Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman – ☆☆☆

Hmm. This one is actually a little harder for me to rate. I originally gave it four, but I think I am leaning more towards 3 stars — I think it would be a 3.5 star book, really, but not necessarily one you round up.

The novel opens with a bang — Erin, our protagonist, is panting in the woods as she is digging out a grave, trying to cut corners and avoid going six feet deep. Oh, and one more thing? The body she needs to bury is her husband’s. From here, the novel rewinds back, leading us up until this point. Erin is a documentary filmmaker working on her next film, which revolves around three different inmates for various crimes, and following them on their release day. Her fiance, Mark, is an investment banker, and the two are weeks away from their big wedding day. That’s when things start to unravel — Mark is fired from his job, and the two are now panicking about money.

They cancel all the extravagances of their wedding, opting for a smaller, low key option and reducing their honeymoon in Bora Bora from three weeks to two. While on the honeymoon, they’re sailing in the ocean when something hits the side of their boat. Thunk thunk thunk. Apprehensive, they peer over the side and notice hundreds of reams of paper just floating in the water. Thunk thunk thunk. Mark reaches over the side of the boat and extracts a big black, heavy bag that is padlocked close. He and Erin then put their diving gear on and go into the water, determined to see where this came from. Ten feet down, they spot it: a small plane, shipwrecked. Erin starts to panic and heads for the surface while Mark goes down to investigate. When he comes back up, he informs her that three people are in the plane, and that they are not very good people. The story really takes off from here, as Erin and Mark try to figure out what to do with the bag, if they should open it, and the consequences of the decision they make to, indeed, open the bag.

I have mixed feelings on this book for a few reasons. One, I wasn’t huge on the narrator. I just didn’t really like her voice, and it’s told through first person, so liking her voice is kind of important. I also just didn’t like her very much in general. She made very poor, impulsive decisions and never seemed to care or face much consequence, and she was also very greedy and a huge liar. At various points in the book, I just kept getting irritated and annoyed at how stupid she was and the stupid decisions and choices she was making.

Two, I really didn’t love the resolution. I had accurately guessed at several of the twists, but the payoff isn’t great because we never get the other side of the story. Erin decides things in her head and decides that’s why other character’s must have made the choices and decisions they did, but we never actually hear it out of the other character’s mouth. We’re supposed to just take it on Erin’s word that she is 100% correct in her assumptions. Considering what the reveal turns out to be, this was very disconcerting for me because I felt like there were a lot of obvious explanations for behaviors and decisions made, but she never explores them and just assumes that the worst must be true and that’s that.

Third, it takes entirely too long for the story to build. The bag hitting the boat is truly the catalyst of the novel, and that doesn’t happen until almost 40% into the book.

The positive is that once it does get going, you do end up being pulled in and it is a page turner that, I believe, you’ll really enjoy in the moment. I enjoyed it, at least, but it was after I had put the book down and started thinking about it that I realized that once the thrill of the ride is over, there are a lot of things that don’t make sense or are left unanswered or are just completely unsatisfying.

I enjoyed the book, but I think there was so much more that could have been done with it, hence rounding it down to a 3-star read.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Something in the Water is out now!

Fat Girl on a Plane by Kelly Devos – ☆☆

Cookie Vonn is the daughter of a supermodel, but didn’t inherit her moms slim figure. She’s fat and always has been, but after an embarrassing situation on a plane — Cookie is forced to buy a second seat because she is deemed too fat for one seat — Cookie is determined to lose weight. The story unfolds from two perspectives: “fat,” while Cookie is in her senior year of high school, and “skinny,” while Cookie is a fashion student at ASU.

The writing is pretty good for a young adult novel, but I think I have finally grown out of this genre and was very irritated by a lot of it. The whole thing with Gareth and Cookie falling all over him two seconds after meeting him was obnoxious, not to mention how inappropriate it is that he’s significantly older than her and pursuing a relationship with a 19 year old, who becomes a coworker. If I recall correctly, he is 33 years old and pursuing a relationship with a 19 year old who is also his employee. It was really gross, uncomfortable, and predatory, yet no one says anything about this gross age difference or the obvious power imbalance.

