june ‘23 book reviews
dear reader, i hope you’re enjoying your summer! my reads this month were captivating, intoxicating and um, underwhelming. my ratings hit the full scale from my first 1-star review to a few 5-star reads i highly recommend. take a look:
the secret book of flora lea by patti callahan henry
rating: 4.5/5
i think we all know how obsessed with war era stories i am and the secret book of flora lea takes a beautiful spin on an incredibly difficult time. it’s 1939 and the impending war looms over the head of hazel and flora, two sisters living in london. to help her sister “escape” these scary months, hazel invents a mystical world called whisperwood that only they can see and experience. here, the river sparkles and the lush forest protects them.
when the girls are abruptly ripped from their home during operation pied piper, an effort to protect children by sending them to rural areas away from london, hazel and flora find themselves in a strange village with a new family. miraculously though, the family they’re placed with is warm and loving. it all changes one afternoon though when young flora goes missing.
now 20 years later, hazel is still coping with the loss but never loses hope for finding her little sister. when a new children’s book enters the shop she works in that details a magical land called whisperwood, hazel wonders if her sister survived the war after all. is it too good to be true?
carnegie’s maid by heather terrell
rating: 4.5/5
if you’ve taken an american history class, i’m betting you probably learned about andrew carnegie. carnegie was a 19th century industrialist largely responsible for our railroad system due to his steel business. he emigrated from scotland to pittsburgh with his family when he was a child and worked his way up to become one of the richest americans in history. he was also a staunch philanthropist, establishing over 3,000 public libraries for people to enjoy and learn. but before he made it big, he was a twenty-something year old living with his mother, trying to work their way into high society.
carnegie’s maid is a historical fiction about clara kelley, an irish immigrant who worked for margaret carnegie, andrew’s mother. clara and andrew get swept up in each other’s company when they find themselves talking about everything from literature to business. these two intelligent minds are grateful for the time spent together but know it can’t last because of their status. the only thing i hated about the book was the ending but that’s because it’s a fictional work of art.
yours truly by abby jimenez
rating: 4.5/5
i adored this novel! abby jimenez is an amazing wordsmith when it comes to romances. yours truly is a funny rom-com in the ‘part of your world’ universe (jimenez’s first book — you don’t have to read it to understand this one but if you do, it makes it all the more special). briana is a successful er doc who is working through the pain of her divorce and the fact that her husband cheated on her with her best friend. jacob is also a successful er doc working through his own issues. he suffers severe social anxiety and is also going through a breakup — only, his ex is now getting married to his brother, ouch! they don’t get off on the right foot in the hospital until jacob writes briana a letter. writing helps him process his anxiety and briana finds it sweet, romantic even.
this is the fake-dating, friends to lovers, corny one-liners and steamy hookup scenes type of book that you can get lost in. the tension between the two is borderline unbearable and i kept reading to see when they f i n a l l y get together. well worth the wait!
things we never got over by lucy score
rating: 2/5
naomi is a runaway bride with an evil twin sister who stumbles into a po-dunk town in nowhere virginia. knox morgan essentially runs the town and is less than thrilled when he has to start taking care of naomi, who has no one, except for the new eleven-year-old niece she just learned about. her deadbeat sister left waylay (the niece) behind when she last fled town. to be honest, the rest of the plot was just all over the place and too long to be described in this review. however — there was some funny banter between knox and naomi, and naomi’s relationship with waylay was sweet. i’ll even admit that by the end, knox’s overprotective nature was satisfying when the brute finally admits his feelings.
this may upset some people but it was so hard for me to read this. i struggled to get through the first 100 pages but i’m no quitter so i had to make it all 550 pages until an opinion was formed. after completing it, i was still disappointed. the characters were insufferable, the steamy sex scenes made me cringe and there was no strength in the plot. and before you jump on me about nOt reADing SmuT foR tHe PlOT, i wanted to like it, i really did but it just missed the mark.
romantic comedy by curtis sittenfeld
rating: 4.5/5
who doesn’t love a page-turning rom-com? sally is a writer on the hit comedy show, the night owls (think of it like snl), and has gotten comfortable in her routine of work, work, work with the occasional hook-up. there’s a phenomenon about the office she’s dubbed the danny horst rule where normal joe-schmo guys find themselves out kicking their coverage and dating way above their league. the same cannot be true of the women in the office as no ultra-celeb would date a normal gal. that is until noah brewster, pop icon, takes a liking to sally.
the writing in this book, as you should expect, is exceptional. there’s only three chapters — the first takes you through a week in a comedy show from pitch meetings to rehearsals to the live show; the second is all email correspondence for about 80 pages; the third is normal narrative with expected breaks. the humor between sally and noah is infectious and their romance is anything but cringey, it’s pure and touching. you should add this to your tbr list immediately!
once more with feeling by elissa sussman
rating: 3.5/5
calling all theater kids, this one’s for you! once more with feeling is a comical second-chance romance where former teen pop star, katee rose, er— kathleen rosenberg—gets her big break on a broadway show, only to find out her ex-crush is the director. it’s been nearly a decade since they’ve spoken and it did not end well.
i didn’t love this one as much as i loved ‘funny you should ask’ but it was charming. i thought the dynamic between kathleen and cal kirby (director, ex-crush) was a bit too “i hate you” but the tension did lead to some steamy mid-fight hook ups that were clearly long awaited.
slade house by david mitchell
rating: 3/5
slade house is a different place. those who visit are not permitted to leave. and only those who are special can even see it. every nine years, people in england go missing: it started with nathan and rita bishop, a mother & son who went to visit the esteemed lady grayer; then, detective gordon edmunds, who went to investigate their disappearance; next a paranormal club member named sally. the only thing they all have in common is that they visited slade house.
