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First Wife's Shadow by Adele Parks My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars, interesting thriller. twists and turns but also not the ending i thought it would have. liked it! View all my reviews

The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love Rachel Joyce. I love her rich and three-dimensional characters. I love her immersive stories. I love how when you finish her novel, you are left with a feeling of being full after a delicious meal. The Homemade God is full of adult children whose lives are stunted because they have continually revolved around their father. Their father who marries a very young woman that none of them have met and dies soon after. Now they travel to Italy to figure out what happened, who this woman is, and how their father died. And they each come undone one by one. The time on the island changes each of them in irrevocable ways. This is a story about family, and the roles we can slip into and stay stuck in for a long, long time. The hold our parents can have on us. The pieces of ourself that we give up along the way, never to realize how much of it we've sacrificed. It's a beautiful story, beauti...

Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was an interesting story about what happens when a critic who loves giving terrible reviews (and is even more despicable for other reasons) finally gets his due when an artist decides to make her whole show about what he did to her. There's a lot to unpack in this story about art, self-expression, payback, what's ok to criticize, family, trauma, and one's reputation. I felt that the story was both slow and the characters were all not-likable which made it hard to feel sorry for them and for what was happening to them. It created a distance between me and the story. It was still really interesting and a lot of food for thought. with gratitude to netgalley and Doubleday for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am a huge Stiefvater fan and could not wait to read her adult debut. Even though this plot seemed a bit weird, I knew that I would find the writing enjoyable. And I wasn't wrong. There was so much of Stiefvater's attention to detail, her quirky characters, her unusual storylines. I loved June as a main character. I loved all the Gilfoyle stories and I loved each of the unique characters along the way and I really liked the twist. Even though this was historical fiction, it was more because it felt like a Stiefvater novel. I wasn't crazy about the water under the hotel and never truly understood its significance to the story line. I am sure this is my miss but in my opinion it didn't add much to the story. with gratitude to netgalley and Viking for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson My rating: 4 of 5 stars There's something magical in Wilson's ability to tell a story. His characters are a little bit off, but they are so lovable, so real and so memorable. He then takes these characters and puts them in interesting situations. The dialogue is memorable, jumps off the page and fills you with joy even during a tragic scene. I love reading his novels and Run for the Hills is one of my favorites. I loved all the characters in this story, especially Mad and Rube. The yearning for belonging and family and finding a sense of grounding is at the root of this beautiful story. And of course life is never what we want it to be, it's always both less and more. As in all his novels, Wilson makes you fall in love with his characters. with gratitude to netgalley and Ecco for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Elements by John Boyne My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have been wanting to read Boyne's novels since I first found out about them. They were published in England individually over the last few years but never made it here to the US. Now that I've read it, I think having them published all together is actually so much more powerful than reading them one by one, a year apart. This was an incredibly powerful read. Boyne's ability to create three-dimensional characters is incredible. In 170 or so pages, the reader gets to know the characters so deeply well that it can evoke all sorts of emotions. I loved how there's always a tie-in from story to story, I loved how the lens changes with each story and you're experiencing a totally different perspective and you feel frustration, sorrow, anger, despair and so much more for each character at different times. I love how much these stories stretch your mind and show you that people are compl...

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love Julie Clark's writing. Her female characters are always sharp and interesting and Olivia was no exception. I loved both the feeling of how one returns right back to being a kid when they go back to their home and how hard she worked not to abandon herself. So much story to unpack here and i loved the way it unraveled piece by piece. Early on, I guessed a big part of the puzzle but I was both totally right and totally wrong at the same time which I loved. Because it showed that she could still surprise me while dropping crumbs I could pick up. That, in my mind, is the best kind of skill. Can't wait to read more of Clark's work. with gratitude to netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison My rating: 4 of 5 stars This novel was so, so sweet. I loved the idea of the Sliding Doors storyline. I loved the idea of living the what-if life and seeing what stayed the same and what changed. I loved how awesome the characters were and how sharp and funny and joyful the dialogue was. This novel will keep you smiling from beginning to end. It's really impossible to put down because the characters give you so much joy that you want to come back to them again and again. Loved it. with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan My rating: 4 of 5 stars The writing, characters and dialogue of this book are where it shines. They jump off the page with such dimension that it's impossible not to get immersed in the story. At its heart this story is about who we are, how we grow, mistakes we make and whether they are forgivable or not, what we keep from each other and the damaging impact of shame. There's so much in this one story. It's the kind of story where you finish and then think about for days and can't remember if the characters were real people or made up. For me that's how the best stories are made. with gratitude to netgalley and The Dial Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz My rating: 3 of 5 stars This mystery was interesting and unpredictable. The reason I didn't rate it higher is because most of it didn't stick with me. I felt like the characters weren't that interesting. The most interesting part actually was the setting. I liked that there wasn't really a huge shocking twist because I am tired of them. There were twists just not of the kind that completely change what you've read so far. with gratitude to netgalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was such an unusual story, considering how much I read, I am always pleased when I can find a book with a plot i haven't seen before. And I love time travel novels so I was excited to read this one. Once they started traveling, I kept looking for the connection between them. Even though it got convoluted and a little hard to follow in some sections, this book in its heart was about grief, second chances, love, forgiveness and maybe a little bit about destiny. I loved the message it had about the power of self-forgiveness and I also loved that things can feel and be so different if we have the ability to widen the lens with which we get to see them. with gratitude to netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Eights by Joanna Miller My rating: 3 of 5 stars For some reason, I never got into this story. I liked reading about the women, I liked the math and i liked the idea of this book but I just didn't get attached enough to any of the characters. View all my reviews

The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I have mixed feelings about this story. There's a big twist. Which to me is always risky because you either like it and then feel like it was a great book, or you hate it and then hate the book. I think i fall more in latter than former. But it didn't make me as mad as these types of twists usually make me. View all my reviews

The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose My rating: 3 of 5 stars Many people seem to have liked this one more but I thought it was too similar to the other one and I tend to not enjoy stories that are the same, told the same way and leave me feeling the same. View all my reviews

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars a quiet interesting book but i don't think it will stay with me. View all my reviews

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I must be the last person on earth who didn't read this book (or didn't see the show) but i finally read it. I enjoyed it too. Fast and easy read. View all my reviews

Woodworking by Emily St. James My rating: 4 of 5 stars Wonderful and uplifting story about coming back home to yourself, about community, about support, found family, and real family. And friendship. Loved it. View all my reviews

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 sweet little story about belonging and being different. It feels a little like The House in the Cerulean Sea in spirit. View all my reviews

Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars A neat and quick read about a mystery. An interesting twist with the main character being a medical student studying cadavers. View all my reviews

Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez My rating: 4 of 5 stars Jimenez writes lovely characters, sweet stories, and always has me feeling like i got a lovely, warm hug. View all my reviews

All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett My rating: 3 of 5 stars I picked this up whimsically because it was a Reese pick. It was a great start but, for me, it petered out. And in the end it was meh. View all my reviews

The Antidote by Karen Russell My rating: 4 of 5 stars A major undertaking by Karen Russell. I knew practically nothing about the Dust Bowl and I really enjoyed this story set in a fictional town. I liked each of the characters and their unique perspective. I liked how visual and all around immersed the reader became in the story, it was a full five-sense experience to read it. I really enjoyed the touch of magical realism as well, what a unique and lovely way to bring some history into the story. Excellent book. View all my reviews

The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams by Karen Hawkins My rating: 3 of 5 stars Sweet story of this family each with their own slight magic. This one is a bit more historical but I love the feeling these stories come with. Light, sweet and tender. View all my reviews