#st martins press
Publication Day: March 29th, 2022
Rating: ★★★★
Eleanor walks in on her cruel grandmother Vivianne’s murder, but her prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces) leaves her unable to identify who she saw.The introduction puts you right in that police interview room after the crime before going back in time to the events that led up to that room. Now five months later, still with no idea who could be the killer or how close they are, Eleanor has inherited one of her grandmother’s homes and everything helps to contribute to the creepy, atmospheric power of this read.
This book alternates between Anushka in 1965 and Eleanor present day. This book was a great read! From the creepy inherited manor to the discovered diaries, never knowing who it was that Eleanor walked in on murdering her grandmother, and the alternating stories. I think sometimes, especially early on before you get truly invested, that back and forth with the time can feel like it’s giving you whiplash, but once you get started, you’re in!
Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins Press, and Camilla Sten for this advanced review copy.
Saylor Rains
Find me and this review on Goodreads.
Release Date: March 2nd, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★
Every Last Fear reads like the best kind of crime drama playing right before your eyes. Matt Pine comes back to his NYU dorm after a night of partying to the worst news possible news; his entire family who were on vacation in Mexico was just found dead. What at first looks like an accidental gas leak turns out to be so much more and it has everyone wondering: could this relate to the murder that put Danny Pine, Matt’s older brother, in prison seven years ago.
The unique plot was built on real characters with multifaceted lives. Each chapter revealed new plot and more layers to the story, causing the reader to constantly adjust their theory on what happened. The constantly changing perspective, where everyone has a different piece of the puzzle, is engaging and gives butterflies just like all good thrillers.
The web that Alex Finlay was able to weave in this novel was intricate and fascinating. The things this family went through all because of one night are heartbreaking. The ending was satisfying. I had to mentally decompress after the amount of action my heart just went through. Every Last Fear is a new favorite of mine.
Many thanks to Alex Finlay, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this incredible ARC.
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Saylor Rains
Find me and this review on Goodreads.
How to Walk Away &Things You Save in a Fire
by Katherine Center
I have long believed that you have to be in the mood to read a certain type of book. Like with any relationship, the timing must be right, otherwise, you won’t be open to the writing voice/style/ content. Hot tea doesn’t quench every thirst and sushi doesn’t sate every palate. It’s possible Katherine Center’s books are the exception to that rule.
In content, the ironically and aptly titled How to Walk AwayandThings to Save in a Fire, are vastly different. How to Walk Away follows a lovelorn protagonist as she suffers quite immediately from a tragic accident throughout her complicated recovery; Things to Save in a Fire follows a stoic firefighter as she navigates a new bro-filled New England landscape.
In style, Center manages to create reading experiences that are simple without being simplistic and heart-warming without being heart-cloying. In short, they are satisfying reads - well crafted with personal triumph at the center, padded with bits of romance, conflict and existential crisis. The books are well-written, practically paced, bittersweet and fluid and with enough complication to keep the pages turning. And what’s particularly gratifying about these books is that the happy endings are not necessarily what you’d expect.
Things You Save in a Fire will be released August 2019, but you can grab a copy of How to Walk Away now. In fact, I just saw it on sale in Barnes & Noble.
It’s refreshing to know that there are books out there that are enjoyable no matter what the season. Like iced tea - a little sweet, a little tart, but extremely satisfying whenever you are thirsty for something tasty.
*B3 would like to thank St. Martin’s Press for the ARCs!
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The Dream Daughter
by Diane Chamberlain
I have been trying to pin down exactly what is so unique about this genre-crossing piece. As a time travel story, it bleeds from sci-fi into a domestic tale into a historical reexamination. It is a reinvented Time Traveler’s Wife with a mother/ daughter relationship at its center, steeped in the conflicted history of Vietnam. I read it over the course of a few afternoons, but now, weeks later, I think I’ve finally teased out what is so insightful and perspective-altering about The Dream Daughter:
Itbegins in the past.
So many time travel stories begin in the present and the characters revisit the past or leap to the future. In this, our protagonist’s present is the past and as a result, we as readers are immersed in an entirely different storytelling perspective.
This is one for which the cover doesn’t feel quite right for some reason, so don’t judge this book by its cover. It’s deeper, more nuanced and more timeless than the image suggests.
Diane Chamberlain plots twists and reveals across the span of half a century. Surprising, unexpected, and thoroughly enjoyable, The Dream Daughter will appeal to light historical fiction and light sci-fi fans alike.
*B3 would like to thank @stmartinspress for the ARC!
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Today’s ARC bookmail Can’t wait to read this!
