Who doesn’t love a good antihero?
Scarlett Clark is a killer English professor- literally. Each year, she finds the worst man on her university’s campus and murders him. She is judge and jury for men who abuse and rape. She makes their deaths look like suicides or accidents. But all her meticulous planning goes awry with her latest target. It’s personal and messy. And Scarlett’s secret extracurricular activities might be exposed.
Carly Schiller is a freshman at the university. She’s finally free of her emotionally abusive and controlling father and she’s trying to navigate college life. Carly and her roommate Allison form an intense relationship. When Allison is assaulted at a party, all Carly wants is revenge for her friend.
Told from two different points of view, this thriller has lots of twists and turns as Scarlett fights to advance her career and keep her crimes from being discovered. Carly goes from socially awkward mousy girl to a young woman burning for justice. An intense thriller of justice, friendship, love, and revenge.
Happy last Monday of 2020!
This book was my book club’s December read and we met via zoom last night to discuss it. We all agreed it was a good book and an easy read. We all loved the main character Ursa, a charming and whip smart little girl, who claimed to be an alien. Ursa turns up out of the woods by Jo’s cottage one day. Jo is a doctoral student doing field research on birds. Ursa says she is an alien sent to Earth from her planet in the Pinwheel Galaxy to study Earth and humans and must witness five miracles before returning to her home planet. Naturally there is a handsome and lonely next door neighbor who gets involved in the mystery of Ursa too.
My book club all agreed that the ending wrapped up too quickly and neatly.
But all in all, it’s an enjoyable read.
Happy winter solstice!
I read this for this month’s #buddyreadstodiefor on Instagram and can’t wait to chat with the group about it soon.
This is the story of three brothers growing up in Dublin. From the opening page of the book, the reader knows one brother is dead but not who it is. Each section of the book is told from each brother’s POV. It was interesting to get the brothers individual recollection of events from their childhood and see how it affected them in adulthood.
This a dysfunctional family! I think just about every character in this book is unlikable. William is the oldest brother. He can’t stand his younger siblings, is the apple of his mother’s eye, driven to succeed, and is a sexist and a misogynist. Brian the middle brother is jealous of Will, has a terrible temper, and is tight with a buck. Luke, the youngest, somehow manages to have a successful but short lived career as a pop singer, has drug and alcohol addictions, and mental health issues. Each brother does things that wreck havoc on each other’s lives.
This is not so much a thriller as it is a family drama. Author Liz Nugent deftly weaves the story together and keeps you interested and invested in this awful family.
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We got a little snowstorm last night. Our total is about 18” of snow. It looks pretty, but I’m over it already. π
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Cassidy Holmes has been compared with Daisy Jones and the Six. Both are about musical groups. Both are told from multiple points of view. But for me, the Cassidy Holmes book pales in comparison. The band members in the Daisy Jones book were interesting and engaging. The characters is this book were pretty flat and not really likable.
The author did a good job showing the very unglamorous side of life in the spotlight and all the pressure and demands made on rising pop stars.
This book just wasn’t for me. Readers who enjoy shows such as The Voice and American Idol or are really interested in the music industry will enjoy this one.
This was a definite bookstagram made me read it book.
I probably wouldn’t have listened to this audiobook if the title hadn’t been all over bookstagram. It was hard to ignore. I was familiar with the author’s young adult work, but had never read any of her books.
I don’t feel the need to do a whole big review of this book because so many others have posted great and informative reviews. Here’s what I loved:
*the characters- all the characters were well drawn and interesting. Addie is smart, strong, independent, and sympathetic. Luc is mysterious, tricky, and maybe more lonely than he realizes. Henry is sweet and vulnerable.
*the settings- from the rural French countryside and Paris in the 1700s to present day NYC. The author paints the sights and sounds vividly.
*the pacing- the story spans 300 years and it never bogged down. It touched on a few historical events such as the French Revolution. But Addie isn’t swept up in big historical events. She’s trying to leave her mark in a world the forgets her everyday.
*the ending- it wasn’t what I expected and that made it perfect.
*the narration- Julia Whalen does a superb job narrating the audiobook. She also narrated two of my other favorite books this year- Pretty Things and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
This turned out to be one of my favorites this year and bookstagram made me read it.
