Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell

July 6, 2025

Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell

After 12 years, Orla O'Connell returns to Hadley Island, her childhood home, to get her family's old house ready for sale. She left the island after her best friend Alice mysteriously disappeared. Orla is shocked to find her teenage crush David Clarke is in residence at his family's summer home, along with his beautiful girlfriend Faith. But David is busy with work, leaving Faith plenty of time to snoop around and investigate the town and David's family.

A quick read, the kind of thing you can read/skim in one day. Atmospheric, although somewhat predictable and it dragged at times. Familiar themes: rich nasty family, poor girl with secrets in her past hooking up with a rich guy, a woman return to her hometown after years away, small town with suspicious residents who know everyone and their business, odd local man who is a natural target, lots of secrets. The characters were all shallow and unlikeable, the narrators somewhat unreliable. The premise appealed to me since I usually like a cold case mystery, so I was disappointed in this one. Suitable for a beach or poolside read, or an at-home read when it's 90+ degrees outside and you're stuck in the house.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

February 27, 2020

Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

Judy Vogel wrote a highly successful children’s book that became a children’s television series, but she hasn’t been able to write another book.  Her current job is writing 300-400 word articles for a wellness site, producing three or four articles a day.  Not only does Judy have writer’s block, but she also feels totally disconnected from everyone she knows.  She is separated from her husband Gary, but they can’t afford to live in separate residences because Gary works as a part-time snackologist and spends large amounts of time smoking pot.  So Gary lives in their basement and Judy and their teen-aged son Teddy live upstairs.  While working on de-cluttering their storage area, Judy comes across a baby sling left from when her son was born.  On impulse, she slips the sling over her head and puts Charlotte, the family’s Sheltie in the sling.  For the first time in years, Judy feels a connection to another living being.  Meanwhile, their son attends a Montessori school that is also in crisis.

I initially picked up this title because of the cover art, a woman wearing a baby sling with a small dog’s head sticking out.  While depression is a main theme, there is also commentary on marriage, parenting, and progressive education.  There is just enough humor to keep the story from wallowing in sadness.  We have one of those wellness sites where I work so I know the kind of peppy little useless articles that Judy writes.

At age 50, Judy feels invisible:  not only is her marriage falling apart and her son doesn’t need her anymore, her best friend and editor is dying of cancer and she is crushingly lonely.  Wearing the dog in a sling at least attracts some (mostly) harmless attention.  Maybe that’s why middle-aged men buy a Corvette, divorce their wives of 25 years, and get a trophy wife – anything so that they can feel someone SEES them (never mind how people see them).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.