The Women was Kristin Hannah at her very Kristin Hannah-y best. I went into reading this knowing I was going to end up crying, and I sure did. Many tiThe Women was Kristin Hannah at her very Kristin Hannah-y best. I went into reading this knowing I was going to end up crying, and I sure did. Many times.
The Family Experiment is set in the same vaguely dystopian, near-future world as The One, The Passengers, and The Marriage Act, and in it participantsThe Family Experiment is set in the same vaguely dystopian, near-future world as The One, The Passengers, and The Marriage Act, and in it participants in a virtual reality-reality show are responsible for raising an AI child from infancy to age 18 in a condensed 9-month timeframe, all while being watched constantly and having every parenting decision voted on by an audience of millions. The winner gets to either keep their AI child or collect enough prize money to support having a biological child.
This is my favorite book by Marrs thus far, and I could not put it down! The cast of characters was quite large, so hearing from their varying perspectives kept things clipping along at a breakneck pace. There was SO MUCH going on and so many surprises, and I loved it. Highly recommend for existing Marrs fans, and I think it would be a great entry point to the Marrs Cinematic Universe for new readers as well.
* thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and Hanover Press for the NetGalley review copy. The Family Experiment publishes in the US on July 9....more
I’ve never been to a wedding where anyone has objected (or where the question was even asked), but as a setup for a romcom, damn if it isn’t the cutesI’ve never been to a wedding where anyone has objected (or where the question was even asked), but as a setup for a romcom, damn if it isn’t the cutest meet-cute ever.
Hilarious banter and some excellent sassy parts — I absolutely loved these two asshats and their snarky (hot) relationship.
Definitely need more Lynn Painter books in my life! ...more
gaaaaaaah I love a fake-dating/fake marriage trope! Christina Lauren's books are always enjoyable - funny, smart, and just the right amount of steam -gaaaaaaah I love a fake-dating/fake marriage trope! Christina Lauren's books are always enjoyable - funny, smart, and just the right amount of steam - and this one did not disappoint! I'm looking forward to spotting this one at the pool/beach a lot this summer!
* thank you to Gallery Books for the NetGalley review copy. THE PARADISE PROBLEM publishes May 14, 2024. ...more
Claire Lombardo is a magician. I wasn't sure how she was going to match The Most Fun We Ever Had (which is one ofI LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH - 500 STARS
Claire Lombardo is a magician. I wasn't sure how she was going to match The Most Fun We Ever Had (which is one of my favorite books ever - I enthusiastically read all 500+ pages twice), and don't worry, folks - she KILLED IT. In Same As It Ever Was, she captures every complicated, messy emotion of marriage and family life and friendship and motherhood so perfectly. I feel like all of these people are real, and that some of them might be me. I laughed and cried and never wanted this book to end. I'm already looking forward to reading it again when I pick it for bookclub.
This was one of my most-anticipated books of 2024 and is absolutely one of my favorites. READ THIS!
* thank you so much to Doubleday for the NetGalley review copy. SAME AS IT EVER WAS publishes June 18, 2024. ...more
I loved this book so much that I think I'm going to reread it again before the pub date even though I have nine gazillion other books to read.
I don'tI loved this book so much that I think I'm going to reread it again before the pub date even though I have nine gazillion other books to read.
I don't even know what to say other than it was weird and smart and funny and emotional without being gross and thought-provoking without being preachy, and if you don't love Margo, I'm pretty damn sure I don't like you.
Definitely one of my favorite books of 2024.
* thank you to William Morrow for the NetGalley review copy. MARGO'S GOT MONEY TROUBLES publishes June 11, 2024....more
Newlyweds April and Eddie take a wrong turn on their way to their honeymoon cottage, and they end up on a creepy road in the middle of nowhere. They pNewlyweds April and Eddie take a wrong turn on their way to their honeymoon cottage, and they end up on a creepy road in the middle of nowhere. They pick up a hitchhiker and realize she’s bleeding profusely… and then they notice the truck getting closer and closer in their rear view mirror. (Aaaaagh!) The hitchhiker dies and the young couple becomes the prime suspects in her murder — and many other murders that have occurred on the same patch of deserted highway.
I love Simone St. James — she’s so good at incorporating supernatural creepy business into an already exciting thriller plot and making it seem reasonable. I loved that this was set in the 90s and loved April and Eddie (and Rose!) so much - super believable characters just trying to do their best while caught up in a crazy situation. I did think the ending was a little confusing but am 90% sure this was a me problem bc I was reading in the middle of the night. This was another great one from one of my favorite authors and is absolutely a must-read.
