book reviews

1. Girl Gone Mad – I love a good twisty murder mystery and this one was really enjoyable. Emily Bennett was part of a middle school clique of 6 girls called the Harpies. They were popular but cruel and accepted the new girl Grace Farmer into their group though they tormented her from the beginning. Now the 6 girls have grown up and one by one they are disappearing and Emily decides to figure out if these tragic deaths are connected to their past. Rating: 8.5

2. The Hunting Party – I love Lucy Foley’s novels but this one was very similar to another book I read recently and was a bit predictable. Still a good read but I pretty much figured out the details early on. A group of college friends reunite 10 years later on an annual vacation in the Scottish Highlands. However during their vacation, one of the friends is murdered and the group has to decide if one of them is responsible or is a vicious killer on the loose. Rating: 8

3. Notes on an Execution – This book has a ton of buzz and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t as good as I had hoped. It tells the story of 3 women who all have a connection to serial killer Ansel Packer. Their lives helped shape and were shaped by his actions and the book oscillates between each of their stories while also sharing Ansel’s perspective 12 hours before his execution. Rating: 7.5

4. The Paris Apartment – Another Lucy Foley novel that I enjoyed though it did take me a bit to get into it. There are quite a few characters so I was getting confused at the beginning but soon it all began to tie together. Jess leaves her awful job and heads to Paris to stay with her brother for awhile until she can get herself back on her feet. But when she arrives, Ben isn’t there and has left no note or indication as to where he has gone. Jess begins asking Ben’s neighbors if they know where he is and believes they know more than they are telling her. Rating: 8

5. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife – A murder mystery but a real boring one. LOL This was another story about college friends who reunite and try to figure out who killed one of them. They met at an elite southern university freshmen year and stayed close throughout their time at college. Until senior year when one of them is found murdered in her dorm room and the police wrongfully accuse her boyfriend. When the boyfriend’s name is cleared, the murder goes unsolved until their 10 year reunion where they must relive this nightmare again. And they aren’t leaving the reunion until someone confesses. Rating: 7

6. Framed – My book lineup this month started strong and then quickly began to decline as the month went on. LOL I love a mystery/thriller novel but so many are the same and are only mediocre. This one was that. Beth Montgomery is seemingly living a perfect life with her loving husband in Los Angeles. They are successful, have a beautiful home and both seem to do what they love. But Beth’s happiness is only for show because deep down she’s very unhappy. And when her college best friend Cassie calls her out of the blue one day and asks to meet up, Beth is nervous because her past with Cassie is chaotic and something she has kept from her new family. Beth agrees to a drink with her old friend and the next three days become a complete whirlwind that will change Beth’s life forever. Rating: 7

1. Malibu Rising – I am a huge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid as she wrote one of the best books I’ve ever read “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”, so I was excited to read her newest release. Sadly nothing will ever live up to Evelyn Hugo but this was a really enjoyable book. The Riva siblings are a tight knit group living in Malibu and growing up in the shadow of their uber famous rockstar dad Mick Riva. Their childhood was a tumultuous one though they leaned on each other for support and ended up carving out their own paths in life. Though that all changes on the night of their annual beach party. They must come clean about some secrets they been holding and figure out how to move forward. Rating: 8.5

2. Evvie Drake Starts Over – This is definitely an easy beach read but it is nothing amazing. LOL Evvie Drake is a recent widow and is trying to reconcile her feelings after the tragic death of her husband. She was planning to leave him the night he died but no one knew about her plans. As she begins to rebuild her life, her best friend Andy asks Evvie to rent out her spare room to an old friend that needs to get away. Dean Tenney is a retired pro baseball star from NYC that left the game after some recurring health issues and needs to escape for a year. He ends up staying with Evvie as he decides what his next step should be and together they try to help each other create a new life. Rating: 7

3. The Maidens – I absolutely LOVED The Silent Patient so I was looking forward to reading another book from the same author. However, it was a major letdown. UGH! Mariana is a group therapist that is trying to deal with her own trauma of recently losing her husband in a horrific drowning accident. When Mariana’s niece Zoe frantically calls her because Zoe’s roommate is missing, Mariana takes the opportunity to leave her patients for a bit to help Zoe sort out what is going on. Zoe’s roommate shows up dead shortly after and people fear a killer could be on the loose. Mariana suspects Zoe’s professor but he has an ironclad alibi that Mariana is fixated on trying to disprove. Rating: 6

4. Good Girls Lie – Blah. Blah. Blah. This was a bad month of books for me. Most of them were mediocre sadly and this one was no exception. The story takes place at an elite all girls private school in Northern Virginia – a place known for excellence and privilege. However, the girls that attend the school are not as innocent as they seem. A classmate is found dead after a secret society initiation meeting and authorities are trying to get to the truth of what really happened. Did she commit suicide or was she pushed? Shortly after another girl is found lifeless on the school grounds and people are now concerned there could be a murderer among them. Rating: 5

5. They Never Learn – This book was just good not great but there was an odd sense of satisfaction from the main character’s actions. Scarlett is a professor at a local university and is haunted by the traumatic events that happened to her at this same university years ago. Her good friend was sexually assaulted and so was she by a professor she thought she could trust. As a response to this, she decides to seek out men that have assaulted and violated women and kill them. At one point she almost makes a mistake that will cost her her freedom, but she must figure out how to keep her secrets hidden in order to continue her quest to make men pay for the wrongs they commit against women. Rating: 6

6. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – Gosh, I am really not in a good flow with books lately because this one I just finished today and was also very underwhelmed by it. It’s quite an odd book that doesn’t necessarily focus on fantasy as the main characters are women in a southern book club with very ordinary lives. But when a new man moves to the area, one of the book club members is convinced he is hiding something. A seedy past? A possible trail of bodies? Or something more unexplainable and sinister? Rating: 6