It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover -- This book came highly recommended to me, but when I read the Goodreads description, it left me wanting. I decided to give it a go anyway and was glad I did. It walked an interesting line...parts of it felt like a romance novel, parts of it like a YA novel, and other parts definitely NOT suited to the YA crowd. As Goodreads says, "this book contains graphic scenes and very sensitive subject matter". Trigger warning for some domestic violence. I thought it really brought it home towards the end with the choices the main character makes. If anyone else has read it would be interested to hear what you thought of it!
3 1/2 - 4 stars
I Let You Go - Clare Mackintosh -- One of my favorite books I've read all year. Also came highly recommended, this time via one of the hosts of The Popcast, Jamie Golden. (side note: if you're not listening to The Popcast, get on it. You're welcome.) Also just realizing the second book on this list with some domestic violence themes. Not sure what that's about. BUT this is a FANTASTIC book... you'll think it's a "pretty good" read until about halfway through and then BAM! World rocked. I think I tore through it in about a day. So, so good.
5 stars
The Likeness - Tana French -- The second book in the Dublin Mystery Squad series. I use the word "series" lightly because each story is pretty independent of the one before it. The main tie-in between each book is a character, someone who was a minor character in the prior book is a main character with their own story in the next one. This one focuses on Cassie, an undercover cop who's a doppelganger for a young woman who's found murdered. The cops don't tell her eccentric friends / roommates that she's dead, instead sending Cassie in undercover as the young woman to find out who killed her. I thought parts of the story line got slightly repetitive, but overall a good read.
3 1/2 stars
Faithful Place - Tana French -- The third book in the Dublin Mystery Squad series and, so far my favorite. This one focuses on a side character from The Likeness, Frank, who was Cassie's supervisor in her undercover operations. I thought it did a fantastic job of fleshing out dysfunctional family dynamics, especially in places like a small neighborhood in Ireland where everybody knows everybody's business and tempers can run high. Add in a 20+ year old cold case mystery and it's even better. I picked up the fourth book from the library yesterday, so that might make this list too if I finish it by then.
4 stars
Orphan Train - Christina Baker Kline -- Another favorite book of this year. The story moves back and forth in time, focusing partially on a girl who is about to age out of the foster-care system and has to do community service. This service takes the form of helping an elderly widow clean out her attic and, in the process, we learn the elderly woman's story of being an Irish immigrant in NYC, orphaned and forced to take one of the "Orphan Trains" to the midwest in the hopes of being adopted there. The fact that the orphan trains were a real thing makes it even more compelling. Extremely well-written and another one I found hard to put down.
5 stars
The Forgetting Time - Sharon Guskin -- So many good books on the list this month. This was another one. I think reader opinion may vary depending on level of skepticism in terms of subject matter... which I won't spell out so I don't spoil it. Regardless of whether you find it believable or not, it was still a great read. Again with a cold-case mystery added in for good measure.
3 1/2 - 4 stars
It's been a good time for reading! Can't wait to link up and see what everyone else is into!
I Let You Go - Clare Mackintosh -- One of my favorite books I've read all year. Also came highly recommended, this time via one of the hosts of The Popcast, Jamie Golden. (side note: if you're not listening to The Popcast, get on it. You're welcome.) Also just realizing the second book on this list with some domestic violence themes. Not sure what that's about. BUT this is a FANTASTIC book... you'll think it's a "pretty good" read until about halfway through and then BAM! World rocked. I think I tore through it in about a day. So, so good.