The whole plotline in the “skinny” section is very The Devil Wears Prada, right down to the backstabbing twist at the end. The “fat” section really was irritating to read. Cookie is mercilessly bullied by Kennes throughout the whole book. She makes fun of her for being fat — and Kennes not only makes fun of her, but random girls she doesn’t even know. She does it in front of Cookie’s best friend, Tommy, and Tommy sits there and doesn’t say anything. This merciless bullying of Cookie goes on throughout the whole “fat” section through various ridiculous, over the top, inappropriate, and disgusting ways — i.e. trying to force Cookie to make her a dress for free, including making Cookie pay for all the materials. Kennes then ratchets it up and messes with Cookie’s graduation gown, altering her form and so that on graduation day, Cookie is handed a gown that is several sizes too small and a teacher is literally trying to kick her out of graduation if she doesn’t buy a new gown that fits. Cookie FINALLY stands up to herself and lets the teacher know that her gown WOULD have fit had Kennes not tampered with it, and she can’t afford to buy a new gown. For some reason, Cookie standing up for herself ruins Tommy’s graduation day and he skips the graduation. Let me recap this for you — Tommy, who has sat by and watched Kennes tease Cookie the whole novel, mostly because she’s fat, gets mad at Cookie for standing up for herself and chooses to skip graduation because of it. Further, Cookie’s own  grandmother also berates her for it.

UMM. Am I living in an alternate universe? Cookie has been the subject of Kennes’ bullying the whole novel, and we have to witness her being berated and shamed for finally standing up for herself to this snot nosed rich girl? It was really irritating and twisted to read.

Also, can we discuss how absolutely ridiculous it is that Kennes is 18 years old and the editor of a magazine? And so is Cookie? And that they’re actually granted interviews with A list designers? Come on, let’s be real. Their little newsletter would never get this type of attention, nor would any legit designers actually open their offices and give previews of collections to 18 year old girls from no-name publications.

I did finish it and it’s a relatively quick read, but not a book for me. Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Fat Girl On A Plane is out now.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Final Girls by Riley Sager – ☆☆☆☆

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.

Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.

That is until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit; and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

Another fantastic book by Riley Sager! Had I read this one first, it would have been a five star read, but after reading his second novel, The Last Time I Lied, this one didn’t quite measure up to that one, though it was very close! This was a whirlwind of a novel and yet another Sager book that kept me up reading, needing to binge and finish even though it was past midnight.

When Quincy was a sophomore in college, she and a group of friends rented a cabin in the Poconos to celebrate Janelle’s birthday. It’s nestled deep in the woods, not too far from a psychiatric hospital (or “insane asylum”, as it is referred to in the novel, which I didn’t super like, tbh). On their first night there, terror strikes — a murderer is on the loose, killing every single one of Quincy’s friends. She is the lone survivor, found by a rookie cop at the end of the road as she streaks through the forest in an attempt to get away, her white dress turned red from blood. She is the sole survivor of the massacre, and with her survival, she becomes one of them – the Final Girls. Quincy is the third final girl after Lisa, the original, and Sam, who was also young when she survived a murder spree at a motel. Quincy has kept in loose contact with Lisa, but Sam has been off the grid for years, not seen or heard from by anyone. One day, however, Quincy finds out that Lisa has died of an apparent suicide. Shortly after, Sam also appears in her life, seeking her out after also learning of Lisa’s passing.

The novel flips from the present to the past, where we slowly find out what actually happened at Pine Cottage the day that all of Quincy’s friends died — though its been ten years, Quincy still doesn’t really remember WHAT happened that night. She remembers the events leading up to it, and she remembers running into the arms of Coop, the rookie cop she finds at the edge of the forest who was out there, looking for the escaped patient from the psychiatric hospital down the road. Everything in between, though? A big, black hole for Quincy.

Although on the outside, Quincy looks relatively well adjusted – she is engaged, she is well off financially due to legal settlements after the attacked, and a baking blog she runs and operates – inside, she’s a huge mess. She relies on Xanax to get through her days, and is barely able to keep it together. So much so that when Sam arrives, she exposes parts of Quincy she didn’t know existed; parts of her that scare and shame her.

This book was truly a ride, the last 100 or so pages in particular. It was filled with twists and turns, some I expected beforehand, many that didn’t even cross my mind. It’s another binge read book; you want to keep flipping pages to find out what is going on not only in the present, but in the past as well. Sager’s writing is fantastic yet again, his prose easy to read, always pulling you deep into the story. It very much has a slasher film vibe, an homage to movies in the same vein. Speaking of, the rights have also been sold to Universal to be made into a film — which I think it would do wonderfully.

