Raven Lane by Amber Cowie

Cover Art From GoodReads

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

This whole book was a hot mess. To start off, a couple is driving home from a party when the husband runs over one of the neighbors who is riding his bike. He is subsequently arrested, and the rest of the book alternates between how the couple got to that point and what happens to the husband after his arrest. I don't even want to touch the story within a story aspect because honestly it was so boring and kind of irrelevant that I skipped it. #sorrynotsorry

Honestly, everyone in this book sucked. None of them were likable characters. The victim used the wife in order to get a story for his next book, the wife was miserable due to trauma she couldn't talk about and so she made everyone else around her miserable, the husband was an addict who CLEARLY needed help, and everyone was trying to sleep with everyone else. I just kept waiting for there to be a point, and even after the *shocking* death toward the end, there still wasn't. It just abruptly ended. 

What even was this? 

The Dead Girl's Club by Damien Angelica Walters

I was given an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. 

I'll be honest, the cover is what drew me to this book in the beginning. I love the color scheme and the flowers. It looks like something I would use as my phone background. And of course the title is catchy as well. 

The story is about Heather, who as a child, had a group of friends who called themselves the "dead girl's club" where they essentially had their own true crime podcast before podcasts were a thing. One of their favorite topics, the Red Lady, (think Slenderman) was a belief that got too out of hand, and because of it their friend Becca died. The story goes back and forth between what happened the night Becca died, and who is stalking Hannah about it now. 

The whole time I was reading this I was reminded of the case in Wisconsin about the girls who stabbed their friend because "Slenderman" told them to do it. Frankly I didn't believe their story then, and I wasn't too taken with Hannah's story either. There's no way that at her age she honestly thought that she could stab her friend and put dirt in her mouth and that she would "come back". However, those feelings don't necessarily reflect on the book. I thought it was interesting, it held my attention, and I would definitely recommend it to my true crime readers. 

All About Evie by Cathy Lamb

Cover Image from GoodReads

I was given an eARC of this book in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. 

I really wanted to like this book. The premise with the premonitions seemed right up my alley. And the life changing discovery about the past? I called about two chapters in. This book wouldn't have been quite so awful if the characters weren't all completely obnoxious. 

Evie- "Oh I love Marco but we can't be together for reasons I won't disclose to him". " I love him so much even though I avoid him at all costs and have never even been on a date with him because I flat out refuse all of his advances". And then there's the fact that she is super judgy to her customers in her bookstore, trying to force them to read what she wants them to read rather than what they would actually like. If this was the real world, and not book world, she wouldn't have a business. 

Evie's sister who's name I can't even remember. Every time they asked her what she liked about her husband all she could talk about was how he was in bed. I don't know if that was supposed to be a joke or if the author thinks that is all it really takes to make a relationship work, but no. 

Then there's the police officer. He was an over the top harasser.  I know that sort of thing does happen, but it was like the author tried way too hard to make this cop seem like the bad guy, and it ended up just being very cringe. 

All in all, I was hardly invested in the story and was just ready for it to be over. I don't know that I'll be recommending this one to anyone. 

The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore

Cover Image from GoodReads

I was given an eARC of this book in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. 

This one was a ride, folks! I started and finished it within a few hours, because I just could NOT put it down. You know that if I stayed up until midnight, it was a good book, because I like my sleep. It was a fairly easy read, maybe except for the flashbacks not necessarily being denoted. I had to try and figure out whether we were in the jail cell with Lucy or if we were hearing how she got there. It disoriented me a bit, but didn't take away from the story as a whole. 

I love historical fiction. And women murderers intrigue me, so this was right up my alley. At first I was fully convinced that Lucy was a murderer and that she was probably a sociopath, but as I got further in, I started to feel sorry for her. She was definitely an unreliable narrator, but like so many other women of her time, Lucy was stuck dealing with a life she was handed because of the things that men did to her, rather than any decisions she made on her own. 

This book definitely makes you think long and hard about the death penalty. Lucy is awaiting her own execution, which she knows will be by hanging. There are people who are trying to get her execution stayed, not because they think she is innocent (as a matter of fact one of the people working to keep her alive hated her), but because they do not think that women should be subjected to death, because they are women. I guess that's score one for women of the times? 