(4.5 rounded up)
* thank you to Berkley for the NetGalley review copy. MURDER ROAD publishes March 5, 2024. ...more
It's been six years since Amelia and Kylee's beloved cousin, Grace, vanished in the middle of the night while babysitting them. GraceI LOVED THIS BOOK
It's been six years since Amelia and Kylee's beloved cousin, Grace, vanished in the middle of the night while babysitting them. Grace had dreams of escaping their dead-end small town, and she was *this close* when she disappeared, leaving Amelia and Kylee with unanswered questions and dangerous dreams of their own.
This book was amazing and everything I want from a missing person/cold case/smart, determined girls trapped in a crappy town thriller. I loved the part at the beginning where McHugh describes the road that circles the town, going from the hospital to the meatpacking plant to the cemetery - "It was like the kiddie-car ride at the county fair, where you've got your own steering wheel and you can turn it all you want, but there's only one way to go, the track laid out before you got there." - BRUTAL. The way the story was told in dual timelines, switching between Grace's story from six years ago (and earlier) and Amelia & Kylie's story in the present, the tension was nearly unbearable. Grace was so smart and brave and driven, and knowing she was going to disappear pretty much wrecked me. I loved Amelia and Kylee as well - Amelia's snark factor was delightful, and they felt like real girls caught in a terrible situation. The ending was upsetting and weird and I loved it. This is absolutely going on my list of favorite books this year.
Also... somehow this was the first book I've read by McHugh (??!??), and I've clearly been missing out. I just downloaded her debut novel THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD from the library and am reading it ASAP.
* Thank you to Random House for the NetGalley review copy. SAFE AND SOUND publishes April 23, 2024....more
I read CASCADE FAILURE in January 2024 and already know it's going on my favorite books of the year list.
Found family. Space adventure. Action. IntriI read CASCADE FAILURE in January 2024 and already know it's going on my favorite books of the year list.
Found family. Space adventure. Action. Intrigue. Betrayal. Forgiveness. Snarky humor. Corporate malfeasance. Perfect world-building. Fully-developed, fully lovable, fully-relatable characters, including an AI ship's captain you want to hug (kind of like Murderbot's ART, but way less of an asshole), a mechanic/medic who crochets and knits little friends, a traumatized but deeply caring and competent (and at least in my head very, very hot) XO, an old friend who reappears and makes everything complicated, and a smart AF programmer who maybe has the answers to everything. It's got real FIREFLY vibes in all of the ways I love but is also entirely unique.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH AND AM DYYYYYYYYYING TO READ BOOK TWO IMMEDIATELY (and anything else Sagas ever writes).
* thank you to Tor Books for the NetGalley review copy. CASCADE FAILURE publishes March 19, 2024....more
500 stars and please PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEEASE let there be another book about these characters in the works. I love this series so much, and it cannot b500 stars and please PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEEASE let there be another book about these characters in the works. I love this series so much, and it cannot be over.
While this is 100% a must-read for fans of Firefly and anyone who loves found family + action + conspiracy & intrigue, you don’t need to be a sci-fi fan to love this book. Yes, there’s a spaceship with an AI captain and it’s set on other planets in different solar systems, but that’s just the setting - the heart of the book is the characters and their relationships, and these are some of the best characters I’ve ever read.
Amara is the only daughter of her Sri Lankan village's demon priest (Capuwa). Her family is simultaneously feared, respected, and scorned, and Amara iAmara is the only daughter of her Sri Lankan village's demon priest (Capuwa). Her family is simultaneously feared, respected, and scorned, and Amara is frequently bullied and called a witch, especially as the white British colonizers' Christian religion takes a stronger hold and her father's services are used less and less. Things get even worse when multiple men are viciously attacked in the jungle by an unknown entity - Amara's father is accused, and as Amara investigates to try to clear him of suspicion, she starts having vivid nightmares and losing time/waking up in strange locations.
Amanda Jayatissa is one of my absolute favorites, and I knew from the very first chapter that I was going to love this book. She somehow (magic?!?) perfectly melded historical fiction, folklore, and horror with the uniquely terrifying and awkward transition from girlhood to womanhood and created a thrilling, haunting, suspenseful story of feminist rage and bloody vengeance. 500 stars.
I think this would be extra cool to (re)listen to as an audiobook because there are Sinhala phrases used throughout, which would add to the atmosphere even more.