If you like thrillers, or just well written books in general, I would highly recommend this. Another win for Riley Sager!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – ☆☆☆☆☆

Wow, wow, wow! I loved this book! I literally spent hours in bed on a Saturday night, desperate to get to the end. I finally finished it at 11P, and it was worth every hour spent reading. Fantastically written (I immediately went and got the author’s debut novel after writing this review, and have already finished it) and engrossing throughout, The Last Time I Lied is highly recommended and, in my opinion, a must read — the perfect book to binge read.

When Emma was 13 and a camper at Camp Nightingale, she caught her three cabin mates sneaking out of their cabin at night. Vivian, the leader of the pack, told Emma they were leaving her behind because she was too young before slipping out the door. When Emma awakes, the three girls haven’t returned. Panicked, she alerts Franny, the owner of the camp, and a search for the girls begins — but they’re never found.

Fifteen years later, Emma is still haunted by the night of their disappearance and the guilt she feels over it. An artist now, all her paintings are inspired by the three girls: Vivian, Allison, Natalie. She paints their portraits on canvas, then completely covers them with forest imagery — branches, trees, vines, leaves — so that the girls are unseen, hidden. At the gallery showing for the collective of paintings, Franny shows up with a proposition: she wants Emma to return to Camp Nightingale for the summer and act as an painting teacher at the reopening of the camp after fifteen years. Other campers from the last summer at Camp Nightingale have already agreed to be counselors as well. Emma waffles but ultimately accepts, hoping to maybe, finally find closure… and some answers on what happened to the girls. As Emma begins investigating, strange things start happening, making her even more desperate to unravel the secrets of Camp Nightingale.

The Last Time I Lied takes place at the camp for almost the whole book, and it was one of my favorite things about it. The setting gave it a very horror movie vibe, and the book itself even sort of feels like a slasher film. Sager’s writing is great, his words really getting under your skin and making you hungry for more. I didn’t want to put the book down, preferring to binge most of it in one go — and honestly, that is not my reading style at all. I typically get all my reading done during my commute to and from work, and sometimes during lunch at work, so for me to spend several hours reading a book is pretty rare. But the writing was so, so gripping, I honestly felt compelled to keep going.

I really loved the plot; it was deep and had lots of turns and red herrings. Some of it seemed perhaps a little unrealistic (I’m not sure I think that so many of those campers who were there for the disappearance would come back, particularly Emma), but the writing was so good and the story so intricate and well plotted that it was easy to overlook it. I did figure out one of big reveals before it was revealed, but despite that, the ending in particular was still really satisfying for me. If you are a fan of suspense, thrillers, psychological thrillers, etc., then definitely read this book! You won’t be disappointed!

The Last Time I Lied will be released on July 10th, 2018. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent – ☆☆☆☆

“My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.”

What an excellent way to start a novel! From the very first page, I was drawn in and wanted to read more, more, more. This was a super enjoyable book, one that was more about characters than the plot, though I also really enjoyed the plot as well. But at its core, it is a true psychological thriller, and a very good one at that.

Andrew is a well respected Judge in Ireland in the 1980’s, but a bad business decision has cost him to lose his whole fortune. He and his family are barely hanging on with his Judge’s salary, and his wife, Lydia, is desperate for more children. While they have one teenage son, Laurence, Lydia has suffered more than a handful of miscarriages, yet still remains desperate for a child. Enter Annie Doyle, the lying tramp that is murdered in the first chapter of the book. Desperate for a child, Lydia and Andrew were trying to impregnate and then purchase Annie’s baby — but things go awry as Annie tries to extort them and, in a fit of rage, ends up losing her life. What unfolds from there is the story of Lydia, her son, Laurence, and Annie’s sister, Karen. Their lives are forever impacted and entwined due to Annie’s death/disappearance, as all three try to move on and find closure.

This was a dark book, and the hatred I felt for Lydia exuded from basically every pore on my body. I abhorred her and wanted nothing but bad things to fall upon her — yet, she was a wonderfully written villain with her own brand of crazy. My feelings towards Laurence fluctuated between pity, disgust, and anger, but at my core, I was rooting for him to break free and get away from the mother who had her fingers wrapped around the pulse of his life, refusing the let him grow into a man on his own. Karen was the moral centerpiece of the novel, the one you identified, felt bad for, and rooted for, and if there was anyone to root for an want to alleviate pain from, it was definitely Karen.

