“I lost myself in him, and instead of trying to convince myself that someday everything would okay, I focused that, right now, it already was.” – Beach Read, Pg. 288

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

It’s book like Beach Read by Emily Henry that remind me why I fell in love with reading in the first place. There are certain emotions you feel when you’ve been transported into the world of a book, totally transfixed in the story and with the characters. It’s one thing to see the story play out for you on the screen, but it’s another to play a story in your head, in total peace and quiet. This book was an absolute delight to read, and I will continue to scream about it from the rooftops for the rest of my life.

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I enjoy books that make me cry more than books that make me feel butterflies in my stomach. Sure, passionate romances are great (when written well), but there is something about feeling perplexed with emotions that makes me appreciate a well written novel. Clearly, this one was no exception. The writing in this novel was perfection. There were a few times where I stopped and re-read specific passages, as they often held a deep meaning. The more passionate love scenes were beautifully written with not only physicalities, but also emotions, kept in mind. While the gave me butterflies, they seemed realistic and truthful. Near the end of the novel when January begins to read letters her Father had left for her, the writing style changed effectively, which took my reading experience to a new high.

Truthfully, the title of this novel is actually quite deceiving. This is not your quintessential lovey, swoon worthy, romance novel, but rather a book that showcases the power of past trauma and how it can impact future relationships. While it isn’t highlighted in the plot, the characters have both experienced an immense amount of hardships, which contributes to their hard-exterior, yet soft interior, personalities. They are so alike yet so different in an abundance of ways.

I really didn’t want this book to end. I became so attached to not only the two main characters, Gus and January, but also the side characters that were equally important to the story. All of the characters were incredibly layered and written with distinctive voices. One of my favourite parts about this book revolved around January’s father. While January finds out that her Father wasn’t the great man she had always thought he was, she learned to understand his issues and separate his secrets from the way he treated and raised her. I am incredibly close with my Father and consider him to be one of my best friends(hi Dad! I know you are reading this!!), so I immensely enjoyed reading about January’s relationships with her Father. I think it’s hard to come by a novel where you whole-heartedly enjoy all of the characters, and that is another reason why this book was (is!) so special.

This book mostly takes place inside/outside of a lake-front house, which is one of my favourite settings to read books take place in. While I am not a big “outdoors” person, I have always loved homes that back onto water-fronts, and reading this book reminded me of that.

I appreciated that while this was technically a hate-to-love romance (although I haven’t seen it publicized as one), it was about characters who misunderstood eachother, and through the process of individual growth and maturity, they learned and connected with one another. Words cannot describe how lovely it was to read this first hand.

And of course, I rated this book 5/5 stars (I would have given it 6 stars if I could have)! I hope you enjoyed my review of Beach Read by Emily Henry! If you’ve read this book, let me know your thoughts on it in a comment!

Good Night Book Owls!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

Over the past few years, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng was at the top of my TBR list, and appeared on over five different monthly TBR’s in the past two years! In June, I was in the mood to pick up a character-driven novel, and was immediately drawn to finally read Little Fires Everywhere! To say that I had high expectations for this book would be an understatement, and unfortunately, it did not live up to them in my opinion.

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned–from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren–an enigmatic artist and single mother–who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town–and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.
Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood–and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

I will describe this book in one word: underwhelming.

Like I stated above, I had SO many high expectations for this book. Thinking back, maybe that was unfair, but when you hear about a book that is loved by millions of people internationally, you believe that it will be your next new favourite book. In my case, that did not happen. Now, I am not saying that this was not a good or enjoyable book. I quite enjoyed it, but I have definitely read better books before (both literary fiction and books from other genres).

I want to get all of the negative things I have to write about this book out of the way, so if you are only in the mood to read positive things (which I understand might be possible since we are in such depressing times), then skip to the next paragraph. Upon reading the Goodreads synopsis, you would think that this book centres around Mrs. Richardson digging into Mia Warren’s troubled past. However, I would argue that that is not the first main plot of the story. In fact, everything that is shared in the synopsis does not begin to unfold until 150 pages into the story. One of the main things that I did not like about this book was the fact that there were too many different plot lines and stories to follow, especially when this is supposed to be a character driven novel. I enjoyed all of the plot lines once they were fully introduced, but I thought that it took way too long to get to all of them. I also didn’t really love the writing in this novel. A lot of reviewers have cited the writing as something they have adored about this book, but I did not think that it was anything special. Throughout the novel, I thought that Celeste Ng had some very rambly sections, as well as some sections that I would have liked more information on. Had she balanced those out evenly, I think I would have enjoyed the story a lot more.

However, there were a handful of things about this book that I really enjoyed. Mainly, I loved many of the characters in this novel. In my opinion, this book is a master class on character development. I have NEVER read a book with such clear characters that flawlessly developed when the story concluded. Interestingly enough, my favourite character was Izzie, the character in this novel that I believe goes through the least amount of development. I would have loved to have read more about her thoughts and opinions on everything going on, and would love to read a short story in her perspective in the future,

Truthfully, I think that most readers will, in fact, enjoy this book (probably a lot more than I did). One of the key factors influencing my dissapointment of this book may be my age and lack of experience in the adult world. I would be interested in going back to this book in about 10-years, and seeing if I would enjoy it more then. If I am still blogging then, I will read and review it again if I remember! Overall, I gave this book 2.5/5 stars.

