Book Review: A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams \

 

About:

An epic love story one hundred years in the making…

Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing.

Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.

When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers.

One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.

Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.

My Thoughts

It has been a minute since I enjoyed a good romance novel. Tia did her thing with this book. In the story we meet Ricki Wilde. Ricki belongs to a prominent family but unlike her father and her older sisters, she always fall short of the high expectations.

Ricki is intent on finding her own way in life and due to a chance encounter with a woman by the name of Della, Ricki is getting an opportunity to open a flowershop in Harlem. Harlem is a magical city, and Ricki soon finds out when she meets Ezra. He is handsome, mysterious and he has a secret that could be DEADLY.

This romance was magical and unique. The story was unlike what I would have expected and for me this made for a rich reading experience. A MUST read.

Book Review: Who Asked You? by Terry Mc Millan

 About:

From the #1  New York Times bestselling author…“Remember Getting to Happy , Waiting to Exhale , and How Stella Got Her Groove Back? Well, you won’t likely forget Terry McMillan’s Who Asked You?  either” ( Raleigh News & Observer ).

Betty Jean already has her hands full when her grown daughter leaves her two young sons in her care. In between dealing with her other adult children, two opinionated sisters, an ill husband, and her own postponed dreams—BJ still manages to hold down a job delivering room service at a hotel.

Her son Dexter is about to be paroled from prison; Quentin, the family success, can’t be bothered to lend a hand; and taking care of two lively grandsons is the last thing BJ thinks she needs. But who asked her?

My Thoughts:

After reading this I can now see why a few of Terry McMillan's books are movies. This title would have made a nice movie as well. In Who Asked You? we meet Betty Jean a mother and grandmother with a lot on her plate. Her daughter Trinetta, a drug addict left behind her two kids and disappeared without a trace.

Betty Jean now has the responsibility of raising two young boys, while having to take care of an ailing husband. Between this and dealing with her other two children Quentin (estranged because he thinks he is better than everyone else) and Dexter who is serving time in prison, Betty Jean keeps wondering where it all went wrong in life because she didn't ask for all this.

Apart from her children we also meet Betty Jean's two sisters Arlene and Venetia who also have problems woth kids and marriage as well. This book speaks about motherhood, family relationships and even forgiveness. I absolutely loved this book and I am going to definitely find and read her other books.

Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

 

ABOUT

In 1969, sisters Trang and Quỳnh, desperate to help their parents pay off debts, leave their rural village and become “bar girls” in Sài Gòn, drinking, flirting (and more) with American GIs in return for money. As the war moves closer to the city, the once-innocent Trang gets swept up in an irresistible romance with a young and charming American helicopter pilot, Dan. Decades later, Dan returns to Việt Nam with his wife, Linda, hoping to find a way to heal from his PTSD and, unbeknownst to her, reckon with secrets from his past.

At the same time, Phong—the son of a Black American soldier and a Vietnamese woman—embarks on a search to find both his parents and a way out of Việt Nam. Abandoned in front of an orphanage, Phong grew up being called “the dust of life,” “Black American imperialist,” and “child of the enemy,” and he dreams of a better life for himself and his family in the U.S.

Past and present converge as these characters come together to confront decisions made during a time of war—decisions that force them to look deep within and find common ground across race, generation, culture, and language. Suspenseful, poetic, and perfect for readers of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, Dust Child tells an unforgettable and immersive story of how those who inherited tragedy can redefine their destinies through love, hard-earned wisdom, compassion, courage, and joy.

My Thoughts

Amazing!!!

This author definitely knows how to write a story that would evoke every single emotion out of you. Her writing is also very educational and informative at least in my view because after reading The Mountains Sing and now Dust Child I now have a greater appreciation for the casualties of the Vietnam war.

In Dust Child we meet several characters the most notable Phong who we learn early on, simply by his appearance that he is what they call an Ameriasian. His dream was to go to the US for a better life and to uncover who his birth parents were. This book focuses Phong's struggles and he had many.