Nugent’s character building was phenomenal. To me, this book was a character study more than anything. The ending was not exactly satisfying for me, but it also made sense and just really fit the novel. The writing is rich and nuanced and easy and enjoyable to read. I’m hesitating to go more into detail because I truly did enjoy this book quite a lot, and I don’t want to give anything away.

If you’re a fan of dark, psychological thrillers and getting inside the minds of your characters, understanding their motivations, and being taken for a dark, twisty ride, this is definitely the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent will be released on June 12th, 2018!

 

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin – ☆☆☆

Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton. Yet sometimes the middle-class small-town girl in Nina wonders if she’s strayed from the person she once was.

Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long, and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville’s most prestigious private school.

Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn’t always fit in—and her overprotective father doesn’t help—but in most ways, she’s a typical teenage girl, happy and thriving.

Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.

I’ve waited a few days to write a review, trying to sort out how I felt about this one. My first Emily Griffin book, I had heard a lot about her but didn’t know what to really expect. There were a lot of positives — the writing, for one, is great and makes for an easy, enjoyable read that you get lost in. Ultimately, though, I think that while the subject is timely, the message got muddled and was also just really disappointing.

All We Ever Wanted tells the story of Tom, Nina, And Lila, whose lives become entangled. Tom is Lyla’s father, and the two live together on the poorer side of Nashville. Lyla’s mother, an alcoholic, left a long time ago, and blows in and out of their life only sporadically. Nina is married to Kirk, a wealthy man from old money Nashville. She herself grew up modestly, falling in love with Kirk in college and settling into a housewife role to their now 18 year old son, Finch, and being a philanthropist. Finch has just gotten accepted into Princeton, and Nina feels content and proud of the boy she raised — until she finds out, right before being honored at a fundraiser, that her son took a photograph of a passed out girl with her breast out and holding a green Uno card, with the caption something like, “I guess she finally got her green card.” He then distributes the picture out on Snapchat, and it makes its way around the school and to all the parents. Tom, understandably, is infuriated that this happened to his daughter, while Lyla doesn’t think it’s as big of a deal and is more focused on landing Finch as a boyfriend. Nina is horrified and can’t believe her son can do that — and equally stunned that Kirk thinks it’s no big deal. As the families try to figure out how to navigate through this, Nina is also trying to navigate the life she has and how she grew into it.

As mentioned before, I really enjoyed the writing. It was easy to read and you wanted to keep going, which I really love when I can find in a book. Reading books told through different narrators is not always my favorite, but I think Giffin was good about having distinct voices for them. Lyla felt like a teenager without also being over the top and a character. Tom was angry and complex but also relatable. Nina was a great character just in general — not afraid to call out even her own family in the name of what is right.

My problem, I guess, was more in the fact that it felt like Giffin was trying to send a message about privilege and the type of people it creates — entitled, aggressive, and not very nice a lot of the time, particularly towards people they feel are beneath them. But at the end, they face no consequences for their actions. They get away with everything. They don’t learn any lessons.

Is that how it is in the real world? Yes, and in that way, the book is realistic. But for me, I like to read to escape and I don’t particularly enjoy reading a book about horrible people who, at the end, never learn their lesson or are held accountable for their crimes. For that, I think the book ended up being just okay for me. Still, though, I enjoyed it enough that I think I’ll check out some of Giffin’s other books.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! All We Ever Wanted is out June 26th!

Providence by Caroline Kepnes – ☆☆☆☆☆

Growing up as best friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe are the only ones who truly understand each other, though they can never find the words to tell one another the depth of their feelings. When Jon is finally ready to confess his feelings, he’s suddenly kidnapped by his substitute teacher who is obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and has a plot to save humanity.

Mourning the disappearance of Jon and facing the reality he may never return, Chloe tries to navigate the rites of entering young adulthood and “fit in” with the popular crowd, but thoughts of Jon are never far away. 

When Jon finally escapes, he discovers he now has an uncontrollable power that endangers anyone he has intense feelings for. He runs away to protect Chloe and find the answers to his new identity–but he’s soon being tracked by a detective who is fascinated by a series of vigilante killings that appear connected. 

