A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

Emily's Ghost is the first novel I've read by Denise Giardina, but it's not Giardina's first novel.  Even though the book is based on real life people, it is important to note (and not forget) that this is a novel of historical fiction, and, based on some readings I've done online, great liberties were taken in the portrayal of the characters based on real people and the relationships and dynamics between said characters.  I've also read other online reviews of the novel--some people liked it, others didn't.  One person took extreme issue with the title because it is misleading.  The subtitle is "A Novel of the Bronte Sisters," and I must admit the subtitle did puzzle me a bit because the novel and title clearly focus on Emily Bronte.  I thought the subtitle made it sound as if this might be the first in a series.  Whether this is true or not, I have no idea.  I'm not sure that I would read subsequent novels in this series. I felt as if this ...

The End of Everything is the first novel that I've read by Megan Abbott.  It is not the author's first novel.  I looked up Abbott's previous titles because I liked this one enough and the titles listed on the inside cover were pretty kick ass--like you know how sometimes you can tell you'll want to read a book just by the title alone? Or an intriguing title is enough to get you look it up on Amazon to find out what it's about?  Well, that's why I looked up previous Abbott titles--totally forgetting that I already did this weeks ago and, when the photos of the book covers came up on Amazon, it all came back to me.  Because the covers make the books look like pulp crime fiction titles.  I don't know if they're really that or not, but it was enough (for now) for me to decide that I don't want to read any of the previous titles.  I may change my mind in the future, but the descriptions of the plots didn't really redeem the book covers enough to make...

Where She Went is the sequel and follow up to Gayle Forman's debut novel, If I Stay , a novel that was previously reviewed here on the blog.   If I Stay was devastating and suspenseful and it is available here at the library.  I recommend you read it before you read Where She Went which is also available here at the library. If I Stay was told from the perspective of Mia in the wake of the car crash that killed her entire family; it took place over the several days she spent in a coma as she decided whether to stay or die with the rest of her family. Where She Went is told from Adam's perspective.  Adam was Mia's boyfriend and much like Mia reminisced about memories shared with her family and boyfriend throughout her coma, Adam shares his own perspective on that fateful week and the years since that have been spent estranged from Mia. Over three years have passed since the horrific crash that took the lives of Mia's parents and brother and nearly hers too.  ...

I'm not sure how many of you are Karin Slaughter fans.  Over the space of her previous two or three releases I've become a hard core fan due to the vivid characters, twisty mysteries and first rate writing.  Really, it's because the merger of the Atlanta series starring Will Trent and Faith Mitchell with the Grant County series starring Dr. Sara Linton that the series has really taken off for me as a reader.   Fallen is Slaughter's highly, highly anticipated follow up to Broken .  I'm already looking forward to the follow up to Fallen . When Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Faith Mitchell arrives at her mother's house, she finds a bloody hand print on the front door and a trail of blood leading from the door back to the locked shed where Faith's mother keeps her gun.  Faith sees her infant daughter hidden in the locked shed and that her mother's gun safe is open.  The gun inside it is gone.  Faith knows her mother's in trouble, so she calls f...

Sister is the debut novel by the British author Rosamund Lupton.  It is an impressive, haunting, harrowing, and heartbreaking debut. When their mother calls Bee in New York to tell her that her younger sister, Tess, has been missing for four days, Bee catches the next flight to London.  She expects to find Tess and deliver the usual lecture about responsibility.  Instead her sister's body is found in a nearby park.  And despite the police ruling the death a suicide and her family's acceptance of this ruling, Bee is adamant that she knows her sister, that she knows her well enough to know that Tess would never take her own life.  Determined to find her sister's murderer, Bee moves into Tess's apartment and begins her own investigation predicated on the certainty of the closeness of the relationship between herself and Tess. The story is structured as a long letter that Bee has written to Tess to explain to her sister why she was murdered, who her murderer is...