My eyes light up at psychological thrillers, True Crime & great literary fiction
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 About the book:
Jennifer Barnes never expected the shocking news she received at a routine doctor’s appointment: she has a terminal brain tumor—and only six weeks left to live. The forty-eight-year-old mother decides to spend what little time she has left with her family—her adult triplets and twin grandsons—close by her side. But when she realizes she was possibly poisoned a year earlier, she’s determined to discover who might have tried to get rid of her before she’s gone for good. - I’d say this reads, first and foremost, like a domestic drama, but it does have a smattering of solid psychological suspense elements. The opening premise is unique, and the beginning - in which the main character is given six weeks to live - actually hit me hard emotionally, which hooked me in right away. Given the title and premise, I expected a fast-moving, race-against-the-clock pace in which we are completely on the ride of Jennifer after her diagnosis. Instead, the first two-thirds of the book is more of a slow burn in which the truth about this family’s dysfunction is slowly revealed through multiple, shifting POVs, including not just Jennifer but each one of her three daughters. I found myself wanting the pace to pick up around the midpoint, but I think that partly had to do with my expectations going into it, along with my general lack of patience for anything these days. Still, I at NO point found myself bored in the least. On the contrary, those pages kept turning. This book definitely delivers VERY WELL on family dysfunction. There’s a LOT of it. In fact, I’d say family dysfunction is the main character -- and the fun -- of this story. There’s a ton of tension, secrets, sibling rivalries and simmering resentments. I’ll admit that I was able to guess the ending early on because I’ve read a ton of thrillers, but that didn’t make it any less chilling. And there was a solid twist I didn’t see coming, too! This comes out May 4! Thank you Atria Books for the ARC!
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 The lip gloss is optional, but if you’re reading this book, as a woman, you’ll probably want booze handy.
What’s your favorite historical fiction read? Or your favorite time period to read about? I’m fascinated by the era of the Salem witch trials, but also appalled. The religious hypocrisy. The stifling patriarchy. The shaming and brutality. My husband’s family is related to Mary Dyer, a woman who was hung for being “carried away by the deceit of the devil” in the same place and time period that this book is set. Dyer was a Quaker, and she gave birth to a stillborn child: in the minds of the colony's ministers, the “monstrous birth” was a result of her heretical religious opinions. I couldn’t help thinking about that poor woman while reading this… About the book: Mary Deerfield is a young woman married to an abusive husband in 17th century Boston. She’s determined to get a divorce when such things weren’t acceptable for a woman, so she finds herself facing the wrath of her community. - Bohjalian has done an enormous amount of research, but he’s an artful writer, so he doesn’t show his hand. The setting and culture feel lived in and just flow so that you feel fully immersed in 1660s Boston. And as a reader, you may find yourself - much like Mary Deerfield - clawing to get out. It’s shocking to experience the unfettered power the church had, in coordination with the legal system, to use shame and intimidation as a means of control. You experience the subjugation through all of the characters but none so much as Mary, who must grapple with her impulse to be an independent woman in a society that is terrified of such a thing. The court proceedings are fascinating: they shed light on the law and the legal processes of our country’s history while embodying all the intrigue of a Grisham-type legal thriller. This has similarities with The Handmaid’s Tale. And just like that novel, it’s a cautionary tale of what our society could slide back into if we aren’t vigilant in protecting and furthering our rights. This was actually the first book of Bohjalian’s that I've read, and I look forward to reading more! It comes out May 4! Thank you Doubleday for the ARC!  Jacob is a struggling author who hears a brilliant idea for a book from one of the students he teaches, and when he learns that the student has died without ever writing that story, he steals the idea and is catapulted into book stardom. When he starts receiving anonymous messages from someone threatening to out his theft, he is determined to figure out who else knows his shameful secret, which leads him closer to a dark and terrifying discovery.
