Mini Review: All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

Published July 12, 2016

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis

In the small, affluent town of Fairview, Connecticut everything seems picture perfect.

Until one night when young Jenny Kramer is attacked at a local party. In the hours immediately after, she is given a controversial drug to medically erase her memory of the violent assault. But, in the weeks and months that follow, as she heals from her physical wounds, and with no factual recall of the attack, Jenny struggles with her raging emotional memory. Her father, Tom, becomes obsessed with his inability to find her attacker and seek justice while her mother, Charlotte, prefers to pretend this horrific event did not touch her perfect country club world.

As they seek help for their daughter, the fault lines within their marriage and their close-knit community emerge from the shadows where they have been hidden for years, and the relentless quest to find the monster who invaded their town - or perhaps lives among them - drive this psychological thriller to a shocking and unexpected conclusion.

My Thoughts

This is one of those books that I’m really on the fence about. This is a brutally honest look about Jenny and following a night out partying she is raped. What we see is the aftermath of what happens. We are told the story through a person we don’t know at first but eventually, it is revealed who they are.

What I liked about this tale while it is very honest it can be hard to read at times. What I didn’t like was that we don’t know who is telling the tale and that really got on my nerves. I just couldn’t get into the story and to be honest, I was ready to give up on it a few chapters in. However,I give it a chance and the pace did pick up but by then I kind of checked out mentally.

I gave it 3 stars mainly because I liked the storyline more than I didn’t like it. Maybe in time I will revisit this read again and feel different one way or another. 

Mini Review: So Close by Emma McLaughlin & Emma Kraus

So Close by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Published: June 7, 2016

Published: Sparkpress

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Amanda Beth Luker has spent her whole life desperately looking for someone who can show her the way out of her trailer park Florida town. And then, finally, help arrives in the form of Tom Davis, a successful lawyer with political aspirations who grew up just a few towns over from Amanda. But it's his wife, Lindsay, who really captures Amanda's imagination. Strong, smart, and determined, she gives Amanda something she's never had: a role model. Meanwhile, Amanda is introduced to the wealthy, charismatic, and deeply troubled Pax Westerbrook. He clearly desires Amanda, but if she gives in will that move her closer to the life she's always dreamed of or make it impossible?

Amanda rides Davis's political success all the way to Washington, where he becomes Senator and will later be tapped for president and even makes a bid for the White House. But when Amanda starts to suspect, and later confirms, his moral indiscretions, her loyalty is tested. Will a girl from a trailer park even be believed if she goes public with damning information? Will she be willing to risk losing everything she's gained?

My Thoughts

So Close is the relatable tale of Amanda who hails from a small town and leaves for the chance of bigger and better things in life. Amanda meets the successful Tom Davis and in doing so lives the life she has always wanted for herself. She soon finds herself thrown into the political world and is soon introduced the mysterious Pax who has fallen for Amanda from the start. While she finds herself attracted she doesn’t want to mess up her new life and surely doesn’t want to go back to the trailer park so she doesn’t want to go there with him. She is enjoying this life but little does she know that privilege will ultimately come at a price. She soon finds out some info on Tom Davis but doesn’t want to lose this life that has basically fallen into her lap. She is torn by doing what’s right or keeping the life she has always wanted and has finally gotten.

So Close is the story of doing just about anything to achieve your goals and wanting a better life. And while we think we would do anything to achieve that sometimes we are put to the test and are pressured to decide what is more important to us, do we live life right or do we sacrifice our morals for the life of luxury. I love how Amanda is so relatable we all can know how it feels to want more in life. Even if you never lived in a small town we all know that desire to want a bigger life than the one we have. This is one read that can give you hope and one that shows us despite everything we can decide how our lives play out. We can be given opportunities it’s what we do with them that makes us who we are.

Review: The Choices We Make by Karma Brown

The Choices We Make by Karma Brown

Published: July 12, 2016

Publisher: MIRA

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Hannah and Kate became friends in the fifth grade when Hannah hit a boy for looking up Kate's skirt with a mirror. While they've been close as sisters ever since, Hannah can't help but feel envious of the little family Kate and her husband, David, have created—complete with two perfect little girls.

She and Ben have been trying for years to have a baby, so when they receive the news that she will likely never get pregnant, Hannah's heartbreak is overwhelming. But just as they begin to tentatively explore the other options; it's Kate's turn to do the rescuing. Not only does she offer to be Hannah's surrogate, but Kate is willing to use her own eggs to do so.

Full of renewed hope, excitement and gratitude, these two families embark on an incredible journey toward parenthood…until a devastating tragedy puts everything these women have worked toward at risk of falling apart. Poignant and refreshingly honest, The Choices We Make is a powerful tale of an incredible friendship and the risks we take to make our dreams come true.

