Tag: 3 stars

Book Review | Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Posted April 16, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have. Who was it? Let’s get started.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

There’d been a lot of hype for this book and I’ve been hearing about this book for a while. I thought it sounded really interesting.

The Quotes

“Family is not whose blood runs in your veins, it’s who you’d spill it for.”

“You can tell a lot about someone from whether they can handle an uncomfortable silence. If they ride it out or snap it off.”

“Anger is as much an heirloom as any Rolex.”

“Every basic task starts to feel like a decision, and that becomes so draining that you end up unable to make any of them.”

The Narrator(s)

Barton Welch. He was very pleasant to listen to.

My Thoughts

I must admit I didn’t love this book. I had high expectations coming into it and had been anticipating reading it and the other books in the series, but I’m not sure that I’ll continue with it. It’s not horrible, but I didn’t enjoy the writing style. It felt gimmicky, and the constant breaking of the fourth wall annoyed me and took me out of the story.

The story itself wasn’t incredible either and I didn’t connect very much with the characters. In fact, I would say that the book as a whole was quite forgettable to me. Perhaps the most memorable thing about it for me is the title of the book. I just finished it and I couldn’t tell you anything about the characters or significant things that happened because nothing and no one really stood out to me.

However, it is well-written and -crafted despite my dislike of the writing style, and there are some great quotes I really liked in the book. I can understand why people would enjoy this book, but it just didn’t connect for me unfortunately.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Posted April 5, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentions—#1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up to Vicious.

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I read Vicious, the first book in the series, and loved it. I wanted more of the story.

The Quotes

“How many men would she have to turn to dust before one took her seriously?”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a human versus a human or a human versus an EO or an EO versus an EO. You do what you can. You fight, and you win, until you don’t.”

“The next time you point a gun at someone, make sure you’re ready to pull the trigger.”

“The life I had is gone. There’s no getting it back. I’d rather make a new one. A better one. One where I don’t have to pretend to be weak to survive.”

My Thoughts

I didn’t like this book as much as the first one. I loved the characters, and still do, but there were so many plot holes and issues with the story this time around that were really convenient and annoying. The storytelling style with the jumping timelines was also an issue; it was very confusing and tedious to get through.

The catalyst of the story was stupid, in my opinion, because Victor justified doing many bad things by saying that he was trying to cover their tracks, but that doesn’t make sense at all because anyone with any common sense would realize that it’s exactly what would bring attention to them. I also didn’t like how conveniently things were resolved in the end during the boss battles. I still love Sydney and Mitch, and I think June is a very interesting new character. I want to know what happens to them in the next book, but I’m not looking forward to slogging through the jumping timelines storytelling style, and if the plot is going to have issues like in this book, I don’t know if it’s going to be worth it. I truly hope it gets better.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

Posted February 28, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

A novel about a Malayan mother who becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WWII—and the shocking consequences that rain upon her community and family.

Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.

Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.

A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

This book is set in Malaysia (Malaya back then) and the author is Malaysian. I’m always excited for Malaysian-produced media and try to support them when I can!

The Narrator(s)

Samantha Tan. She was great and I loved hearing the Malaysian accent on the dialogues.

My Thoughts

I really wanted to like this book but I’m quite disappointed with it. The story started out really well; it was compelling and the characters were interesting even if they weren’t exactly likeable. There were a few minor problems with the book in the beginning, but they weren’t big deals and were easily forgiveable. A lot of the cultural beliefs and racism was a little triggering to me because of how familiar it was for me living in Malaysia, but in a good way, bringing me deeper into the story.

However, the part where it lost me completely was with Jasmine and her story. I am very much a character-driven reader, and while I don’t have to like the characters, I very much need to believe in the plausibility of their behaviors. She was seven, almost eight years old, in the chapters with her POV, and I won’t go into details because of spoilers, but she was just not a believeable character to me. Nothing she did made sense for her age and background. I could believe it if she was older, I could believe it if she had a horrible relationship with her family, I could believe it if there were any other myriad of changes made to her character, but as she was, it just ruined the story for me. It might even still be okay because she’s only one character and one part of the story, but her story was such an integral part to the book as a whole that I just couldn’t ignore it.

