I know. I know. Every month I make some sort of pledge to not request so many dang NetGalley Books, which I mostly obeyed. Sorta. Somewhat. Maybe. I don’t know. But what I do know happened is all the books I did request were published in January. I had six to read and made it through five. Not too shabby.
The Books I Loved, Liked & Loathed in December
The good news is that my book slump is officially over (knock on paper) and I read this past month. Lots of good books too, which makes me a happy camper. Or reader.
The Books I Loved
The books that made me go oh la la.
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Book Description: Meet the old wife, Vanessa: drunk, angry, guilty. Meet the soon-to-be new wife, Nellie: young, vivacious, naive. You think you know their story but you don’t.
Book Review: It is my nature to make guesses before I start a mystery. This is annoying to some, but I simply cannot help myself. So, as usual, I made a bold guess before I even opened the book (based on the description), quickly discovered that I was wrong, right, then wrong but not wrong/wrong. Confused? Good. This is also where I tell you the book isn’t super twisty or full of unreliable narrators either. Now you’re really confused. 😀 Well, know this: I love the book and am completely and utterly hooked with plans to reread it soon. (err … already done).
To Read or Not To Read: Yes, please. This is more psychological thriller than mystery and honestly more mind games than any thing else.
Note: I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. The Wife Between Us is now available.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Book Description: A traveling psychic tells the four Gold children the day they will die and the children must decide whether destiny or choice controls their lives and death.
Book Review: I struggle to find the right words to describe how I feel about this book. I hate it because it broke my heart so many times; I love it because it broke my heart so many times too. Yup, I’m complicated. The characters drew me into their lives and became a part of me. This is not a book that I would ever reread (I typically reread books that I love) and yet I think about Simon, Klara, Daniel (less so — the author’s puppet strings were more apparent) and Varya constantly and their beautifully tragic lives. And one last piece of advice: if someone offers to tell you when you’ll die, whether an obvious quack or the real McCoy, RUN as fast as you can and just live.
To Read or Not To Read: Yes. But maybe schedule a light, feel-good read afterwards or some quality snuggle time with your indifferent cat. While this does end on a positive, hopeful note, it just broke me into so many pieces that I’m still supergluing myself back together.
Note: I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. The Immortalists is now available.
The Books I Liked
The books I liked, from most liked to liked.
The Watson Girl by Leslie Wolfe
Book Description: Special Agent Tess Winnett investigates whether a serial killer, awaiting imminent execution, is telling the truth when he claims three murders attributed to him were done by a copycat killer.
Book Review: This book falls solidly into my wheelhouse: a mystery/thriller with a prickly, smart female lead who faces a worthy villain. While there were some familiar tropes that the author sadly did not subvert, the story was engrossing enough for me to overlook them with minimal teeth gnashing and just enjoy the ride, mostly. I like how the killer breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to us, even though I have mixed feelings about him. He is obviously cunning but also made some real bone-headed mistakes that seem, well, off. Still, I enjoyed this and would continue the series. Note: your apple consumption may decrease after reading this book. You’ll need to read it to understand why.
To Read or Not To Read: Absolutely. It’s a good fit for mystery/thriller fans.
Note: I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. The Watson Girl is now available.
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Book Description: Bad luck seems to follow Alice and her mother, even with their nomad lifestyle. But when her mother is kidnapped by supposed characters from a classic fairytale, she must find the forbidden place: Hazel Wood.
Book Review: The adolescent Tanya felt such joy and kinship to this story. To be the fair, so did adult Tanya. I enjoy YA but more specifically fantasy or dystopian YA, but this isn’t standard fantasy fare but a living and breathing fairy tale. And not a Disneyfied version with singing animals or one with girls vying for the Prince’s heart, this is old school fairytales — where they are mean, cruel and not apt to let it go. I did find the beginning a bit slow and the ending a bit rushed, so it might have been better to break this into two books (to spend more time in the fairytale land) but I still enjoyed this.
To Read or Not To Read: Yes, especially those who love old school fairytales and YA.
Note: I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. The Hazel Wood is available on January 30, 2018.
