44. Book Review: We Were Liars (2014)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Synopsis 

A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. 

 We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. Read it. And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Review

There is something about young adult that always draws me in. I suppose it is the allure of a quick read.  But don't just buzz through this book.  The ending demands that you pay attention throughout.  Or if you did buzz through like me, re-read it.  I guarantee you will want to!

Great YA book here… I highly recommend!

Other books you may like…

The Fever: A Novel

The Fault in Our Stars

43. Book Review: Mariana (2014)

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

Synopsis

Julia Beckett believes in destiny, settling into her rustic new home, Julia encounters haunting remnants of a beautiful young woman who lived and loved there centuries ago. It's seems Mariana has been waiting for Julia. 

 Review

I am now officially a Susanna Kearsley fan for life.  Similar in mood and readability as The Winter Sea, Kearsley effortlessly blends historical fiction and love into an absolute page turner.  These characters are instantly lovable and the scenery is so well written I absolutely felt like I was right in the action.  After I finished this book all I wanted to do was start another book by the same author.  Also the end has a very sweet twist that I loved.  I highly recommend this book!

Other books you may like…

anything by Susanna Kearsley

anything written by Kate Morton

42. Book Review: The Secret History (2014)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Synopsis

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.

Review

Right away I have to say that I don't think the book had anything to do with the publishers synopsis above. Or I missed it some how? I was a little hesitant to read this after already reading a Donna Tartt book this year.  The Goldfinch was long and a little on the heavy side so I had reservations about getting into another similar book.  

Let me just say, the weird synopsis and The Goldfinch aside - this book was outstanding!  I can't believe this book isn't more 'mainstream' to be honest.  It's brilliant and so addicting.  I loved and hated the characters.  Richard was a brilliant narrator. The scenery was stunning and I never wanted the story to end.  This has instantly shot to one of my all time favorite books and definitely one of my favorites this year for sure. Get this book, read it… be swept away by the drama and tight knit cast of characters.

Also, if you have read this, don't you think it would make a brilliant movie!?

Other books you may like…

The Goldfinch: A Novel 

The Catcher in the Rye

41. Book Review: Eleanor and Park (2014)

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Synopsis

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says. So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be, she says, we’re 16. What about Romeo and Juliet? Shallow, confused, then dead. I love you, Park says. Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be. 

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Review

This was a great young adult read.  The characters brought back fully the awkward and often land-locked feelings of youth and adolescence.  The characters were lovable and totally believable.  There were a few points that were so frustrating as a reader.  Thinking of how difficult the teen years can be - especially for those with non-traditional family situations at home.  I will add that I really loved the books' innocence as well. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend… or even to my kids when they get a little older.  

Other books you may like…

The Fault in Our Stars

If I Stay

40. Book Review: The Vacationers (2014)

The Vacationers: A Novel by Emma Straub

Synopsis

For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. The sunlit island, its mountains and beaches, its tapas and tennis courts, also promise an escape from the tensions simmering at home in Manhattan. But all does not go according to plan: over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are exacerbated. 

 This is a story of the sides of ourselves that we choose to show and those we try to conceal, of the ways we tear each other down and build each other up again, and the bonds that ultimately hold us together. With wry humor and tremendous heart, Emma Straub delivers a richly satisfying story of a family in the midst of a maelstrom of change, emerging irrevocably altered yet whole. 

 Review

I would call this book part family saga, part coming of age and part spying on a family during their family vacation.  As modern "literature" is these days, it was predictable and borderline sophomoric - but as far as beach reads or quick reads go, this one was a success.  I felt like the characters were a bit stereotypical, but also lovable at the same time so the author redeemed herself there.  This book is like your favorite rom-com.  Definitely pack it for your next weekend away - preferably somewhere warm!

Other books you may like…

One Plus One: A Novel 

  What Alice Forgot

39. Book Review: The Winter Sea (2014)

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Synopsis

History has all but forgotten...In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. 

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write. But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her…

Review

I originally picked this book up a few years ago to read and just couldn't get into it - I have no idea why! I started again from the beginning and just flew through this book this time around. I loved every single page!  I could feel the sea air on my face, picture Carrie's cozy little cottage and loved the gentle unfolding of the two love stories as well.  This is historical fiction at it's best.  This is a great fall or winter read when you can snuggle up with a cup of tea by the fire and devour a great book.  I would be curious if Kearsley's other books are this delicious.  Have you read any others by this author?

