Review: The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman

The Living and the Lost

by Ellen Feldman

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Pages: 352

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Millie Mosbach and her brother David escaped to the United States just before Kristallnacht, leaving their parents and little sister in Berlin. Now they are both back in their former hometown, haunted by ghosts and hoping against hope to find their family. Millie works in the office responsible for rooting out the most dedicated Nazis from publishing. Like most of their German-born American colleagues, the siblings suffer from rage at Germany and guilt at their own good fortune. Only Millie’s boss, Major Harry Sutton, seems strangely eager to be fair to the Germans.

Living and working in bombed-out Berlin, a latter day Wild West where the desperate prey on the unsuspecting; spies ply their trade; black markets thrive, and forbidden fraternization is rampant, Millie must come to terms with a past decision made in a moment of crisis, and with the enigmatic sometimes infuriating Major Sutton who is mysteriously understanding of her demons. 

Kritters Thoughts:  A book that starts in a post World War II Berlin as they are dealing with the repercussions of the war and they rebuild a city and a country into something that the people can be proud of.  

For me this book really enlightened me of the feelings that people had as they were returning to their homeland and wanting to get rid of the people who were responsible for the destruction.  I never considered the feelings of not just the Jewish population, but anyone who fled the Nazi regime and how they would want to exterminate anyone associated with the horrible Nazi agenda.  I really appreciated this different viewpoint and made me want to read more books that take place in this unique moment right after the war.

I have said this a few times on this blog and I mean it every time, but this one felt unique and while we don't want to forget the horror of the concentration camps of World War II, it is nice to read a book that takes a look at this time, but doesn't go to the far deep end.  

I do not want to bring politics into a blog about books, but reading this book while the news was dominated by the evacuation of Afghan people out of their country was eery and made me really listen to their stories a little closer.  Interesting how a book about a time period that is more than 70 years ago can still relate to news in 2021.  

My third Ellen Feldman book and while I have a few left in her backlist to read, I have loved each of the ones I have completed and am excited to see what she has coming next.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 108 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from St Martin's Press.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell

The Truth About Melody Browne

by Lisa Jewell

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 359

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  When she was a child, Melody Browne’s house burned down, destroying all her family’s possessions and her memories. Ever since this tragic event, Melody Browne has had no recollection of her life before she was rescued from the flames.

Now in her early thirties, Melody is a single mother, living in the middle of London with her teenaged son. She hasn’t seen her parents since she left home at fifteen, but Melody has no desire to reconnect until one night, while attending a hypnotist show with a date, she faints. When she comes around, she is suddenly overwhelmed with fragmented memories of her life before that fateful fire.

Slowly, she begins the arduous process of piecing together the real story of her childhood. Her journey takes her up and down the countryside, to seaside towns to the back streets of London, where she meets strangers who seem to love her like her own. But the more answers she uncovers, the more questions she is left with, and Melody can’t help but wonder if she’ll ever know the whole truth about her past.

Kritters Thoughts:  Melody Browne lost all of her physical possessions in a house fire at the age of nine and in the fire she also lost her memories of her life before that point.  A chance encounter with a hypnotist reignites her brain and memories start coming back to her and with that she must confront the pain and joy of the past that she lost in and before the fire.

From her early childhood to the present day as a single mom, the chapters in the book are clearly labeled, but bounce back and forth as Melody remembers the childhood she lost.  It was so easy to keep track of the plot of this story as everything felt like it was labeled and easy to know where in the timeline we were reading.  I loved how it was laid out and how it worked out.

I always thought of Lisa Jewell as an author that would keep me on the edge of my seat with suspense and while I couldn't put this one down at all, the air of suspense wasn't in this one, but instead there was a feeling of wanting to know more about Melody and find out what memory she would unlock next!  In this book, Lisa relied on character and she wrote a fantastic character that I couldn't wait to keep reading and watching her find herself.  

After finishing this Lisa Jewell, it made me want to dive into another one.  I still have quite the backlist of hers to catch up on and I wouldn't mind finding another like this one where the suspense may be a little diminished and the characters were amplified.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 107 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

A busy and emotional week that distracted me from reading.  Hoping next week is better!


A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

The Slow March of Light by Heather B Moore

Machiavelli for Women by Stacey Vanek Smith

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson

Currently Reading:

A Most Clever Girl by Stephanie Marie Thornton

Next on the TBR pile:

The Perfect Daughter by Kerry Wilkinson

Review: The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

The Charm Offensive

by Alison Cochrun

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 368

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.

Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.

As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.

Kritters Thoughts:  Dev is a producer on a Bacheloresque tv show and has been working behind the scenes for a long time helping hetero folks find love.  The bachelor on this season needs some help and while Dev usually deals with the lady contestants, he is brought in to coach Charlie the bachelor into love.  

Not to send out major spoils, but this is a romance and it is a LGBT romance and my first LGBT romance read.  For a multitude of reasons, I had never picked up a LGBT romance and when I saw this one cross my "desk", I thought this would be the perfect one to try as the overall premise - behind the scenes of Hollywood is already in my wheelhouse, so to start somewhere I know I will like and then throw in a different kind of romance, I was game.  

While I don't know the sub genres of LGBT romance, like I do with the hetero ones, this one was a "Oh wow, I didn't know I was gay" and while yes, it was my first LGBT romance, I am not sure if this sub genre is my jam.  I think I would prefer a good ole fashioned enemies to lovers or rekindled romance, so I am in pursuit to try another in a sub genre that I know I like.  

If you haven't ventured into the LGBT romance aisle of romance books, I highly suggest.  The formula is still the same - falling in love, shit hit fan, resolution and happily ever after and no matter the gender of the couples, I love that formula!  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 106 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

The Night She Disappeared

by Lisa Jewell

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 416

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.

Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.

The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah's friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.

She never returns.

2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.

'DIG HERE' . . .

Kritters Thoughts:  Two storylines that aren't far apart in time as one takes place in 2017 as a mother is dealing with her missing daughter who herself is a mother and would never willingly abandon her son.  The other storyline is two years in the future as a young woman moves with her partner to this small town in England and as a mystery author she may be naturally drawn to a mystery in need of solving and maybe also clues are being dropped in her lap.  And there is a third timeline, but I want to leave that up to you to discover!

Tallulah may be a young mother at the age of 19, but I loved reading how while she may be young she has drive to be a good mother and also go to school and prepare herself to be an independent woman and mother in her future.  The way her mother described her and was continuing to look for her and have such passion knowing she didn't run from her life was half of my enjoyment of reading.  I loved seeing how Kim, her mother supported her and two years later was still fully invested in finding her.  

Sophie, the author was an interesting character to follow and while I didn't completely love her and may have rolled my eyes a moment or two when it came to her, I appreciated her role in the book and her need to be there to keep the story moving along.  There were a few times where I flipped and flopped with my opinions on her, but I think I landed in tolerating as she was a story driver, but I wanted more from her development beyond her connections to Tallulah's missing case.  

I have read a few of Lisa Jewell's books and I have enjoyed each of the ones I have read.  Enjoying this one - the plot and the characters (or some of them) I am drawn to keep reading her backlist and getting caught up!

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

Never Saw Me Coming

by Vera Kurian 

Publisher: Park Row

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Meet Chloe Sevre. She’s a freshman honor student, a leggings-wearing hot girl next door, who also happens to be a psychopath. Her hobbies include yogalates, frat parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman, a childhood friend who grievously wronged her.

Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinical study for psychopaths—students like herself who lack empathy and can’t comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. The study, led by a renowned psychologist, requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements.

When one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan into action, she’ll be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths—and everybody knows you should never trust a psychopath.

Kritters Thoughts:  Chloe is one of seven students at her college that is admitted on a full ride in order to be a part of a program within the psychology department because she is labeled a psychopath.  As she enters her freshman year she realizes what this program really means and then her fellow students start getting attacked and she must trust others in this program to get to the bottom of it all.  

While that was the synopsis I read that got me hooked and ready to read the book and that ultimately was what the book was about, for me the book weaved in and out and the plot and at times I was close to putting it down, but Chloe as a character and the need to know who was the culprit kept me charging through.  And thankfully I was very satisfied by the culprit as for me that matters most!

I think for me the hardest part of the book was the pacing.  It took a long time to start ramping up and while I am typically fine with that as long as I feel like we are at least starting to climb a mountain, but with this one, I felt as though we were at the starting gate for a long time.  I was thankful that the characters and my darn FOMO kept me reading.  

While Vera Kurian has some other books listed on Goodreads, this feels like a debut and because there were characters that kept me intrigued, I would be ready and willing to read more from this author in hopes that my concerns were alleviated in the next book.      

