Genre: Literary Fiction

Recent Reads | The Berry Pickers and Night Watcher

Posted July 14, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I bought this book on a whim (because of all the positive reviews and hype) at a book event a couple of years ago and it sat on my shelf. I was never sure literary mysteries – especially historical fiction – would be for me. I had a few major success stories with them this year and then my book club picked this for our July meeting, so it was finally time to try it… and it’s really not a mystery honestly. The book follows a Native American family as they come down to Maine from Nova Scotia to pick berries each summer. Their youngest daughter, Ruthie, goes missing one summer and they are never the same. Meanwhile, there’s another POV following Norma – a young girl growing up in Maine. It kind of sounds like a mystery of trying to find this missing girl but it’s painfully obvious what’s happening the entire book. There’s really no actual mystery – it’s more a story of how Norma and Joe (Ruthie’s brother) survive and go through struggles over the years. I really have no idea how the rest of book club will feel about this one. It has such a high rating on Goodreads but honestly I was completely underwhelmed. Yes, some of it is because I was expecting a historical literary mystery – I absolutely loved THE GOD OF THE WOODS and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK. I was hoping for something similar. Even once I realized the book […]

Five-Star Recent Reads | All the Colors of the Dark and Atmosphere

Posted June 26, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

It’s taken me a really long time to write this review because there’s SO much within this book that could be discussed. I got it a year ago with BOTM and put it off because of the length. I wasn’t sure how another historical literary mystery would go for me. I loved THE GOD OF THE WOODS but surely this isn’t a genre for me, right?! Very wrong. I loved this book! We picked it for my local mystery/thriller book club and there was no shortage of topics to discuss. Everyone gave it 5 stars with a few 4.5 stars sprinkled in. We love the fact that he tackled so many topics without ever feeling like too much, or feeling like the book was too long for a mystery. It’s very much a character study, a story of the time period, and a mystery all rolled into one. The reviewers who didn’t like this book thought the writing was trying too hard or thought it was boring, and I definitely disagree. I read this 600+ page book in two days and literally could not stop reading it. The short chapters coupled with the way he created suspense even within paragraphs because of the writing style made this impossible to put down for me. I will say, my only complaint is that some passages were confusing because of how he wrote them. Sometimes I had to read things more than once. The author was so careful with his language though because […]

Recent Reads | Insignificant Others and The Measure

Posted May 14, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

My reading slump is slowly getting busted by really addicting, fun reads! This was no exception. It’s been a long time since I was this engaged in a book/romance where I just wanted to keep reading. I added this to my TBR completely on a whim when I saw it involved my favorite topic – parallel/time loop/Groundhog Day kind of things, then requested both formats on Libby. When Lena and her boyfriend break up instead of getting engaged, she heads back to visit her aunt off the coast of Seattle, falling asleep in her guest house. When she wakes up, she’s in Paris with a man claiming to be her husband. The next day, the same thing – new city, new husband. She recognizes all of these men from casual encounters at parties or on a train or from high school so she quickly realizes that this is a taste of what her life would be like if she had taken a different path or gone out on that date she declined. I would say that this is a bit more on the literary side because the romance part is honestly kind of minimal despite what the plot may suggest. There wasn’t enough time to get to know each man or feel much chemistry, though some days were better than others. She learned a lesson from each dude and then moved on the next morning to the next person, trying to find a way back to her life. The moral […]

Recent Reads | Beg, Borrow, or Steal and The Favorites

Posted January 23, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

Sarah Adams doesn’t miss. She really doesn’t. I put her up there with Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez in terms of “guaranteed five-star read” for me. Her writing is similar with the banter and excellent characters, but her books feel so real – the banter never verges on “people don’t talk like this in real life” like other books can. I loved Emily and Jack so much; their dynamic was really fun. They both have complex histories and family relationships that just added to everything. Emily is very much the older sister in the family – she’s type A, organizes everyones lives, and keeps her siblings in line. Jack was once engaged and moved away, only to return to his job as a teacher with Emily in Rome… and single… and living next door. There was a lot of of bickering in this hate-to-love romance and I loved how well the two of them could read each other no matter what. There was a slow burn realization that they likely had feelings for each other and they started using those perception skills for good instead of evil. There’s something about these books that are simultaneously sweet without being cringy, sexy without a lot of spice scenes, and charming without being overbearing. I just love this little town and all of the people in it! As always, the cameos with the other couples and siblings were so good. I can’t wait for the final book – it better be Madison and […]

Review Roundup | Before We Were Innocent and The True Love Experiment

Posted June 22, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

I’m always drawn to these stories of complicated best friend groups, especially when there’s some overseas travel involved. I was thinking this might be like The Villa (and a few elements were definitely reminiscent of that) but I did like that book more. The premise is that Bess (our MC), Joni, and Evangeline head to Evangeline’s family vacation home in Greece for the summer before they’re due to go away to college. They’re thinking it’s a last hurrah before they all go to different schools. Evangeline ends up dying there and the two remaining girls are swept up in accusations that one or both of them killed her. This was interesting but definitely some mixed feelings. I think a lot of it reads like a very classic “three teens go on vacation, only two come home, did one of them kill the other one?” story. I had a (very obvious) prediction but the book ended up being less predictable than that… but I’m not sure that made it any better? I got to the end and just said “okay…?” Kind of a bit pointless yet heavy-handed with some of the messaging. One Goodreads review that I totally agree with said that it basically doesn’t do enough. It’s not enough of a mystery or enough of a “toxic best friends” story to really be that good. I could really picture the setting (Greece) during the chapters set in 2008, which made for kind of a fun summer read? There’s also a plotline […]