It’s a shame because I love reading stories about Malaysia. There are too few Malaysian books and authors, and it’s such a comfort to read about Malaysian people and Malaysian life. The subject matter and time frame of this book is also such an important historical event that I wanted to learn more about, and while I disliked Cecily very much as a person, she was such an interesting character to read about.

The book is still very much worth reading if you’re not a character-driven reader or as much a stickler for believeable characters as I am. It’s also worth reading to see the impact WW2 and the Japanese occupation had on Malaya at the time. I certainly learned something and despite my issues with it, I’m glad I read this book.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Posted February 28, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I’d heard a lot about it and been curious for a long time. There was a buddy read so I decided to join.

The Quotes

“Those fellows, they’re always crying over killers. Never a thought for the victims.”

“As long as you live, there’s always something waiting; and even if it’s bad, and you know it’s bad, what can you do? You can’t stop living.”

“I thought that Mr. Clutter was a very nice gentleman. I thought so right up to the moment that I cut his throat.”

“Nancy Clutter is always in a hurry, but she always has time. And that’s one definition of a lady.”

My Thoughts

It was difficult to get into in the beginning but it got better towards the end. This book is true crime, nonfiction, but there are some questions as to the veracity of Capote’s version of events. As for me, I’m not a fan of how much focus there is on Dick and Perry, the perpetrators, and how much effort was put into making them seem sympathetic and relatable.

I realize that this book was written a long time ago and there was probably a lot more fascination towards the criminals than the victims, but reading it now, I can help but notice how much focus there is on Dick’s and Perry’s backgrounds and stories and how little on the victims and the victims’ friends and family left behind. The two elder daughters of the Clutter family are most noticeably absent from the story.

The way the story was written also somewhat downplays the true villainy of the perps. I get the feeling that they were a lot worse than how they were portrayed. They had no remorse, didn’t feel sorry for what they did, only that they were caught. It’s very offputting. I’m still glad I read it and know a little more about this horrific incident.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Posted February 21, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family–and a new love–changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #18: A character who can fly)

The Reason

I can’t resist stories about witches!

The Quotes

“Niceness is all about what we do when other people are looking. Kindness, on the other hand, runs deep. Kindness is what happens when no one’s looking.”

“It’s not always enough to go looking for the place we belong. Sometimes we need to make that place.”

“It’s a leap of faith to love people and let yourself be loved.”

“Maybe some kinds of trauma can’t be revisited — and some need to be.”

The Narrator(s)

Samara MacLaren. She was great!

My Thoughts

I had high hopes for this book and ended up a little disappointed. I love found family stories, I love witchy stories, and this one felt like it could be right up my alley. The first part of the book was very promising, but the further we got into the book, the more I started getting annoyed with the characters, and after everything, I didn’t like where the story and characters ended up.

One of the things that resonated most with me was the conversation about being kind vs. being nice, and I really did love the initial idea of the story and the anticipation of found family. However, there were things that happened in the story that I can’t talk about without giving away spoilers, but I didn’t like what happened, and I didn’t like that the characters did that, and I didn’t like that it was brushed away like it didn’t matter.

I wish it was a better story with better characters, but giving credit where credit is due, it was well written and a very easy read. I’ll check out the author’s other books because I think she’s a good writer, I hope I’ll find some better stories amongst her works.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Guillotine by Delilah S. Dawson

Posted February 2, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Guillotine by Delilah S. Dawson

The Menu meets Ready of Not in this dark tale of opulent luxury and shocking violence from the New York Times bestselling author of Bloom.

Thrift fashionista Dez Lane doesn’t want to date Patrick Ruskin; she just wants to meet his mother, the editor-in-chief of Nouveau magazine. When he invites her to his family’s big Easter reunion at their lake retreat, she’s certain she can put up with his arrogance and fend off his advances long enough to ask Marie Caulfield-Ruskin for an internship someone with her pedigree could never nab through the regular submission route.