My Thoughts

The Choices We Make is a heart-wrenching tale of the great lengths friends would do in the name of love. We met Hannah who desperately wants to have a baby with her husband Ben but are told it is simply impossible. Kate her best friend has two little girls and would do anything for her best friend to experience what it is like to be a mother.

After some time Kate comes up with the idea of carrying Ben and Hannah’s baby but what they thought would be a simple act of love turns out to be something way more complicated than any of them could’ve ever imagined. First, there is trying to convince Kate’s husband, he doesn’t think this is a good idea and doesn’t believe that Kate could just walk away after months of carrying the baby. Then there is the legal side of it, they never thought there would be mounds of papers and lawyers, they all have to be represented god forbid something would happen.

When Kate becomes pregnant on the first try everyone is over the moon and can’t wait for the arrival of the baby but after a few months, the unbelievable happens. I won’t give anything away because I truly believe this is a story that demands to be read. The events that happen next will break your heart and have you looking at all sides of the story. There were times I was mad and upset at certain people and other times I wanted to hug these people and say everything will be okay.

Karma Brown gives us a book that should be sold with a box of tissues; don’t say I didn’t warn you! It shows us the strength of friendships and the undying love people can have for one another. This will make you look at love, life and how unselfish human beings can be and how we as people can still do good things in this world. The Choices We Make is a stellar novel that will touch your soul beyond anything imaginable.

Mini Review: You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

Expected Publication: July 26, 2016

Publisher: Little Brown

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Katie and Eric Knox have dedicated their lives to their fifteen-year-old daughter Devon, a gymnastics prodigy and Olympic hopeful. But when a violent death rocks their close-knit gymnastics community just weeks before an all-important competition, everything the Knoxes have worked so hard for feels suddenly at risk. As rumors swirl among the other parents, revealing hidden plots and allegiances, Katie tries frantically to hold her family together while also finding herself drawn, irresistibly, to the crime itself, and the dark corners it threatens to illuminate.

My Thoughts

I’m a newbie when it comes to Megan Abbott books but after this one, I will seek out her previous novels. She gives us a look into the competitive world of gymnastics and its one that is breathtakingly amazing and one that it will make your head spin.

We meet Katie and Eric parents who have devoted their lives to making sure that their daughter Devon dreams will come true. In a world where years of hard work and dedication are determined in a matter of seconds, every competition is life or death. Their world is hit hard when an unspeakable death makes everyone if their community a suspect and we are shown that the unthinkable has happened. Could someone really kill another all in the name of competition?

Megan Abbott gives us a story that will draw you in and at the same time equally make you want you to turn away. I like the suspense of the read and how it is definitely a page turner. This is a who done it that will stay with you long after the last page is turned. It’s honest, mesmerizing and unlike anything I have read before, this is one read that belongs on everyone’s must read list.

Review: Untethered by Julie Lawson TImmer

Untethered by Julie Lawson Timmer

Published: June 7, 2016

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis

Char Hawthorn, college professor, wife and stepmother to a spirited fifteen-year-old daughter, loves her family and the joyful rhythms of work and parenting. But when her husband dies in a car accident, the “step” in Char’s title suddenly matters a great deal. In the eyes of the law, all rights to daughter Allie belong to Lindy, Allie’s self-absorbed biological mother, who wants the girl to move to her home in California.

While Allie begins to struggle in school and tensions mount between her and Char, Allie’s connection to young Morgan, a ten-year-old-girl she tutors, seems to keep her grounded. But then Morgan, who was adopted out of foster care, suddenly disappears, and Char is left to wonder about a possible future without Allie and what to do about Morgan, a child caught up in a terrible crack in the system.

My Thoughts

In Untethered we get to know Char who has recently lost her husband and finds herself in limbo when it comes to her relationship with her stepdaughter Allie. You see Char’s husband had full custody of Allie but now that he is dead she doesn’t know her role in Allie’s life. She loves her but has never been the one to disciple her, she was the nice and fun stepmom but now neither Char nor Allie knows how things will play out. Allie’s mom lives in L.A. and is solely focused on her job and rarely has played a role in Allie’s life but comes back to get Allie and take her away from everyone and everything she has ever known. Allie and Char clash not knowing what the other one wants and that causes some misunderstandings that sets off a set of circumstances that neither saw coming.

I really enjoyed the story between Allie and Char it felt very true to life and anyone who has ever had step children could really identify with. The struggles between these two and adjusting to life after the death of the one person who bonded them together were heartbreaking. The only thing I really didn’t enjoy was the second storyline of Morgan, the young girl that Allie tutors. Though her story was touching I didn’t find myself connected or invested in it. I really just wanted more of Char and Allie.

Untethered is a story of finding who you are and where you stand after the death of a loved one. It’s about redefining relationships and making a new way of life. But most importantly it’s all about family and knowing no matter what happens those bonds are way stronger than one person, that love is something that only gets stronger with time.