Atmosphere: A Love Story
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Oh you sweet, quiet, heart breaking book. I'm a mess. (6/18/2025)
I have to be honest, I just auto buy this author. I didn't even know what this was about when I started it. So I clicked on that audio and popped my earbuds in and was introduced to Joan and her life. Her stumbling into working at NASA. Her love for her niece, her patience with her sister, her observing her fellow co-workers and learning these new things.
But this is a quiet book. It introduces you to people that you grow slowly, chapter after chapter, to love. You don't realize you do - because it's so easy. Sure, there are those troubling chapters that hint there's a 'now' and a 'then' but I rolled right along as they got to know each other.
So when I got to the last 10 or so, I was a mess as we finally have 'now' and 'then' colliding. As this author does so well, I hung on every word until the very end. What a beautiful story. I absolutely loved it.
Blood on Her Tongue
by Johanna van Veen
What a wonderfully, dark, gothic story. (6/18/2025)
"There is no saying what horrors might lurk in those black waters."
What a wonderfully, dark, gothic story. A bog, a surfacing body, an autopsy and madness. Lucy's been called to her sister's home by her sister's husband. Her twin sister, Sarah, is very unwell. But it's not a cold, Sarah is prone to bouts of "hysteria" and Lucy comes to help her out. Last time, it was when she'd lost a child. Now she comes because she wants to ensure Sarah doesn't lose her husband and house. Sarah's greatest fear is being committed.
This was a dark read and I loved it. Lucy's love for Sarah is tested again and again. She has to keep deciding if she will keep picking Sarah or, if at some point, she needs to get out from her shadow and live her own life. I loved the conflict, the gross bloody moments, and the confusion on how to define what was going on. The pace was perfect, gross at times then back to wondering what was going on. The story took turns I never saw coming and kept me absolutely glued to the pages. I loved this one! Can't wait for more from this author!
King of Ashes: A Novel
by S. A. Cosby
Absolutely stunning - a gut-wrenching story about family and what we will do to protect them. (6/18/2025)
"Everything burns."
Absolutely stunning - a gut-wrenching story about family and what we will do to protect them.
Roman is coming home because he received the call that his father has been hurt in an accident. He's gravely injured and he needs to get home. He's come home to the two siblings that were left behind when he left their small town, left them to run their crematorium family business.
But they were a fractured set of siblings before he left. Their mother has been missing for years. The town, the police - everyone believes their father did it. The kids have always struggled with missing their mom and continuing on with their lives.
However, Roman isn't in town long before he realizes something very big is wrong with his little brother. The time has come for Roman to come back to town and protect his siblings as they are buried deeper into a very dangerous game.
Wow, I was so completely sucked into this one! I did as an audio book and it was hard to stop once I'd started. Each new turn just dropped my jaw and I was amazed at how messy the danger was, how horrifying it all was, and just how major every twist was. I liked how complex and gray every character was. What would you do to protect your family? Roman is willing to risk it all.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Coram House: A Novel
by Bailey Seybolt
An emotional story - about an orphanage that didn't care for it's children and an author that comes to dig it all up years later. (6/18/2025)
Alex is in a rough spot in her life. She had a smash hit with her first book but the second one has brought public outrage as she researched a crime and then got it all wrong. So this third book she's been invited to come research, she is hoping this will be the one to get her out of this rut. It's also a distraction since her husband passed and she's still struggling with her grief.
But the story is a very sad one. In 1968, the old orphanage in this town was accused of drowning one of their children. There is also rampant allegations of abuse and a long ago settled lawsuit. So Alex isn't necessarily welcomed with open arms in the town as no one is excited to bring this old subject up again.
This was a very compelling mystery. It was a bit slow burn when I first started so I flipped to an audio and it picked the story right up. I found Alex a bit unreliable - she was quick to finger 'who done it' and was constantly moving her allegations around. It was consistent, though, and went along with the drama that was following her from her book 2. I found the back and forth timeline and the added pieces from the interviews such an enriching part of the story and it really pulled me in. I loved the misaligned accounts because memory is murky and it added to the creepy feel to the past and what all happened. The ending was a nice wrap up. Full staff audio - it was great, I highly recommend!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
We Can Never Leave: A Novel
by H.E. Edgmon
an interesting story that just never pulled me in (6/18/2025)
A group of kids wake up in the morning and find their campsite empty of all adults. They aren't typical teens, they have traits both their personality and physically of animals. They woke up one day and were just, suddenly, part animal and part human with no memory of any time before. So these missing adults are a really big deal in their world - they provide money, guidance, and community. They decide to pack up their RV and head to the only place they know their adults might have gone - to another group in WA just like them.
