Breaking Up Is Hard to Do... But You Could've Done Better by Hilary Campbell

This is an older book that I happened to find a copy of on NetGalley. All opinions are mine.

So. I've been listening to and reading some pretty heavy stuff lately. Just comes with the mood I've been in, I guess. This book was a super quick read but it entertained me in a way that I didn't know I needed. Essentially the author drew a picture to tell the story of a bad breakup of hers, and it cheered her up, so she decided to take people's worst breakup stories and illustrate them, just to make the world a bit of a happier place. I sped through this like it was a Facebook meme page, but it was cute and it made me laugh. If you're in a bad mood or going through a crappy breakup, this is definitely a pick me up and a reminder that it could always be worse.

The Dark Side by Danielle Steel

Image from Goodreads.com

I was given an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my thoughts. All opinions are mine. 

As I've mentioned before, Danielle Steel's books are one of my guilty pleasures. Those are usually the fluff books that I read when I don't want to have to think too hard about what I'm reading; like background noise- but with books. So, despite the name and the ominous looking cover, I expected more of the same out of this novel. Hoooo boy was I ever wrong. This one made me stop and check a few times to make sure I was actually reading one of DS's books. 

The story starts out with two sisters, one of which is diagnosed with a severe form of cancer. She dies young. The remaining sister, our main character, Zoe, essentially learns to take care of herself because her parents are too busy recovering from losing their child to worry about the one they have left. She grows up, and eventually has a child of her own, Jaime. 

Jaime is a problem child from the beginning. She won't nurse, she has acid reflux, colic, all normal things for a baby, but terrifying for someone who had a sister die at a young age. As she gets older, Jaime starts to have more and more "accidents" including broken bones, animal bites, and almost drowning. We begin to wonder if there is something more sinister than just a clumsy child going on. 

Honestly, I sort of called it after the broken arm, mainly because I just finished watching/reading/researching everything I could about the Gypsy Rose Blanchard (I refuse to put an E at the end of that because that's NOT how my maiden name is spelled or pronounced) case, and I knew where it was going, but it didn't make the book any less terrifying. As a mother who gave birth to a premature child, I prayed for weeks on end that my baby would learn to breathe on her own and be okay, I cannot imagine intentionally putting her in harm's way. I felt so bad for the dad, because as much as his baby loved her mom, he knew that getting her away was the best thing for her. 

All in all, this was not a typical HEA Danielle Steel sort of read, but I enjoyed it. It reminded me of why I fell in love with her books in the first place. It was an emotional read, for sure, but one that will stick with me for a while. 

Beneath the Attic by V C Andrews (or Andrew Neiderman)

Image from GoodReads

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own*

I picked up my first book by V C Andrews when I was about 12. I believe it was one of the books in the "Landry" series. I was at my grandmother's house and I found it in her bedroom, and being from Louisiana, thought hey let's read this! Since then I've read just about all of the books that I could get my hands on. I will say that I stopped with probably the Orphans series, and haven't read too many since then. Looking back as an adult there's no way in hell I'd let my 12 year old read these, but hey... the early 2000s were a different time. 

Anyway, on to Beneath the Attic. This is another book in the Dollanganger series (Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind...etc). This particular book tells the story of the first Corrine, great grandmother to the kids left in the attic in the original story. In Andrews' books we never actually find out what happens to the first Corrine, just that she leaves her husband and her son to be with her lover. This betrayal is what spurns her son (Malcom) into being the God fearing woman hating character that he becomes later on in the series. At first I thought it would be interesting to find out what happened to Corrine, but while reading the book it was just a big cluster. First of all, in the series Garland is painted as a happy go lucky, friendly man; the opposite of his son. In this story however, it's almost as though he has a dark side, never mentioned in the original books, not to mention a weird fascination with his mother. (Isn't that a running theme in all of these books though?) I wasn't overly fond of the ending either, because it doesn't really tell us anything, just left a stupid cliffhanger that you can tell was only done so that the author can bank on another book. NOW FOR THE WORST PART. THE PART THAT SET MY INSIDES ON FIRE. My favorite book was mentioned in this one. Normally, I'd love a Gone With the Wind reference. However, THIS BOOK IS SET IN THE 1890s. GWTW wasn't published until 1936. So unless Corrine was a mind reader or time traveler, there's no way she would have known to compare herself to Scarlette O'Hara. 

Side note, the publication date of GWTW was easily found in a Google search, which was clearly more research than the ghostwriter did before putting all of this together. Reading this honestly just made me want to not read any of them ever again, because it was disappointing.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

I'm a bit late on posting this, as this book came out a month ago, and we already have copies of it in our library, however, the copy I read was an ARC given to me by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. These opinions are my own. 

I'll admit I was a bit biased when I first picked up this book, and I knew I was most likely going to like it, because I've liked everything else I've ever read by Riley Sager, especially The Final Girls. So this could have easily met my expectations or it could have bombed spectacularly. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. 

Jules, the main character in our story, agrees to "apartment sit" for a few months in one of Manhattan's most prominent apartment buildings, the Bartholomew. There are all sorts of weird rules, and her friend tries to tell her that it doesn't sound like a good idea, but since she is desperate for money, Jules does it anyway. While there, she meets a girl named Ingrid who abruptly disappears in the middle of the night, and pretty soon while trying to find Ingrid, she ends up having to save herself. 

This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. I figured out about 2/3 of the way in what was going on and who was doing what, but that didn't take away from the story, nor did it terrify me any less. I don't want to go into too much detail because this is one of those stories you have to read for yourself, but let's just say that even in my WORST nightmares, I couldn't imagine having to go through this. As always, Sager's book was an absolute ride, and I will definitely read anything and everything else he puts out. 

How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. These opinions are my own. 

This book was published on July 30 so if you're interested in it, you should definitely check it out! 

When I first read the premise of this book, it spoke to my soul. Our main character, Mel, is a tech specialists where she fixes computers for "tech gods" who don't have near the amount of knowledge that she does. After one too many bad online dates, she creates a website where girls can log their experiences with jerks, along with their names, photos, and ages. As expected, the site blows up. While all of this is going on, Mel is also starting to fall for Alex, one of her coworkers. 

Before I met my husband, like Mel, I went on bad date after bad date myself. I unfortunately was also the UNWILLING recipient of many a picture of a random male's genitalia. So I absolutely understood her frustrations and where she was coming from when she created her website. I also felt her frustration being a girl in a predominately male filled technology field. I can imagine what it's like to bow down to a bunch of men who are "more important than you" just because they are men, even when you're smarter than they are. The number of times I read "girls can't code for shit" was frustrating. (Side note, I am a female, and while I CAN do basic coding, it's not my jam). Every girl has that moment where she feels less than, because society tells us that as women, we ARE less than. This book was a charming story of one girl's comeuppance against her male counterparts. She got to be smart and got the guy in the end. 

This was a seriously cute book. It was an easy and fun read, and I can totally see recommending it for the 20 Somethings crowd, especially those who love a HEA like I do.