The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

August 20, 205

The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

Vic Kemp's four adult children have always been obsessed with him. A neglectful father, he left them to the care of a series of au pairs while he drank, had affairs, and painted commercially successful but not critically acclaimed paintings. At the age of 76, he shocks his children by marrying a woman 50 years his junior who he met online in a chat room and had known for only four months. Shortly after the marriage, Vic is found dead at the family's Italian vacation house, drowned in the lake. The four siblings rush to Italy to find out what really happened, and more importantly, to find his will and his final painting that was supposed to be his masterpiece.

I really enjoyed the author's first two Harold Frye books as well as Miss Benson's Beetle, but this story was very disappointing. It was billed as a mystery but it's a family drama about four adults in their 30s who are completely emotionally dependent on their artist father, dealing with the fallout from his sudden death. I almost DNF at 35% because the story was so slow moving and there didn't seem to be much more to say about any of them. I did a lot of skimming after that. The story gets a little more interesting at about 65% and is essentially over at 75%, at which point it becomes a different story and goes on for another 100 or so pages before it finally fizzles out. If you like The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, you might like this too. Otherwise, can't get those hours back.

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

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith

July 1, 2025

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith

The four Endicott siblings have been estranged for several years. When sister Jude, a well-known actress, summons them to meet in North Dakota on short notice, they are all curious enough about why, that they drop what they are doing to travel there in the middle of winter. 

Disappointing. Based on the title font and colorful cheerful cover and the blurb that it was “joy-filled,” I was expecting a happier story. Instead it was a tear-jerker with uber drama. There was enough foreshadowing that I had a pretty good idea where the plot was going, although it took a long time and loads of stupid ideas to get there. I know a lot of readers really liked this book and the travel sections were okay, but overall I found it depressing, especially the ending. 

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

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey by Astrid Dahl

June 30, 2025

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey by Astrid Dahl

Eden Bennett is the producer of Garden State Goddesses, a reality show based around a group of rich women who spend all their time sniping at each other, when they’re not treating everyone else like crap. 

Another mystery based on reality TV, this one on a franchise like the Real Housewives. Usually I enjoy books that are campy and have quirky characters, and this sounded like it would be a fun read. But it was a real slog and I skimmed most of the book. I’m not a fan of reality TV, and I don’t watch the Real Housewives but I know the basic formula. Nothing really happened for the first 2/3 of the book, then finally one of the characters got murdered. Can’t get those hours back. Not recommended.

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

The Real Housewives of New Jersey, who aren't anymore housewives than I am

Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

June 19, 2025

Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

Catalina is a senior at Harvard, an aspiring writer who has worked a variety of unpaid internships, trying to figure out where she belongs. Born in Ecuador, she was sent to the United States to live with her grandparents following the death of her parents. Searching for love and romance, Catalina harbors a secret that can impact her future.

DNF at 51% - this was all over the place. It was like the author had a bunch of different stories that she just lumped together into one long stream of consciousness piece with no real plot or storyline, just a "year in the life." Did not care for the main character - extremely self-focused with no character growth, immature and pretentious at the same time. Actually, I didn't care for any of the characters. FYI, this is NOT dark academia - dark academia is Donna Tartt's The Secret History and others like it. The subject matter is important (the experiences of the undocumented living in the U.S., South American history and culture) so it's unfortunate that I found it so unreadable. Fans of the style of Sally Rooney or Dolly Alderton will probably enjoy it.

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

Ecuador

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

May 22, 2025

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

Patch McCauley (whose real name is Joseph) is a 13 year old living in a small Missouri town with his mother Ivy. His best friend is Saint, who live with her grandmother Norma, a bus driver in the town. Patch has only one eye and has always been obsessed by pirates since he wears an eye patch over his missing eye. Nothing much happens in their town until one morning on his way to school, Patch sees a man attempting to abduct his schoolmate Misty. Misty gets away but all the police can find of Patch is his missing eye patch and a lot of blood.