Lie with Me by Sabine Durrant
Book Description: It starts with a lie. A simple need to impress. A lie that spirals out of control and consumes you. And your life.
Book Review: I enjoy books that pose a question and make me think about how I would respond under the same set of circumstances. This book does that, which I like. What I struggled with is the extremely douchey main character. Paul is narcissistic, petulant and a liar. He is extremely unlikeable in a book of unlikeable characters, which isn’t a deal-breaker, but does mean that the story needs to be superb to keep me interested. His antics wore on me quickly and I started skimming. Ultimately, there was some payoff in the end and I would enjoy discussing with others whether or not they thought Paul deserved the comeuppance he received (my vote is no) but I also wish there was more to this book too.
To Read or Not To Read: Sure. It’s not a bad book, but you do have to tolerate a douche of a main character for a long, sometimes agonizing period. To be fair, my tolerance for douche male characters these days is extremely low since I have to worry about a #StableGenius who might confuse his diet coke button with his nuke button every day.
Note: I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. Lie with Me is now available.
Keep Her Safe by Sophie Hannah
Book Description: Cara Burrows needed a break from her family but while on vacation, she is given the key to an already occupied hotel room and spies the most famous murder victim still alive.
Book Review: Hmmmm … this started out really interesting and I was keen to see where it went but it sorta fell apart. I can do implausible and even ludicrous without batting an eye if the story entertains me … but after awhile I found myself sighing and rolling my eyes. You really need to be willing to suspend belief and go with it to enjoy this book, which was difficult for me because I had just finished The Wife Between Us. Obviously I read the entire thing so I didn’t loathe it, but it didn’t grip me the way I expected it too either.
To Read or Not To Read: Dealer’s choice. This is the kind of story that I can see some loving every part of it, from the Nancy Grace like character to its creative format (interview transcriptions/blog posts/book passages, etc) and its somewhat soapy feel. While others, like me, merely find it acceptable.
The Books I Loathed
None! Yay me! You are such a good chooser of books to read. 😀
TL;DR – My Recommendations for You
Okay, to recap: I strongly recommend The Wife Between Us. This is not a mystery, per se, but more a thriller/adult contemporary type of book. I like the book set-up and the fact that I felt a strong need to apologize to a certain character for my terrible and wrong assumptions. The Immortalists is a book that still lives and breathes inside of me and one I also highly recommend. I still remain flummoxed on how to describe it and consider it to be a kissing cousin to The Mothers by Britt Bennet (aka one of the best books I read in 2017) because it deals with the consequences of the choices we make with honesty. The Watson Girl is a solid choice if you’re looking for a fast-paced mystery and The Hazel Wood to YA fans. Lie With Me has a thought-provoking ending but be aware that you’ll need to endure an epic douche without a lot happening besides showing his high level of doucheness to get there.
To More Great Books
Next month looks to be another great reading month for me. On tap: some coveted hold books finally became available and a couple NetGalley books from series I currently read are waiting for me on my Kindle too. And of course, I will find a couple (or a couple dozen) new books to add to my TBR from my favorite link-up, Show Us Your Books hosted by Jana and Steph. As always, I’m linking up and encourage you to visit and see what everyone is reading. After all, just like cats, one can never have too many books on their TBR. 😉
What’s the best book you read last month?
Tanya
I’ve seen so much buzz about The Wife between us! I need to put it on the holds list at the library. It’s been awhile since I read a good psychological thriller! The Immortalists sounds so good too – and I like the slight comparison to The Mothers – loved that book.
I went into reading The Wife Between Us with a somewhat bad attitude – in that I need to read this now because it’s being published imminently and maybe I ain’t in the mood – and hours later when I closed the book (or swiped the page), I was deeply satisfied. It starts a bit slow, although I believe that was intentional, but I was hooked pretty quickly. Vanessa did a bad, bad thing, although I would first hug her, then slap her and hug her again. Like I said, complicated. Some books don’t always feel organic, like characters make bad decisions just to extend the story, etc. But here, they felt real which reminded so much of The Mothers. Brit has a better way with words but I was a mess after Simon’s story and Klara about did me in.
