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The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
4.0
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley, this did not affect my rating or review.
This was such a great book to read in the current environment, however, the ending just didn't stick, and I think that if Bostwick had left that part of the book alone the book would have been a 5 star favorite with me.
"The Book Club for Troublesome Women" takes place in 1963 in a Virginia town called Concordia (just think close to Alexandria and D.C. The book follows Margaret, a stay at home mother of three; Charlotte, also a stay at home mother of four children; Bitsy a stay at home wife focusing on getting pregnant; and Viv a mother of 6 who hopes to get back into nursing after a decade plus long absence. Margaret has an idea of a book club to get to know Charlotte better. She includes Bitsy and Viv because they seem like the women in their neighborhood who would be of similar mindset. The first book up, the women read "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan.
The book follows all of the women as we see the impact of this book, others, and just the general societal impacts happening during 1963 (school integration, assassination of Medgar Evers, March on Washington, etc.).
I honestly liked all four of the women in this one. Each one has a different dream, but realizes they don't need to put down any of them for wanting something different. Bitsy dreams of being a vet, but had that dream denied to her since she's a woman. Margaret wants to be a writer, Charlotte an artist, and Viv is happy being a wife and mother, but wants to go back to nursing.
The flow of the initial part of the book is a little slow, but once you get to them reading "The Feminine Mystique" things take off.
I found myself reading the book straight through at one point because it was so good and I loathed some of these women husbands.
The only sticky point for me was the ending. Way too much got stuffed into it. And I think working in two real life people in this fictional book just felt very far-fetched. I didn't buy it, and it took me out of the book. Also the fast forward in the end didn't work either. I think it would have been better to leave the book open-ended and heck, even show not everyone gets to what they dream to do and you can just keep trying for it anyway. I think Bostwick wanted to tie a nice and tidy bow that didn't quite work.
I think the thing that makes me most sad in 2025 is that we are back right here again. We have society, politicians, countries trying to say what a woman is and what she should be doing full stop. We have proposed legislation that is going to make it harder for married women, adoptees, and transpeople to vote too. It knocks the wind out of my sails though that this book taking place in the 1960s really showed the way everyone tried to keep women and their dreams so small and we are back here again.
This was such a great book to read in the current environment, however, the ending just didn't stick, and I think that if Bostwick had left that part of the book alone the book would have been a 5 star favorite with me.
"The Book Club for Troublesome Women" takes place in 1963 in a Virginia town called Concordia (just think close to Alexandria and D.C. The book follows Margaret, a stay at home mother of three; Charlotte, also a stay at home mother of four children; Bitsy a stay at home wife focusing on getting pregnant; and Viv a mother of 6 who hopes to get back into nursing after a decade plus long absence. Margaret has an idea of a book club to get to know Charlotte better. She includes Bitsy and Viv because they seem like the women in their neighborhood who would be of similar mindset. The first book up, the women read "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan.
The book follows all of the women as we see the impact of this book, others, and just the general societal impacts happening during 1963 (school integration, assassination of Medgar Evers, March on Washington, etc.).
I honestly liked all four of the women in this one. Each one has a different dream, but realizes they don't need to put down any of them for wanting something different. Bitsy dreams of being a vet, but had that dream denied to her since she's a woman. Margaret wants to be a writer, Charlotte an artist, and Viv is happy being a wife and mother, but wants to go back to nursing.
The flow of the initial part of the book is a little slow, but once you get to them reading "The Feminine Mystique" things take off.
I found myself reading the book straight through at one point because it was so good and I loathed some of these women husbands.
The only sticky point for me was the ending. Way too much got stuffed into it. And I think working in two real life people in this fictional book just felt very far-fetched. I didn't buy it, and it took me out of the book. Also the fast forward in the end didn't work either. I think it would have been better to leave the book open-ended and heck, even show not everyone gets to what they dream to do and you can just keep trying for it anyway. I think Bostwick wanted to tie a nice and tidy bow that didn't quite work.