Disappointing. It took me forever to slog through this. This is another of those love it or hate it books. I heard that it meandered around a lot and that it was more literary fiction than mystery, which is fine with me if I know what to expect. I loved the first hundred or so pages, thought the characters were great, but it lost me when the two kids were locked in the basement. The center section of the book just drags, and it's way too long. I skimmed the last 2/3 of the book and then read the ending. Didn't miss much. I came to hate most of the characters, too. It's like the author had ideas for a couple of different storylines and decided to just jumble them together. An editor should have cut out a couple of hundred pages and made it a better book. Reminded me of Demon Copperhead, which everyone else loved and I didn't. I should know by now that whenever a book is selected by a celebrity or TV book club, I'm probably going to hate it. But at least those book clubs get people who otherwise never read a book, to pick one up. Can't get those hours back.

The Wealth of Shadows by Graham Moore

May 19, 2025

The Wealth of Shadows by Graham Moore

In 1939, an assorted group of monetary experts from the U.S. Treasury Department set out to crash the German economy.

A look at World War II history from a different angle, this time from a monetary/economic perspective, based on actual events and people. Billed as a page-turning gripping spy thriller, it's not that at all and certainly not what I was expecting. It's slow-moving for one thing, with a lot of discussion about economic theory in the first part of the book. I also didn't find the characters all that engaging, although there is some witty dialogue among some of the characters but not enough to keep me interested, and I found myself skimming over a lot of parts. Some readers called it fascinating and it probably is to the right reader, who obviously isn't me. Not recommended unless you are into economic theory in minute detail. Or need something to help you get to sleep.

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

Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

October 19. 2024

Old God's Time by.Sebastian Barry

Tom Kettle is a retired detective living in a small town on the Irish Sea. Two young detectives come to visit him to talk about reopening a case from ten years earlier. Their visit stirs up old memories for Tom, about his wife and children as well as his career.

DNF at about 40%. I loved Barry's earlier book Days Without End, but this one just dragged. The narrator on the audiobook seemed flat. Disappointing, not recommended.

Kismet by Amina Akhtar

October 26, 2023

Kismet by Amina Akhtar

Ronnie Khan moves from Queens, NY, to Sedona, AZ, to follow her friend, wellness fanatic and wannabe guru Marley Dewhurst. Ronnie wants to escape her family and pursue her own wellness journey. But Ronnie hates every minute of the wellness regime and almost everything about the desert, except the birds. Early one morning while the two women are out on a hike, they find human remains out in the desert. It turns out to be a well-known wellness coach, and Marley sees it as an opportunity for her to grow her following and get free publicity. But that's not the only body that turns up, and Ronnie starts to wonder if there is a serial killer on the loose.

This was an Amazon First Reads freebie, and fairly typical of the monthly offerings. I rarely download any of the free books, but this one sounded like a decent thriller and something that I would enjoy reading. I hesitate to call this a thriller or suspense, since there wasn't any. Overall it was disappointing, since none of the characters are likeable and appear to be caricatures, and they are all shallower than a puddle. I really didn't care what happened to any of them. Not recommended.

Scenic Sedona

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

September 12, 2023

Red and her father are itinerant entertainers (don't call them gypsies), barely scraping by doing magic shows and telling fortunes. After her father's death, Red is taken in by a wealthy gentleman who lives in Bath and raised as a lady. She is skilled at fortune telling and entertains acquaintances by reading their cards. Many years later, Red finds a number of mysterious items in a trunk that belonged to her father, including an astrological chart and a legal document. She begins to suspect that her mother was part of an aristocratic family that disowned her when she married Red's father. Red sets out to learn the truth about her past.

