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bethreadsandnaps's reviews
2695 reviews
A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
3.0
Kate Alice Marshall’s latest A KILLING COLD (publishing February 4, 2025) has the coldest winter vibes of any novel I’ve read in a while. Theodora is newly engaged to Connor, and they are going to his family’s compound for the holidays.
Theodora knows precious little of her past. She was adopted when she was four years old by horrible parents. She’s clinging to this new life with Connor, who has more money than she knows what to do with.
When they get to the compound, there’s a cast of characters Theodora meets, including Connor’s mother Rose (his father Liam passed away), his grandparents Magnus and Louise, his uncle Nick, his older sister Alexis along with her wife and son, his younger brother Trevor, and a few workers Irina, Olena, and Mr. Vance.
Soon after arriving, Theodora’s world is rattled when she finds a picture of Connor’s father Liam and a four year old Theodora. How did she end up at this same place twenty years later??? And is it connected to her missing parents and Connor’s family?
Novels that presume the United States has 300 residents are difficult for me to wrap my brain around. I found the male characters of Nick, Trevor, Magnus, and Mr. Vance very difficult to distinguish from one another. The winter vibes were so amazing, but unfortunately the setting was the best part of this novel. The next best things were Theodora’s process in trying to figure things out and the character of Alexis. All in all, this was an okay read. Do check it out if you like thrillers in winter settings.
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
4.5
4.5 stars
Excellent historical time about a horrible time in the United States' history. In 1973 Civil Townsend is a new nurse, and one of her first assignments is to give Depo-Provera shots to two 13 and 11 year old poor, black sisters. Civil grows quickly attached to the sisters, their father Mace, and grandmother Mrs. Williams. She gets them into subsidized housing. One day her supervisor takes the girls into the hospital and orders tubal ligations to be performed on them. Attorney Lou Feldman works with Civil and the girls' family to hold the bureaucrats accountable for what they've done.
I really loved Civil, the girls, and the dual timeline nature of the novel. Of course the novel dwelled heavily in the 1973 timeline, but I sure liked seeing the path Civil was on in 2016.
I had a few very minor quibbles with this novel. First, I wanted an author's note on Depo-Provera. It was quite common in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and I wondered if the formula changed and became safer. Also, the timeline for the two girls from meeting to Civil through the court case seemed very short. Was it really that easy to go through the courts in the 1970s?
I feel like I came away from this novel feeling like I had learned a lot and felt attached to these characters.
Excellent historical time about a horrible time in the United States' history. In 1973 Civil Townsend is a new nurse, and one of her first assignments is to give Depo-Provera shots to two 13 and 11 year old poor, black sisters. Civil grows quickly attached to the sisters, their father Mace, and grandmother Mrs. Williams. She gets them into subsidized housing. One day her supervisor takes the girls into the hospital and orders tubal ligations to be performed on them. Attorney Lou Feldman works with Civil and the girls' family to hold the bureaucrats accountable for what they've done.
I really loved Civil, the girls, and the dual timeline nature of the novel. Of course the novel dwelled heavily in the 1973 timeline, but I sure liked seeing the path Civil was on in 2016.
I had a few very minor quibbles with this novel. First, I wanted an author's note on Depo-Provera. It was quite common in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and I wondered if the formula changed and became safer. Also, the timeline for the two girls from meeting to Civil through the court case seemed very short. Was it really that easy to go through the courts in the 1970s?
I feel like I came away from this novel feeling like I had learned a lot and felt attached to these characters.
Missing In Flight by Audrey J. Cole
3.5
3.5 stars
Audrey J. Cole’s MISSING IN FLIGHT brings the heart palpitations that come with a mom’s worst nightmare! Makayla boarded a plane in Anchorage with her 3 month old son Liam on her way home to New York City, and he is taken from his bassinet when she goes to the bathroom a few hours into the flight. This novel is extremely propulsive, and if you like TJ Newman’s novels, this one will make you turn the pages from the first chapter.