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 105 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from HarperCollins.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

August - the month I celebrate

source

With extra pool time, a week of Bout of Books and a few cookbooks and other shorter reads made for another great reading month and I sure hope that with colder days ahead that curling up and reading will be the norm for awhile!

1. Write My Name Across the Sky by Barbara O'Neal

2. Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

3. When We Were Sisters by Cynthia Ellingsen

4. The Ocean in Winter by Elizabeth deVeer

5. The Family Plot by Megan Collins

6. The Paris Wife by Meghan Masterson

7. The Bookseller's Secret by Michelle Gable

8. The Woman on the Beach by Julia Roberts

9. When the Summer Was Ours by Roxanne Veletzos

10. The Murderess Must Die by Marlie Parker Wasserman

11. Trisha's Kitchen by Trisha Yearwood

12. Where I Left Her by Amber Garza

13. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

14. Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

15. The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

16. Spectacular Spreads by Meagan Brown

17. The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

18. The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell

19. The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman

20. Ethel Rosenberg by Anne Sebba

Total pages read, clicked and flipped: 6,072

Where having I been Reading?:

New York City (2)

North Carolina

Massachussetts

Paris, France

Mexico

Hungary

Surrey Hills

Washington, DC

London

Berlin

 

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

It was a great lazy weekend full of reading!


A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell

The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman

Currently Reading:

The Slow March of Light by Heather B Moore

Next on the TBR pile:

Machiavelli For Women by Stacey Vanek Smith

Review: Where I Left Her by Amber Garza

Where I Left Her

by Amber Garza

Publisher: MIRA Books

Pages: 304

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Whitney had some misgivings when she dropped her increasingly moody teenage daughter, Amelia, off at Lauren’s house. She’d never met the parents, and usually she’d go in, but Amelia clearly wasn’t going to let something so humiliating happen, so instead Whitney waved to her daughter before pulling away from the little house with the roses in front.

But when she goes back the next day, an elderly couple answers the door—Amelia and Lauren aren’t there, and this couple swears they never were, that she’s at the wrong house. As Whitney searches for Amelia, she uncovers a trail of lies her daughter has told her—from the Finsta account to rumors of a secret relationship. Does she really even know this girl she’s raised? And Amelia’s not the only one with secrets. Could Whitney’s own demons have something to do with her daughter’s disappearance, and can Whitney find her before it’s too late?

Kritters Thoughts:  A mother in need of a minute away from her moody teenager drops her at a home for a sleep over and doesn't realize that this simple Friday night will take a horrible turn. 

Single mom Whitney has been battling her teenager, Amelia, for months as she is entering that phase where friends take precedence over family.  Whitney agrees to a sleep over at a house that she doesn't know with parents she hasn't met and the next morning things aren't right.  

There were a few storylines going on in this one book.  There is the search for Amelia that is clearly marked with a timeline as to how long she has been missing as Whitney searches for her.  There was a storyline where Whitney goes back in time a few months back and the reader gets the back story to how this mother/daughter relationship went downhill.  And the final storyline takes the reader far back in time to Whitney as a teenager as she is having similar friend experiences that her daughter is going through and the battle as a young woman finds out who she wants to be and who her friends are.

All of these storylines unfolded just right!  It was so interesting to watch Whitney and her story get repeated with her daughter and her realize that as much as she tried to protect Amelia, her daughter still went down a questionable path.  

The ending definitely shocked me and I was left with my mouth hanging open and I still wonder how I feel about the last page, but I an honestly say that I enjoyed reading this mother/daughter duo and how they navigated this hard time where a kid separates from their parent.

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 104 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from HarperCollins.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Murderess Must Die by Marlie Parker Wasserman

The Murderess Must Die

by Marlie Parker Wasserman

Publisher: Level Best Books

Pages: 260

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  On a winter day in 1898, hundreds of spectators gather at a Brooklyn courthouse, scrambling for a view of the woman they label a murderess. Martha Place has been charged with throwing acid in her stepdaughter’s face, hitting her with an axe, suffocating her with a pillow, then trying to kill her husband with the same axe. The crowd will not know for another year that the alleged murderess becomes the first woman in the world to be executed in the electric chair. None of her eight lawyers can save her from a guilty verdict and the governor of New York, Theodore Roosevelt, refuses to grant her clemency.

