literary fiction

Review: I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell

~ megs14malloy

I Need You to Read ThisI Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Alex Marks moves to New York City, hoping for a fresh start and a place to disappear into. Her copy-writing job is low key, and otherwise she keeps to herself.

When her idol, Francis Keen, the woman behind the famous Dear Constance advice column is killed though, it’s the impetus that uproots Alex’s carefully planned quiet life.

Keen will need to be replaced. Her column is so beloved. They can’t let it die along with her. On a whim, Alex applies for the job and to her absolute shock, she gets it.

Shortly thereafter, Alex begins to receive strange letters, threatening in nature. She wonders why Keen’s killer was never caught and then begins to suspect those around her, including her new boss.

Unable to leave well enough alone, Alex begins her own investigation into Keen’s death. Will she be able to solve the mystery, or will she die trying?

I Need You to Read This is a solid story. I feel like it had similar traits to Maxwell’s previous novel, The Golden Spoon, in that it is a slow build really focused on character work.

It took me a while to get into The Golden Spoon, but once I did, I was hooked. I was so intrigued by that full cast of eccentric characters, the setting and the backdrop of the cooking competition.

Unfortunately, this one never ended up hooking me. It felt a lot more subtle and Alex’s character was just less enticing to me, as compared to the full cast in the last book.

Additionally, the set-up and setting itself, although I love New York City, wasn’t as captivating either.

These are simply personal taste items though and just because I was never truly keyed into this one, doesn’t mean you won’t be. Give it a go!

This is a solid story, with an interesting overall mystery. It did nothing off-putting and had solid characters. I would recommend it if you enjoy more Literary Mysteries, or anything set in the newspaper, or publishing worlds.

I did feel like, because of the newspaper setting, it had a film noir feel to it as well, which I do enjoy. If that’s something you like as well, it’s another reason to pick it up.

Overall, it’s a sold story, just not necessarily my bag. Maxwell is interesting, she sort of toes the line in between Cozy and Literary. Her stories have a unique feel and she definitely shines with her character work.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. While not blown away, I definitely enjoyed this one and am looking forward to more from Jessa Maxwell!

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Review: World War Z by Max Brooks

~ megs14malloy

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie WarWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War has been sitting on my shelves for close to a decade. It’s survived many book unhauls in that time period, mainly because of how much I love this fiery orange cover.

Also, it features a zombie plague sweeping the world, so why wouldn’t I read that? Who doesn’t want to be petrified by the possibility of that?

Over the years, I have heard incredible things about the audio production for this book, so in spite of having a hard copy, I did decide to go with the audio format.

I’m delighted with that choice. It’s full cast and includes music and sound effects. As an Oral History, it also makes sense that having it told in a variety of accents and tones from the various voice artists would add a certain level of authenticity to it you may not feel otherwise.

The narrative style is a bit unconventional, which may not work for some Readers, but I ended up enjoying that aspect. It truly is a world story; a story of humanity.

The overall story is told through a series of vignettes from characters living all across the globe. The different perspectives run in timeline order so that we are led through the start of, middle and end of this zombie infestation.

I did watch the World War Z movie years ago, but would like to go back and watch it again to see how much it was actually inspired by this book.

I would recommend this to anyone who would enjoy more of a Literary Zombie story, as opposed to a more Horror-based story; although heavy Horror Readers could enjoy this as well, particularly the audiobook.

It’s terrifying to imagine something like this becoming reality, but I feel like Brooks did a great job examining what the overall world reaction would be. Well done!

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Review: Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby

~ megs14malloy

Glass HousesGlass Houses by Madeline Ashby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

I’m not having the best reading luck lately. I’m feeling let down a lot. Am I being punished for something?

I need this trend to turn around soon, because it’s seriously putting me in a mood.

I’ve been putting off reviewing this for a while. I needed to cool my jets a bit before I tore off on some salty rant review, going up one side of this and down the other. That helps no one. So, let’s take a deep breath, and get into it.