- This story flips back and forth between the present day (as Jacob attempts to discover who is threatening to reveal his secret) and chronological chapters taken from the bestselling book that Jacob wrote. Each informs, and sheds light on, the other while revealing details about the past. I should mention that the start is slow, so hang in there. The pace will pick up. What I appreciate most about the book is the postmodern way in which it deals with stories: the juxtaposition of the fictional story Jacob wrote, the actual events of the past, Jacob’s past decisions and his present actions. The stories and events stack one on top of the other, revealing how bits of stories and life are continually reappropriated. Real life events become stories, and then stories change our perceptions of real life events. One informing yet changing the other, over and over again. Due to my knowledge of a certain relatively obscure novel, I picked up on something early in the book that led me to correctly guess how it was all going to end, so the big twist at the book’s close wasn’t there for me, but it’ll most likely be there for most readers. I can’t elaborate more on that without giving away spoilers, but I will say that -- even though I knew how it would wrap up -- the end was utterly chilling. This hits the shelves on May 11! Thank you Celadon for the ARC!  This photo was taken in Sedona, AZ, which is GORGEOUS and also where the 2009 sweat lodge disaster happened, the real-life wellness retreat tragedy which - I’m assuming - inspired this book.
If you’re like me and into cults and the dark side of the self-help industry, I thought I’d mention a true crime podcast about that disaster called Guru. It’s a six part series about the retreat led by James Arthur Ray in 2009 which led to 18 people being rushed to the hospital and three people dying. You can listen to it here: https://wondery.com/shows/guru/ About the book: Fran’s younger sister Jenna went missing after attending a wellness retreat run by self-help guru Tom Wade and his wife Kate. It was presumed that she committed suicide, but at that same retreat, some of the attendees died while participating in a sweat lodge. Tom served time but is now out of prison and running his first retreat since that tragic day, and Fran is determined to attend and get to the bottom of what happened to her sister three years ago. This book alternates between past (Jenna’s experience at the retreat) and present (from the point of view of Fran infiltrating the current retreat and Tom’s wife, Kate, trying to run it and rehabilitate their brand). The writing flows so well throughout, but it’s a slow burn until later in the story, when the pacing picks up and the layers of dysfunction and secrets are revealed. I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have loved the read even more if the present time was limited to Fran’s POV. I say that because Fran was a wonderful character, and ultimately, it’s her ride we're on. What sounds awesome about this book is the idea of infiltrating a shady wellness retreat to get answers, am I right? That’s like, my dream job 🤣 Will someone hire me to do that? Anyway, this book reads easy and is full of fun twists - perfect for a day at the beach! Thank you Avon Books for the ARC!  Cat lives in Los Angeles, far away from the gothic house in which she and her estranged twin sister El grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland. But when El mysteriously disappears, Cat returns to the home - and a past - that is full of ghosts and secrets, including Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs full of pirates, witches, and clowns.
- I didn’t know what to make of this when I first started reading. It was clear that the writing was very good, but I couldn’t figure out if it involved magical realism or a main character that was almost completely untethered from reality or something else that I wasn’t getting. I even got frustrated, to be honest, trying to figure out what was going on. Then it all came together. That veil lifted, and I was blown away. The center of this book -- the heart of it -- is pure genius. And I don’t say that lightly. What might seem blurry, at the start, will come into focus, and it is SO worth it once it does. This book had me feeling deeply for the main characters, and I found myself going back to reread portions once I’d finished and even studied the dang map of the house at the front of the book. This is a top read of the year for me. I’ll admit, there were some things I wish were a bit different with it. I would have preferred if the story ended earlier, about 85% of the way through, according to my Kindle. It would have been a bit more believable for me, and much darker, which is the way my taste tends to go. But one’s enjoyment of a novel is entirely subjective, and the twists and turns in the last part of the book will probably make many other thriller fans incredibly happy. But SO much was done beautifully here. The timing. The pacing. The reveals. The characters. The layers. The DEPTH. This is a stand out among psychological thrillers in terms of uniqueness and boldness and imaginativeness and creativity, and it will stick with me for a very long time to come. If you like mysteries and thrillers - and especially psychological thrillers, you MUST read this. This comes out April 20! Thank you Scribner for the ARC! |