But this group of kids are a mess with each other. The story tried to say that these kids had known each other for a while but they seemed to barely know each other. One of their party, Hugo, was nothing short of a bully and he said awful, horrible, hateful things to them the whole time.
I liked the idea of this story. The premise was interesting and the curiosity as to what was going on drove me until about the 50 mark, But by then, there had been multiple weird occurrences with not a single one of them even trying to figure out what was going on. They were just drama. They were just Hugo flying off the handle and being mean to everyone. It was so hard to read and so hard to keep going, knowing they had no defense against him and that he would just do it again and again, hurt them over and over. By 75, there was still no progress and their arguing and hurting each other just wasn't fun anymore. I wish I'd liked this one more but I couldn't take how awful they were to each other with no real guidance of a plot or exploring the mystery until the last 10.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Disappoint Me: A Novel
by Nicola Dinan
a touching literary fiction (6/18/2025)
With such a gorgeous cover, I was excited to jump into this. Good things to know before you start - this is definitely literary fiction. It won't be a tension filled plot or a huge rise to a big reveal. It's just a moment in lives that are messy.
We have Max - living life, wondering if she wants that whole traditional boyfriend/relationship that seems like all her friends are starting to jump in to. She's 30 now, does that mean she needs to decide soon?
And we have Vincent. We get before times of Vincent, as he meets up with his friend Fred on a gap year. And we get the now Vincent, cool and calm and very interested in Max.
This was a heavy read, for me, but very realistic. My heart broke, in parts, as Max struggled to find her own answers and juggle demanding respect while also remaining safe. The second story was equally heartbreaking and hard to read it parts. This story was tough but had some really tender, lovely moments.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
The Ghostwriter: A Novel
by Julie Clark
family secrets that kept me hooked (6/18/2025)
"everyone is an unreliable narrator."
Ooooh this one was SO GOOD. It had me hooked from the start. Olivia is in a really tough spot. She's burned some bridges recently in her ghost writing career and the industry has canceled her for it. She's in a bit of a bind, financially, and is wondering if she'll work again.
When a surprise offers is extended. After leaving her father's house years ago, she's never been back, never spoke to him again. As a famous horror author, she felt he'd neglected her and she'd rather having nothing than forgive him for his mistakes. But now he's asking her to ghostwrite a story with him - one that comes with a large advance and additional pages as they work well and turn pages in. She doesn't want to but agrees. She needs the money.
From there, this story is completely addicting. I've spent the whole day relating the whole story to the family in my house. We were all waiting on cliffhangers as the mystery unfolded and each twist turned tighter. I had no guesses and enjoyed kicking around the ideas with my husband and adult child. Can you believe it, we ran out of ideas and I just had to keep reading because I truly didn't know what was coming next. This is a heartbreaking story about 2 siblings, murdered and taken horribly from their family, their friends, and the lives they should have been allowed to lead. It hooked me from the start and was such a great thriller! I loved it!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Saltwater: A Novel
by Katy Hays
lots of characters with high entertainment value (5/16/2025)
While I found it a bit rough to start - lots of POV and timeframes to adjust to at the start - I did end up really enjoying the entertainment value it offered!
Lorna has joined a very rich family on a vacation. She's gone from friends with the daughter to the uncle's assistant. But the family is not an ordinary family. They go back to this same island, year after year, to try to prove to everyone that years ago - when the wife of one of the brothers fell to her death - that the family had nothing to do with it.
But this trip is different. Helen, the daughter, and Lorna, the assistant - they have some surprises for the family. I found the beginning to be a bit slow as you are introduced to many POV and the two timelines. I did appreciate the little bits of articles and information and I loved when they shed new light on the story and not just a re-telling of what we already knew.
I did find the twists in the end to be entertaining even if I struggled to find them believable. Sometimes the fun is in the sheer shock and awe - the twists were fun and the ending had a great pace and conclusion.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Tilt: A Novel
by Emma Pattee
Natural disaster and a pregnant woman just trying to make it home (5/16/2025)
“Leave those dishes, I should have said. Come play with me in the forest, I should have said. The world will end tomorrow.”
The big one - an earthquake - hits Portland, Oregon. We find our main character 37 weeks pregnant and at the Ikea looking to purchase a crib. She's procrastinated as she's tried to sort her life while she's been pregnant. But, here she is, alone with no one knowing where she is when natural disaster hits.