The synopsis for Glass Houses had me anticipating a gripping, freaky, intense, near-future Mystery-Thriller involving a palatial house on a deserted island.

Instead what I got was a slow-moving character study of messed up people. Sure, a small portion is set on an island, but that certainly didn’t feel like the focus.

The very start was giving the first scene from the first season of Lost. I thought to myself, this is exciting, this is intriguing. Then as it began to play out further, I thought, wait a minute is…

I won’t fill in that blank, but that happened by page 19, and I was correct. There was another thing later ‘revealed’ that I knew early on as well. I wasn’t trying to figure anything out. I never do that, but these things were just so glaringly obvious, I wonder were they supposed to feel like reveals?

Then in other ways, where I wish it could have been expanded upon, we were kept in the dark. We did get little tidbits of the greater world here and there, but it was never clear enough to understand, or provide a sense of place.

I feel like a nice mixed media element scattered throughout, that could’ve let us know how the world got to this point would’ve been fun. I mean obviously it’s the near future, but why is everything soooo different?

By the middle, it had really slowed down. We weren’t seeing as much of everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off, which I guess could’ve been entertaining if we didn’t have these huge sections from the past taking us right out of that present feeling of chaos.

At the end of the day, NGL, I didn’t enjoy this. Some of the concepts involving future tech and AI were interesting, but I hated the way the story was told.

There was too much focus on the backstory of Kristin and not enough on the present setting of the deserted island. I feel like I was sold something that I didn’t end up getting.

I wasn’t given suspense, nor intrigue, AND was barely given any time on the deserted island that I was promised. I am rounding up to 3-stars to be nice.

With this being said, just because this didn’t work for me, does not mean it won’t work for you. I wouldn’t really go by the synopsis though to judge whether or not you would enjoy it, as personally, I feel it’s a bit mismarketed.

I think this would work best for Literary Fiction fans, who enjoy dark stories with light SF-elements. Character-driven Readers may also have success with this.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I’m not sure if I will read from this author again, probably not, but I’m glad I gave this one a shot, even if it wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea.

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Review: How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie

~ megs14malloy

How to Make a Horror Movie and SurviveHow to Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

This hurts my heart to not be giving this a higher rating. While I truly appreciate the topics explored here by the author, I can’t say I enjoyed my time with it and I have to be honest. Otherwise, what are we even doing here?

This just had way more of a Literary-feel than I am interested in, and for me, it lacked my number one desire, atmosphere. Overall, I was bored; really bored.

It didn’t start out that way though. For the first 25%, I was definitely intrigued. We had met Max, the Horror director, and Sally, the actress with dreams of playing a Final Girl on the big screen. I did enjoy meeting them and was pulled in by the beginning of their stories.

Max ends up with an old camera that once belong to a deceased Horror director, who gained the level of a cult-like status. Max hatches a plan to utilize that camera to make his own infamous movie, pushing the limits of the genre.

As Max begins to use the camera though, a dangerous power is revealed. Will he continue using it, in pursuit of his goal, no matter the risks? And will Sally get her dream of becoming the Final Girl?

Unfortunately, for me, the longer the story went on, the less interested I became. The devil is in the details, and IMHO, the details of this killed the story. It was slow-moving, bogged down by endless things I didn’t care about.

This is clearly a love letter to the Horror genre, and for that, I give it full props. I am, first and foremost, a Horror Lover, Reader and Reviewer. It’s my roots.

I appreciate how DiLouie examined the genre, specifically its place within the movie industry, and how it is treated, viewed, etc., in comparison to other, for lack of a better term, more mainstream, genres.

I could see this working very well for a niche market of film buffs, or even film students, as it does explore the industry deeply. For me it was just too subtle, slow, and by the time we got to the final showdown, too little, too late.

With this being said, the writing is strong, the characters are well-developed and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this story. It just sadly wasn’t a story that was a good fit for my tastes.

