Accelerated Reader: Volume 13
I truly do not know where September went. i started out the month visiting Elizabeth and reading a book a day while lounging in her building’s pool, and it ended with a nasty sinus infection during which I could barely focus on anything. In between, I turned 34 and barely read a thing.
Regardless, I wanted to share some quick reviews of recent reads!
“The Nest” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney (Bookshop | Kindle)
A great piece of literary fiction about an incredibly dysfunctional family whose adult siblings come together after one of their brothers is an accident that threatens their inheritance. This is largely character-driven; there isn’t a TON of dialogue but the pacing is very nice and I felt the characters’ storylines came together in lovely ways. 4/5
“The Ivies” by Alexa Donne (Bookshop | Kindle)
I previously mentioned this novel in our September “If You Only Read One” round-up, but I thoroughly enjoyed this YA novel which focuses on Teens Behaving Badly at a New England boarding school. Tensions are high as Ivy League acceptances start going out, murders ensue (OK, just one), and no one knows who to trust… 4/5
“The Power Couple” by Alex Berenson (Bookshop | Kindle)
A thriller that starts off with a bang—our power couple’s teenager daughter goes missing in Barcelona. Her mother is on the counterintelligence team on the FBI and her father works for the NSA. The novel flips back and forth between “present-day”—the parents trying to track down their daughter and the daughter’s POV—and the family’s history, focusing on the relationship between the parents. I did not see the ending coming, which is always a win for a thriller in my book. 3.75/5
“The Second Life of Mirielle West” by Amanda Skenandore (Bookshop | Kindle)
I’m not sure why I even picked up this book as I don’t usually go for medical dramas (in TV or in books), but the premise—a 1920s high society wife gets diagnosed with leprosy and shuttled off to a leper colony in Louisiana—intrigued me. I didn’t know there were colonies like this in recent history in the U.S., but I suppose it’s not surprising. The author is a nurse, so her insight into the medical world is excellent, and I found the evolution of Mirielle’s character very realistic. A good read if you’re into medical dramas. 3/5
“Those Who Prey” by Jennifer Moffett (Bookshop | Kindle)
This was an interesting one…a look at a college freshman who is struggling to adapt to living away from her family, and winds up joining a religious cult. I thought the demonstration of how Emily, the protagonist, sunk deeper into the religious cult was done well; she was just looking for a sense of belonging. The novel takes place in the ‘90s, and it was definitely easier to isolate people before the Internet’s chokehold on all our lives. But, while I didn’t flat-out hate the ending, it did feel a bit rushed to me. 3.25/5
“Survive the Night” by Riley Sager (Bookshop | Kindle)
Riley Sager’s thrillers are generally easy reads, but this one even more so—I flew through it in an afternoon, and while I didn’t DNF, there were definitely some issues with it. Set in 1991, our protagonist is a college junior who decides to leave school because her best friend was murdered (and of course, she blames herself). She accepts a ride back to her hometown from a stranger, and things go awry. While many on Goodreads (lol I know) were fixated on the whole “getting in a car with a stranger”…it was the ‘90s. Rideshares like that were a thing. Anyway, I had some other issues with this that I won’t get into as I don’t want to spoil it, but this wasn’t my favorite of Sager’s books. 2.75/5
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