If women murderers and unreliable narrators are your thing, check this book out. It was published earlier this month, so it's available in stores and online!

Dear Girls by Ali Wong

Cover Image from NetGalley

*I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own*.

This book was published in October 2019, so I am still catching up with reviews, but am getting closer!

I am a fan of Ali Wong's stand up, and have seen both of her Netflix specials. Haven't seen her movie yet, but I'm working on it. With that being said, it made me enjoy this book because I knew what type of humor to expect. Ali is a bit on the vulgar side, has no issues talking intimate details about her sex life, giving birth, etc. If that's not your cup of tea, you're gonna have a hard time reading this book. 

I think she did a good job mixing motherly advice with her normal comedy. I grew up in a fairly prudish household. I'm almost 30 and my mom and I have never had the sex talk-- my best friend's mom gave it to us! I would like to be a healthy mix of both ends of the spectrum with my own daughter. I want her to know that she can ask me whatever embarrassing thing pops into her head, but shouldn't expect me to give her all the dirty details of my own life. There's just some things she doesn't need to know! 

With that being said, this was a quick read, because it entertained me so much that I couldn't put it down. If you're a fan of Wong's (or raunchy female comedy in general) feel free to check this one out! 

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones

Cover art from GoodReads

I was given an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. 

The Better Liar  hit stores today. For fans of thrillers, this one is a fairly decent one. It was a bit slow to start off, but about 50% of the way through I couldn't put it down. I'm sure I looked strange reading it at my desk on my phone, but I had to know what was going on. 

The story starts with Leslie looking for her sister Robin, in order to get some money she needs from their deceased father's estate. The problem is that Robin is dead, and there is only Mary, a look alike actress with an unknown past. Mary agrees to pretend to be Robin to help Leslie, but there's a huge twist to it all. It's hard to go into any more detail without spoiling, and I don't want to do that. 

I will say that I saw one of the twists coming, I just wasn't sure WHY it was the way it was until the end. This book kept me guessing just enough to make me want to read but not enough so that I was confused and frustrated. 

Trigger Warning: In this book there is a description of miscarriage, suicide, and a fairly accurate description of postpartum depression. That last one is a resounding theme throughout the book, and having read the author's note at the end where she says she is not a mother, I was impressed with her ability to write about PPD knowing she had not suffered from it herself. 

Not to get on my soapbox, but PPD is more common than we tend to think. It is something that is not widely talked about, because it can make the sufferer feel like she is unnatural or like she is a failure at being a mother. The truth is that being a mom is HARD. Everyone has their struggles, and if we don't talk about it, we're all just going to suffer in silence. And that's not doing anyone any good. I admire Tanen Jones for taking a taboo subject and starting a much needed conversation on it. 

Against the Rules by Laura Heffernan

Cover Art From GoodReads

*I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.*

So, this book has already been published. I believe it hit the shelves some time in October, but I'm too lazy to go back and look to be sure. I am super behind on my reviews, as per usual, but I'm workin' on it!

Also want to point out, because the description from NetGalley didn't, this is the second book in a series. It wasn't super confusing not having read the first one, but there were references made to the couple that the first book was about that of course I didn't understand. Didn't take away from the over all quality of the book.

Alright, so here we go. Our main character, Holly, has sworn off men after her ex not only cheated on her, he embezzled all of their money and tried to implicate her in his crimes. Can't really say I blame her at that point, but her best friend, Gwen, is encouraging her to get back into the dating scene. What Gwen doesn't know though, is that Holly has a crush on someone already-- Gwen's dad.

The premise was a bit odd to me, mainly because I didn't have friends with hot dads, so that wasn't ever a thought in my head, but I liked the inclusion of board game play and I actually really enjoyed the relationship between Holly and Nathan. There was a bit of a love triangle, but it was super obvious where the whole thing was going.

All in all, this was a CUTE, easy read. Little bit of sex, not enough to make my grandma blush, but enough to maybe not let your preteen read the book. We don't have this series in our library but I would be interested in reading both the first and the third books in this series.