I would still encourage absolutely anyone interested in this synopsis to give it a try. I know a lot of Readers are going to love this, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if I end up in the minority opinion on it. Please take everything I have said with a grain of salt. It is just my personal experience.

Thank you to the publisher, Redhook, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Even though this wasn’t a great fit for me, I will absolutely be picking up more from this author!

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Review: That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk

~ megs14malloy

That Night in the LibraryThat Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars**

That Night in the Library is an Adult Literary Suspense novel. This is a recent release and I went into it, I’ll admit, with a bit of trepidation. The early reviews aren’t the highest, but in a way that piqued my interest even more.

I frequently find myself in the minority opinion, so I went in open-minded, ready to give it a nice go. I so wanted to at least give this a 3-star rating, but sadly, I just can’t.

The concept was okay, like the very basic concept, but the execution completely missed the mark.

This story basically follows a group of seven people, who make a plan to sneak into the basement of the rare books library at their University, and spend the night, performing some sort of obscure ritual while they are there.

It says in the synopsis that it is the night before graduation, but honestly, I don’t remember those kinds of details from this. It was quite difficult to parse anything out really.

I did understand they were going to perform a ritual, that I believe was said to free the participants of any fear, or something like that. IDK, really.

It’s an odd mix of characters. They weren’t all friends, or anything, they just needed seven people, so ended up inviting a girl who worked at the library, who really didn’t know any of them, someone’s drug dealer, etc.

That one part I did understand clearly about the ritual was they fasted before, and then dropped acid. Most of the rest of it was delivered to us through a drug-addled haze, so not particularly the most coherent way to convey a plot.

Once the ritual starts, they’re literally trapped in this basement space; locked in. They’re getting into it, doing their chanting, and dancing around and what not, when suddenly, one of the participants drops dead.

From there, as you would expect, they start to freak out, because that person is dead! How did they die? Were they killed? Is one of them responsible.

Since they’re tripping, suspicions run high. Things get wild. More bodies fall. Is anyone going to survive?

So, yeah, that’s a basic breakdown of this story. I feel like it’s for a very niche market. You have to be a specific type of Reader for this to work for you.

There is sort of a vibe of this being a book about books, but not to the level of like a Strange the Dreamer, or The Dark Half. It’s too hazy a theme for me to actually recommend it for that trope alone.

Without any malice, I would say this feels like one of those cases where the author is more enamored with their own writing, the words and phrases they use, than with any actual plot. It comes across a bit arrogant, in a way. I would equate it to The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring.

With this being said, this is 100% my personal opinion. Just because it didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. I would urge anyone who thinks it sounds interesting, to give it a go.

There’s a book for every Reader, and a Reader for every book. I know there is an audience for this one. Unfortunately, I’m just not a part of that audience.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press and RB Media, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I gave it a shot and even though it didn’t work out for me, I appreciate the opportunity to provide my opinion.

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Review: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

~ megs14malloy

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton AngelsThe Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels features two rival authors after desperately hunting down the same scoop.

Amanda Bailey and Oliver Menzies have a history together, not necessarily pleasant. Yet they’re about to be back in each other’s orbit as the both investigate the whereabouts of a baby who survived a cult, the Alperton Angels, close to two decades ago.

The Alperton Angel cult brainwashed a teenage girl into believing her baby was the anti-Christ. Eventually, the girl came to her senses and contacted the authorities for help.

It was a huge case at the time, which garnered a lot of attention due to its sensational and bizarre circumstances. The Angels committed suicide, but the baby was free and survived. However, after that, the baby disappeared, their circumstances never made public knowledge.

Now that baby has turned 18, and the world is dying to know, where have they been all this time? What is the true story behind the Alperton Angels cult? And where is the baby now? Who have they become?

Amanda and Oliver, against their own inclinations, decide to collaborate in their baby research. If they both agree to focus on different aspects of the case, it shouldn’t be a problem to both cover the case at the same time.

In fact, it may actually be helpful, as each book could create more interest for the other. But the truth about the Angels is much more disturbing than they originally anticipated, putting them dangerously close to the heart of the story.