I love your affirmation at the end
I keep hearing about The Wife Between Us. I might have to actually check it out
Tis true. One can never have too many cats or books on their TBR. Okay, maybe cat hoarding is bad but still … lots of cats! Lots of books! These are things that make me happy! I really enjoyed The Wife Between Us. They spun a good tale and I felt deep sympathy and anger at both Nellie and Vanessa.
I wasn’t going to read The Wife Between Us, but you might have changed my mind.
I hope you enjoy it, if you can give it a try!
I need to have a Netgalley month too since all of my library books have been on hold for the past few weeks, and I’m sure they’ll have become available at the same time. The Immortalists is one I probably wouldn’t pick up on my own based on the synopsis but I’ve heard so many good things about it, I’m really excited to check it out. The Wife Between Us is one of my current holds, so I love that you enjoyed it so much!
LOL! That happens to me all the time. Hold books always come in at the same time, but also when I’m crazy busy and don’t have lots of reading time. Oh well. That’s the life of a #BookNerd! Immortalists isn’t a typical read for me either but I’m also trying to read more than my typical mysteries/thrillers and this caught my eye. I’m so glad I read it and I’m so mad that they broke my heart. I hope you enjoy both books!
Hazel Wood sounds really interesting! Might have to pick that one up.
I hope you enjoy it!
I had already heard good things about The Wife Between Us and had added it to my to read list earlier this week. I just added Lie With Me. It’s good to have a bunch of thrillers I can to turn to if I end up in a reading slump….douchy characters and all! I think I have one or two more NetGalley books to read and then I think I”m going to hold off. Too much pressure!! LOL!!
I think you’ll enjoy The Wife Between Us as I know you enjoy mystery/thrillers. Yeah, Paul from Lie with Me really annoyed me but maybe if I knew in advance that he was an epic douche, I’d would have been better prepared to handle all his whining and shenanigans. I always say that I’m taking a break from NetGalley and literally five minutes later I’m requesting books. 😀
I probably either need a few Netgalley months or they need to just stop emailing me with suggested titles so I stop requesting them. I’m pretty far behind on there – I’m actually surprised they keep me on there.
I added some of these to my TBR – all sound interesting.
Oh, those emails. They get me every time! I just can’t help myself! Some days I’m surprised they keep me on there, although I’m fairly caught up right now. But who knows about tomorrow because ummmm … I was planning on requesting some books today. 😀 Also, I have five books checked out from the library. One is a cookbook so that doesn’t count, right?
Yay for no more reading slump and I’m glad you really enjoyed most of these books! I haven’t read any of them but I’m so so curious about The Hazel Wood. Glad you enjoyed it!
-lauren
I’m so happy to put the reading slump behind me. It felt weird! I was doing too much forced reading, which killed my enthusiasm. I really liked The Hazel Wood. It was different from most of the YA fantasy books I’ve previously read. I honestly wish, though, that she had split it into two books so we could have spent more time in fairytale land. It did feel rushed, unfortunately, but still no regrets in reading the book.
Keep her safe sounds like it had potential. I hate when a book falls awayfrom a good one.
Knock on paper… That made me laugh
It really did. The premise was intriguing but it just kept getting more and more far-fetched. The Nancy Grace like character didn’t help either because she was like nails on a chalkboard to me too. Oh well. Knock on paper made me laugh too. 😀
UGH my internet ate my comment and i am cranky.
but basically i said:
glad you liked the wife between us as it was my book of the month club pick last month i think.
the hazel wood sounds like my cup of tea, and the immortalists sounds terrifying (whyyy would you want to know when you die? why why why) but both of those are still on netgalley so i requested them haha.
Oh that mean Internet! I hate it when it eats my comments too! I really did enjoy The Wife Between Us, more so than I expected. I think you’d enjoy The Hazel Wood, it’s definitely not a romance YA book though. Today, I would have zero interest in knowing the day I will die, but as a kid, I would have wanted to know. Or at least thought I did. Until told, then I’d probably freak out, sorta like the Gold children did. 😀 I hope you enjoy them!