Was Martha Place a wicked stepmother, an abused wife, or an insane killer? Was her stepdaughter a tragic victim? Why would a well-dressed woman, living with an upstanding husband, in a respectable neighborhood, turn violent? Since the crime made the headlines, we have heard only from those who abused and condemned Martha Place.

Kritters Thoughts:  Martha Place had a horrible childhood that did not set her up for success.  She ended up in a loveless marriage that gave her security, but not much else and in my humble opinion she snapped and after reading the abuse she endured, I don't completely blame her!  Her actions are just a part of the story as she becomes a first in history, maybe not a first that you want in the history books!

The thing for me with this book was that the quick switching of perspectives messed with the flow of the story for me.  I love a story where you get multiple points of view so you can see an event through many eyes, but this book felt like two many points of view and they changed as soon as I was getting into their minds.  I wish it had limited the voices to just a few and their portions would have been longer in length.  

Because of the way it was written, that really affected my enjoyment of the story and I now would love to read Martha Place's story written in a different way because I think it would be so interesting to hear about the first women who was sent to the electric chair, but I want to hear it from just a few people.  

While a debut novel that I didn't completely love, I would be intrigued to try another from this author to see if it was just this one and not how this author writes her stories.

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 103 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Partner in Crime Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: When the Summer Was Ours by Roxanne Veletzos

When the Summer Was Ours

by Roxanne Veletzos

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Hungary, 1943: As war encroaches on the country’s borders, willful young Eva César arrives in the idyllic town of Sopron to spend her last summer as a single woman on her aristocratic family’s estate. Longing for freedom from her domineering father, she counts the days to her upcoming nuptials to a kind and dedicated Red Cross doctor whom she greatly admires.

But Eva’s life changes when she meets Aleandro, a charming and passionate Romani fiddler and artist. With time and profound class differences against them, Eva and Aleandro still fall deeply in love—only to be separated by a brutal act of hatred.

As each are swept into the tides of war, they try to forget their romance. Yet, the haunting memory of that summer will reshape their destinies and lead to decisions which are felt through generations.

Kritters Thoughts:  Another World War II book, but set in a country that I haven't read a ton about and really felt war adjacent then full on Nazi Germany war book.  Eva Cesar comes from a great family and while she had last her mother, she wants for little and is waiting for her betrothed to come home, but a chance meeting with an artist will send her life down an unlikely path.  

While this book took place a lot during this time period, there were parts that took it to a post war place and while Hungary had post war occupation and some other things that were interesting to learn while reading this book, it didn't feel like the typical war book only in that separated characters at times for different reasons.  

Eva was a great character to follow.  She was right down the middle - not too innocent where you rolled your eyes at her idealism, but not jaded in that she had hope for the future.  I loved the ups and downs that she went through and while at times I may have disagreed with the decisions she made, I still enjoyed reading her story.  

And while I am caught up with her two novels, I have hopes that she keeps coming out with more and more historical novels with women at the center.

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 102 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Bout of Books 32 Wrap Up

I really made an effort to read any quiet moment I got this week and I saw the effect it had on my reading this week and it motived me to do it more often!

I didn't finish all the books I planned, was just one short and just a few pages shy from my goal.  BUT still a success in my book.

Total book count: 5.5 books
Total page count:  1,574

Day 1- Monday, August 16 Total 204 pages
The Woman on the Beach by Julia Roberts (finished 78 pages)

When the Summer Wasn't Ours by Roxanne Veletzos (started, 126 pages)

Day 2- Tuesday, August 17 Total 204 pages

When the Summer Wasn't Ours by Roxanne Veletzos (read, 204 pages)

Day 3- Wednesday, August 18 Total 264 pages

When the Summer Wasn't Ours by Roxanne Veletzos (finished, 54 pages)

The Murderess Must Die by Marlie Parker Wasserman (started, read 210 pages)

Day 4- Thursday, August 19 Total 146 pages

The Murderess Must Die by Marlie Parker Wasserman (finished, read 50 pages)

Where I Left Her by Amber Garza (started, read 96 pages)

Day 5- Friday, August 20 Total 248 pages

Where I Left Her by Amber Garza (finished, read 208 pages)

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell (started, read 40 pages)

Day 6- Saturday, August 21 Total 326 pages

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell (read 326 pages)

Day 7- Sunday, August 22  Total 182 pages

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell (finished, read 50 pages)

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian (started, read 132 pages)