I really enjoyed the author’s writing. It was very accessible with incredible tension. There is a familiar trope of “Is the woman crazy, or is she speaking the truth?” Makayla’s mother had transient global amnesia before she died, and one theory is that maybe it’s inherited or more likely to happen because Makayla hit her head in Anchorage. Because the baby was so wrapped up, it is difficult to determine whether a live baby got into the plane. The co-captain on the plane desperately wants a child, so maybe she’s involved. Or the kidnapping could be due to her husband managing almost a billion dollars. There are a few theories at play, but I’d say the author leaned hard on one theory in particular.
There were many, many times that I had to suspend my disbelief. Most had to do with the crazy timeline of the narrative, and another had to do with the exit from the airplane (trying to be vague for fear of spoilers). In the novel, 2 hours into a roughly 7-8 hour flight, Makayla realizes her baby is missing. A whole cabin search takes place, and the FBI from NYC is pulled in, resulting in airport security footage analyzed and an in-person interview with each the baby’s father and the baby’s father’s employer by the time the airplane is over Minnesota! Oh, and search warrants in two different states are put in place after business hours with the searches commenced. Does the FBI really get involved and move that fast based on a missing baby on an airplane? And the investigator on the case had time to look up the history on every passenger on the plane too.
I really enjoyed the reading experience of this novel. It was an easy, light read as long as you don’t think too hard about the timeline and individual plot pieces. This novel publishes January 7, 2025.
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
4.25
4.25 stars
This was my first Abby Jimenez book, and it won’t be my last! Briana is an ER doctor at a local hospital and when Jacob starts his job at the same hospital, they start out on the wrong foot. Soon, though, they realize they have much more in common than not. Jacob’s ex is now engaged to Jacob’s younger brother, and he needs to show his ex and his family that he’s moved on, so Jacob and Briana start fake dating. Briana’s brother needs a kidney donor, and of course Jacob’s willing to provide. And they get locked in a bedroom with a twin bed overnight.
This is a nice, easy read that didn’t feel as eye roll-y when reading as it does when I type that all out. There is excellent disability representation, as Jacob has social anxiety that he’s on medication for and still experiences. Briana is divorced and really hasn’t recovered mentally from the hurt.
I love the glitter on a ceiling fan as revenge.
My main quibble is that Jacob is too perfect. I don’t see how a handsome doctor in his 30s who gives out kidneys and brings your favorite food unsolicited would ever be single, even if he did have social anxiety.
This was my first Abby Jimenez book, and it won’t be my last! Briana is an ER doctor at a local hospital and when Jacob starts his job at the same hospital, they start out on the wrong foot. Soon, though, they realize they have much more in common than not. Jacob’s ex is now engaged to Jacob’s younger brother, and he needs to show his ex and his family that he’s moved on, so Jacob and Briana start fake dating. Briana’s brother needs a kidney donor, and of course Jacob’s willing to provide. And they get locked in a bedroom with a twin bed overnight.
This is a nice, easy read that didn’t feel as eye roll-y when reading as it does when I type that all out. There is excellent disability representation, as Jacob has social anxiety that he’s on medication for and still experiences. Briana is divorced and really hasn’t recovered mentally from the hurt.
I love the glitter on a ceiling fan as revenge.
My main quibble is that Jacob is too perfect. I don’t see how a handsome doctor in his 30s who gives out kidneys and brings your favorite food unsolicited would ever be single, even if he did have social anxiety.
We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan
3.0
The concept of this novel is great. I love the collective “we” voice, and the low residency MFA setting came across as similar to THE PLOT but with way more interpersonal drama.
Unfortunately, as I read more into this novel, it got more and more tedious.
- The writing is very MFA - a bit pretentious with lots of commas in super long sentences. In short, overwritten.
- There were way too many characters. 20 or so? The book revolves around the characters most central to the drama, but there are a lot of peripheral characters. I waffled between trying to take character notes and letting the story wash over me. I ended up letting it wash over me.
- The reader feels more and more strung along with all of the superfluous details. Some are insightful to what a program like this would be like or group dynamics in general. Others just felt like filler and the author was taunting the reader. After so much build-up, I expect to have my socks knocked off. And I didn’t.
This novel does have some good things to say and starts out with a unique construct, but it quickly lost its novelty and turned to tedium.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
dark
2.0
I struggled getting through this novel. Yes, it has more triggers than I've ever experienced in a book (i.e., cannibalism, rape, hate crimes, racism, anti-Semitism, animal cruelty, gruesome descriptions of murder, need I go on?). But it was also very repetitive and boring with unoriginal writing. It was like the author was going for shock value versus writing an interesting story. This was definitely a small dose sort of read; I could only read a few pages at a time before setting it down and picking up another book.