I think the thing that makes me most sad in 2025 is that we are back right here again. We have society, politicians, countries trying to say what a woman is and what she should be doing full stop. We have proposed legislation that is going to make it harder for married women, adoptees, and transpeople to vote too. It knocks the wind out of my sails though that this book taking place in the 1960s really showed the way everyone tried to keep women and their dreams so small and we are back here again.
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
5.0
I really did love this combination of interesting facts about plants, trees, and animals linked to the author's memories.
Nezhukumatathil begins the book describing a catalpa tree, a tree that she links to her memories of living in Kansas while her mother worked at a hospital. Most of the animals and plant/trees she recalls are often linked to her constant moving as a child and then from her moves as an adult with her husband and two sons. Some of the memories linked are sad, some are joyful, and the one where she describes getting to hold an octopus (as it dies) in her hands definitely made me sad.
I think the illustrations were fantastic as well and I liked getting to see a description of the thing that she was going to describe. I have to say my favorite illustrations were the firefly and the vampire squid. FYI, the vampire squid is an odd looking thing that looks like it has bat wings at the bottom of it. I was fascinated by that illustration for a minute.
All in all, a great book about the natural world with ties to the author's memories.
I Don't Believe in Astrology: A Therapist's Guide to the Life-Changing Wisdom of the Stars by Debra Silverman
3.0
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
Honestly, this isn't a bad book, but it wasn't as helpful as I thought it would be. I was intrigued by this being a therapist's guide to astrology, but honestly, some of the things for Aquarius do not apply to me at all. For example, I always laugh at it when someone says oh you are quirky and love technology....I loathe technology and my team of 20 somethings had to bully me into a new iPhone. Just saying. I was hoping this would get into more things that I have experience that my therapist has helped me with, high anxiety, imposter syndrome, etc., I thought that may be tied to astrology in some way that I thought would make this interesting, but it was very light on all of that.
This is pretty much the same thing as most astrology books, date of birth, time of birth, location of birth, find out your sun sign, etc. However, as another reviewer noted, she doesn't tell you how to find some of this which was weird. I think she thought that anyone reading this book would be familiar with astrology and how to find that information. The only reason I know is that I was born on a cusp, so I actually do need to know the time of my birth to figure out which "house" I am in (either Capricorn or Aquarius). Speaking of cusps, I was surprised she didn't talk about that at all.
Some interesting things I wish we had gotten more details on was the 13th sign she mentions, she talks about us being in the Age of Aquarius, but how in 2026 we will see an entire shift with concerns to government/climate etc., but I was confused honestly since so many people disagree about when the Age of Aquarius actually starts and will end. I think next age is supposed to be Capricorn (do not quote me on that) but again that whole section of the book moved pretty quickly through that and I wanted more details.
The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
I really hope this is the last book in the "Molly the Maid" series. The first book was so good, and I loved how it ended on a darker note, but two more books and a novella, the series has definitely pushed towards lighter mysteries that you can solve in five minutes. My main issue with this last book is that the sections that focused on Gram/Flora were overly long and just boring. Also, I know this is supposed to take place in the 60s, but everything read as if it was taking place 20 years or more earlier at times. Especially with the way that the servants were to be treated and how they were supposed to treat their betters. It just read like Downton Abbey to me after a while.
"The Maid's Secret" is really following Gram/Flora as the maid in question this time. Molly is engaged to Juan and though they don't have a lot of money, they are looking forward to starting their lives together as man and wife. Things tick along at the Regency Grand Hotel, however, a popular show that she and Juan loves will be showcasing an episode at the Regency Grand (think Antique Roadshow) and Molly grabs some things to show, including the "egg" that she doesn't think could be worth much. However, Molly is shocked when she is brought on stage and told that her egg is worth millions. The book shifts POVs from Molly in the present day and to her Gram/Flora in the past which leads into how the egg is connected to her as well.
