bethreadsandnaps's reviews
2689 reviews

Speak to Me of Home: A Novel by Jeanine Cummins

4.0

 

4.0 ⭐️

SPEAK TO ME OF HOME looks at the commonalities of three generations of women who struggle with identity and their “home.” Rafaela is the matriarch, born in Puerto Rico and moved to the Midwest with her husband. Ruth is the daughter, who moved away from Puerto Rico as a young girl, and then there’s Rafaela’s granddaughter Daisy, who feels called to Puerto Rico. At the opening of the novel, Daisy is hurt in an accident while in Puerto Rico after getting the results of her DNA test.  

This novel gives the reader a lot to think about. I think I was expecting a bit more plot. At times, the novel meandered more than I expected and felt more character-driven than the author’s previous novel AMERICAN DIRT. 

The cast of men takes a backseat in this novel, and I kept mixing the men up. If you’re like me, you might want to write some notes on how the men are related to these women. I saw another reviewer say the family tree was helpful, but my copy didn’t have a family tree. 

This intergenerational saga with strong ties to Puerto Rico has resounding themes of family and identity with a strong sense of place, and Cummins’ writing was stellar. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review. 

It publishes May 13, 2025. 

 

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

3.75

3.75 ⭐️

I enjoyed this story of a Jamaican family in the United States and how they navigate the world when faced with challenges, notably racism and hurricanes. The format of interconnected short stories worked well. There were some moments of humor. 

The One That Got Away by Mike Gayle

4.0

Reuben experienced heartbreak 6 months ago when he and Beth broke up. He learns that she is getting married, after professing during their relationship that she doesn’t believe in love. 

Reuben’s friends plan a day for him, including a rental Ferrari, on Beth’s wedding day; however, Beth calls him on the morning of her wedding. What is Reuben going to do?

I liked how the narration went back and forth between present day and their relationship. 

I would have liked to hear Beth’s perspective.

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

3.5

3.5 ⭐️

The magical realism in this one (getting physically stuck in a novel) didn’t appeal to me as much as in her previous novel. The grumpy / sunshine trope seemed a little overdone, and some characters weren’t that fleshed out. 

Still, though, an entertaining read.

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown, Janelle Brown

3.5

 

3.5 ⭐️

When I read the description for this new novel by Janelle Brown, I thought of THESE SILENT WOODS. A girl and her father in a remote cabin in the woods, and the dad has to be hiding from someone or something. 

Even though the description seems very similar, this does veer off in a different direction. Teenage Jane leaves the remote Montana cabin at the request of her dad, and then they go over to the Seattle area for a project that goes awry. Jane ends up on her own and forging a new life with the skills her father urged her to get. 

A few times the coincidences were a bit much. I was a bit stymied at side characters that got thrown in, and as a reader I got invested in (Heidi!), but they vanished. Some things were zoomed over in the epilogue. I’d say that could be summarized as pacing problems for me. 

This is a coming of age story, of sorts, which I liked. Jane had been kept in such isolation, and I wanted her to spread her wings. That part was gratifying. The treatise on artificial intelligence in the 1990s? I just don’t feel that we were “there” at the time. Of course, it tries to link the 1990s thoughts on artificial intelligence as prophetic, which I don’t really buy. 

I really liked the coming of age parts of this novel.  

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review. 

It publishes June 3, 2025. 

 

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell

3.0

Main character Hannah is a bit unhinged. She's lonely, and she's been fired. She deep dives into a true crime forum and becomes attached to a particular accused serial killer, corresponding with him and interacting with his family during the trial. 

He gets acquitted, and then Hannah moves in with him. 

Hannah's mind is a bit disturbing. Sure, hasn't everyone wondered about those women who marry a man in prison? Hannah is ... desperate. She just wants to be in a relationship, even if the man she wants to marry is a serial killer and even if she thinks he could kill her. 

I suppose I could see believing in my partner's innocence 100%. But Hannah straddles the line where she thinks she's living with a serial killer. And I'm not sure why anyone who could believe that would actually stay.

This is a strange little book, and I don't think I can recommend it unless you're into unhinged main characters.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

4.0

I appreciated my visit to the small town of Empire Falls, Maine, and meeting these characters. I felt for the main character Miles and his mother. Reading this makes me want to watch the adaptation. I think it would be a good complement to the reading experience. 

I did listen to this on audio, and I think the quality wasn’t as good as if it had been produced today.

We Won't All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall

3.25

 

3.25 ⭐️

Kate Alice Marshall’s latest young adult novel WE WON’T ALL SURVIVE explores trauma as eight contestants vie for $100,000 each at the whim of billionaire Damien Dare. But when they arrive, the small town set is empty, and they find themselves trapped in not just a reality show but a reality where there is a killer on the loose.  

This is written in first person from the perspective of Mercy Gray, a teen victim of a mall shooting who saved several others, including her younger sister Jaime that she’d do anything for. However, I felt the most well-rounded character in this novel was the social media influencer Alethea. There were two main problems with the characters. Mercy’s only defining characteristic is the trauma she experienced from the shooting (and maybe her love of Carlito’s almonds?). There were five male characters in this novel, and it was very difficult to tell them apart - even with their different traumas. 

I didn’t want to put this novel down. I enjoyed seeing where it was going. I did buddy read this with my teenager, and she predicted the beats along the way. She enjoyed it a bit more than me, but pointed out a few things along the way that she wasn’t fond of (predictability in the plot, flat characters that are not defined by anything other than their trauma, etc.).  

One part that really bugged me is that, while this novel was written in first person, the narrator Mercy said that the trans character Eli went by male pronouns. How would Mercy know that without having a conversation with Eli? This might be fixed before publication. I think the author was going for representation, but I’m not sure she knows how to *really* do representation, and this might alienate some younger readers. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review. 

It publishes July 29, 2025. 

 

Never Lie by Freida McFadden

3.0

Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are looking at a house to buy during a snowstorm (plausible?). They decide to look through the house, and then the snow kicks up even more, and they become stuck in this creepy, cold house for days. 

They realize the house’s previous owner is a psychiatrist who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Tricia finds a secret room with all these recordings of the psychiatrist’s sessions. She somehow listens to many of them while being undetected by her husband. How? 

This passed the time with some spooky house vibes, but high literature it is not, especially with the craziness at the end.

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

3.75

3.75 ⭐️

Chandler Cohen is a ghostwriter who had a bad one-night stand, and then she ends up being that man’s ghostwriter (he was a minor character in a minor network’s teen drama). 

Is it a trope we’ve seen before? Sure. This one has more sex positivity. Chandler is very comfortable with her sexuality, and Finn is amazing when he’s told he’s bad at sex. Realistic? Then she offers to teach him how to please a woman when she’s not getting content for his memoir that she’s writing. 

Good mental health representation.