Jon has always been a bit of an outcast. He is teased and bullied at school and doesn’t have very many friends. But he has one, Chloe, who straddles the line between being popular but also being friends with Jon. Because Jon is bullied so much, he takes a different way to school every day, a way that involves him cutting through the woods to avoid passing Carrig, his bully, on the streets. One day on his way to school, however, Jon is hit over the head and is kidnapped. No one knows what happened to him, where he went, where he can be. Even worse, not many people care outside of his parents and Chloe.

Four years after his disappearance, Jon wakes up in a basement, alone. There is a Lovecraft book next to him with a note from an old substitute teacher, Blair. He has done something to him, something not right. Jon emerges from the basement bigger, muscular, grown – almost a man. But something is not right. His mother faints in his presence. His father passes out next to him on the couch. When Chloe comes to see him, she faints. Blood trickles out of people’s noses when he’s too close. Jon can’t figure out what is happening – all he knows is he crashes a party to see Chloe, and it ends with one of Chloe’s friends dropping dead at 18, victim of what appears to be a heart attack. Jon knows he did it, though, so he flees his New Hampshire town.

The book jumps ahead four years at this point, and is told through the point of view of Chloe, Jon, and Eggs. Eggs is a Providence cop, a cop who knows something is very weird about all these young people dropping dead of heart attacks. Chloe is trying to make it through life, still mourning Jon deeply. Jon is trying his best not to hurt people, to find his substitute teacher, to figure out what was done to him.

Kepnes crafts a wonderfully gripping story; I tore through this book and didn’t want to put it down. Despite having three narrators throughout the novel, Kepnes is able to make them all sound wonderfully unique, their own persons.

I don’t know that I loved the ending – things got a little too over the top at the end, but I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I also appreciated how she wrapped up the epilogue and where she left these characters. I enjoyed seeing Eggs’ story particularly unfold. I do think, however, that this is probably a love it or hate it type of book. It is all rooted in the supernatural; from what I understand of her previous books, it’s a sharp turn from “You,” which seems to be pretty loved by most readers I have encountered. I have not read “You”, so I can’t really compare the two, but from reviews I have seen, they’re very different novels. I think that there has to also be a bit of a willingness to not have all the questions answered or to get a concrete ending in order to really enjoy this book. For me, it was about the journey and the ride, so I didn’t mind these things, but it’s worth considering that before deciding to pick it up.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Read it when it comes out in June!

Amazon | Apple iBooks | Barnes & Noble

Her Name Was Rose by Claire Allan – ☆☆☆

Her name was Rose. You watched her die. And her death has created a vacancy. 

When Emily lets a stranger step out in front of her, she never imagines that split second will change her life. But after Emily watches a car plough into the young mother – killing her instantly – she finds herself unable to move on.

And then she makes a decision she can never take back.

Because Rose had everything Emily had ever dreamed of. A beautiful, loving family, a great job and a stunning home. And now Rose’s husband misses his wife, and their son needs a mother. Why couldn’t Emily fill that space?

But as Emily is about to discover, no one’s life is perfect … and not everything is as it seems.

This one was really disappointing for me because it sounded like something that would be totally up my alley, but I just could not connect with the protagonist, who was a complete and utter idiot and also pretty unhinged in general, while remaining convinced she was perfectly well. I also felt like a lot of it was obvious from the very beginning chapters, so it was also extra infuriating that the protagonist, Emily, was so blind and stupid to everything going on around her.

Emily works for CallSolutions, a customer service job that she hates and does on autopilot. Her life has been a mess for the past several years; she was in an abusive relationship years ago with her ex-boyfriend, Ben, and she still hasn’t recovered. She abuses anxiety pills and alcohol, and can’t get her life together. One day, she’s riding an elevator down with a woman and her baby; the woman is singing softly to her baby, and Emily is struck by how lucky they are, and she lets the woman exit the elevator first. In what seems like seconds, a car comes speeding by, hitting the woman and driving off. The woman dies instantly, her twisted body and dead eyes staring blankly at Emily. Terrified and in panic, Emily flees the scene. She is convinced that her ex boyfriend, Ben, is to blame for this, that this should have been her who was dead, and that after five years of not being together, he has finally come to exact his revenge on her. The plot unfolds from here, as we learn the woman’s name is Rose. Emily gets fired from CallSolutions for lying about going to the dentist when she was really going to Rose’s funeral; in fact, she has been stalking Rose’s social media since she died and has become fully obsessed with her and her life. So obsessed, in fact, that she applies for the job Rose had before dying, and then starts to push her way into Rose’s husband, Cian’s, life. Taking her job wasn’t enough, Rose now wants her husband and her baby, too. The police continue to sniff around, as Rose’s death is now ruled a murder. The kid driving the car that struck Rose also mysteriously turns up dead – an apparent suicide that was not a suicide at all – and the cops are trying to get to the bottom of it.