I am going to open the book and give you an example of the repetitiveness of this mundane writing. "McDermott is wearing a woven-linen suit with pleated trousers, a button-down cotton and linen shirt by Basile, a silk tie by Joseph Abboud and ostrich loafers from Susan Bennis Warren Edwards." There are literally hundreds of sentences like this in the novel! Sure, I get that the author is trying to make a statement on 1980s consumerism, but does he have to hammer away at it SO much in such a bland way?
The novel is full of repetitive descriptions of fashion and the most mundane dialogue you've ever read with weird 4-8 page interludes devoted to such subjects as skin care, 1980s "state of the art" technology, Whitney Houston, and Huey Lewis and the News. The interludes on music read like nonfiction essays, and it's obvious the author likes 1980s music (so do I), but I'm not sure I see what the purpose of these tangents were.
The main character is Patrick Bateman, a privileged, white 27-year old man/serial killer Harvard graduate. His personal hero is Donald Trump. That either ages remarkably well or not at all, still trying to figure it out. Politics aside, if Donald Trump was your guiding light even in the late 1980s/early 1990s when this was written, I wonder about you. I am curious what Trump thinks of his prominence in this novel and if he has ever read it. I think a novel from the perspective of a serial killer can actually work, such as the YOU series by Caroline Kepnes. While that main character Joe is unglued, he actually can bring a chuckle to a reader, and the author gives him an actual personality. This main character Patrick has no appeal or charm. And the reader learns no backstory on why he is the way he is. It's very thin characterization.
There's a ton of misogyny in this novel...and homophobia, racism, etc. A character with my first name experiences arguably the most gruesome murder in the novel, so that didn't generate goodwill on my part.
What did I like? I don't think I've ever read a novel that's so firmly set in a specific time (late 1980s) and place (NYC) as this one. And there's sometimes new language used from that time that never caught on in mainstream society, i.e., "portaphone" for phone, cell phone, or mobile phone. That gave me an occasional chuckle, particularly in the first part of the novel before it became a slasher fest.
I am going to open the book and give you an example of the repetitiveness of this mundane writing. "McDermott is wearing a woven-linen suit with pleated trousers, a button-down cotton and linen shirt by Basile, a silk tie by Joseph Abboud and ostrich loafers from Susan Bennis Warren Edwards." There are literally hundreds of sentences like this in the novel! Sure, I get that the author is trying to make a statement on 1980s consumerism, but does he have to hammer away at it SO much in such a bland way?
The novel is full of repetitive descriptions of fashion and the most mundane dialogue you've ever read with weird 4-8 page interludes devoted to such subjects as skin care, 1980s "state of the art" technology, Whitney Houston, and Huey Lewis and the News. The interludes on music read like nonfiction essays, and it's obvious the author likes 1980s music (so do I), but I'm not sure I see what the purpose of these tangents were.
The main character is Patrick Bateman, a privileged, white 27-year old man/serial killer Harvard graduate. His personal hero is Donald Trump. That either ages remarkably well or not at all, still trying to figure it out. Politics aside, if Donald Trump was your guiding light even in the late 1980s/early 1990s when this was written, I wonder about you. I am curious what Trump thinks of his prominence in this novel and if he has ever read it. I think a novel from the perspective of a serial killer can actually work, such as the YOU series by Caroline Kepnes. While that main character Joe is unglued, he actually can bring a chuckle to a reader, and the author gives him an actual personality. This main character Patrick has no appeal or charm. And the reader learns no backstory on why he is the way he is. It's very thin characterization.
There's a ton of misogyny in this novel...and homophobia, racism, etc. A character with my first name experiences arguably the most gruesome murder in the novel, so that didn't generate goodwill on my part.
What did I like? I don't think I've ever read a novel that's so firmly set in a specific time (late 1980s) and place (NYC) as this one. And there's sometimes new language used from that time that never caught on in mainstream society, i.e., "portaphone" for phone, cell phone, or mobile phone. That gave me an occasional chuckle, particularly in the first part of the novel before it became a slasher fest.