I will say this, the book is at times confusing, things line up enough when you get through the end of this and then it shifts to events/people from book #2 that we already know about. Gram/Flora's diary entries to Molly just read weird at times. I think it would have worked better if it was written like a true diary, instead Prose writes it as a book in essence. No one who is doing diary entries is going to write exactly like this. Maybe it would have worked more for me if it had been written with that in mind. And I get that Gram/Flora was writing this when she was much older/sicker, but still, it just read weird to me.
And I already said what I said about her family, the servants, etc., the whole thing just read off to me throughout. As I said, maybe if the book was set 20-30 years back some of her families and others attitudes would have made sense to me. For example, there was the 1967 Abortion Act, Housewives Register in 1960, etc. There is mention of music (the Beatles) and of new fashion, but it seems to have passed Flora's whole family by which again, didn't make a lot of sense since it was everywhere. Who in that time would say I won't allow my daughter to study and pursue something outside of marriage?
Molly's section were kind of blah honestly. It was really easy to see who was doing what and the "culprit" in this one, but I just got tired of how Molly "talks" in this one. I was just over her also not again understanding basic things. At this point she's in her 30s and I felt tired. The usual antics by Cheryl were also just grating in this one.
The ending of the book wasn't a shocker at all, I think that this may be the last book in the series. If it's not, I hope that we do not keep hearing about Gram's past.
I really hope this is the last book in the "Molly the Maid" series. The first book was so good, and I loved how it ended on a darker note, but two more books and a novella, the series has definitely pushed towards lighter mysteries that you can solve in five minutes. My main issue with this last book is that the sections that focused on Gram/Flora were overly long and just boring. Also, I know this is supposed to take place in the 60s, but everything read as if it was taking place 20 years or more earlier at times. Especially with the way that the servants were to be treated and how they were supposed to treat their betters. It just read like Downton Abbey to me after a while.
"The Maid's Secret" is really following Gram/Flora as the maid in question this time. Molly is engaged to Juan and though they don't have a lot of money, they are looking forward to starting their lives together as man and wife. Things tick along at the Regency Grand Hotel, however, a popular show that she and Juan loves will be showcasing an episode at the Regency Grand (think Antique Roadshow) and Molly grabs some things to show, including the "egg" that she doesn't think could be worth much. However, Molly is shocked when she is brought on stage and told that her egg is worth millions. The book shifts POVs from Molly in the present day and to her Gram/Flora in the past which leads into how the egg is connected to her as well.
I will say this, the book is at times confusing, things line up enough when you get through the end of this and then it shifts to events/people from book #2 that we already know about. Gram/Flora's diary entries to Molly just read weird at times. I think it would have worked better if it was written like a true diary, instead Prose writes it as a book in essence. No one who is doing diary entries is going to write exactly like this. Maybe it would have worked more for me if it had been written with that in mind. And I get that Gram/Flora was writing this when she was much older/sicker, but still, it just read weird to me.
And I already said what I said about her family, the servants, etc., the whole thing just read off to me throughout. As I said, maybe if the book was set 20-30 years back some of her families and others attitudes would have made sense to me. For example, there was the 1967 Abortion Act, Housewives Register in 1960, etc. There is mention of music (the Beatles) and of new fashion, but it seems to have passed Flora's whole family by which again, didn't make a lot of sense since it was everywhere. Who in that time would say I won't allow my daughter to study and pursue something outside of marriage?
Molly's section were kind of blah honestly. It was really easy to see who was doing what and the "culprit" in this one, but I just got tired of how Molly "talks" in this one. I was just over her also not again understanding basic things. At this point she's in her 30s and I felt tired. The usual antics by Cheryl were also just grating in this one.
The ending of the book wasn't a shocker at all, I think that this may be the last book in the series. If it's not, I hope that we do not keep hearing about Gram's past.