DNF. I went into this book thinking that I would really enjoy it. But it was long, well over 500 pages, and SLOOOOW. The plot seemed clever but it took too long to get moving. I gave up about 1/3 of the way in and skipped to the ending and read the last two chapters, which filled in the previous 300 pages. Both plot and characters would have been better served by less minute detail and an editor whacking out about 100 pages. If you like long winding stories with loads of characters and a plot that doesn't move very fast and is loaded with minutiae, you will probably enjoy this historical novel.

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

Bath, England - the original wellness spa

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Bennett

December 9, 2022

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Bennett

On the first Christmas following her death, Liliana Armitage-Feathers has arranged for her surviving family to assemble at Endgame House, the family's country house. Every Christmas, they play a game, following clues that lead them to their Christmas presents. This year will be no different, except the clues will lead them to the ultimate holiday gift: the deed to Endgame House.

The Westing Game meets Clue (or Cluedo, it you're a Brit). I love mysteries set in country houses but this one was disappointing. The author was so focused on showing the reader how clever she is, that she neglected to use that same focus on the mystery. I had a good idea pretty early on about who was the murderer and who was working behind the scenes. I always read a few seasonal books, and this is my last Christmas mystery for 2022.

Disappointing.

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

Christmas at an English Country House - always wanted a place like this

The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang

October 20, 2022

The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang

Nora Wilder disappeared five years ago, and her two daughters, Zadie and Finn, have no idea why or where she went. Both sisters have a sixth sense: Zadie is a psychic and Finn is able to enter other people's memories and dreams. They wonder if maybe their mother had a sixth sense too, and if it had something to do with why she left. Shortly after Finn's high school graduation, the sisters plan to take a beach vacation in Galveston. But when Finn finds herself in a memory that can only belong to her mother, they decide instead that they need to go search for Nora.

DNF. I have the feeling that the author thought up a cool title and decided to write a book around it. I'm not really a fan of magical realism, and if I had known that was the major theme, I would not have requested this title from NetGalley. I usually enjoy books about missing persons but I didn't connect with the characters at all - too much crap about boyfriends and stuff like Psychic Karaoke. Also, the author's wandering style didn't appeal to me either. Maybe younger readers will like it better, or if you're a fan of magical realism like Alice Hoffman, you'll probably like this book a lot more than I did.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing an eARC.

The Matrix by Lauren Groff

April 14, 2022

The Matrix by Lauren Groff

In the late 12th century, 17 year old Marie de France was exiled from France by Eleanor of Aquitaine. Unattractive and ungainly, Marie was deemed to be unmarriageable and unfit for court life, so she was sent to England to become the prioress at an abbey. Accustomed to the luxury of court life, the abbey was a rude shock for Marie, since it was poor and rural. Devotion to the sisters at the abbey replaced Marie's desire for her family, homeland, and court life, and she quickly turned the abbey into a show place. Marie wrote poetry and sent at least one of her books to King Henry II of England.

With the exception of the facts that she lived in the late 12th century and wrote poetry, that whole paragraph is a fiction, which means that 95% of the book is pure fiction. Marie was a real person but her actual name is unknown - the nom de plume of Marie de France is taken from a like in one of her books. The author drew on the life of Marie d'Anjou, another person entirely, to write about Marie de France's life.

Marie sounds like a fascinating subject and I wanted to love this book but was seriously disappointed. Marie gets to England and makes short work of vanquishing poverty, disease, hunger, prejudice, and misogyny at the abbey, without much effort. Her writings are mentioned only briefly. I could have done without the lesbian love angle, too.

The only known picture of Marie de France

The Maid by Nita Prose

March 17, 2022

The Maid by Nita Prose

Molly Gray is a maid at a posh London hotel. She is on the autism spectrum, and until recently, lived with her grandmother who helped interpret life for Molly, explained how to deal with new situations, and taught her how to interact with other people. Now that her grandmother is gone, Molly is trying to learn how to manage life on her own. She loves to clean and observe proper etiquette, which make her a perfect maid. Her world is thrown into chaos when a regular hotel guest is found dead in his room and she finds herself caught up in a web of deceit. Fortunately for Molly, she has friends who help her sort through the clues about what really happened to the guest.