We also meet Dan an ex soldier who has a secret that has been haunting him his entire life. Dan has PTSD, but he also had a secret involving a young Vietnamese women named Trang aka Kim that he withheld from his wife Linda.

This book was well written. This story had an element of everything, sorrow, pain and even joy. Every emotion you can feel you will in this book. I highly recommend this.

Brooklyn by Tracy Brown

 

About:

Tracy Brown crafts a tale about a master manipulator and serial survivor, who will scorch earth to get what she wants. The question isn’t who murdered her; the question is who wouldn’t?

Brooklyn Melody James has finally gotten the punishment she deserves after leaving a web of lies, heartache, and betrayal behind her. As her life slips away, Brooklyn remembers the events that shaped her into the cold, calculating creature she became.

Brooklyn learned the art of hustling from her parents who used the church to get money. Idolizing her father and despising her mother, Brooklyn’s determined to be the type of woman who makes her own rules. When her back’s up against the wall, she sacrifices her family, takes the burnt offering that remains, and runs away. In NYC, young Brooklyn charms her way into the inner circle of hustlers and stick-up kids, learning tricks along the way. She catches the eye of a major player in the drug game, Hassan, and they have a breathless love affair. Brooklyn becomes integrated into his operation, earning the trust of Hassan and his associates. But when she gets the keys to the kingdom, driven by unfettered ambition and a ruthless desire to survive, Brooklyn snatches the pot of gold, leaving bitter retribution promises behind her.

From DC to Maryland, Brooklyn burns bridges and breaks hearts. What she doesn't realize is that someone is prepared to end her reign of terror. As she faces her killer and her fate, Brooklyn’s stunned that justice comes from the least likely place.

My Thoughts

I have been a Gillian Flynn fan since reading both Gone Girl and Dark Places. Sharp Objects did not disappoint at all.

Camille Preaker was a journalist with a PAST. A past that she sought to get far away from by living and working in Chicago. A story about the mysterious and gruesome death of two little girls in her home town of Wind Gap made her end up back HOME. A place where she had no desire to go back to.

Camille's return home was not a welcome sight for her mother Adora with whom she shared a very strained relationship. Upon returning and meeting her half sister Amma, Camille soon realized that everything in Wind Gap is not as they seem. Something was amiss...When the truth is revealed however, only the strong will survive. Meanwhile Camille had many demons that she grappled with.

This story was dark, emotional with some level of trauma. Camille, Amma and Adora's characters were do complex but the author really brought them to life.

This was a well written book. Definitely a MUST read.

Book Review: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

 ABOUT:

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. 

For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims — a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

My Thoughts 

I have been a Gillian Flynn fan since reading both Gone Girl and Dark Places. Sharp Objects did not disappoint at all.

Camille Preaker was a journalist with a PAST. A past that she was intent on getting away from by living and working in Chicago. A story about the mysterious and gruesome death of two little girls in her home town of Wind Gap made her end up back HOME. A place where she had no desire to return to.

Camille's return home was not a welcome sight for her mother Adora with whom she shared a very strained relationship. Upon returning and meeting her half sister Amma, Camille soon realized that everything in Wind Gap is not as they seem. Something was amiss...When the truth is revealed however, only the strong will survive. Meanwhile Camille had many demons that she grappled with.

This story was dark, emotional with some level of trauma. Camille, Amma and Adora's characters were do complex but the author really brought them to life.

This was a well written book. Definitely a MUST read.

Book Review: The Locked Door by Freida Mc Fadden

 

About:

Some doors are locked for a reason…

While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.

Until the day the police arrived at their front door.

Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.

Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.

Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her.

As long as they don’t look in her basement.

My Thoughts

This was another page turner by Mc Fadden. This, like the two I read before is full of suspense and jaw dropping twists.

"Locked Doors are never good." Nora knows that all too well. What she discovered in the basement of her home at age 11, changed her life forever and her relationship with her father Aaron Nearling (who as it turned out, was leading a double life.)