Model Home by Rivers Solomon
"Model Home" follows Ezri (they/them) and their daughter, Elijah, who are living in London. We find out quite quickly that Ezri has moments when they are not in themselves, that they are far away. Ezri longs for and loathes their mother and the house they grew up in, in Texas. When Ezri is contacted by their sisters, Eve and Emmanuelle that their parents are dead, Ezri worries that returning home will have them being pulled into a dark place again.
First off, there are a lot of E names going on, but you quickly get used to it. The writing of the book at times was a bit hard to get into, but once you get there, you quickly get sucked in.
The setting of the house itself just didn't feel right to me while reading. Maybe because there are very few scenes we get in the home except for Ezri's dread. Most of the time the things Ezri is talking about happened outside the home. And then the question remains what did the Maxwell siblings parents know and how did all of them get so far apart from each other.
Thought that Solomon did a great job depicting what it means to be Black and queer like Ezri is and how hard that must have been as a Black person living in Texas back then.
For me though, the ending was missing what came before it, I think that Solomon tried to wrap things up and it didn't work (at least for me). I did like most of the ending, but not the twist and resolution. It left too many plot holes for me and at least I wanted a better explanation or something. I think a lot of horror novels now never seem to be able to fully stick the landing and are afraid of going dark and or fully explain a thing and just kind of go for a shock twist that just comes out of nowhere.
4.0
I really loved Model Home. I think haunted house horror/mystery novels are my favorite thing out there. That's because you are supposed to be safe with your family, Model Home shows that sometimes it's your family and neighborhood you should fear.
"Model Home" follows Ezri (they/them) and their daughter, Elijah, who are living in London. We find out quite quickly that Ezri has moments when they are not in themselves, that they are far away. Ezri longs for and loathes their mother and the house they grew up in, in Texas. When Ezri is contacted by their sisters, Eve and Emmanuelle that their parents are dead, Ezri worries that returning home will have them being pulled into a dark place again.
First off, there are a lot of E names going on, but you quickly get used to it. The writing of the book at times was a bit hard to get into, but once you get there, you quickly get sucked in.
Most of the book follows Ezri that is wondering if something monstrous lurks in them or their house. We at times get their daughter's POV, but that's it.
The setting of the house itself just didn't feel right to me while reading. Maybe because there are very few scenes we get in the home except for Ezri's dread. Most of the time the things Ezri is talking about happened outside the home. And then the question remains what did the Maxwell siblings parents know and how did all of them get so far apart from each other.
Thought that Solomon did a great job depicting what it means to be Black and queer like Ezri is and how hard that must have been as a Black person living in Texas back then.
For me though, the ending was missing what came before it, I think that Solomon tried to wrap things up and it didn't work (at least for me). I did like most of the ending, but not the twist and resolution. It left too many plot holes for me and at least I wanted a better explanation or something. I think a lot of horror novels now never seem to be able to fully stick the landing and are afraid of going dark and or fully explain a thing and just kind of go for a shock twist that just comes out of nowhere.
Woodworking by Emily St. James
5.0
Wow what a great book. I loved it from the beginning to the end. No notes.
“Woodworking” follows Abigail, a 17 year old teen trans girl living in Mitchell, South Dakota. She keeps focusing on when she becomes 18 she can get away from her family and do what she considers “woodworking” meaning she will be able to do what she needs to for her to be fully Abigail and be like every other girl out there. Her plans are thrown into the trash though due to her falling in love as well as dealing with her unlikely friendship with her school teacher, Erica Skyberg, a trans woman who is struggling with still being in love with her ex-wife as well as fully being herself and going through the steps necessary to transition. Abigail does not want to become Erica’s “mom” and yet, she ends up doing that. She’s not afraid to fully be herself and though their friendship (and hiding of it) is an issue, they both can’t let the other one go. And I get why they did it. I have friends who are gay and trans. And as one put it, you want to be around others like you, because it’s safe.
