In April I started getting back in my reading groove and was able to make the time I crave to curl up with a book. I finished 6 books with two in the 4+ range and the rest were mostly ok. May and June should pick up even more as the pace of some of the busier parts of my life over the past year finally calm down.
Here is what I read in April.
The God of the Woods – Liz Moore
Liz Moore is one of my favorite authors, top five probably. I’ve read all her books except her debut which I still need to get my hands on. Each of her novels are written in such a different style and The God of The Woods is no exception. This one is a very slow burn that serves up not one, but two mysteries that both center around family dysfunction, social class issues and rich people behaving very badly. Moore is an expert storyteller and her deep sense of place within the thick of the Appalachian mountains almost gave me Go As a River (Shelley Read) vibes. The deep forest from which this story is told is a character itself. Barbara is the 13 year old daughter of the rich & highly dysfunctional Van Laars and little by little we find out what has happened to her at summer camp – along with another mystery from the past. The story weaves forwards and backwards and even a little sideways and kept me turning the pages until the end. If I had one little nitty picking – there were so many characters that I had a tad trouble tracking some, especially for the length of this novel. But that probably says more about me than the book. Thank you Riverhead Books for an early copy. The God of The Woods will be available on 7/2/2024.
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The Rom-Commers – Katherine Center
I always love to sprinkle a good rom-com in with not just the heavy books but the heaviness that often comes with life. I’ve grown to depend on Katherine Center to deliver just what I need at the right time. This will be a hit this summer when it releases and with good reason – Center has again written a fun but serious story about real people with real faults, real problems and real banter that can at times be laugh out loud funny but also pull at the heart strings. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and MacMillan Audio for both an early e-copy and audio book in exchange for my honest opinion. The Rom-Commers will be available on 6/11/24.
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Just For The Summer – Abby Jimenez
Abby Jimenez comes through again with real, flawed characters trying to find love while facing life’s serious obstacles. Emma is a traveling nurse and after striking up an on-going convo with Justin online, she decides to relocate for 6 weeks to his town in MN. They are both looking to break a dating curse and things progress from there. This may not have been my favorite Jimenez book but it was still good – very heavy on the problems and trauma and much lighter on the romance. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an early release copy in exchange for my honest review. Just for the Summer is now available.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
Darling Girls – Sally Hepworth
3 “sisters” that were raised together in foster care with a dual timeline, one describing compete over-the-top horrors in the way it was done. I think it lacked true depth and the main hook was shock after shock. This generally has the opposite effect on me and I get bored, which I did. This may have been my least favorite by Hepworth.
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Still See You Everywhere – Lisa Gardener
This was one of my most anticipated reads this year after very much enjoying the first two Frankie Elkin books. If I didn’t know that they were written by the same author, I would never have guessed. Different in every way, except for the constant reminder of Frankie’s past. Just ok. Didn’t hate it, but didn’t love it either.
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How to End a Love Story – Yulin Kuang
Sometimes a 2, sometimes a 3. I think I am in the minority here but this just didn’t sit well for me. It’s a spicy one and while I am fine with that, I prefer when it adds to the story. In this case, it seemed like it was the story. I thought it was more of a lust story than a love story.
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