bekkasbookclub's reviews
210 reviews

If I Dig You by Colby Wilkens
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.

I found out that the author has claimed to be native and she is not.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

First 5 star read of the year! I absolutely loved this book and the audiobook is the way to go with this one. The audio has multiple narrators for all the different characters, but Johnny Weir steals the show as Ellis Dean 👏🏼 The way this story read, I kept forgetting that it was fictional and that the characters weren’t real. The documentary style writing really lends itself to easily being adapted into a movie 🎥 which would be amazing. This book was so addicting, with all the drama, angst, and the messiness that comes with each character. The details of the sport and the competitions were great. Some may have found these details a little daunting, but I felt that it just added to realness of the story. This definitely made me excited for the Winter Olympics🏅and to pay attention to ice dancing⛸️ (I’m more of a figure skating girlie). If you want an additive, hard to put down book, this one is for you!

Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It’s been a while since I read the first book of this series, but I wanted to get back to it. This is such a fun series with our amateur detective, Hannah Swenson 🕵🏼‍♀️ One thing about this series is that it will definitely make you crave baked goodies. It is a bit dated because of when it was released, 2001; but it’s so minor, you might not noticed it much. I plan to continue reading this series and seeing what other shenanigans Hannah finds herself in.

PS: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book is captivating and emotional that it will definitely get you in your feels. I really do enjoy romances that have more depth to them and aren’t just about the love story. We have Maddie and Dom, who are brought together by the death of Josh, Maddie’s brother/Dom’s best friend. The enemies to lovers is very strong in this one, particularly on Maddie’s side. At times, I even began to wonder how the enemies would eventually turn to lovers. The grief that Maddie experiences losing her brother felt very real. Grief comes in different forms and I think it was handled well with how the author wrote Maddie’s grief. Back to wondering how Maddie and Dom would get back together. I can totally understand why Maddie hated Dom, and it seemed like it would be hard for them to overcome that hurdle. However, I think that the explanation for what happened and how Maddie moved past it was reasonable. I would recommend this if you want a wonderful balance of sadness and hopefulness; something that can make you cry and laugh out loud in the same sitting.

The Love Lyric by Kristina Forest

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

“In another life, maybe. But in this one, we’re kind of impossible.” The Love Lyric by Kristina Forest 

This was such a good, sweet ending to the series. I was excited for Iris’s story because she is the oldest sister and I myself am also the oldest sister. I love that Iris is a strong and independent single mother. I liked seeing her become open to a second chance at happiness after becoming widowed at such a young age. Angel is an absolutely sweetheart and I love that he seemed to stay grounded after becoming famous. Angel falls for Iris first, and then he writes a song inspired by his feelings for Iris, *SWOON* I mean, how could you not fall for someone who writes a song for you? Overall, this was my favorite in the series and I think this was such a good, sweet ending to the Greene sisters.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“There’s an old saying: The first lie wins. It’s not referring to the little white kind that tumble out with no thought; it refers to the big one. The one that changes the game.” First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
This one was such a captivating psychological thriller! I really had no idea where it was going but I really enjoyed the ride. The main character, Evie Porter (which isn’t her real name), is one tough cookie. We follow her at different points in her multiple identities as she is working for some mysterious Mr. Smith. I read this on audio and found it a little harder to follow with the flashbacks and figuring out what the end game of these con jobs were. However, the twists and turns were unexpected, and I really enjoyed seeing how everything played out in the end. I tend to go into mysteries/thrillers blind and I think doing so with this book played to my advantage during my reading experience.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“He killed her. We all knew.” The Lost House by Melissa Larsen
The premise of this story was so interesting. A cold case murder in Iceland is being highlighted by a podcaster named Nora. She has contacted the granddaughter of the suspected murderer, Agnes to see if she would participate in being on the podcast and part of Nora’s personal investigation. Agnes agrees to be on the podcast and travel to Iceland. When she arrives, she finds out a young woman has gone missing, and the town is having flashbacks of the gruesome murder. I thought this was going to be such an interesting thriller, and I was excited to read it. However, I had a very hard time getting into the story. The pace was very, very slow, and I had a hard time staying focused on what was going on. I was about 30% of the way through and seriously contemplated DNFing. However, I felt guilty and decided to push through after seeing other say that the pace picked up towards the middle of the book. I think, for me, it picked up about 70% of the way through and that’s when I started really getting into how it was going to end. I honestly had no idea if we were going to find out who killed Agnes’s grandmother and aunt, but I was surprised with how everything turned out. Overall, I would say slow pace is what made this a hard read for me but I think others could enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Murder

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle

3.75

“It’s hard to hold on to people the older we get. Life looks different for everyone, and you have to keep choosing one another. You have to make a conscious effort to say over and over again, ‘You.’ Not everyone makes that choice. Not everyone can.” Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
I was really excited when I was given an eARC of this book because I thought the concept was so interesting. Daphne finds “expiration dates” for her love interests and no matter what she does, she can’t change the outcome. Or can she? I’m not a big magical realism reader, but I think this paired with the romance aspect went really well together. However, I feel like this was a miss for me. Daphne spent a majority of the novel telling the reader about her past relationships and how they ended, I felt that it took the focus off her current relationship with Jake (whose paper turned up blank). Even though I felt we didn’t get much time and attention with Daphne and Jake, I found myself rooting for them. This made the twist a little bit disappointing, and I really didn’t like the ending. I think if it had been presented differently, it may have altered my opinion of the ending but the way that it was written was a no go for me. I will continue reading anything Rebecca Serle puts out, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next. 

I'll Have What He's Having by Adib Khorram

3.75

I'll Have What He's Having follows two protagonists over the age of 35. I really enjoyed seeing a more mature romance with the characters being a bit older than what they are in a typical romance novel. Farzan and David were very well written characters and I liked that it alternated between their POVs. However, I feel that because they were older, they were a bit set in their ways, which at times can be a little frustrating when it comes to romance. I did enjoy the diversity of side characters and loved the portrayal of Iranian culture and the amazing food descriptions. It was also fun seeing a queer romance take place somewhere else besides New York or Los Angeles. I really felt a connection to Kansas City because the characters were so well settled in the city. 

Murder Road by Simone St. James

medium-paced

3.75

“Stories don’t always end the way they’re supposed to. They don’t always end at all.” Murder Road by Simone St. James
When I first read The Sun Down Motel, I became obsessed with St. James’s writing. They way that she interweaves the mystery/thriller genre with the supernatural is so good! Murder Road unfortunately fell slightly flat for me. April and Eddie are driving to their honeymoon destination when they get caught on a rural road and end up becoming suspects in a murder case. They soon discover that the road they were driving is haunted by “The Lost Girl” and are trying to figure out who she is. This is where I started having some issues with the plot and where the book was going, which I will not share to avoid spoilers. While I am normally captivated by the eerie vibes of most of St. James’s books, this one just didn’t hit the same. Perhaps, it was because I was listening on audio instead of reading a tactile book. I am still very much a fan of the author’s work and will definitely read whatever she puts out next. I would recommend this one if you are light spine tingling chills, but not something that will scare your pants off.