The book takes place during 2016 and a local race as well as the looming Presidential race between Trump and Hillary Clinton going on. We all know how that ended up. And yet, St. James shows the hope that tons of people had for Hillary and the fear that many had rightfully so of Donald Trump and what it would mean to not be Christian and white.
Abigail was fierce. I felt like each chapter with her POV was the clearest part of the book for me. I felt at times she was sitting right there talking to me and the way it is written it shows that St. James was evoking that. It felt a bit like sitting down with a friend who is telling you all of the ugly, the great, the in between of their lives. I was worried throughout that something was going to happen to her. She’s dealing with a boy she loves being ashamed of her. Her parents, some siblings refusing to call her by her name and wanting her to go back to being something she is not.
Erica was a mess. You will want to shake her. But I get it. The book shows the scariness of what she is about to do and wants to do. To fully admit who she was all this time and the mask she had on by trying to be something she was not. I loved that St. James I think never showed what Erica’s prior name was. Instead you get the text redacted when someone calls her by it. I hated though there is a dead naming plot point with Abigail and I get why she reacted the way she did.
The other characters in this book are fantastic. There’s a huge spoiler about something, I won’t reveal, I want you to get to it and just scream like I did. I found it telling that person’s POV was in the second person, but I get why after you get through the book.
But the other characters like Caleb, Constance, Megan, and Abigail’s sister and her boyfriend, and the trans support group leader felt real to me throughout the book.
The plot and flow of the book worked great throughout even with the addition of the other person I am not going to spoil.
And then the ending. Ah the ending.
A Few Rules for Predicting the Future: An Essay by Octavia E. Butler
5.0
Wow. This was so well done. I loved the text and the illustrations. Butler talks about how easy it is to predict what is going to come based on the past and how she used that to inspire her writing.
This is organized around full main rules that I loved:
1. Learn from the Past
2. Respect the Laws of Consequence
3. Be Aware of Your Perspective
4. Count on the Surprises
And I loved how it ended:
This is organized around full main rules that I loved:
1. Learn from the Past
2. Respect the Laws of Consequence
3. Be Aware of Your Perspective
4. Count on the Surprises
And I loved how it ended:
So why try to predict the future at all if it's so difficult, so nearly impossible?
Because making predictions is one way to give warning when we see ourselves drifting in dangerous directions. Because prediction is a useful way of pointing out safer, wiser, courses. Because, most of all, our tomorrow is the child of our today. Through thought and deed, we exert a great deal of influence over this child, even though we can't control it absolutely. Best to think about it, though. Best to try to shape it into something good. Best do to that for any child.
Terrestrial History by Joe Mungo Reed
1.0
Did Not Finish 40 percent
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
I tried. But with the world and my current job the way it is. I am not doing one blessed thing this year that is not bringing me joy. Heck, sometimes I can read a book that I am not exactly hate reading, but I go into a "I am finishing this because what in the world is happening here and where is the author going?" mode. But sometimes, like this, I hit an, "I just don't care. I don't care about the characters, the journey, the ending. I refuse to keep reading this because it's doing my head in." mode.
I really did love the cover of this book when I saw it. I don't know with the world the way it is right now, it spoke to me. The book synopsis did too. I liked the idea of following four people in really separate timelines that end up being the key from humankind moving on from an Earth that is growing more inhabitable to a settlement on Mars.
"Terrestrial History" follows Hannah, who is working off the coast of Scotland and is a scientist working on fusion. Roban lives in the Colony (big C every time it is discussed which was jarring) where he dreams of Earth. And then you have Andrew and his daughter Kenzie who are taking up different sides about whether Earth can really come back the way it needs to for humankind to survive. Throw some time travel in (which honestly this book did not need that at all) and that's this book.