This book was just… something else. Emily was probably one of my least favorite protagonists ever. There was nothing remotely likeable about her, I didn’t feel bad for her, I wasn’t worried about her… in fact, I just found her super pathetic and stupid. Like, really, it has been FIVE YEARS since you broke up with Ben, but you think he got behind the wheel of a car to wipe you out? Even though you also know he no longer even lives anywhere close by? Even though he was the one who left you, who you caught cheating on you, who never actually really gave two shits about you? I get that trauma and PTSD can be a real thing, but its been five years. You’re taking anxiety pills, which means you have to be seeing mental health doctors, so it just seems a little absurd that you’re still this caught up on something that hasn’t actually been an issue for five years.

It was also just truly disgusting and unforgivable to me the way she really just set her sights on Rose’s life and was determined to make it all hers. Not only did you see this woman get killed and fled the crime scene without even speaking to police officers, you then go to her funeral, you apply for her job, and then you set your sights on her husband and child? Rose hasn’t even been dead a month when we’re forced to hear Emily wax poetic about what a beautiful man Cian is, how full of emotion is, how much he loved Rose, have to listen to her fantasizing about what it would be like to be with him sexually, to be his wife, to step in as Jack’s mother. Like, this woman is fully unhinged and completely blind and oblivious to it all. It was also obvious from the very, very start that Cian was a controlling, abusive asshole and that there was more to the story of him and Rose, but of course, Emily is blind to all of that, too — even AFTER already going through her own abusive relationship five years prior. Cian is very obviously using her and manipulating her the whole entire time, and she’s all “la-di-da-di, I love him so much! We are going to be so happy!”

Because I didn’t care a lick about Emily, I also just didn’t really give a hoot about Rose or what happened to her, either. The reveal over who was responsible for her death was unexpected, I guess, but again — I just didn’t care. Overall, this book was just very ‘meh’ for me, and I probably wouldn’t be quick to read another of this author’s works, especially if there are more protagonists like Emily.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. “Her Name Was Rose” will be out June 28, 2018.

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella – ☆☆☆☆

After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other’s sentences. However, a trip to the doctor projects they will live another 68 years together and panic sets in. They never expected “until death do us part” to mean seven decades. In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring. But in their pursuit to execute Project Surprise Me, mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that start to threaten the very foundation of their unshakable bond. When a scandal from the past is revealed that question some important untold truths, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all. I have actually never read a Sophie Kinsella novel before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I picked one up once but couldn’t get into it and gave up a few pages in. I decided to try again with “Surprise Me,” and it really was a fun, enjoyable read. Sylvie and Dan are at the doctor for yearly checkups when he tells them that they are exceptionally healthy and could expect to live into their 100’s. This kickstarts the book as Sylvie and Dan begin to freak out — they’re only 32; if this is true, they haven’t even lived half their life. In fact, they’re still in the first act! They start to panic, realizing that they’ve already had ten years together, and now are facing 68 more. How do you live with one person for 68 years? How do you keep things exciting? How do you not get bored? To combat these fears, Sylvie and Dan start a plan to surprise each other as a way to keep their marriage fresh and interesting. But surprises are not always good, and things start to unravel for Sylvie and Dan’s marriage in their attempt to try to fix it. While I thought the plot that kicks off the book was a little lame (really? Who gets that mad and panicked because they’re assured that they’re going to have a long, healthy life? Also, who even takes that at face value? You can get hit by a bus tomorrow), but the events it set off were actually really wonderful. Kinsella’s Sylvie is very relatable, and I actually really liked seeing everything through her eyes. She was definitely flawed and annoyingly spoiled and entitled sometimes, but it also made her seem very real and true to life. I also was expecting the twist to go somewhere else, which it didn’t, and I was pleasantly surprised by that. I would definitely love to go back and read some other Kinsella novels after this, and would for sure recommend this as a lighthearted read. With summer just around the corner (though it seems like we’re skipping Spring completely where I am), I could see this being a relaxing read poolside or on the beach. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review! “Surprise Me” by Sophie Kinsella is available now!