This is one of the few books that I didn't finish. Based on early reviews, I expected to really enjoy it and was disappointed. I couldn't stand the narrator/main character. Half of the time she's totally clueless, and the other half of the time she is incredibly sharp and clever. The author also tried to address too many social issues and illegal activities. Some parts, like the courtroom scenes, are just silly. Early reviews and publisher's prose compared the book to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, which was the first and best of the books to have a narrator who was on the autism spectrum. I have not really enjoyed any of the others that I've read.

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

March 5, 2022

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

The Hildebrandt family is a fucked-up mess. The father is the assistant paster at one of those mega-churches, tired of his wife Marion, ogling one of the parishioners, and feuding with the youth pastor. The wife has a dark secret of her own (maybe more than one). They have four kids: the oldest is obsessed with sex and wants to quit college and enlist in the army and go to Vietnam; the daughter is in the middle of first love; the second son is 10 years old, brainy, drinks gin and sells 'Ludes at school; and the youngest, Judson, who is the only one with any redeeming qualities so of course, he's practically ignored for the whole book.

Annoying, unlikeable, uninteresting characters, focused on petty shit. This is supposed to be the first of a trilogy, but in my opinion, he doesn't need to write anything more about these people. Way WAY too long. Needed a good editor. Took too long to set up any kind of story (because there really isn't a plot). As much as I loved Franzen's first book, The Corrections, all of his books after that first one have been kind of boring. 

A mega-church

We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange

November 23, 2021

We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange

When 29 year old Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital after a drunk driving accident, she has no choice but to move back home to her family in New York. It's an awkward situation to say the least, since she ran off five years earlier with no explanation to her family or fiance. 

I picked this up since it was supposed to be similar to another book that I read and really enjoyed (Say Again, Yes). But the characters are all boring, and Sunday's reason for leaving in the first place was really stupid. There's too much drama and the story line is predictable. Disappointing - I really should know better by now.

One by One by Ruth Ware

November 9, 2021

One by One by Ruth Ware

A corporate retreat goes horribly wrong when a mixed group of co-workers and stockholders find themselves stranded at a luxurious mountain chalet after an avalanche. Normally, it wouldn't be too awful to be stuck at a luxury resort, but the power goes out, the heat goes off, and the food supply is dwindling. Most of the participants already hate each other, and the news that a corporate takeover is in the works doesn't help their feelings for each other. One by one, the group members are being killed off.

I find Ruth Ware's books to be hit or miss - sometimes they're great, and other times they suck. This is not her best. It's yet another riff on Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None," except the characters are stuck on a mountain rather than an island. It's also too long - don't publishing houses have editors any more? I know she's a high grossing author but someone should have helped her whack out 50-100 pages of drivel. I also didn't care about any of the characters - most of them are whiny and entitled, and the others are totally weak.

Ruth Ware has a new book that just came out. I'm going to give her one more try. If the next book sucks as bad as this one, I'm done with her and we'll be breaking up.

Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by C. J. Archer

September 27, 2021

Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by C. J. Archer

After the death of her beloved grandmother and guardian, orphaned Cleopatra Fox moves into the luxurious London hotel owned by her uncle, just as they are preparing for the holiday season. But the poisoning of a hotel guest throws everything into chaos. It seems no one can be trusted, not even the handsome and charming assistant manager. With the hotel's future hanging by a thread, Cleo must find the killer before the hotel's famous New Year's Ball.

This is the first book in a series and I didn't like it enough to continue. The main character jumped to conclusions and accused people haphazardly, resulting in two people losing their jobs. The side characters are much more interesting and much more developed than the main character. There is good historical detail about London at the end of the 19th century.

