a rare disease, and without treatment, it’s only a matter of days before the illness will claim her life. Janine searches for the child, along with her ex-husband Joe, and a gardener, Lucas. As their frustration grows, so does the envy and suspicion between the two men, casting doubts on each other’s true motives for trying to find the little girl.

Deep in the forest, another drama unfolds. Sophie has found refuge in a remote cabin, where a woman is preparing a hideaway for her own daughter, who has escaped from prison after being wrongly imprisoned for murder. Sophie’s arrival puts in jeopardy her daughter’s future, but the mysterious woman is as determined to save her daughter as Janine is to save Sophie. Only one of them can succeed.

What I thought: This book was excellent. I usually love Diane Chamberlain's books, and this was no exception (though obviously The Lies We Told was one). Such a page-turner and the ending was so perfect. I definitely recommend it.