Twenty six years later, Nora, a doctor, is intent on keeping the past in the past. Her past soon catches up with her with a strange chain of events. It lead her to question is someone knew who she was? Or what her father did all those years ago.

In piecing everything together, readers are taken down a rough path to uncover the truth. Let me tell you though, the revelations will leave you shook. I was again very impressed with everything in this story.

I recommend this.

Book Review: The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh by Ingrid Persaud

 

ABOUT|

This is the tale of four women.

Popo: brilliant, vulnerable and stuck. She's determined to free herself from the traps of her past.

Mana Lala: a devoted mother - her only connection to her man is their little boy, and she will do anything to keep them close.

For Doris, well he's glorious and once she's licked him into shape, her husband presents an opportunity to climb the social ladder. She's heard the awful stories, but she's sure they won't be hers.

Rosie just wants to mind her business, her lover, Etty, and her store.

Four lives, connected and controlled by one man: the notorious, charismatic gangster Boysie Singh. Pull up a chair and let these women tell of the man they believed could love, help or free them, and how some of them survived to tell a tale at all.

MY THOUGHTS

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I like everything about this book. 

In this book we meet the notorious Trinidadian crime boss of the 1950s Boysie Singh. Boysie is a criminal in the truest sense of the word his crimes were everything from murder, smuggling and gambling. In the book, his life story was told in a very unique and creative way through four women (Popo, Mana Lala, Doris and Rosie) who were connected to Boysie in a way that was different to most people which was their love for him.

Boysie was bad and all four women were willing to do anything for his love at some point. Popo's story was the most sad of all I think. She genuinely loved Boysie and realized too late that the feeling was not mutual. Popo represents many women even today in relationships who support men who just take them for granted. At least though Popo was willing to do something about it unlike his child mother Mana Lala.

When I say each woman represents women in general is no lie. Cause Mana Lala loved Boysie more than life itself that she just sat her whole life waiting for him to love her back. This character frustrated me the most I think cause Boysie did not care one bit for this woman and there she was always waiting...

Doris was the wife who I also thought something was wrong with. She could have had a good life but fell for the glamourous part of Boysie. The club owner who had the nice suits and big money. He used her "Redness" to fit in to high society.

Them there was Rosie. Rosie's connection to Boysie went way back before these other women. She became reconnected with him when he began taking rent for her shop and when she wanted answers for the death of her lover Etty. The end of this will have you shook.

Boysie Singh was an interesting character. Although he was a criminal, he also had a human side too. He loved his son Chunksee a lot and although throughout the book he was a crook at his best, it was also good at times to see he was human too.

I love books by Trinidadian authors that use the language of the people, this is what made this book even more special for me. Love After Love was also a great book.

I am anticipating the next book by Ms. Persaud.

Book Review: Maame by Jessica George

 

About:

Shortlisted for the TikTok Book Awards in the Book of the Year, 2023 and the Goodreads Debut and Fiction Book of the Year, 2023.

It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.

When her mum returns from her latest trip to Ghana, Maddie leaps at the chance to get out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts”: She finds a flat share, says yes to after-work drinks, pushes for more recognition in her career, and throws herself into the bewildering world of internet dating. But it's not long before tragedy strikes, forcing Maddie to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils—and rewards—of putting her life on the line.

Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Jessica George's Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures―and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong.

My Thoughts:

In Maame we follow Madeline Wright (Maame) a 25 year old woman, of Ghanaian heritage who is a late bloomer. Maddie is this way , mainly because she, although being the last child in her family had the responsibility to take care of her ailing father. But as she navigates her life and struggles, she began craving independence, the kind that comes with young adulthood i.e. living with flatmates, having a boyfriend and other fun things. In the book we get to see Maddie come to her own.

What I liked about this book is that it touched on the issue of dealing with grief and depression. I liked how the author unpacked Maddie's grief by taking us through the stages. Maddie's grief emphasized the reality which is that everyone grieves differently. I have always been a believer of that. Apart from that Madeline's relationships (friends, family, coworkers, flatmates) were interesting especially her relationship with her mother, who by far was the most interesting character in the story. I began really disliking her but after reading on a bit I saw that she had a story to tell.

