The Bluest Eye - Review

The Bluest Eye
by Toni Morrison
2 of 5 stars

Nope. Giving up at page 164 of 215, you'd think oh well, might as well finish. Nope. If the goal was to bash her point into my head repeatedly, mission accomplished, along with a major headache and feelings of disgust and depression.

Bethlehem: A Novel - Review

Bethlehem: A Novel🌟🌟🌟🌟
by Karen Kelly
Published July 9 2019 by St. Martin's Press 

I enjoyed this one, right from the start.  I have a thing for interesting cemeteries and their caretakers (my grandfather was one after his retirement and he sometimes took me, age 7 or so, to run around while he did his thing) so the first chapter sucked me in.

The cemetery was only one part of the story, but it's where a mysterious headstone is found and imparts some intrigue.  A work of fiction about the Bethlehem Steel company in Bethlehem PA and the families behind it, I am not sure now if the wealthy Colliers and Parrishes were real families or not.  They are all close friends and then inter-marry.  There isn't a lot of action; I just enjoyed reading about them and their relationship struggles.  The two storylines are 1962 and 1918-1924, with the focus being on the females who try to do more than just support their men. 

Just one complaint and it annoyed the heck out of me.  Several characters were called by their given names as well as their nicknames.  With three families in the cast, it's hard enough to keep them all straight.  But then add one or more nicknames per person and it gets boggling.

Not for everyone, but it fit my current mood. Thank you to St Martin's  Press for the complimentary copy.

Montauk - Review

Montauk 🌕🌕🌕🌓
by Nicola Harrison 
Publishing June 4 2019 by St Martin's Press 

3.5 stars.

This book is extremely well written, especially for a debut.  The author takes us to a new vacation hotspot in 1938, Montauk, Long Island, where New York's wealthiest plan to invest and spend their summers from then on.  Beatrice and her husband Harry hope to rekindle some of the spark in their marriage after failing to get pregnant.  Instead a giant chasm is created when Beatrice discovers some things about Harry, and then about herself.  She no longer feels she fits into such a life, being from a simpler background and finding the other wives to be mostly shallow and self-centered.  

The seaside town of Montauk, originally a small fishing village with a lighthouse and mysterious lighthouse keeper, is described with visuals that had me picturing every scene.  I was rooting for Beatrice to come into herself, even though there was more romance here than I usually get into.  I loved Dolly, one of the more likeable wives, and Elizabeth from the village, both of them straight shooters in contrast to Beatrice.  The ending had me reeling -- I will say it was unexpected and even over the top. Could have turned out much differently.

I read an egalley thanks to St Martin's Press via NetGalley.

The New Neighbors - Review

The New Neighbors
by Simon Lelic
Published April 10 2018 by Berkley

Many thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy, and many apologies for the tardiness of my review.  I don't  know why I delayed my reading of this, but it was well worth the wait.

Jack and Sydney have purchased a house together, fulfilling a dream.  The house was, shall we say, too good to be believed, with the deal they were given against other higher bidders.  Almost as if a higher power wanted them in this house at this time.  Creepy things start to occur, beginning with a discovery in the attic.  Excursions into old attics always give me chills.  Then noises in the night and other mysterious happenings, not to mention an a$$hole  of a neighbor, set against Jack and Sydney each telling their background stories, kept me riveted.  I finished it in two days.  

I would seek out recommendations for reading this author again. 

Between the Lies - Review

Between the Lies   🌟🌟🌟

by Michelle Adams
Publication March 5 2019 by St Martin's Press

Anytime a book or a TV show resorts to a character contracting amnesia, it is automatically going to be hard to pull off as credible or interesting to me.  It has been done and overdone.  So from the beginning of this, I needed to be impressed with the rest of the story or the characterizations.  If you like the amnesia tactic, you'll likely enjoy this much more than I did.  

The characters themselves were all a bit of a mystery, which can be intriguing.  Here it is mainly because the main character and narrator Chloe has amnesia  and cannot remember even who her mother, father, and sister are.  So I had no idea who to trust or believe when she went to recuperate in their house.  Chloe was in a very serious car accident (hit her head of course) but can remember nothing about it.  It appears she has no friends or job as she cannot remember anyone else existing in her life.  Gradually she begins to suspect that her family is covering up or making up facts about the past.  I felt her frustration as the storyline progressed only as quickly as her memories returned.  There is one main mystery that I needed to see the answer to, and it turned out a little disappointing. Then the last chapter made so sense, partly because there seems to be a major misprint in my galley copy (I am out on a limb here).  

Overall the star value of 3 is mostly for the lies, secrets, and suspicions.  A point was deducted for the amnesia.

The Au Pair - Review

The Au Pair  🌟🌟🌟🌟

by Emma Rous
Published January 8 2019 by Berkley Books

This was a mighty good suspenseful tale of family secrets and misfortunes never told, and what can happen when one starts asking questions.  The inquiring mind belongs to Seraphin (a name new to me and highly distracting, since I kept wondering how it's pronounced, why didn't they just call her Sara for short instead of Seph, etc., etc.).  Her chapters were less interesting, as her character seemed shallow and undeveloped.  After finding a snapshot of her family taken on the day of her birth, and the day of her mother's suicide,  she becomes obsessed with finding out if she actually belongs in this family or if something shady transpired that day.  There are rumors of there being only one baby born, rather than two, or maybe there were three.  

The alternating chapters belonged to the au pair, spanning the eleven months just before Seraphin and her twin brother were born.  Here's  where we see how the secrets came into being.  The au pair knows everything, it appears, but someone is threatening her not to talk about it. 

As all is finally revealed, you had better be paying attention or it could become downright confusing.  I had most of it figured out but there still remained some details, which kept coming and coming and coming.  Maybe the final chapter could have been eliminated altogether to give the reader more to imagine.   Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street - Review

The Girls at 17 Swann Street  🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
by Yara Zgheib
Publishing Feb 5 2019 by St. Martin's Press

I do not cry over books.  I might tear up a bit, but seldom is there actual crying.  This book made me cry, multiple times.  

Anna was a ballet dancer, was living in Paris with her French husband, eating fine meals, drinking wine.  Ballerinas are pressured to stay thin, get even thinner, so eating habits had to change.  She also had lost some family members, tragically.  Anna did not choose to become anorexic; she did not consciously decide that 88 pounds was her ideal weight, or that fruit and popcorn  were her main food groups. It just happened as the disease aggressively and stubbornly took over her mind and body.

Now in Midwestern America, she goes for treatment at 17 Swann Street and so much happens in such a short time for her.  I was taken in by all the young women there and their daily struggles.  A very emotional  journey, for me at least.  

A quote from the preview copy I read:  "Only 33% of women with anorexia nervosa maintain full recovery after nine months . Of those, approximately one-third will relapse after the nine-month mark." 

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for offering me a copy through NetGalley. I will be recommending this one to all my reading friends.