Book Review: Dear Wife by, Kimberly Belle

Dear Wife, by Kimberly Belle

Summary: This book is about a man who returned from a trip to find out his wife is missing. This book is also about a woman escaping from an abusive marriage and creating a new identity. Is it the same woman? Is it not?

Thoughts: This book was a quick read for me because it was captivating and interesting. I was enthralled by the idea of the woman, Beth escaping her abusive husband, running away, and creating a new life for herself. Come to realize the abusive husband is the DETECTIVE looking for his wife who went missing. Overall, this story was pretty interesting.

Criticisms: I didn’t realize this book focused a lot on abusive partnerships. I didn't like that at all. Typically, I tend to steer away from books that involve domestic abuse, because….it’s triggering and sad to read about. Also, I wish the author did a better job explaining the plot twist. It was kind of like reading 100 pages, a short 1 page plot twist, and then another 100 pages of reading. I’m exaggerating of course, but that’s how it felt in my opinion.

Rating: 3.8/5

Book Review: Regretting You by, Colleen Hoover

Regretting You by, Colleen Hoover

Summary: I suppose I am back on the Colleen Hoover wagon with yet another book of hers. This story is about a girl named Clara and her mom, Morgan figuring out that someone they both loved, deceived them in a way and how they are navigating that. Being a 16 year old girl, Clara blames her mom for what is happening in her life and in turn it’s causing their relationship to become strained. Morgan, is trying her best to be Clara’s mother, but at the same time is young herself and doesn’t know exactly how to reach her daughter. This is the typical story of a teenager rebelling against her mom and everything that goes along with that. There are a few other plots sprinkled in as well- like affairs, betrayals, first loves, etc. but nothing to write home about.

Thoughts: This type of book is exactly why I steer clear from reading romance novels. This is the run of the mill romance story with a predictable ending. It was written fairly well, but again, not my style. Why did I choose to read it you may ask. Because Colleen Hoover’s writing is captivating and once you pick up one of her books, it’s hard to put down.

Criticisms: In most of the other Colleen Hoover books I’ve read, there was some kind of plot twist at the end. I feel like the plot twist came at the beginning and then we saw how that situation was handled throughout the rest of the book. I didn’t like this because that’s what made the book predictable in my opinion. Regardless, a quick and easy read.

Rating: 2.5/5

Book Review: Confessions by, Kanae Minato

Confessions by, Kanae Minato

Summary: I’m not even sure where to start with this book. If I could sum this book up in three words they would be: page turner, psycho, and repression. This book is about a teacher who announces to her class that she’s quitting mid school year and won’t be a teacher anymore. BUT, there’s so much more to this story than that. The teacher’s daughter dies suspiciously at the school and the teacher thinks a few of her students were involved. Each chapter of the book is from a different person in the class’ perspective and it all ties together at the end. Without giving too much of this story away, this book is a revenge story between the teacher and her students.

Thoughts: Typically I don’t read too many translated books, but I saw a review for this one and decided to give it a try. The style of writing is interesting. It’s quite possible that the translation doesn’t explore the author’s true meanings behind situations, or that there aren’t specific words in English for the Japanese sayings, but nonetheless this story was interesting.

Criticisms: This is a perfect example of a revenge story. There were some points that were extremely fictitious, and others where it would be crazy if it happened in real life. Another qualm I have is that there were a few parts in the story that were the slightest bit difficult to follow along to and piece together what was going on.

Rating: 3.8/5

xoxo,e

Book Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

It Ends With Us by, Colleen Hoover

Summary: This story is about Lily and Ryle, two people who couldn’t be more different from one another. Lily is a flower shop owner and Ryle is a neurosurgeon who never has real relationships. Lily and Ryle find their way to each other and Ryle discovers that he could in fact have a relationship with Lily. All is well until something happens between Ryle and Lily out of the spur of the moment. Not only this, but someone from Lily’s past makes their way back into Lily’s life. Lily now has to decide the future she wants for herself as not to follow in the same pattern as she is so accustomed to.

Thoughts: This was the first Colleen Hoover book I read (thank you Tiff!) and I literally could not put this down. Colleen’s writing is so easy to read and each chapter makes you want to keep reading more and more. I lost sleep over this book because of how enthralled I was with it. At first, you don’t want to believe what is happening with Lily and Ryle, but then you think about her past and what she went through and it all makes sense. The title makes sense! She’s such a strong heroine of a character. This book cover is probably my favorite out of all the Colleen Hoover books-it’s so pretty!

Criticisms: After reaching Colleen’s books, I’m starting to see slight similarities to events, personalities, or locations she uses throughout all her writing. This book has similar senes to Heart Bones. Not a criticism per se, but just something to note.

Rating: 4.5/5

xoxo,e

Book Review: the five people you meet in heaven by, Mitch Albom

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by, Mitch Albom

Summary: Eddie, an amusement park mechanic dies in an accident at the park. As soon as he dies, he is met by five people in his past life. Each of the five people are there to help Eddie understand his living life in a better way. He has a hard time understanding why some of the five people were chosen for him, but eventually understands and comes to terms with his life.

Thoughts: I chose to read this book because of the author. I enjoyed his other books so I wanted to give this one a try. This book is one that makes you think and reflect on your own life choices after you read it. A very quick read- you could probably finish it in a couple hours.

Criticisms: I don’t have many criticisms for this book. It was well written and each person Eddie encountered had their own role. I do have to say, some encounters were not as interesting as others.

Rating: 4/5

xoxo,e

Book Review: Silent Patient by, Alex Michaelides

Silent Patient by, Alex Michaelides

Summary: This book is a psychological thriller about an artist named Alicia and her psychotherapist, Theo. Alicia was a loving wife who shot her husband five times in the face and never spoke a word after that. Because Alicia wouldn’t talk to anyone about what happened, she was placed in a psychiatric hospital instead of jail. Theo, Alicia’s psychotherapist was eager to connect with Alicia and to get her to speak about what happened.

Thoughts: Another book with a huge plot twist at the end that I did not see coming. After reading this book, I’m very interested in the other books by this author. Also, take a look at the cover closely! I didn’t realize it until after I read it..

Criticisms: The way this book played out almost seemed too good to be true. Highly unlikely in the real world, but seemed to be the perfect pieces to the puzzle.

Rating: 4.5/5

xoxo,e

Happy New Year!

I always find myself not having enough time to post things on here, but once again, I am going to try and update this as much as possible because I like to scroll back and see what I was doing, what my interests were, etc. at certain dates. I will probably create a 2022 photos tab as well.

I thought I’d start 2022 year off with a book review. Over the past few months, my inner bookworm was brought back out by ONE BOOK and since then I’ve been reading a ton. Normally, I try to read two or three books per month, but it’s been a little more as of late.

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November 9 by, Colleen Hoover

Summary: This book is about two people named, Ben and Fallon who meet every year for one day on November 9. There are years when one person shows up and the other doesn’t (with good reason), but this book is basically about each year these two people meet up. November 9 has a huge significance to Fallon, but until she met Ben, she tried to forget the day. The story is pretty much romance book, so if you’re not into this trope, you might not want to read.

Thoughts: I am not a huge romance reader, but Colleen Hoover does such a great job of telling this story. I promise you, you will not be disappointed but you have to read until the end because there’s a huge twist!

Criticisms: Something like this would never happen in the real world. Some of these characters are almost fictitious because of how they are portrayed in this book. Also, without giving too much away, is what happened to Fallon at the end of the story borderline creepy and stalkerish? I think so!

Rating: 4.3/5

xoxo,e