This is an interesting and tough read. But I didn't find this to be the suspense read I'd thought it would be. It's a lot of sorting emotions out while pregnant. It's facing the impending birth and being unsure of your relationship, living situation, and your next steps in life. It's realizing you've given up your dreams and unsure how to re-find who you are. I did love that the setting adding an air of urgency and fear. Unique read, at least.
They Bloom at Night
by Trang Thanh Tran
A compelling coming of age with elements of environmental horror (5/16/2025)
A gorgeous cover. A story that tackles coming of age along with the horror elements. There's a lot tackled here, but it felt like it all happened in the last 25. I liked it but somehow didn't feel quite pulled in like I'd hoped.
Kills Well with Others
by Deanna Raybourn
Four retired female assassins - pulled back together for another job (5/16/2025)
Four retired female assassins - pulled back together for another job. A mysterious death that leaves a calling card tied to a hit the 4 did years ago.
This was such a fun read! I love these four women and their adventures. I love their old stories of hits, their stories of now and their retirement, and the struggles they have with normal relationships. It all feels realistic and is mixed in with such good humor and witty banter.
And the mystery was great! It was an absolute race, from one surprise to the next as they juggled globe trotting hunting down the next clue in the puzzle and trying to stay ahead of the mysterious person bringing up their past. Having the history with the fun friend group from the first one made the banter and adventures just a little sweeter this time. I loved this one!
Broken Country (Reese's Book Club)
by Clare Leslie Hall
A heartbreaking story about marriage, loss, guilt, and a tragedy (5/16/2025)
"Everyone played a part in the tragedy."
A heartbreaking story about marriage, loss, guilt, and a tragedy. Beth is married to Frank, living a small town life on a farm. She loves her life, loves her husband - but they have had a tough few years. They lost their son to a tragic accident just a few years ago and it's hard, to see past their own guilt and sadness.
There is also a before - we learn more about Beth and her first romance, the first man she fell in love with. He was new to their small town and matched her wit and loved to write, just like she did.
The story takes you through the past and now - as they work through a new tragedy. It isn't clear, at first, how these parts all come together. But the story is broken in parts and makes it very easy to start to piece in together. After Part 1, I found the story to be very fast paced. I wanted to know what happened and how this would all conclude. What an amazing story that broke my heart.
Honeysuckle and Bone
by Trisha Tobias
wonderfully spooky house with a great mystery (5/16/2025)
A wonderfully spooky house and a great mystery.
Carina has just arrived in Jamaica and she's starting a new nanny job. But she's started as Joy, a lie and secrets Carina is trying to hide. She's trying to embody Joy, the way she's out-going and easy to be around. She has great experience with kids and is hoping this will be an easy new job.
However, the first day she meets everyone, she comes back to her room and has a message on her bathroom mirror. Run. As the house continues to push against her, she decides to figure out what is going on before it tires to push her to go back home - something she can't do.
I was instantly sucked in. Carina was easy to like but also, my heart broke for her reasons for running and her secrets. Sure, she isn't perfect but she's made mistakes and is trying to do better. I loved meeting everyone who worked around the house and how each person contributed to the house but also helped Carina feel welcome. It felt claustrophobic, this island and house and how Carina's secrets are holding her back. The mystery kept me guessing until the very end. I did this as an audio book and the narrator did a wonderful job of keeping me sucked in and giving a great voice to Carina. I loved this one!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Beautiful Ugly: A Novel
by Alice Feeney
a dark story - an amazing audiobook! (5/16/2025)
The only way out is to write."
ha! I loved this deliciously dark read! It's tense and suspenseful. I listened to this one and I can't recommend the audiobook enough - it has sound effects like the waves of the ocean and bells from a church.
In this our POV is mainly Grady - who has recently lost his wife, the love of his life, and has gone away to a small island to write and try to come to terms with his wife's disappearance. But the island is odd and Grady is so tired and it's a struggle to understand what's going on.
And I highly recommend not knowing more than that! Go into this one blind, and just let the story confuse you until it all comes together. It was so good! I absolutely loved it!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Babylonia: A Novel
by Costanza Casati
slow burn of a beautifully written story (5/16/2025)
"Remember glory and danger often taste the same. All they leave behind is bitterness."
This one starts with a slow burn as you learn who Semiramis is, where she starts, and how learns some of her first rules in life. I knew noting of this story so this was nice, for me, to slowly intro the world, the people, and the ideas. But as she meets Onnes and arrives in her kingdom, the story really gets move. The different perspectives and points of view were so well done - it really showed the moves and manipulations that happen in court and how easily Semiramis was at playing their games.