it’s a bit mystery/thriller with a dabble of magical realism and definitely keeps your interest. however, the longer i read the more confused i became. i don’t know what i expected from the ending but i didn’t love it. it felt rather abrupt and a little rushed.
the last russian doll by kristen loesch
rating: 3/5
if slade house was a palate cleanser, diving into the last russian doll felt like familiar territory - historical fiction! rosie, our main character, has a troubled past that threatens her future happiness. rosie fled russia with her mother when she was a child after the murders of her father and older sister. since then, she’s tried to work out what happened with her mother, who seems to be too focused on the fairytales she used to spin when rosie was younger.
when an opportunity presents itself for rosie to intern for a renown author/historian and travel back to moscow for the summer, she jumps at the chance to piece together the mystery behind her family. rosie’s mother passes before she leaves and as she starts to clean up the apartment, she finds a hidden compartment a the creepy russian doll her mother collected. in it, a key. this starts a scavenger hunt of sorts as rosie become more determined than ever to uncover the truth.
i’ll start by saying what an interesting story this is but shame on me for not knowing enough about russian history to truly appreciate and enjoy this more. there were a lot of details i was just unfamiliar with that made it hard to follow and an array of characters i almost had to write down to keep up with. the romances between tonya & valentin in 1917 and rosie and lev in 1991 kept me reading!
meet me at the lake by carley fortune
rating: 3.5/5
meet me at the lake follows fern brookbanks, a thirty-something year old woman who is struggling to take over the family resort after her mother suddenly passes. she never really wanted to work there to begin with but now something is pulling her to lake muskoka. when she gets there, she’s surprised to see her ex-crush from a decade ago — one whom was supposed to meet her at this very lake but never showed. will baxter is there to help save the resort, at the behest of her very own mother before she passed.
it’s the sort of read that is quick to get through and leaves you wanting more because of the “then” and “now” perspective. however, i thought a lot of the character struggles were a bit of a let down. between fern’s wishes to open her own cafe (that went nowhere) to the reason will is shady with her (i won’t give away spoilers), i just didn’t love it as much as ‘every summer after.’
the summer of broken rules by k.l. walther
rating: 2/5
set on the new england shores of martha’s vineyard, meredith fox is coming to terms with the fact that this summer will be vastly different than the previous years spent here because her sister, claire, isn’t here. she passed away in a tragic car accident a year and a half ago. the extended fox clan is on the island for cousin sarah’s wedding and for a friendly, annual game of assassin (a summer game where “assassins” eliminate targets with water guns).
i will preface this review with saying that i listened to this via audiobook which i don’t particularly like so take that with a grain of salt. this is very ya and very not my speed. i found myself so annoyed with the characters and some of the storylines felt completely irrelevant to the plot. i don’t understand all the hype around this one!
the magnificent life of marjorie post by allison pataki
rating: 5/5
very few women come close to the glamour, fame and wealth that marjorie merriweather post, cereal brand heiress, had during her time. while she hosted some of america’s most notorious celebs — roosevelts (both teddy & franklin delano), carnegies and kennedys to name a few — she was also an intelligent business woman who grew postum cereal company into general foods, a multi-billion dollar company. ms. post did everything with passion, from funding medical supplies during the great war to her four marriages. she’s one of the coolest people i’ve read about and i highly recommend this read!
bad summer people by emma rosenblum
rating: 5/5
summer is a time for sun, fun and scandal if you’re part of the elite crew that makes it out to fire island each year. it’s no hamptons but that’s kind of the point. the weinsteins, the parkers, the groebels and singleton rachel wolfe make their way out to their lavish summer homes shortly after memorial day and stay through labor day. fire island is a small enough community where everyone knows one another, and in fact, they grew up with each other too. and they are bad summer people. sleeping with friends wives, fooling around with the tennis pro and ferociously gossiping behind each others back while smiling and laughing to their faces.
this was a devilishly good read that hooks you from the moment you turn a few pages. the women of fire island are savage and go for blood, and each other husbands. it’s also told from each characters pov which makes it hilariously funny, getting each perspective. it would be a great beach read!
in five years by rebecca serle
rating: 1/5
i am saddened to share this 1 star review because i so thoroughly enjoyed ‘the dinner list’ by rebecca serle. this story takes us through life’s celebrations and heartbreaks in relationships and friendships. dannie is on the verge of getting everything she wants; a stellar job and a marriage proposal from her boyfriend of two years. this is exactly how dannie envisioned her life because she’s a planner. in her five year plan, she’s partner at her firm and happily married to daniel. in some twist of fate though, she spends five minutes five years in the future and finds herself in a different apartment with a different man. what happened to her five year plan?
without giving too much away, i absolutely hated the ending. it’s left open ended with an outcome i didn’t even imagine. i was disappointed and wanted those 4 hours back.
the spanish love deception by elena armas
rating: 2/5
the classic fake-dating-leads-to-real-dating trope that we all know and love! catalina is in a bit of a bind when her ex-boyfriend is the best man at her sisters wedding. you see, catalina’s sister isabel is marrying her ex’s brother. she needs a date fast and that’s where her coworker aaron offers to help, much to her surprise. because they are not friends. they don’t even like each other. do they?
i wanted to love this more than i did. i don’t understand the hype surrounding this. the characters are incredibly daft and the dialog is just painful. it’s so repetitive as well that i found myself rolling my eyes much too hard. there is a lot of tension but it’s too drawn out; they don’t kiss until page 348!! the steamy scenes are well worth it, however!