Overall this was a good story, very well written.

Book Review: Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins Valdez

 

Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a profoundly moving novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible wrong done to her patients, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wench.

Montgomery, Alabama 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend has big plans to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she intends to help women make their own choices for their lives and bodies.

But when her first week on the job takes her down a dusty country road to a worn down one-room cabin, she’s shocked to learn that her new patients are children—just 11 and 13 years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica and their family into her heart. Until one day, she arrives at the door to learn the unthinkable has happened and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.

Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten. That must not be forgotten.

Because history repeats what we don’t remember.

MY THOUGHTS

A few years ago I learned about the Tuskegee study and I was mortified. Now reading this book and now learning that it was loosely based on a true story made me pause. In "Take My Hand", we meet Civil Townsend, a black nurse working for a family planning clinic in Montgomery Alabama. Excited to prove herself in her new role, Civil was eager to do her work with passion and efficiency. However, upon realising that Depo Provera shots was being administered  to children from low income homes from as low as twelve years of age, she became concerned.

Civil's concern grew upon meeting the Williams' sisters Erica and India, both of whom were much too young (12 and 13) respectively to receive the shot of Depo Provera. After once administering the shot, this did not sit well with the new nurse Civil, who after some research realised that this situation was a ticking time bomb. Civil began a quest to right some wrongs and in so doing this led to a series of events that took the reader on a whirlwind of emotions.

Again I cannot say it enough, one of my favourite genres to read are historical fiction novels mainly because it makes you think about the past, the things different people went through and even the future. Take My Hand is a MUST READ, there were all the elements of a solid tale wrapped in one, and reading that it was loosely based on true events, well for me at least. made it even better. Civil represented what a nurse should be and if you read this you would definitely connect with her character.

A well written and well put together novel. I will definitely recommend this.

Book Review: The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

 

About

"An epic account of Việt Nam’s painful 20th century history, both vast in scope and intimate in its telling . . . Moving and riveting.” —VIET THANH NGUYEN, author of The Sympathizer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner’s In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War. Trần Diệu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North. Years later in Hà Nội, her young granddaughter, Hương, comes of age as her parents and uncles head off down the Hồ Chí Minh Trail to fight in a conflict that tore not just her beloved country, but her family apart.

Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Việt Nam, The Mountains Sing brings to life the human costs of this conflict from the point of view of the Vietnamese people themselves, while showing us the true power of kindness and hope.

The Mountains Sing is celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s first novel in English.

My Thoughts 

This book was a book club pick. I went into this knowing nothing about the book and let me tell you, this novel has to go down in history as one of the best historical fiction novels that I have ever read.

In The Mountains Sing, we follow the Tran Family through Dieu Lin the matriarch who survived loss and pain that went with war in Vietnam. Through her story, the writer paints a vivid portrait of what life was like during the war years.

I am now very interested to learn more about Vietnam and the war because of this book. Although there were some parts that were sad in the book, I think overall this was an excellent piece of writing. More people should read this.

Book Review: The Teacher by Freida Mc Fadden

 About

Lesson #1: Trust no one.

Eve has a good life. She wakes up each day, kisses her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except…

Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal involving a student-teacher affair, with one student, Addie, at its center. But Eve knows there is far more to these ugly rumors than meets the eye.

Addie can’t be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that’s what everyone says.

But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet…

My Thoughts

Wow!!! Jus Wow!! That twist at the end...I didn't see that coming.

This was my first time reading this author. Her books are everywhere and now I know why. I think this style of writing can grip anyone even if someone does not like reading or if they are just getting into thriller books.

I could not put this down. I needed to see what would happen at the end.

In The Teacher we meet 16 year old Addie who is having a hard time adjusting after a scandalous affair involving a teacher surfaced the previous school year where her Math teacher was replaced by Eve Bennett. Eve is tough, and is much different from her English teacher husband Nate.

