From the beginning, this novel disturbed me. (In a good way.) This novel has three female narrrators, Rachel, Megan, and Anna. All three are there own special kind of falling apart but Rachel to me, feels like the main character.
Anna, is the new wife of Rachel’s ex husband. I have no tolerance for her. I hate her. She is stupid and smug. I don’t want to talk about her anymore.
Megan is the most complex of the three. Her story spans the largest time gap but isn’t told in a clarifying way. She is emotional, uninspired and broken.
Throw all of these narrators together and sooner or later one of them was bound to end up dead.
Rachel starts off by telling us all sorts of things about a sweet couple that she see from the window on the way to work. It is stalker level 9000 but at the same time, it rings false. I mean, what kind of doctor lives in a house abutting the train tracks? And she did make things up about that sweet couple but that didn’t mean Rachel wasn’t a creepy stalker because wow, she took it to a new level for me. She has spiraled out of control and hit bottom with losing her husband, drinking, her job, her home. “I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head.”
As for the storytelling, this book did not simply take you from one point to another. This is an unraveling, slowly picked apart. A scab, not completely healed. One moment, it is relieving to pick at the old skin in order to find the new skin peaking through. Then the next moment you are gushing blood wondering where you went wrong. That is exactly how it is for Rachel.
The plot is a path in a dark forest that constantly is twisting and turning, unfurling before you but you can’t really see where it is going. The crafting of this plot feels like it’s own dark and sinister character.
But it did have flaws. I cannot see Tom putting up with Rachel’s antics like he did, especially for so long. Though without that we wouldn’t have had a story. I also don’t see Scott’s fat shaming as believable for that social context. He spent the whole book trying to put on a performance of “great guy” to the people around him, it would have blown his cover. I also find the therapist’s character to be unbelievable. It feels like the author might not have known another way to get the audience much needed information. The actual need for a therapist was important but just not believable.
I highly recommend it. It is a great thriller and I don’t want to give too much away. So if I seem vaguer than usual that is why. 4.5 stars out of five.
And Tom got exactly what he deserved.
Golden Son by Pierce Brown. There are not words for all my feels. Golden Son took us to even more unexpected places. This might be my new favorite series, ever. Red Rising set the bar so high but this is a completely different level. You, you need to read this. This series will be best enjoyed if you don’t know too much about the plot before you being. 5/5 stars.
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman. Honestly after all the good things I heard about this I was a little disappointed. Other than being separated from your loved ones, her time in jail didn’t seem that bad. Overall I was bored and I can’t understand why they made a TV show abou this. 3/5 stars
The Martian by Andy Wier should have been a disaster but it was success on every level. There was a great balance of dark humor, nerd talk, obstacles, and creative problem solving. The only thing that really stuck me as unbelievable was the lengths his government went to get him back, but really who I am to judge? I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 4.5/5 stars
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie was the first book my husband challenged me to read. It could have been edited down to three chapters but driving the points home it what makes material like this stick. It did help me a few desperate situations though and for that it gets 3.5/5 stars.
Jackaby by William Ritter is a paranormal mystery thriller with a good helping of Sherlock Holmes. I had very high expectations for this book, overall it was pleasing. I actually enjoyed the female MC which doesn’t happen too often and the mystery while unique did feel lacking toward the end. 3.5/4
Blue Lily Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. I began this book in December by due to personal drama the library autoreturned it before I could finish it. I did finish it Feburary and was disappointed. I really loved the other three books in the series but this book felt so lacking plot wise. As always the characters and prose were gorgeous. 3.5/5 stars
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey was the most challenging read I’ve had in years. This book takes you places that scary, sad, and that are difficult to understand even though they are completely real. Maud had to be one of the most difficult characters to write and for the reader to truly connect with but Healey got you in the end and held the plot together with the smallest of strands. 4/5 stars.
Pointe by Brandy Colbert was all over the place. It’s like the author decided she wanted to take on way too many topics for one book. In this book we have minimal ballet drama, boy drama, drug drama, under-aged drinking drama, eating disorder drama, friendship drama, school drama, and kidnapping drama. I didn’t like the main character and not (mostly) because she was edgy and devoid of morals. It was because she didn’t grow or thinks she needs to grow. It did compel me to keep reading though. 2/5 stars
The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin was the last book of the Mara Dyer trilogy. The most interesting parts for me were the back story set in India and England. Mara and Noah’s story was sort of boring despite the author’s attempt at drama. This is not a stand alone novel. 3/5 stars
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman was more of a character driven novel than a plot driven novel. I really enjoyed this novel because it didn’t spend too much time specifically world building, the world just sort of unfolded with the story. It isn’t too often I enjoy almost all the characters but I really did here. Seraphina was intelligent, courageous, and creative. I am excited to continue my journey. 4/5 stars.
Observations From The End 