I have to say this upfront. This book was pretentious as hell. I don't know. It didn't hit me the right way at all. And I got tired of honestly just wading though paragraphs upon paragraphs about ethics, morality, etc. It didn't help the story is out of order. Just to let you readers know, the book plot is not written chronologically which made it hard to follow. I had to hunt to to look for who was speaking and what year it was at all times which was jarring. For example, Hannah is in whatever year. I can't tell you. At one point it just says Hannah no year so I assume that's present day? Roban is in year 2103, Kenzie and Andrew are in year 2071.
Hannah's chapters/perspectives were easier to wade into than Roban/Andrew/Kenzie. Each character perspective is told first person point of view and yet they all sound the same. And honestly that is what really did me in. I would assume these people in different points of time would "sound different" and they did not. At the 40 percent mark I gave up.
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
I tried. But with the world and my current job the way it is. I am not doing one blessed thing this year that is not bringing me joy. Heck, sometimes I can read a book that I am not exactly hate reading, but I go into a "I am finishing this because what in the world is happening here and where is the author going?" mode. But sometimes, like this, I hit an, "I just don't care. I don't care about the characters, the journey, the ending. I refuse to keep reading this because it's doing my head in." mode.
I really did love the cover of this book when I saw it. I don't know with the world the way it is right now, it spoke to me. The book synopsis did too. I liked the idea of following four people in really separate timelines that end up being the key from humankind moving on from an Earth that is growing more inhabitable to a settlement on Mars.
"Terrestrial History" follows Hannah, who is working off the coast of Scotland and is a scientist working on fusion. Roban lives in the Colony (big C every time it is discussed which was jarring) where he dreams of Earth. And then you have Andrew and his daughter Kenzie who are taking up different sides about whether Earth can really come back the way it needs to for humankind to survive. Throw some time travel in (which honestly this book did not need that at all) and that's this book.
I have to say this upfront. This book was pretentious as hell. I don't know. It didn't hit me the right way at all. And I got tired of honestly just wading though paragraphs upon paragraphs about ethics, morality, etc. It didn't help the story is out of order. Just to let you readers know, the book plot is not written chronologically which made it hard to follow. I had to hunt to to look for who was speaking and what year it was at all times which was jarring. For example, Hannah is in whatever year. I can't tell you. At one point it just says Hannah no year so I assume that's present day? Roban is in year 2103, Kenzie and Andrew are in year 2071.
Hannah's chapters/perspectives were easier to wade into than Roban/Andrew/Kenzie. Each character perspective is told first person point of view and yet they all sound the same. And honestly that is what really did me in. I would assume these people in different points of time would "sound different" and they did not. At the 40 percent mark I gave up.
Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
Not too much to say about this one, it's honestly a 3.5 star read, but I don't round up on my reviews anymore and just let you all know, this is not a 4 star read, but definitely not a 3 star read. I think parts of this worked really well, and others not so much. For me, I think it would have worked better if you had followed only Dani (current wife) versus Kim (ex-wife). That would have made the book flow so much better throughout and when you get to the reveals and what happened, then you can added in other characters such as Orlaith. I honestly thought the character of Mikayla didn't need to be included as a separate point of view, but Cox did include her and I found it puzzling we did not get a final point of view for her though we did get one for everyone else. I thought that was a hiccup at the end that I wish had been addressed.
"Party of Liars" follows the day before and day of Sophie Matthews's 16th birthday in Texas. The book starts off though with a tale of the home where a "Mother" grieves over the loss of her child almost 100 years ago. And now the Matthews's family that consists of Dani, her husband Ethan, and their daughter Charlotte live there.
Dani is stressed about an "incident" and making sure her stepdaughter Sophie has a great birthday. Kim is angry over a lot of things that occurred in her marriage, but most importantly losing the house that was such a part of her identity.
Orlaith is Dani's nanny and Mikayla is Sophie's childhood best friend. The book follows the three women and teenager through the day of the party. We get interludes here and there to let us know that something "tragic" occurred and the police are investigating. The entire book is just a countdown to whatever this incident was and you wondering who if any of these women and teen could potentially be the victim(s).
