Readin’ Reviews

Another batch of “recent reads” – let’s do this!

–Marissa

The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary was very sweet. Izzy and Lucas (polar opposites, of course) both work for the crumbling and failing Forest Manor Hotel who must devise a way to keep the doors open along with the well-meaning owners. As they dig through the lost and found and begin to return lost jewelry, rewards come in and they race to see how many items they can return. Of course, we have a nice mixture of enemies to lovers, Christmas, miracles and coincidences, and a happy ending. Very sweet.

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I : The Mother and Daughter Who Forever Changed British History by Tracy Borman is exactly what it sounds like, a dual-memoir about Anne and Elizabeth and how Anne influenced Elizabeth’s life, and how they both influenced Britain and her history. I love all things Tudors, so I was eager to read this one by celebrated author Borman. I got tripped up occasionally on the “who’s who” of it all (so many similar names!) but I really enjoyed this.

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell is a solid, fast-paced thriller featuring the effervescent Alix and the elusive Josie, who cross paths while both celebrating their birthdays. Josie slowly insinuates herself into Alix’s life, until more and more comes to light on what Josie has hidden. This is a solid psychological thriller.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a reread for our book discussion group (though I was sick for the actual discussion, dammit!), and it still holds up as a fantastic novel about love, glamour, Hollywood, the lengths we’ll go for our framily (friends who are family), queer love and reckoning with the past. This has GOT to be adapted as a series soon!

One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris was an audiobook listen, and it was… eh at best. Though I was listening at 2x speed, it felt draggy (the father only speaking in poetry, the repetition of the main character’s issues even as she was falling for the TWIN brother of her rapist, everyone in the book being THE MOST SPECIAL, THE MOST SMART, THE BESTEST EVER EXCEPT FOR THAT RAPE THING and some flat ass writing). Okay, after writing that out, it was less than eh. I’d give this one a pass.