Addie, upon joining a poetry club at school gets very close to Nate which turns out to have deadly consequences. Eve is at the centre of it all.

A nail biting drama, The Teacher will have you at the edge of your seat literally.

Book Review: This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan

About

Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who's never met a party she couldn't host or a charge she couldn't lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.

But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She's too busy keeping a roof over her daughters' heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.

But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn't want but can't seem to resist. She's lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?

After all she's lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?

My Thoughts

When you finish reading a book and you start listening to the playlist immediately after you know the book means business. I absolutely loved everything about this book.

In This Could Be Us we meet Soledad Barnes, a married suburbian housewife living what most may have called a dream life. Nice house, husband, three girls. It all comes crashing down when Sol's husband gets in trouble for something unthinkable, all because of Judah Cross the new mysterious accountant at CalPot the firm that Edward works at.

Soledad's world is suddenly turned upside down. She is left to pick up the pieces in more ways than one. Meanwhile Judah Cross, a single dad with a complicated life with his autistic sons takes a sudden interest in Soledad and the rest...... you will have to read.

This was a captivating story, romantic and also very enlightening on a variety of topics, most important self love.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend.

 

WE DID IT!!!! (TGR is among the 25 Best Caribbean Book Blogs)

 

Hello readers,

When I began blogging a few years ago, I was doing it simply for fun, since I love reading and wanted to share that passion with others. Now some three years later, 

I am pleased to announce that Trini Girl Reads is now in the top twenty five (25) best Caribbean Blogs on the internet. 

I would like to thank Feedspot for this honour and most importantly I want to thank all the readers of the blog because without you I would be nothing.

Here is the link to view the TOP 25 Caribbean Book Blogs List. 

25 Best Caribbean Book Blogs and Websites

Happy Reading!!!

From Trini Girl Reads

Book Review: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

 

About:

A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.

Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.

The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.

Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.

Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.

My Thoughts

This story kept me interested from beginning to end. The end had me quite emotional too. SA Crosby is an author to watch.

In Razorblade Tears we meet Ike and Buddy Lee, two fathers who become bonded by revenge for the death of their sons. These fathers sought revenge as a plaster to a sore, that being the unwillingness of both dads to accept that their sons were homosexual.

Ike and Buddy Lee also were also former prisoners so you know that their attempt at avenging these guys' deaths may lead them down a dangerous path.

This book was so full of action that you felt as though you were watching a really good movie. I loved how creatively Cosby dealt with loss and grief in this book and also regret. I think that avenging their sons' deaths was partly out of regret at how they treated their sons.

This is worth the hype. Indeed a masterpiece

Book Review: Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena

 

About:

Welcome to Stanhope - a safe neighbourhood. A place for families.

William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he's been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter Avery unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.

Hours later, Avery's family declare her missing.

Suddenly Stanhope doesn't feel so safe. And William isn't the only one on his street who's hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery's neighbours become increasingly unhinged.

Who took Avery Wooler?

Nothing will prepare you for the truth.

My Thoughts

When I finish a book in a day you know it is really good. In Everyone Here is Lying, we meet Dr. William Wooler a handsome medical doctor who is having an affair with co worker and neighbour Nora Blanchard. When Nora breaks off the affair, William becomes frustrated, so much so that he takes it out on his nine year old daughter Avery, who is deemed a difficult child.

When Avery goes missing, fingers start pointing and this is when the lies and lives of the peaceful community of Stanhope becomes intertwined.

What I like about this book is that it was very dramatic from beginning to end. Each character especially Avery was so unique that it made for a very interesting story. This is my first time reading a book by this author and of course it would not be my last. A great thriller to start my vacation.

Book Review: How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

 

About

Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life. Over the course of twelve sessions, Cara recounts her tempestuous love affairs, her alternately biting and loving relationships with her neighbor Lulu and her sister Angela, her struggles with debt, gentrification and loss, and, eventually, what really happened between her and her estranged son, Fernando. As Cara confronts her darkest secrets and regrets, we see a woman buffeted by life but still full of fight.