Bear by Julia Phillips
5.0
I adored BEAR by Julia Phillips so much that I stayed up until 2am to finish it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
What I loved:
* Pacific Northwest vibes 🌊🌳
* Ferries ⛴️
* Sisters with a complicated relationship 👭
* Gritty - these sisters are barely scraping by, caring for their sick mother and working menial, low paying jobs
* Characters you simultaneously ache for and root for
* And, as the title suggests, a 🐻
This novel has a surprisingly low Goodreads rating. If you enjoy character-driven novels with messy characters like I do, then consider picking this one up.
What I loved:
* Pacific Northwest vibes 🌊🌳
* Ferries ⛴️
* Sisters with a complicated relationship 👭
* Gritty - these sisters are barely scraping by, caring for their sick mother and working menial, low paying jobs
* Characters you simultaneously ache for and root for
* And, as the title suggests, a 🐻
This novel has a surprisingly low Goodreads rating. If you enjoy character-driven novels with messy characters like I do, then consider picking this one up.
Float Plan by Trish Doller
4.0
Anna is grieving after her fiance Ben committed suicide, but she feels committed to going on their boat trip in the Caribbean despite her not being a great boater. She soon realizes she's in over her head and gets far more experienced Scottish sailor Keane to join her and help out. Keane has an artificial leg and is going through his own grieving process about his life not turning out as expected.
I really liked how Keane facilitated Anna growing into her own strength and didn't just step into the role Ben left. He really was an agent of change for Anna.
Mostly light with Caribbean vibes, the pages flew by. Is it going to super memorable? Probably not, but light romance is often not very memorable for me.
I really liked how Keane facilitated Anna growing into her own strength and didn't just step into the role Ben left. He really was an agent of change for Anna.
Mostly light with Caribbean vibes, the pages flew by. Is it going to super memorable? Probably not, but light romance is often not very memorable for me.
Ruby Ridge by Jess Walter
4.25
4.25 stars
This standoff in Idaho is heartbreaking because of the lives lost. There was so much manpower and money invested in this standoff and then the trials afterward. It was of a certain time (early 1990s) when combatting cults and compound were a thing. No one is in the right here. So much gray. I appreciate the frankness of Jess Walter. I believe this is my first non-fiction by him, and I liked his writing style just as much as I do for fiction.
This standoff in Idaho is heartbreaking because of the lives lost. There was so much manpower and money invested in this standoff and then the trials afterward. It was of a certain time (early 1990s) when combatting cults and compound were a thing. No one is in the right here. So much gray. I appreciate the frankness of Jess Walter. I believe this is my first non-fiction by him, and I liked his writing style just as much as I do for fiction.
If We're Being Honest by Cat Shook
4.0
Give me a good family dysfunction book, I always say, and this one really hit some good notes for me! When Gerald dies, none of his family wants to deliver the eulogy. So his friend Fred steps in, and he's quite a bit inebriated and confesses that Gerald was in a relationship with him.
The inciting incident is interesting. Part of me was a bit bummed the reader didn't hear more from his widow Ellen. I wanted to know more about what is going on with her.
As others have stated, there are two big cautions with this novel. 1. There are a lot of characters. I studied the family tree at the beginning of the book and went back to it to ensure I had each character down. There are 3 Geralds (at least they have different nicknames) and a lot of women who are easy to mix up. 2. The chapters are very long. I don't really mind, but others seem to based on the reviews.
I found this an easy read, as the family gets together for Gerald's funeral until a week later when they celebrate their family friend's wedding. Every family member is working through "stuff," but - notably - not about their father's death.
The inciting incident is interesting. Part of me was a bit bummed the reader didn't hear more from his widow Ellen. I wanted to know more about what is going on with her.
As others have stated, there are two big cautions with this novel. 1. There are a lot of characters. I studied the family tree at the beginning of the book and went back to it to ensure I had each character down. There are 3 Geralds (at least they have different nicknames) and a lot of women who are easy to mix up. 2. The chapters are very long. I don't really mind, but others seem to based on the reviews.
I found this an easy read, as the family gets together for Gerald's funeral until a week later when they celebrate their family friend's wedding. Every family member is working through "stuff," but - notably - not about their father's death.