The battles, abuse, and deaths at times were brutal. The time in the war was particularly hard to read, as was their trauma when they got home. But the story was compelling, it was hard to put the book down after the first part. The themes of love, betrayal, the rise to power and what it means to hold on to it were compelling and thought provoking. It was really beautifully written, parts felt lyrical and lovely. I loved it!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
The Three Lives of Cate Kay: A Novel
by Kate Fagan
a unique way to tell a compelling mystery (5/16/2025)
"we're all so much more, and less, than our best, or worst, moment"
A wonderfully woven story - about a hidden author and how she lives and writes under her pseudonym. The story starts when Annie is young - and it's told not only from our main character POV but also from those her life bumped against and were affected. It's a great way to tell the story, through those that knew Annie as well as Annie. It gives us moments from other POV and also shows some of the cracks of how you see yourself versus how others see you. The story itself is a great mystery along with many other genres. I loved getting to know the characters and wondering how all the pieces would fit together. The addition of Annie's story within the story was another added addition and one that helped build the pieces to see the full picture. This story felt refreshing and unique. I loved it!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
The Note: A Novel
by Alafair Burke
a good mystery with a fast pace (5/16/2025)
"He's cheating. He always does."
Out on a week long trip, three adult friends come together for vacation and get irritated by a couple that takes their parking space. As they drink and have dinner, they bemoan how rude the couple was and laugh as one of them writes a note - "He's cheating, He always does." They laugh, they think they toss the note.
Little do they know, the man in the couple will go missing. What is going on?
I really liked that we got multiple POV. It was good to know what was happening and what Lauren thought along with May. I did figure out some of the twists but after a bit of a slow start, I did feel the tension of the story and want to know what would happen next. It was interesting, I liked it!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Sweet Fury
by Sash Bischoff
alluring character with a high tension plot (5/16/2025)
Alluring characters with a high tension and compelling plot.
This one got me right from the first chapter. I have a horrible confession to make - I didn't really know the original Tender Is the Night so I was a bit worried that this one wouldn't work for me. But right from that first visit to the therapist and then the POV of making the film, I was hooked. You could feel the tension rising off the page. There were so many twists and secrets that I loved slowly untangling them. I found the end to be a delicious surprise - where it was all shocking but very satisfying.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
All the Water in the World: A Novel
by Eiren Caffall
Family, survival - sad but inspiring story (5/16/2025)
"That's what you do in the darkness."
"And you never know in the darkness who is holding the light."
Survival is never pretty, it's always brutal, sad but inspiring. Nonie is young, in a world where the water rose and has eaten a lot of the land. The water is not good - it's full of bacteria, hard pieces, and disease. Nonie lives in a somewhat safe building - an old museum - that her family fled to as the waters rose. It's kept them safe, with heavy doors, small windows, and big gates. Nonie has lived here and felt a kind of safety without light or running electricity but with a great gift - the ability to sense when the weather changes and storms or rain are coming.
But the large storm that makes them lose their safety in the museum isn't one that Nonie senses with enough time to help them save needed resources. Medicine, food, even safe water - all gone in the midst of their fast flee from the home they know. Now they are outside, looking for a safe place to land - but in survival, not everywhere is safe.
This was such a compelling story. I started as an e-book and flipped to audio. The narrator did such a great job of reminding you the main character is still very young and yet, injected the perfect amount of emotion into all their harrowing moments. It's a sad, hopeful story - one that pits us against our fellow humans but also animals and nature. But what an amazing thing, to survive and live.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Famous Last Words: A Novel
by Gillian McAllister
jaw dropping compelling read that's hard to put down (5/16/2025)
"It's been so lovely with you both. Lx"
A compelling race of a story. Once you start, clear out your afternoon - a plot that won't let you go until the final page!
Cam is a literary agent, going back to work for her first day back after having a baby. She has what she thinks of as the perfect life. A wonderful husband, a lovely nine-month old baby, a lovely upside down house with a garden, a job she loves. But her perfect life is rocked when, after dropping off her baby for day one of daycare, the police arrive and tell her something horrible.
There is hostage situation - and they think her husband is the one with the gun, not a victim.
And wow, the story is a race. You get a few POV: the hostage negotiation Niall and Cam, the wife, and a mysterious watcher. Each POV really rounded out the story, gave light to the parts that we needed and added really great layer of humanity and perspective. And Cam was so easy to love. A reader, an agent, a mother, a sister, a wife - she was a strong, amazing character who just wanted to understand what happened.
I can't recommend this enough! A tense plot that leaves you guessing and wondering until the very end. This one was So good!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.