Structurally inventive and emotionally kaleidoscopic, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is Angie Cruz’s most ambitious and moving novel yet, and Cara is a heroine for the ages.

My Thoughts

This was our March Book Club Pick @we_read_books_period and it was a very interesting book indeed. Thanks for this recommendation.

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is set in Little Dominican Republic, New York at the height of the recession that occurred in the early 2000s. In the story we meet Cara an immigrant from the DR interviewing for a job after loosing her job in a factory where she worked for over 20 years.

Every chapter of the book is a different session of the interview. It is in this job search Cara tells of the life of an immigrant in the USA the highs and the lows. I love stories like these so it really gripped me.

Cara's relationships were very notable in the book. Her sister Angela, her friends Lulu and La Vieja Caridad these women all had struggles and similar demons to deal with. It was Cara's relationship with her son Fernando that took me on an emotional rollercoaster.

Very creative and somewhat poetic, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is truly a MUST Read.

BOOK REVIEW: The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

About:

" New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson ramps up the horror and tackles America's history and legacy of racism in this suspenseful YA novel following a biracial teenager as her Georgia high school hosts its first integrated prom.

When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation … Maddy did it.

An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.

After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life.

But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret … one that will cost them all their lives. "

MY THOUGHTS

Loved It.

This is definitely a must read if you enjoy YA thriller.

In this book we meet Maddy Washington a shy teenager who has a deep dark secret that becomes revealed one rainy day on the track. This revelation makes Maddy's life even more miserable than it already was in a high school that does not embrace diversity.

As Maddy tries to survive at school, at home she had to deal with an abusive father who is determined at all cost to hide who his daughter really is. Maddy soon finds out a secret that could change her life forever, and that it did because the night of the prom was something that no one in the town of Springvale never forgot.

This book is the perfect example of how a thriller is supposed to be written. I hear people saying it was inspired by Carrie. I will definitely be trying to read Carrie now after reading this.

I especially loved how this book touched on serious issues and was able to do it in a very unique way. This was good.

I recommend this one.

 

Book Review: The Whispers by Ashley Audrain

 

About

From the author of THE PUSH, a pageturner about four suburban families whose lives are changed when the unthinkable happens--and what is lost when good people make unconscionable choices

The Loverlys sit by the hospital bed of their young son who is in a coma after falling from his bedroom window in the middle of the night; his mother, Whitney, will not speak to anyone. Back home, their friends and neighbors are left in shock, each confronting their own role in the events that led up to what happened that terrible night: the warm, altruistic Parks who are the Loverlys' best friends; the young, ambitious Goldsmiths who are struggling to start a family of their own; and the quiet, elderly Portuguese couple who care for their adult son with a developmental disability, and who pass the long days on the front porch, watching their neighbors go about their busy lives.

The story spins out over the course of one week, in the alternating voices of the women in each family as they are forced to face the secrets within the walls of their own homes, and the uncomfortable truths that connect them all to one another. Set against the heart wrenching drama of what will happen to Xavier, who hangs between death and life, or a life changed forever, THE WHISPERS is a novel about what happens when we put our needs ahead of our children's. Exploring the quiet sacrifices of motherhood, the intuitions that we silence, the complexities of our closest friendships, and the danger of envy, this is a novel about the reverberations of life's most difficult decisions.

My Thoughts

Wow!!! Where do I start with this review? This book was a wild ride that's for sure. One night changed everything for the ladies of the suburb of Harlow Street, when Xavier, the son of Whitney fell through the window and is at hospital fighting for his life. The question was did he accidentally fall or was he pushed.

The ladies of the area Rebecca, Blair, Mara and Whitney were all neighbours in Harlow Street but the secrets they held....

This story is about friendship, relationships, jealousy. It really shows that as women many times we may look at someone's marriage or just their life in general and feel as if we are missing out or ask ourselves why can't I have a husband like that or a child like that.

Blair and Whitney were very well written characters. I really felt it for Rebecca though.

I highly recommend this one. It is full of drama yes. But equally it has some important life lessons for women.