Review Roundup | What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez, Fourth Wing, and The Last Word

Posted June 1, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

This book was lowkey one of my most anticipated for the year. It just seemed like such an intriguing premise! Ruth Ramirez went missing after track practice when she was a kid and her family hasn’t been the same since. When one of her sisters sees “Ruthy” on a reality TV show, they are convinced that it’s really her. The synopsis reveals a bit more information that doesn’t even happen until the end of the book, so I’ll cut it off there. The story alternates between the three remaining members of the Ramirez family (with a few chapters from Ruthy’s POV sprinkled in): Jessica, Nina, and Dolores (their mom). It’s really a portrait of a grieving family and a story about where their lives went in the years since Ruthy went missing. The father of the family died soonafter and the rest had to carry on. It’s more “slice of life” despite the premise sounding a bit more meaty. I appreciated how real and raw it felt but it lacked a bit of depth. It kind of showed them going about their daily lives without going down one more level. The family’s Puerto Rican heritage was front and center throughout the story, which I definitely enjoyed reading about. The synopsis includes that it’s a “vivid family portrait, in all its shattered reality, exploring the familial bonds between women and cycles of generational violence, colonialism, race, and silence, replete with snark, resentment, tenderness, and, of course, love.” – All of these […]

Review Roundup | The Heart Principle, Mirror Lake, and Remarkably Bright Creatures

Posted March 20, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

THE HEART PRINCIPLE was one of my most-anticipated releases of 2021. I was thrilled when it was a BOTM selection and I could read it right away! And then… it sat on my shelf until March of 2023. I don’t know why I never got around to picking it up. I think I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as the other two in this companion series? It had a lot to live up to. I rated the first book 4.5 stars and the second book 5 stars, so where would this one land? I didn’t remember the two previous books that well but it’s a companion series, so that wasn’t an issue. We’re introduced to Anna, a professional violinist who is stuck in a major rut with her music. Her longtime boyfriend suggests they have an open relationship for a bit before taking the next step and she’s too angry to argue. She hops on a dating app and decides that if he can have a one-night stand or two, so can she. She’s introduced to our boy Quan (love) and they fail at hooking up a few times but can’t seem to leave it at that. I really loved the relationship that Quan and Anna built – it was so sweet and wholesome! Both of them had some major issues they were dealing with and slowly began to open up to each other. When Anna’s father becomes very ill, she’s tasked with helping him and the family, […]

Review Roundup | Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, Tomorrow x3, and Lost in the Moment and Found

Posted February 2, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 2 Comments

This series has become truly one of my all-time favorites. It reminds me a lot of the time I read EVELYN HUGO and needed like a million more books just like it, but couldn’t find them. I wrote a whole post about it haha. There’s just some magical quality in Cosimano’s writing and these characters that gets me every time. I’ll be honest, I was nervous about this one a little bit. I’m not a big police gal and wasn’t jazzed up about reading about a ton of cops and a citizens police training program. I definitely didn’t love that aspect overall but it was kind of fun creating that “summer camp” or “college dorm” vibe where everyone is in one place during the story. This story did a good job of wrapping up some loose ends from the first two books while opening the door for future installments. Parts of the initial mystery seemed to be solved enough for the reader to finally get a bit of closure (and not drag the same questions out into book four), but there are lingering threads to keep it moving. Finlay and Vero were just as funny and interesting to read about as they always are. This is the kind of series I’d keep reading forever and ever, with the main characters solving whatever mystery comes up next. This is technically my least favorite book of the three but a four-star book I didn’t want to stop listening to? Can’t go wrong. Man, […]

Review Round Up | The Next Person You Meet in Heaven, The Towering Sky, and The Chase

Posted December 13, 2018 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 4 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I first read THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN when everyone else did and it took the country by storm. I liked the made-for-TV movie version too. My parents even read the book and they don’t read books like this ever (lol). I was pretty excited to see a sequel 15 years later because it’s been a long time since I’ve read any Mitch Albom book, and he is definitely an author I wasn’t sure would “hold up” for me now that my tastes have grown and changed over the years. This book was the best way to check him out again since it would feature some familiar faces AND involve my favorite concept to read about – how everyone is interconnected and one small decision could change everything, and impact everyone. This story is about Annie, the little girl that Eddie saved before dying in the first book. It takes you through her life, leading up to the wedding day that leads to her trip to heaven. She had a difficult life after the accident at the amusement park and finds herself making a lot of mistakes (in her mind at least). It was pretty interesting to follow along and learn about her, but I […]