I first heard about The Immoralists the other day and the premise completely freaked me out. I will be passing on that one, lol 🙂 But The Wife Between Us sounds really good!
I meant “Immortalists”. Stupid spell-check 🙂
It did that all the time to me too. 😀
It freaked me out too because I most definitely would not want to know the day I will die now. But it also made me curious because what a great premise for a book. I did not expect it to devastate me as much as it did. I really enjoyed The Wife Between Us. Of course, I’m always a fan of when a book surprises me and subverts common tropes.
I absolutely loved The Mothers by Britt Bennett (there’s a review on my blog), so I am interested that you are comparing it to The Immortalists. I don’t know if I can handle reading The Immortalists though!
I am very intrigued about The Wife Between Us!! I’m going to request it from the library.
I hope you enjoy it!
I have The Wife Between Us, and it just may move to the top of the list!
Oh, I hope you enjoy it! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it!
your reviews are so good! and funny [lie to me]… I’m checking out all of these books for my TBR!
Thanks, Lauren! I hope you enjoy them!
Hope your good book picking streak continues! I’m going to add The Wife Between Us to my list.
Me too! I’ve noticed that when I do pick up some duds, I tend to do multiple duds at a time. Boo! I hope you enjoy The Wife Between Us!
Your “love” books sound really good! The descriptions definitely caught my interest. The Hazel Wood also sounds right up my alley. I’m adding that one to my TBR list right now!
I hope you enjoy The Hazel Wood! I love old school fairytales and fantasy and it had been some time since I read YA, so it hit all the buttons for me – mostly. I still think she should have broke it into two books and not rushed the ending, but oh well! It was still good!
Darn that Netgalley and offering so many good books to read! I’ve had to force myself to not login and look for new ones so I could catch up a bit. The Immortalists sounds like a fascinating book!
I know, right? How rude of them to offer me free ARCS of books I want to read! LOL! I do that too – try to stay off it but then I get an email from them or I get bored or I’m weak. 😀 I really enjoyed The Immortalists. It has really stuck with me.
I’m glad your book slump is over! Those are the worst.
Both of your “love” books are on my list already, so I was really glad to see your glowing reviews! They’re both currently on order at my library, but I’m already on the waiting list for both. Now I’m looking forward to reading them even more!
Your comments in the “To Read or Not To Read” section for “Lie With Me” cracked me up! I’m with you on that, though (as well as your comment about a book needing to be pretty amazing in order to deal with a douchey character).
I read one of Sophie Hannah’s books (“A Game For All the Family”) a couple of years ago, and I felt similarly. It started out with such promise, but then it just sort of went off the rails and fell apart. On the upside, I became obsessed with a specific breed of dog (Bedlington terrier) after reading that book, and I’m about 99.9% sure we’ll be getting one when we’re ready to commit to a dog.
I’m grateful my book slump is finally over too because it lasted for most of the Fall. Bleech! I hope you enjoy The Wife Between Us and The Immortalists. They are very different from one another but I enjoyed both of them. I’m okay with unlikeable/douchey characters, provided the plot is amazing because I am not a masochist. 😀 Ah, this was my first Sophie Hannah book (A Game for All the Family is actually on my TBR but maybe I need to delete it). Maybe that’s her style, without isn’t my jam. I don’t know much about dogs but I do love that you picked your future dog from her book!
The Wife Between Us sounds really interesting!! And I’m intrigued about The Immoralists after reading your thoughts. Adding them to my list!
Fantastic! I hope you enjoy them!
Wonder was, hands down, my favorite book of December. Your description of The Wife Between Us has me intrigued. I’ve added it to my ever growing TBR.
Yay! I hope you enjoy The Wife Between Us; I really liked it. 😀
The Wife Between Us is definitely one that I’m hearing all sorts of good buzz about – and from quite a variety of readers, locations, etc. – so it definitely sounds promising.
I really like the way the author set-up The Wife Between Us. They were very creative, which I always appreciate!
I can’t wait to read The Wife Between Us and The Immortalists. I thought Immortalists might be a Book of the Month pick for January.
Immortalists would be a great book club book. I still think about, which to me is always a sign of a good book!