April Book Club read: Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey

I would give this book a 3.5, due to a peculiar feeling of something missing and not related to the abductions in the story. This book was really like its cover, cloudy yet hiding some colours beneath the horizon, creepy and a bit crazy at times. A well built plot, with multiple possibilities.

Cassie and her family were unconventional and insane for my taste. so many faces and fears, childhood traumas and those party experiences. What kid should witness such!? Out of the ordinary and promising something major for the second part of the book.. or not.. So that I will not disclose at all, because I want you to read this book nevertheless. If you pick up this book you will get engrossed and engaged into the plot with all its intricacies.

School and Cassie’s relationships to her colleagues, her imaginary love or infatuation. This part is such an innocent fantasy of a summer spent beautifully. Yet who would believe what summer can bring in this book. For sure not the innocent dream of Cassie. Instead, she is becoming a wannabe detective and uncovers the abductor and her father’s love. Oh Cassie, poor poor Cassie! I rooted for her all along and still this book brought a bit of an unexpected denouement.

Many thanks to my Instagram Book Club buddies for reading this book together in May. I probably wouldn’t have picked this read otherwise. I am glad I did and I promise you will get something out of it.. if only due to its weird psychological side.

Blog Tour Review: Best Behavior by Wendy Francis

What can happen when you have an unusual family made out of exes, parents and step parents, gathered for the graduation weekend of their kids? Add to the mix some rivarly on both sides, secrets and substances and BOOM! Unputdownable summer read ahead! This is Best Behaviour, coming up on May 5th.

I have read this book in three days, but that’s just because I have small kids and tons of chores around the house.. I couldn’t stop thinking about it during the day and I was trying to imagine myself on the beach, somewhere peaceful, with nothing to do but read about the intriguing poasibility of best behavior with the above mentioned ingredients 😅.

While the book starts off a bit slowly, the plot really picks up after a while and grabs the reader into the intricate world of motherhood, college life and secrets.

Wendy Francis is a skillful master at character development, creating complex and emphatic characters from totally cliché types of persons (this must have been quite the challenge). Take for example Roger and Lilly, the rich husband with a young great looking second wife. The author managed to make something different out of them. This is just one example.

The twins’ graduation is a huge milestone for the whole family, each person feeling it differently. Meredith’s feelings can seem exaggerated at times, yet who’s really to say how nervous a mother can become when her kids are about to start a new chapter of their lives?

The graduation party is the cherry on the top and I am not going to say much about it, not wanting to disclose anything major. I have not expected the turn of events, not to mention the change of relationship between people at that point in time. The author managed to beautifully guide and develop all characters for this crazy reveal during the party. The only minor thing that bothered me at times, were the reflections of each character about what was about to happen and why one thing had happened. Nevertheless, this writing style matched the plot and highlighted the worry looming over the events of the weekend.

This book is a must read for this genre, a great summer read, perfect for holiday on the terrace or in the garden etc. (review written while #stayathome is on). You will find more details about the book, summary, publication details and author bio below (scroll down).

I have received an advanced review copy from Harlequin Trade Publishing and it was an absolute pleasure to read this and review it. Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this copy.

BEST BEHAVIOR

Author: Wendy Francis

ISBN: 9781525804625

Publication Date: May 5, 2020

Publisher: Graydon House Books

 

Buy Links: 

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s

 

Social Links:

Author Website

Twitter: @wendyfrancis4

Instagram: @wendyfrancisauthor

Facebook: @wendyfrancisauthor

Goodreads

 

Author Bio: 

Wendy Francis is a former book editor and the author of three novels: The Summer Sail, The Summer of Good Intentions, and Three Good Things. Her essays have appeared in Good Housekeeping, The Washington Post, Yahoo Parenting, The Huffington Post, and WBUR’s Cognoscenti. Born and raised in the Midwest, she now lives outside of Boston with her husband and son.

 

Book Summary:

The drama is hot and the drinks are flying in Wendy Francis’s witty, warm, and quirky family drama, BEST BEHAVIOR (Graydon House; May 5, 2020; $17.99 USD). Heartfelt and relatable, Francis cleverly portrays the nuances of a less-than-perfect but more-than-loving blended family in all its messy glory.

Meredith Parker and her husband Joel have been dreading the weekend of their twins’ college graduation. Not only does it mean that Dawn and Cody are flying out of Meredith’s nest to live in Chicago and North Dakota, but it also means Meredith will have to deal with her insufferable ex-husband, Roger, his pompous parents and his new wife Lily, so young she could be the twins’ sister! But Meredith is willing to be the Jackie O. of college graduations. She can handle that for three days, can’t she?

Meanwhile, Dawn, who has spent a lifetime cleaning up after her ‘golden boy’ brother, discovers a mess even she may not be able to get Cody out of. He’s been acting weird last the few weeks of school; picking up smoking, breaking up with his girlfriend, but this… this is definitely a problem. She needs to figure out what’s going on with her twin before he really ruins his life. 

As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner

Beautifully written family drama during the 1918 pandemic

This book is a thoroughly researched fictional account of a family drama, during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. It has a really well written plot, with complex situations that bring out moral questions and motivations. This book is about major life decisions and love lasting ideals, real love vs the idea of love and the entwined family life in a large family.

The characters are well rounded and their developmemt is quite spectacular. The three sisters are really blossoming during their youth and become accomplished young ladies, despite the psychological traumas they each carry with themselves.

I loved this book to the core, the way it made me question current events and the way it made me feel. It is a super addictive read and it sticks to you. I have been reflecting on it for a few days already and I still have it fresh in my mind. Highly recommended to fans of historical fiction and family dramas.

The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz

Transformative and “contagious”

First of all, do not expect too much correlation with Wuhan Covid virus or you will be highly disappointed, like me. Other than that, the novel is packed full with suspense, witty plot and exciting paranormal activity.

Dense, complex and psychological at its best: I loved the way the boy was communicating, even if that was really freaky at times. Whereas, the relationships between Tina and Eliott seemed a wanna be, yet they barely had time to really be together as a couple, rather they were partners in the saving of the kid.

This was my first book by Dean Koontz and I pretty much enjoyed it. If only I hadn’t had these other expectations regarding the Wuhan virus!