* thank you to Berkley for the NetGalley review copy. ISLAND WITCH publishes February 20, 2024. ...more
WOW. Vanessa Lillie has written a compelling, fast-paced, brutally heartbreaking story rooted in the real-life horror of missing and murdered IndigenoWOW. Vanessa Lillie has written a compelling, fast-paced, brutally heartbreaking story rooted in the real-life horror of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2Spirit people -- and how their deaths and disappearances are ignored, under-investigated, and covered up by authorities. I absolutely loved this book and hope it helps enlighten people who were previously unaware of how pervasive the violence against Indigenous people has been since the first colonizers arrived, and how women, girls, and 2S continue to bear the brunt of this violence.
This book is a goddamn reckoning, and Lillie's voice is powerful - perfectly balancing action-packed thrills, fury, and deeply emotional moments of connection.
I also just realized Blood Sisters is the first in a planned series, and I CANNOT WAIT to see what Lillie does next. Five hundred stars and one of my favorite books of the year.
* thank you to Berkley for the NetGalley review copy. BLOOD SISTERS published October 31....more
I first became acquainted with the unhinged genius that is Philomena Cunk through her TV series, Cunk on Earth, and this utterly bonkers book with PhiI first became acquainted with the unhinged genius that is Philomena Cunk through her TV series, Cunk on Earth, and this utterly bonkers book with Philomena's take on - well, EVERYTHING - did not disappoint. I can't pick a favorite entry because there are too many things to cackle about in each and every one. This was utterly hilarious, glorious nonsense, and I can't get enough of it.
And I'm really looking forward to giving this to my dad for Christmas because he's going to lose his mind. Perfection.
* thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the NetGalley review copy. Cunk on Everything published in the US in September 2023....more
Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore (what a name!) is South Carolina's richest woman and -- after surviving a kidnapping as a child and leaRuby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore (what a name!) is South Carolina's richest woman and -- after surviving a kidnapping as a child and leaving a quartet of dead husbands in her wake -- the most notorious. When Ruby dies, her adopted son and heir, Cameron, wants nothing to do with the fortune or the extended family (who would VERY MUCH like the money for themselves).
I LOVED this book. Secrets, family drama, lies, more secrets, and all of the twists and turns you could ever want. Rachel Hawkins is one of my auto-read favorites, and this is her best yet!
* thanks to St. Martin's Press for the NetGalley review copy. The Heiress publishes January 9, 2024....more
An enemies to lovers romcom in SPACE?!? Dream. Book.
CALAMITY was fast-paced, exciting, snarky, funny, and just spicy enough for the likes of me, with An enemies to lovers romcom in SPACE?!? Dream. Book.
CALAMITY was fast-paced, exciting, snarky, funny, and just spicy enough for the likes of me, with well-developed, complicated characters, an interesting plot, excellent world-building, and SO MUCH action. I absolutely loved every minute of this book and am already officially dying to read book two in the series. READ THIS, especially if you're a fan of Firefly.
* thank you so much to Bramble / Tor for the NetGalley review copy. Calamity publishes November 14th....more
I lost my goddamn mind when I got my hands on an early copy of this book. Hunter's writing is so uniquely good it makes me nervous. FIVE HUNDRED STARS
I lost my goddamn mind when I got my hands on an early copy of this book. Hunter's writing is so uniquely good it makes me nervous. Every sentence she writes is tight and perfect - not an errant word or phrase anywhere to be found - it's dark and brutal and slyly funny and gross and upsetting and always deadly, sharply smart.
Hot Springs Drive is a literary thriller about two complicated women: next-door neighbors who become best friends, raising their children together, and - eventually - destroying each other. It’s about motherhood, losing yourself, finding yourself, ruining yourself, sex, diets, desire, death, and all of the mess and horror of being a woman.
I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH and am incapable of doing it justice without sounding like an absolute fucking maniac, so I will leave it at: this is one of my favorite books of the year. READ IT.
* thank you so much to @groveatlantic & @roxanegaybooks for the ARC and NetGalley review copies. Hot Springs Drive publishes November 7th....more
I really try to avoid reading books with animals as important characters because it seems like they always have to die or suffer so some human can leaI really try to avoid reading books with animals as important characters because it seems like they always have to die or suffer so some human can learn a life lesson or whatever… HOWEVER — this is not that kind of animal book!
Johannes is a free dog who living in a park full of animals - he’s friends with squirrels, raccoons, bison, and seagulls, but NOT ducks because ducks are the worst. They work together to stay safe from humans (the bad ones and the ones who cause problems thinking they’re helping) and it’s all so charming and funny and perfect. I absolutely LOVED this book.
Cindy (leavemetomybooks)
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