Other books you may like…

The Secret Keeper: A Novel

The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

38. Book Review: If I Stay (2014)

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Synopsis

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. 

 Review

I saw the preview for this movie and knew right away I wanted to read the book first - not sure yet if I'll catch the movie.  And it didn't disappoint.  This was a great young adult quick read.  I was surprised by how fast I flew through this book and I can definitely see my daughter enjoying this book one day.  I wouldn't say this book was ultra "deep" but it did offer a thoughtful point of view on death.   If you are looking for a quick vacation read or fall weekend read - this is the book for you!

Other books you may like…

The Fever: A Novel 

The Fault in Our Stars

37. Book Review: The Fortune Hunter (2014)

The Fortune Hunter: A Novel by Daisy Goodwin

Synopsis

Empress Elizabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, is the Princess Diana of nineteenth-century Europe. Famously beautiful, as captured in a portrait with diamond stars in her hair, she is unfulfilled in her marriage to the older Emperor Franz Joseph. Sisi has spent years evading the stifling formality of royal life on her private train or yacht or, whenever she can, on the back of a horse. 

 Captain Bay Middleton is dashing, young, and the finest horseman in England. He is also impoverished, with no hope of buying the horse needed to win the Grand National—until he meets Charlotte Baird. A clever, plainspoken heiress whose money gives her a choice among suitors, Charlotte falls in love with Bay, the first man to really notice her, for his vulnerability as well as his glamour. When Sisi joins the legendary hunt organized by Earl Spencer in England, Bay is asked to guide her on the treacherous course. Their shared passion for riding leads to an infatuation that jeopardizes the growing bond between Bay and Charlotte, and threatens all of their futures.

Review

I absolutely adored this book.  It solidified and reminded me of my love for historical fiction and was quite a delight to read after having read some books I haven't cared for much.  The story line moved at a steady pace with absolutely lovable characters and rich imagery. I almost felt like I was watching this in movie form rather than reading it, the author brilliantly painted her landscape.  I highly recommend this book if you too are a historical fiction lover.

Other books you may like…

The American Heiress: A Novel

The House at Tyneford: A Novel

36. Book Review: Lucky Us (2014)

Lucky Us: A Novel by Amy Bloom

Synopsis

“My father’s wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us.” 

 So begins this remarkable novel by Amy Bloom, whose critically acclaimed Away was called “a literary triumph” (The New York Times). Lucky Us is a brilliantly written, deeply moving, fantastically funny novel of love, heartbreak, and luck. 

 Disappointed by their families, Iris, the hopeful star and Eva the sidekick, journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris’s ambitions take the pair across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, and to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island. 

 With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine though a landscape of big dreams, scandals, betrayals, and war. Filled with gorgeous writing, memorable characters, and surprising events, Lucky Us is a thrilling and resonant novel about success and failure, good luck and bad, the creation of a family, and the pleasures and inevitable perils of family life, conventional and otherwise. From Brooklyn’s beauty parlors to London’s West End, a group of unforgettable people love, lie, cheat and survive in this story of our fragile, absurd, heroic species.

Review

If the book was anything like the synopsis this would have been a fabulous book.  The characters were hardly developed, the storyline was often too quick and random and the book left me wanting for more in many ways. This was our recent book club selection.  I chose it after hearing the author on NPR and having my interest piqued, but the book fell short in so many ways that I can't really give it a good review.  

Other books you may like…

Rules of Civility: A Novel

A Hundred Summers

35. Book Review: Big Little Lies (2014)

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Synopsis

Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal.  A murder… a tragic accident… or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead. But who did what? 

 Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads: Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?). Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all. 

 Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

Review

This is a classic Liane Moriarty book… and while I loved her two other books (The Husband's Secret & What Alice Forgot) this one fell a little flat for me.  I will say her writing and story style is awesome, I love the mysterious element she adds to her genre - which I would call "smart chick-lit".  I have been in a reading funk lately and that could be why I didn't absolutely love this book.  Mostly I did not really relate to the parents at all. I went into the book hoping that I would since I have children in elementary school as well, and I know how some moms can be chatty/catty.  Mostly the characters seemed full of self loathing and uninspired - or maybe I just took it too seriously when it should have been a "for fun" read.  I would say visit Liane Moriarty's other books first and then try this one. She really is a fantastic storyteller. 

Other books you may like…

The Husband's Secret

A Hundred Summers