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly

July 15, 2021

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly

A girl from a wealthy Northern family isn't content to sit home and knit socks for the Union soldiers, so she finagles her way into a nursing program. She finds out that nurses are treated like shit by the doctors and orderlies at the Army hospitals. She ends up starting her own nursing program. Meanwhile, a slave escapes from a brutally cruel owner and winds up hiding out at the rich girl's fmily's house up north. The owner sends a bounty hunter to recapture the slave while the rich family does their best to help.

The story is told from three POV's: the plantation owner, the slave, and the nurse.

Nothing new here - inhumanly cruel plantation owner with absolutely NO redeeming qualities whips and tortures her slaves. Female slave is brutally abused and escapes when she gets the chance. Plantation owner will stop at nothing to find the slave and drag her back to the plantation. Pretty typical depictions of both slave and plantation owner.

The stark descriptions of Army hospitals and the way nurses were treated were more interesting than the rest of the book. This is the third book in the author's Woolsey-Ferriday series, following the women from an actual family. It was WAY too long - at over 500 pages, it needed a good editor to chop out about 200 pages. Not nearly as good as the previous two books.

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

July 1, 2021

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

Mia Eliot is an English starlet looking for her break-through role. She has had some success in England and her agent arranges for her to audition for several potential roles during pilot week in Hollywood. While at one of the auditions, she meets another actor named Emily, who leaves some personal items with Mia and then disappears. Mia is the last person to have seen her and the more she tries to track her down, the more she begins to wonder if Emily really exists or if it is all a hoax.

This one had an interesting premise and usually I really like books about missing persons, but I had problems with the plot almost from the start. The main character is TSTL (romance novel-speak for Too Stupid To Live). She makes the worst possible decision at every turn. Yes, I realize that if characters in novels made sensible choices, there would be no story and the book would be four pages long. But come on - characters need to exercise SOME brain power for the reader to feel something for them - you have to feel like they're trying. For example: if you knew someone intended to kill you, would anyone agree to meet that person at a remote location and then follow them to a place where there is NO chance anyone can help you or even hear you? I mean, seriously, suspense is one thing, pure undiluted stupidity is another.

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

Actors waiting to audition

The House of Brides by Jane Cockram

October 27, 2019

House of Brides by Jane Cockram

When she gets caught lying about the products she was selling, wannabe influencer Miranda Courtenay is broke, jobless, and publicly shamed.  After her wealthy father pays her bills, gets an Internet fixer to repair her reputation, and finds her a decent job, Miranda repays him by stealing his American Express number and booking a flight from her home in Australia to England where her mother grew up.  Ostensibly seeking answers about the mother who passed away when she was a child, Miranda decides to masquerade as an applicant for a nanny position with the family.

So disappointing.  I thought I was going to love this book since it has so many great themes that I enjoy:  creepy old house, creepy characters, family secrets, scandals, unreliable narrator, hidden identities, isolation, missing person, gothic vibe.  It was none of those things.  I ended up almost not finishing it, but since I received an e-ARC in return for a review, I felt like I had to finish it and started skimming about 1/3 of the way in.  I was really hoping that there would be some twists and reveals that would redeem the poor writing.  No such luck.  Unfortunately, ALL of the characters are unlikable, and the main character Miranda is also downright stupid and unbelievably impulsive and immature.  If Miranda would have just told them who she was and asked about her mother, her relatives (and everyone in the town) would have told her what she wanted to know, since several characters were only too happy to spill everything they knew at the end.

It seems like the writer was trying to emulate Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, since the names of some of the characters are the same or very similar.  But there is no comparison - just go read Rebecca or watch the movie instead of this.  There was so much pointless description and dialogue, and a lot of other characters telling Miranda what had happened before she arrived.  The plot was unbelievable and just kind of fizzles out.  Since this was an ARC, I’m hoping that an editor at the publishing house will go through this with a big red pen and fix this very rough draft.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an e-ARC in return for a review (and I’m sorry I couldn’t give it a better review).