Janice Hallett has made quite the name for herself as the Queen of the Unconventional Narrative. Her books are always a journey, a truly a unique reading experience.

As the Reader, you are supplied with all of the same documents a researcher may use when studying a real life case. You have access to things such as emails, text messages, news articles, and even transcripts from phone conversations.

These things are blended together in such a way that eventually helps to perfectly piece together the overall story. It’s pretty amazing how well Hallett can build out a story using solely these mixed media elements.

For me, her novels seem to work better via audiobook, but that’s 100% personal preference. I have read one of her books physically, and it at times it seemed jarring, and occasionally, even a little boring.

The other two I have listened to via audio, and because of the vibrant narration, have felt more pulled in and engaged with the story. This one in particular was fantastically executed via audiobook and I would recommend that format.

This story got pretty wild. I definitely wasn’t expecting the direction it ended up going. Writing a novel in this format has got to be extremely challenging, but somehow Hallett nails it every time.

I won’t claim to have been able to follow every single detail of this. Hallett’s stories are impressive in scope. There’s a lot going on, and at times, it can feel chaotic. Regardless, this one was never dull. Fast-paced and intriguing the whole way through, this was a great time.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Hallett’s uniquely-presented and impeccably-plotted Literary Mysteries will keep me coming back as long as she keeps cranking them out.

I can’t wait to see what’s next!

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Review: Fire Exit by Morgan Talty

~ megs14malloy

Fire ExitFire Exit by Morgan Talty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

Fire Exit is a realistic Literary Fiction novel that falls completely outside of my comfort zone. I picked this one up because of one reason, and one reason only: Morgan Talty.

I’ve read short-fiction from him and loved it. Additionally, he’s an Assistant Professor at my alma mater, University of Maine, Orono. His stories take place around that area, so there’s also that connection.

This book is about life. More specifically, it’s about Charles Lamosway’s life. The story-telling feels very Coming of Age. Although this isn’t that type of story, Charles takes us through certain portions of his life in a way that makes it feel like that subgenre.

There’s a lot going on in his life, which he focuses on in his narration. First and foremost, is the fact that he has a daughter, Elizabeth, the result of an affair, who doesn’t know the true nature of her parentage.

For years, this has weighed on him. He’s watched Elizabeth grow up, as she lives just across the river from him.

As she comes of age, and his life transitions into its later stages, he starts to feel compelled to share the truth with her. He feels she has the right to know. She has the right to know her true history, who she is and where she came from.

He’s not trying to negate all her parents have done for her, he doesn’t want anything from her really, but Elizabeth’s mother, Mary, doesn’t see it the same way as Charles.

Then there’s his relationship with his mom, Louise. That’s complicated too. He loves his mother. He’s dedicated to her, but it’s not always easy.

Louise has struggled with depression for many, many years. Charles and Louise have also experienced a terrible trauma together, which they never discuss. He has unresolved guilt from that event that continues to haunt him.

Louise is now succumbing to dementia and she’s more reliant on Charles than ever. She’s not always kind, and rarely recognizes him, yet he is 100%-committed to her care. It’s a situation he wasn’t prepared for.

The whole journey he’s on with his mom has caused him to confront a lot of issues from his life. Such as distant moments of his childhood, his relationship with his Mom and step-Dad, Frederick, and of course, his nonexistent relationship with his daughter, Elizabeth.

I thought everything about this was beautifully-done. I loved the writing. I loved the delivery of Charles’s voice and story. I felt like I was sitting with him at a bar in Old Town and he was just relating moments of his life to me.

It amazed me how invested I got in each of the different aspects that Charles was exploring. As mentioned above, this isn’t normally a type of story that I would pick up, but I’m so glad that I did. It was emotional, yet so enjoyable.

I would recommend this to all my Literary Fiction friends out there, or Readers who enjoy the quality of storytelling in a Coming of Age narrative. Also, the audiobook is fantastic. I def recommend that format as well.