Catfished by Stella Bixby – ☆

If I could give this book zero stars, I absolutely would. This was such a horrible, damaging book, especially to women. It glorifies sexual assault and tries to make it something sexy and fun. Workplace harassment is at the forefront of this novel, and yet the harassment is brushed off and deemed acceptable because the person doing the harassment is attractive. As a woman, this was a horrifying book to read and I am sad for every young girl who is going to read this book and think this behavior is acceptable. Let me step off my soapbox, however, and give my full review.

Looking for a book that glamorizes sexual harassment? Then this is the book for you. Less than 11% in, a married character, Antonio, continues to grossly and shamelessly hit on the protagonist, Rylie, who is also his new subordinate and coworker. He is reminded by another coworker of the sexual harassment training they have and to watch what he says, to which Antonio replies that “you can’t tame an Italian stallion” and laughing about it while Rylie acts charmed and pleased and swoons over him.

Then, they’re at a bar a couple chapters later and Rylie narrates how uncomfortable he makes her and how he grabs her arm when she’s trying to leave to hold her there, and she is so upset that Luke, her high school sweetheart, thinks she actually likes Antonio and couldn’t tell how uncomfortable Antonio makes her. Yet, a bit later, she excuses Antonio’s behavior because he’s cute. Literally, chapter 3: “it was a good thing he was cute — and technically my superior — because otherwise I’d have kneed him in his happy place.” Oh, okay, so sexual harassment is okay when the guy is cute? Good to know. She goes on how her “head screamed objections, but the smell of his cologne was as intoxicating as his voice and his smile.” Like, seriously — what the actual fuck? Sorry for the language, but even re-reading and editing this review is making my blood boil.

After Rylie calls Antonio out for being married and he brushes it off and makes excuses, Rylie continues to fawn and gush over him the whole novel. Literally, she goes from one chapter talking how he makes her so uncomfortable and how was Luke not able to see that, to the very next chapter where she describes her chest tightening with jealousy because he’s talking/flirting with another coworker. This troubling behavior and thinking continues on, as Rylie spends the whole book describing how inappropriate he is but also narrating how he’s hotter than bacon off the griddle and she would love to take a bite. Her and her mother even lament him being married at the end of the book.

Yes, sure, in the time of #MeToo and #TimesUp, let’s write a character who continually sexually harasses his coworkers and makes them feel uncomfortable, but let’s romanticize it and make him such an irresistible stud that everyone just laughs off and brushes off his sexual harassment. Fucking disgusting.

Rylie herself is also just an obnoxious, unlikable character. She’s is a week out of a breakup (a relationship she was in for five years), but she’s already swooning over practically every guy in the novel and crying over Luke, her first love who she hasn’t seen or spoken to in five years, and acting like a sixteen year old girl because how dare he talk to someone of the opposite sex?! Doesn’t he know that she’s the only girl he’s allowed to glance in the general direction of?! Also, you just got out of a five year relationship — why are you rubbing up on every guy you see like a cat in heat? Not to mention how horrible she just is in general — like after inviting Shayla to dinner with her parents, Shayla tells Rylie she’s happy they’re friends. Rylie’s narration about that? “I hadn’t had a friend — a girl friend — in a really long time, and I could definitely do worse than Shayla.” Really!? This girl has been nothing but kind and sweet to you and thanks you for your friendship, and you dismiss off with “I guess I could do worse.”

There was nothing remotely likable about this girl. It’s obvious the author was trying to go for a Heather Wells vibe (Meg Cabot’s murder solving heroine), but missed the part where Heather was funny and charming and, you know, actually a good person.

The writing is also nothing special. You can read this book in two hours. The mystery is barely there or fleshed out. I very obviously will not read any more books in this series, and I don’t think any woman should, particularly younger women who are more impressionable and who might walk away from this novel thinking that being harassed and assaulted at work is okay and appropriate.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.