As I said above, if the book had just followed Dani and Kim it would have worked better. I think because it jumped so much between the four women and there was a huge Gothic vibe to it (which didn't get fully explored at all) the whole book felt erratic at times. I don't know if Cox wanted this to be a straight thriller or what at times.
The setting of this soulless house of glass just didn't feel very realistic to me though. I just can't imagine a house that is fully glass at one side in Texas. It didn't even sound like something that would make sense in that part of the country. I could see doing something like this in CA though.
I said in one of the updates to this book I thought the ending was very good and I still agree with that. I didn't see the reveals that we got coming at all and I even went back to re-read some things that came before. As I said above though, I wish that we had gotten Mikayla's point of view since we got everyone else's in the end.
Not too much to say about this one, it's honestly a 3.5 star read, but I don't round up on my reviews anymore and just let you all know, this is not a 4 star read, but definitely not a 3 star read. I think parts of this worked really well, and others not so much. For me, I think it would have worked better if you had followed only Dani (current wife) versus Kim (ex-wife). That would have made the book flow so much better throughout and when you get to the reveals and what happened, then you can added in other characters such as Orlaith. I honestly thought the character of Mikayla didn't need to be included as a separate point of view, but Cox did include her and I found it puzzling we did not get a final point of view for her though we did get one for everyone else. I thought that was a hiccup at the end that I wish had been addressed.
"Party of Liars" follows the day before and day of Sophie Matthews's 16th birthday in Texas. The book starts off though with a tale of the home where a "Mother" grieves over the loss of her child almost 100 years ago. And now the Matthews's family that consists of Dani, her husband Ethan, and their daughter Charlotte live there.
Dani is stressed about an "incident" and making sure her stepdaughter Sophie has a great birthday. Kim is angry over a lot of things that occurred in her marriage, but most importantly losing the house that was such a part of her identity.
Orlaith is Dani's nanny and Mikayla is Sophie's childhood best friend. The book follows the three women and teenager through the day of the party. We get interludes here and there to let us know that something "tragic" occurred and the police are investigating. The entire book is just a countdown to whatever this incident was and you wondering who if any of these women and teen could potentially be the victim(s).
As I said above, if the book had just followed Dani and Kim it would have worked better. I think because it jumped so much between the four women and there was a huge Gothic vibe to it (which didn't get fully explored at all) the whole book felt erratic at times. I don't know if Cox wanted this to be a straight thriller or what at times.
The setting of this soulless house of glass just didn't feel very realistic to me though. I just can't imagine a house that is fully glass at one side in Texas. It didn't even sound like something that would make sense in that part of the country. I could see doing something like this in CA though.
I said in one of the updates to this book I thought the ending was very good and I still agree with that. I didn't see the reveals that we got coming at all and I even went back to re-read some things that came before. As I said above though, I wish that we had gotten Mikayla's point of view since we got everyone else's in the end.
Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher
3.0
This one took a while to get going. I took my time on this one on purpose since I wanted a T. Kingfisher to savor that I knew would make me laugh a lot. This book really doesn't get going until the goblins and the elf healer (yeah there's a lot happening in this book) meet up and investigate a mysterious noise. Once that happened the book picked up in terms of plot and flow and I enjoyed it a lot. But due to the really really slow build up to things, I couldn't give this one more than three stars though it has lots of awesome things like a unicorn birth scene that has further repelled me in the whole nature of natural birth. Shit, give animals drugs too. And a goblin with a kitten, and another with a teddy bear that was one smart bear.
There's no sequel or prequel to this, so it is just from the mind of T. Kingfisher in a world where human, elves, goblins, warlocks, and humans run all over the place, yet there seems to be rules.
There's no sequel or prequel to this, so it is just from the mind of T. Kingfisher in a world where human, elves, goblins, warlocks, and humans run all over the place, yet there seems to be rules.