Thank you to the publisher, Recorded Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Morgan Talty is such a talent. I can’t wait to read more from him!!

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Review: The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

~ megs14malloy

The Last Murder at the End of the WorldThe Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

On an island at the end of the world, a small settlement of survivors lives. Outside the island there is nothing. Well, nothing but a murderous fog that contains insect-like creatures with a taste for human flesh.

I may be exaggerating this a little, but trust me, you don’t even want to dip a toe in that fog.

122-villagers and 3-valued scientists live together on the island in harmony. It’s a simple life, but they do need to abide by some stringent rules; all for their own good. We should trust the scientists, right?

Well, the villagers certainly do. One day though, the unthinkable happens. One of their beloved scientists is found murdered, thus setting into motion a chain of events that could lead to the destruction of their world.

They need to solve the murder within the next 107-hours, or risk bringing on the fog and all the terrible little creatures that come with it.

The Last Murder at the End of the World was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. I’ve really enjoyed both of Turton’s previously releases and was excited to see what sort of brain-teaser he was going to create for us next.

Sadly, this one just wasn’t suited to my tastes, but I can still appreciate the solid plot progression and creativity it took to create this whole world.

IMO, this book would work best for Literary Fiction fans, who enjoy stories with Speculative, or Futuristic elements.

I did enjoy the very beginning; the introduction to the setting and characters. It was all very mysterious and murky. It was giving me serious LOST vibes.

Not the attractive people suddenly stranded on a beach thing, though. More the disturbing community bits that they discover on the island way later…

I feel like I knew very early on, around page 37, what one of the big reveals was going to be. I don’t normally care about that, actually, I don’t. I don’t care about that, but unfortunately for me, the reveal I felt was coming is a trope I don’t tend to enjoy.

True to trend, it didn’t work for me here either. Obviously, I am not going to spoil for you what that is, but I’m aware that is strictly a personal taste issue, and is no way a reflection on Turton, or his work.

In fact, I doff my cap to Turton’s writing, creativity and overall mental prowess. It’s clear, if you’ve ever read one of his books, that his brain works better than around 95% of the rest of us.

For me though, this failed to capture my attention. I feel like some of it was kept too obscure, meaning, I couldn’t picture any of this. I was being told a lot of things, but I couldn’t actually imagine it, in my mind’s eye, playing out.

I also did find the pace to be incredibly slow, and not in an enticing slow burn sort of way. More in a, I’m starting to fall asleep way. And once I started to feel that, I couldn’t shake it. I really just wanted it to be over, which hurts me to say, but we’re all about honesty in this house.

I was fortunate to receive an early copy of the audiobook, because that definitely helped me to get through this one. I did find the narration quite charming.

At the end of the day, this just wasn’t a great fit for my tastes. The content wasn’t something I enjoyed. Nevertheless, I still love and admire Stuart Turton as an author and I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next!

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark and Tantor Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. Even though this wasn’t my cup of tea, I am still very glad I had the chance to pick it up!

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Review: The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

~ megs14malloy

The Mystery WriterThe Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Mystery Writer is the latest release from Sulari Gentill, author of The Woman in the Library.

I have heard so many great things about The Woman in the Library, so when I was offered the chance to read The Mystery Writer a little early, I jumped on it.

This story follows Theodosia Benton, an aspiring author, who has just left her native Australia and moved to the United States, to Lawrence, Kansas, to live with her older brother, Gus, a successful attorney.

The two had an unconventional upbringing and you can tell that there is a lot of history there, yet they have a loving and supportive relationship. Gus is happy that his sister is pursuing her dreams, instead of going along with the path her parents and grandparents had in mind for her.

As part of her writing process, Theo begins to visit the same local cafe everyday. It’s there she meets and befriends, Dan Murdoch, who turns out to be a best-selling author.

Their relationship develops at a hasty clip and then one day, Theo finds Dan has been murdered. The stuff hits the proverbial fan from there.

