Dear Child by Romy Hausmann | A Reading, Reading, Reading Review

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

While I have not been reading as much as I usually do, when I received this ARC in the mail I knew I needed to start it right away! As I shared in my most recent monthly wrap-up, this novel was originally written and published in Germany. After receiving a lot of hype there, it was translated into English and published just a few weeks ago in North America!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

In a windowless shack in the woods, Lena’s life and that of her two children follows the rules set by their captor, the father: Meals, bathroom visits, study time are strictly scheduled and meticulously observed. He protects his family from the dangers lurking in the outside world and makes sure that his children will always have a mother to look after them.
One day Lena manages to flee–but the nightmare continues. It seems as if her tormentor wants to get back what belongs to him. And then there is the question whether she really is the woman called “Lena,” who disappeared without a trace 14 years ago. The police and Lena’s family are all desperately trying to piece together a puzzle which doesn’t quite seem to fit.

This was one wild thriller! While the ending was a tad over used in thrillers that begin with people being kidnapped by literal psychopaths, I really enjoyed all of the events that lead up to the ending. The overall plot line was very suspenseful, and I managed to read this book in just a few days. There were a lot of interesting clues that were snuck into the middle of this novel, which I did not predict when they were finally revealed!

One aspect of this novel that I particularly enjoyed was the unreliable narrator present in this novel. This book is written mostly in the perspective of three characters, the woman who got kidnapped, her daughter, and her Father (whom she hasn’t seen in over 16-years). Throughout the novel, I regularly thought that at least one of the narrators was unreliable, untrustworthy, or just flat out crazy. While they all have some mental issues (rightfully so), I enjoyed the confusion that I had when reading this book, and I think that element of it made it even more suspenseful to read.

I also enjoyed the fact-paced and suspenseful writing style. As I mentioned previously, this book was a translated work, and while I never read the original writing, I believe that all of the story was perfectly translated and made perfect since in English. Some translated works of fiction lose their “magic” after they have been translated, sometimes it is because of the writing choices or style that the translator uses, and I thought that this translator did an excellent job in translating this book in English to a predominantly North American and European readership.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and gave it 4.25/5-stars. Thanks again to Raincoast Books for sending me an ARC!

Good Night Book Owls!

November & December 2020 TBR

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

I cannot believe I am sharing my final TBR of the year! I decided to combine my November and December TBR into one post, as I am not sure how much I will be able to read during the end of this month, as I will have exams and essays to take care of before doing any reading. However, I have the majority of December off, so I hope to be able to complete all of these unfinished books during those few weeks! Of course, I have some books on pre-order that I am ecstatic to read (*cough* Barack Obama’s memoir *cough*), but these are all of the books I already own that I hope to read before 2021!

The first book I hope to complete is BAD FEMINIST by Roxane Gay. As you can see by the book mark barely sticking out of my copy, I have already started this book and am about 60-pages through. November is well-known in the book community as “Non-Fiction November”, and while I have a few other non-fiction books that I have on order from A Different Booklist that I hope to read, I am definitely excited to finally read this one and see if it lives up to all of the hype!

The second book I hope to complete before the new year is GOODNIGHT BEAUTIFUL by Aimee Molloy. I have been interested in this novel since I heard about it at the beginning of the year, and have been hearing very mixed thoughts about it. Needless to say, I hope I love it!

The third book I hope to read is SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid. This book has been on my monthly TBRs since the summertime, but I have yet to actually pick it up and read it! I am hoping to complete this novel very, very soon!

I then hope to read BIRD BOX by Josh Malerman. Believe it or not, I have still not watched the Netflix adaptation of this novel, as I wanted to read the novel before I watched the movie. Luckily, it was available on Book Outlet, and is actually much shorter than I had originally anticipated!

From there, I hope to read YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN by Leah Johnson. I cannot remember the last time I read a YA contemporary novel, and I plan on picking this one up as I have heard nothing but great things about it!

Next, I hope to read THE NIGHT SWIM by Megan Goldin. A lot of people I follow on Instagram have named this book as there #1 thriller of the year, so I hope to love it as much as they did!

Heading into December, I hope to read ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman. I purchased this book on it’s release day, as I was so excited to read it! Unfortunately, due to the lack of reading time I have had recently, I have not been able to read this one yet. I have heard some negative reviews about this one lately, but am hoping to love it in spite of those reviews.

From there, I hope to read IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren. I received this ARC from Simon & Schuster Canada in September, but am saving it for December to read and review since it is a book surrounding the holiday of Christmas! Luckily, I have read some fantastic reviews about this book, and hope it becomes my #1 Christina Lauren book thus far!