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this book, so if you have read it, let me know in the comments and we can discuss it!

Good Night Book Owls!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

In between school work, the constant stream of depressing news, and walks around the neighbourhood with my parents, it has been quite challenging to find the time (or motivation) to pick up a book (for pleasure) and read it all the way through. Alas, my reading slump has now ended thanks entirely to The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel. This book was a real treat to read, and the perfect novel to stop my long lasting reading slump!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Liya Thakkar is a successful biochemical engineer, takeout enthusiast, and happily single woman. The moment she realizes her parents’ latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she’s out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later — the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What’s not surprising: he’s not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.
Jay Shah looks good on paper…and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He’s also arrogant and infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?

This book was magic from beginning to end! While I will admit the story seemed to begin fairly slowly, I was incredibly surprised by how the pace picked up, and from there, the story really took off! Before reading this book, I was in the mood for a light adult romance, but I’d say that categorization is actually a bit off. I would not really call this book a romance, as it is not steamy in even the smallest way. It is actually a very deep and emotional story, which can be triggering for some readers. This book is not your everyday hate to love romance, but rather a hard hitting adult contemporary featuring a great cast of strong, Indian characters.

In books like this, the characters usually make it or break it for me. Luckily, I really enjoyed Liya and Jay, the main characters in this novel. This book is written in dual-POV, which made it easy to quickly care for the characters and understand their emotions. Liya is a very independent and head-strong character, which is very different than what other woman in her community are like. While I thought she was being overly stubborn at times, her actions always had proper reasoning and understanding. Jay is possibly my new favourite fictional character of all time! I absolutely adored his character, as he was both strong and sensitive, and was never afraid to stand up for himself (or his lady!).

Other than the two main characters, the friendships in this book are so inspiring and admirable. Liya has a mighty and tight inner circle of friends who always have her back, while Jay is very close to his immediate family. All of the friendships and relationships in this book made me feel so happy to read about, especially since I have not been seeing my friends as often as I’d like to (thanks to COVID-19, of course). This book made me appreciate the unconditional love I have with my parents and others, and reminded me never to take it for granted, especially since Liya has a lot of trouble with her parents.

The writing in this book is absolutely phenomenal. While I had a few small pacing issues throughout the story, the writing was immaculate and astonishing for a debut author! Sometimes in novels written in dual-perspective, it can be hard to remember which character is narrating a certain chapter, however, I found the two main perspective’s voices distinguishable and very easy to follow.

Overall, I loved this book and gave it 4.75/5 stars! If you are looking for a light but emotional book to read this summer, I HIGHLY suggest picking this one up! Thanks to HBG Canada for sending me a finished copy of this book!

Good Night Book Owls!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

I apologize for the lack of posts this month. I have been very busy at school, specifically trying to get settled in all of my classes this semester. I have only read two books in 2020 thus far, but my reading pace has been picking up over the past week! I was able to complete Perfect Little Children by Sophie Hannah in just three days, and if that doesn’t explain how much I enjoyed it, I don’t know what does!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

All Beth has to do is drive her son to his Under-14s away match, watch him play, and bring him home.
Just because she knows her ex-best friend lives near the football ground, that doesn’t mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Why would Beth do that, and risk dredging up painful memories? She hasn’t seen Flora for twelve years. She doesn’t want to see her today, or ever again.
But she can’t resist. She parks outside the open gates of Newnham House, watches from across the road as Flora and her children Thomas and Emily step out of the car. Except… There’s something terribly wrong. Flora looks the same, only older. As Beth would have expected. It’s the children. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily were five and three years old. Today, they look precisely as they did then.
They are still five and three. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt – Hilary hears Flora call them by their names – but they haven’t changed at all.
They are no taller, no older… Why haven’t they grown?

This book was really, really excellent. I had never read anything from Sophie Hannah before, and I was very pleasantly surprised by her writing. It was easy to follow and straight to the point. Since the characters are English, I enjoyed the small touches of typical English lingo.

The characters in this novel were really interesting to read about. Throughout the novel, I was constantly struggling to determine if the main character, Beth, is an unreliable narrator or not. Near the middle of the novel, we figure out the definite answer, which was enjoyable to read. I also really enjoyed the other central characters, especially Suzzanne, Beth’s teenage daughter. I thought her character added a lot to the story overall, and her development throughout the novel was fantastic. I would have loved to have read more about the side characters, specifically Thomas and Emily and other people in their household (no spoilers here!).

This book took many twists and turns, however, I found the ending to be quite anti-climactic. There was nothing about it that shocked me, and there were a few twists I had personally thought of that would have added a little more suspense to the ending.

While reading this book, I was surprised that this novel was not more popular on bookstagram. Even though I haven’t been super active on Instagram lately, this seems like this book would have a lot more discussion if it was released from one of the more “mainstream” thriller authors. This one was definitely up to par with some very well-established thriller authors, including Ruth Ware, Riley Sager, Sarah Pinborough, and others. If you enjoyed books from those authors in the past, I highly recommend this novel to you.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and gave it 4/5 stars. It is not one of my new favourite mystery/thriller novels, but it is definitely one of the best one’s I have read recently!

Good Night Book Owls!