Gus has a friend, Mac, who happens to be a private investigator, and he sort of takes on a role as Theo’s protector, as they work together to try to figure out what happened to Dan.

This was a difficult book for me to rate. It started out strong for me. I was deeply intrigued for like the first 40%, or so, then it just went absolutely off the rails.

I got to the point where I wanted it away from me. I was over it. It was such a sharp turn, I looked up like, what the actual heck am I reading?!

There was a mixed media element to this that I did not enjoy. Usually I am totally down for mixed media use, but in this case, I found it to be more distracting than anything.

I understand what it was supposed to represent in context to the overall plot, but yeah, just because I understand it, doesn’t mean I enjoyed it.

Then there’s Theo herself, who was way too naive for my tastes. Her naivety kept being explained away by the fact that she had moved from Australia, but that doesn’t track. It’s Australia, not the moon. She felt more like a time traveler straight out of the 1920s, or something; absurd.

This is the type of story, where I really have to be able to get behind the MC and I found her to be truly annoying. I did like Gus, Mac and the dog, Horse. Theo though, not so much.

Also, I didn’t enjoy where the plot went. The baddies seemed mere caricatures of baddies, versus something that would make sense to this story. I just couldn’t get behind it all.

With this being said, I understand that this is 100% due to personal taste and that a lot of Readers may end up really enjoying this one. After all, just because it wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you.

If this synopsis sounds intriguing to you, or if you enjoyed this author’s previous work, you should absolutely give it a go. Perhaps I’m just in a mood. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.

Thank you to the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I do appreciate it and should say that the audiobook was very well narrated. I may not have gotten through this one, if it wasn’t for the audio format!

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Review: Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona

~ megs14malloy

Midnight on Beacon StreetMidnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Midnight on Beacon Street is a bit of a pensive novel, set in 1993. It follows a babysitter, Amy, who must overcome her own anxiety in order to protect the children she is responsible for on one hell of a night.

The scene is set as Eleanor Mazinski heads out on a date night, leaving her two children, Mira and Ben, with the sitter, Amy. Amy is 17-years old and skilled at taking care of children. Mira is stand-offish, but Ben is sweet and she knows she’ll be able to win him over with a little patience.

The evening starts out normally enough, but takes some uncomfortable turns, escalating in their danger level.

By midnight, there’s a dead body, a pool of blood, and a race for the kindly neighbor’s house to call for help. How did things go so wrong? You’ll have to read it to find out!

Midnight on Beacon Street turned out to be a very different story than what I thought it was going to be, and unfortunately, in this case, that’s not a good thing.

While I appreciated many different elements of the story, such as the many nods to classic Horror films, I can’t say that I enjoyed it. For me, it sort of plodded along in an awkward way, with the tension only arriving at the final, climactic scene; too little, too late.

From the start, it felt odd to me. The way the perspectives were presented, the back and forth in time, it just didn’t flow the way I would have wanted it to.

Around the halfway point, I was enjoying it, but damn was it slow. There was a ton of character work and the build-out of their emotions and motivations, but not in a way that I personally found to be compelling. Nevertheless, I was still anxious for the excitement to start.

Sadly, it just never took off for me. It didn’t seem to be able to establish a fluid narrative flow. The back and forth was a lot and it just felt way more literary than I was hoping for.

On a positive note, it almost felt like a Stephen Graham Jones work at times, in regards to the way it explored the Horror genre. As the synopsis says, it did feel like a love letter to Horror, which I love to see.

Even though it wasn’t done with the same finesse as SGJ, it was still a solid effort and that was definitely my favorite aspect of the book. Without those elements, this probably would have been a 2-star read for me.

I know that this will work for a lot of Readers though, so please don’t let my jaded-old opinion sway you. If this sounds interesting to you, please give it a shot. You’ve got nothing to lose and in fact, you could find a new favorite.

Thank you to the publisher, Harper Perennial, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

Even though this wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, I would be interested in picking up more from this author.

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