Continuing with recently published ARCs, I hope to complete EVEN IF WE BREAK by Marieke Nijkamp. I have read one Nijkamp book before, and I believe it was her 2014 or 2015 release! I remember enjoying it quite a bit, and hope to enjoy this one as well.

The second-last book I hope to complete before 2021 is THE WOMAN OUTSIDE MY DOOR by Rachel Ryan. This one intrigued me so much when I first heard of it, and am so thankful to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with an ARC!

The final book I hope to read is RAPTURE by Nick Nurse. Nick Nurse, the head coach of the 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors, is a huge book lover, and I figured that after the championship, he would get around to writing a memoir! I am so thankful to HBG Canada for sending me a finished copy of this memoir, and I cannot wait to get to it!

Those are the final 11 books I hope to read before 2021! What are you hoping to read over the last two months of 2020?

Good Night Book Owls!

September & October 2020 Wrap-Up

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

I am so sorry for the lack of posting on my blog recently! I have been SO busy with school work, and since I am only in my first year, I have still been adjusting from high school to the stress-level that is University (LOL… but really…). I did not post a reading wrap-up for last month, as I only read three books. However, I have managed to read a bit more this month, and am really happy with my reading progress for my first two months of university! Plus, I am only three books away from my Goodreads goal!

The first book I completed in September was TEAMMATE by David Ross. I started this memoir right at the end of August, and completed it during the first week of September. As you may know, I am a huge baseball fan, and was a huge fan of David Ross during the 2016 World Series. I thought that this was a great memoir, and I really enjoyed all of the stories that were shared in this book. If you’re a baseball lover, I would highly recommend picking this one up (and take a look at this)!

The second book I read in September was DON’T LOOK FOR ME by Wendy Walker. I had never read a Walker book prior to this novel, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect before I started reading this book. Little did I know, this book greatly surprised me! You can read my full review for it here!

The third and final book I read in September was THE MOTHERS by Brit Bennett. Words cannot describe how much I adored this novel, and as of right now I believe it is my #1 book of 2020! Everything about this story moved me to tears, including the beautifully developed characters and very interesting storyline. Of course, I rated it 5/5 stars.

The first book I read in October was OTHELLO by Shakespeare. A lot of the books I have been reading for school have been short stories or specific segments of different novels. Therefore, in my wrap-ups, I am only going to be sharing the books I read completely from front to back. Believe it or not, this is the first time I had to read a Shakespeare play completely on my own. Since I am doing school completely virtually this year, I had very little guidance when reading this novel, however, I absolutely loved it! This was the best reading experience I have ever had when reading a Shakespeare play, and am really looking forward to reading Hamlet in November! Overall, I rated it 5/5 stars!

The second book I read in October was THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett. Similarly to THE MOTHERS, I loved this novel, even though I enjoyed that one a tad more. This story is not typically something I would have picked up, as I am not a huge fan of following a family over several generations. However, Bennett’s writing is possibly my favourite writing style out of any author… ever?! So, it was not surprising that I loved this novel as much as I did! Of course, I gave it 5/5 stars.

The third book I read this month was THE END OF HER by Shari Lapena. I had read two of Lapena’s previously novels before this one, but this newest novels was by far my favourite one of hers thus far. I read this novel in under 24-hours, which was especially significant, as I have been reading at quite a slow pace recently. This thriller was really, really great, and I really enjoyed every second of it. I would highly recommend it if you enjoy domestic thrillers! You can read my full review for this book here!

The fourth book I read this month was HARLEM DUET by Djanet Sears. This was another play I read for school, and it was actually an interesting adaptation of OTHELLO. I loved the first-half of the novel, but the second half was way too strange for me. Overall, I gave it 2.25/5 stars.

The second last novel I read was MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Braithwaite. I had heard a lot of great things about this novel, and similarly to them, I really enjoyed it! This novel is quite short, and reads very quickly because of the format. The characters were very well-developed, and very memorable. Overall, I gave it 4/5 stars.

The final book I read this month was DEAR CHILD by Romy Hausmann. I received this ARC from Raincoast Books, and since it sounded so intriguing, I decided to read it right away! This novel was originally written in German, and was translated to English and published in North America just a few weeks ago! My review will be coming out in just a few days, so keep a look out for that review!

Those are all of the books I read over the past two months! It may not be as many books as I have been reading per month recently, but I am really proud of how much I was able to read while starting University! What was the best book you read this month?

Good Night Book Owls!