When they arrive at the enormous mansion on an island in the center of a Georgia lake, Dez is floored―she’s never witnessed how the 1% lives before in all their ridiculous, unnecessary luxury. But once all the family members are on the island and the ferry has departed, shit gets real. For decades, the Ruskins have made their servants sign contracts that are basically indentured servitude, and with nothing to lose, the servants have decided their only route to freedom is to get rid of the Ruskins for good…

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #23: Title is ten characters or less)

The Reason

It was a buddy read and I heard good things about a previous buddy read by the same author.

My Thoughts

If this book was to be made into a movie, it would be the kind of fun comedy-horror that I would be all over. I’m not a fan of most horror movies in general, but I love comedy-horror and I think this would be a really good one.

This book is brutal, gory, sadistic, but so campy and ridiculous that I can’t take it too seriously. I loved that it was fast-paced and that you get so much satisfaction out of most everything that happens. It’s a little psychotic to think that way once you read the book and realize what I’m talking about, but as I’ve said, I don’t think this book is meant to be taken very seriously so I’m perfectly fine enjoying all the psychotic things that happen.

Is this the greatest novel ever written? Of course not, but it was a fun read, and a short one, and very much worth reading if you like comedy horror set on page.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren

Posted January 12, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren

One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners..

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
None

The Reason

It was my in-person bookclub’s BOTM for December.

The Quotes

“Maybe we should do things because we love them, not because we’ve always done them that way.”

“I’ve essentially handed my heart over to the person who’s had it on reserve for half my life, and I’m terrified that he doesn’t realize what he’s holding.”

“It never occurred to me that you might be mine.”

My Thoughts

My bookclub voted for this book for our December BOTM and most of us enjoyed it while also rolling our eyes at how cheesy it was. A lot of our previous BOTMs had been heavy books and I think we just wanted something light-hearted and fun for December, and we got what we wanted!

It was definitely light-hearted and fun, and definitely cheesy and very convenient with how it all wrapped up. There were also some really cringy parts, but you know, this was a low-stakes Christmas holiday story for entertainment’s sake and I’ll allow it. I actually really like Maelyn and her chemistry with Andrew. I also love the other characters, specifically Benny, and I found it interesting how Mae and Andrew navigated their new-found romance in front of their families because that’s not an easy thing to do.

Of course, there were stuff I didn’t like; I didn’t really like Theo’s character and there was allusions to some not-so-great behavior from the parents too, but in a way, that’s often true to life. I won’t go into detail on the convenient and cringy stuff because you’ll know it when you read it. It’s not the authors’ best work but it was still a fun read and exactly what I needed for a holiday read. Plus, my bookclub had a good time laughing about the book so it’s all good.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Posted December 14, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

The Reason

It was my irl bookclub’s November BOTM, and also a buddy read.

The Quotes

“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”

“Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness.”

“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”

“The consequence of this is that I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both.”

My Thoughts

This is a reread for me. The first time I read it was so long ago that I’d mostly forgotten every single detail about it. I rated it 4/5 stars at the time but left no review so I can’t refer to it for how I felt about the book. Now that I’ve read it again, I’m going to go with 3/5 stars.

It’s not that I don’t think this was a good book or that there weren’t some very poignant parts of the book, I think that I just don’t like the storytelling in many ways. Death is the narrator, but Liesel is the main character, and to be honest, I felt it was a little gimmick-y and unnecessary. It really didn’t add anything to the story, and in fact, I think it made me feel a little detached to the actual characters. It also rubs me the wrong way that Liesel actually wrote a (sort-of) biography, which is how Death knows the details of her life, and yet instead of us reading that biography written by her in her voice, we’re reading this whole thing from Death’s POV.

It’s also quite a depressing read, which is understandable considering the subject matter, but I was having so many intrusive thoughts while reading it and it was just a struggle. It’s probably worth reading, once, but I won’t want to ever read it again.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

Posted December 3, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

A woman risks everything to end her family’s centuries-old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.

The Reason

It’s a buddy read and it sounded interesting!

The Quotes

“You may have ruined my life, June. But first, you gave me one.”

“We stood there, four generations of Farrow women, cursed to live between worlds. But in that moment, in the valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we existed only in one.”

