Still Readin’

More, more, more (reviews)! 🙂

–Marissa

The Whispers by Ashley Audrain was hotly anticipated by me, after her fantastic debut The Push. She again returns to women in suburbia by focusing on four couples in a well-to-do neighborhood that intersect in good and bad ways after a tragedy strikes one of their children. This is a really hard one to summarize or categorize, and my greatest regret in reading it was not keeping a list of who was married to do, who sired who, who was messing around with who, because it was confusing on my Kindle not being to flip back and see who was who! This was good, but sadly a sophomore slump for me after her debut.

The Senator’s Wife by Liv Constantine was a quick audiobook listen billed as psychological suspense. When Senator Whit Montgomery and his new wife Sloane settle into life, Sloane has a medical emergency that necessitates an aide to help around the house. But when Sloane gets more and more sick and desperate, it’s clear bad things are going on behind the scenes. The villain was hardly a shocker, but this had a twist or two that I enjoyed. Easy but not earth-shattering in plotting…

The Sight of You by Holly Miller was a reread for our book discussion group, still so very good and lovely and heartbreaking.

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop seemed to take me FOREVER to read, despite not being particularly groundbreaking or memorable after the fact. A story told in the present and the past of Rachel, who had an affair with an older man on a Greek island 15 years ago. When she returns – married and disillusioned with life – it sparks her wanting to return to that time and all that she left behind, but of course, nothing is as it seems. This didn’t feel particularly groundbreaking or anything, it was… fine as another #metoo story.

The Celebrants by Stephen Rowley was an audiobook listen, and it’s tough to read a book when you literally don’t like most of the characters. Not a fave.

Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur is her debut novel (after her fantastic memoir Wild Game), and I devoured it. Family drama, family secrets, a Cape Cod setting, aging parents, art, drama, pride and politics are all a part of this family drama, which is so, so hard to try and blurb into a plot. Come for the setting, stay for the characters and drama. I loved this.

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is getting the streaming treatment from Amazon, so I wanted to read it before it came out! A presidential son, a royal prince, a romance… what could go wrong?😉