“I had only one ambition in my simply built life, and that was to be sure the Farrow curse would end with me. It was as good a place as any to end a story. I wasn’t the first Farrow, but I would be the last.”

My Thoughts

On the pacing
I didn’t know it was a time travel story when I picked it up! The description sure didn’t mention any of that, but I liked that it pretty much went quickly into the time travel storyline rather than keep us hanging. In fact, I think the thing I liked most about it is that things moved quickly and we get into the meat of the story immediately. I was slow to start the book but once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down and had to keep reading! I think if this was a slower-paced story I wouldn’t have liked it as much because a lot of things might not hold up very well if the author gave us more time to contemplate.

On the idea
I tend to give a lot of leeway to time travel stories for how they handle the paradox of the past affecting the future and all of that, and I love the way the author uses a different concept of time travel here and how she resolves the paradox.

On the characters
I don’t feel like the characters in the book were developed very well. Things moved too fast for us to get to know them deeply. We’re told, not shown, who the love interests are, who the good guys are, who the bad guys are. There’s no subtlety; they’re almost caricatures. And as I mentioned earlier, if this was a slower-paced story, I might hate that about the characters, but since it was so fast-paced, I just went with it and enjoyed the story for what it was.

On the story
Again, the fact that it was fast-paced helped to gloss over a lot of the things I feel are unresolved; details that I won’t mention here, but of the things that did get resolved, I do like how they got resolved.

Overall
I loved the pacing and the time travel idea. I really loved the story too, in and of itself. I think that the character development and connections were the weakest part of the book but easy to overlook because of the fast pace. However, I won’t dwell too much on that because if I do, I’ll start nitpicking and I don’t think I need to do that with this book. It’s good as it is and I enjoyed reading it very much!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

Posted October 11, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

A twisty, compelling novel about one woman’s complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in murder…

From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana was exquisitely polite, and properly friendly, but Lucy knew that she was not what Diana envisioned. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice who helped female refugees assimilate to their new country. Diana was happily married to Tom, and lived in wedded bliss for decades. Lucy wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was five years ago.

Now, Diana has been found dead, a suicide note near her body. Diana claims that she no longer wanted to live because of a battle with cancer.

But the autopsy finds no cancer.
The autopsy does find traces of poison and suffocation.
Who could possibly want Diana dead?
Why was her will changed at the eleventh hour to disinherit both of her adult children and their spouses?

With Lucy’s secrets getting deeper and her relationship with her mother-in-law growing more complex as the pages turn, this new novel from Sally Hepworth is sure to add to her growing legion of fans.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge

The Reason

I was in the mood for a mystery thriller and I’ve previously enjoyed another one of the author’s books.

The Quotes

“I worked hard for everything I ever cared about, & nothing I ever cared about cost a single cent.”

“Some people jumped in and tried to save someone who was in trouble; others did anything they could to save themselves.”

“Why bother having a child, if you’re not going to stick around and enjoy her?”

“Being poor and having to survive without my parents was the single most defining thing I’ve ever done. It showed me what I am capable of. As a mother, I think this is the most important gift you can give to your children. Unlike money, it can’t be taken away or lost.”

The Narrator(s)

Barrie Kreinik. I enjoyed her narration very much, I got very engrossed in the story.

My Thoughts

I’ve only read one other book by the author, The Soulmate, but I feel like she’s got an amazing grasp of the dynamics in familial relationships and the potential miscommunications that can arise between family. There’s nothing quite like family drama from having to interact with people who you don’t get along with but can’t avoid because family.

As with The Soulmate, nothing is quite as it seems, and I very much enjoyed the journey towards discovery. I feel that the beauty of this story isn’t in the mystery though, but in the family relationships. I loved reading about Lucy and her mother-in-law, Diana. I loved reading from their different POVs and looking at things from each of their perspectives. I don’t think either of them, or the other characters in the book, are necessarily people I would like, but it was interesting to read about them anyway.

I didn’t like this book as much as The Soulmate for satisfying my mystery craving, but it was still an enjoyable read.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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