Book Review: When the Lights go Out: A Novel- Mary Kubica-Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

Hello dear Readers,

My book review of When the Lights go Out: A Novel by Mary Kubica.

Title: When the Lights go Out: A Novel 

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

Author: Mary Kubica

Publisher: Park Row

Publication Date: September 4, 2018

Language: English

Paperback: 336 pages
Meet the Author: Mary Kubica
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

A woman is forced to question her own identity in this riveting and emotionally charged thriller by the blockbuster bestselling author of The Good Girl, Mary Kubica.

Jessie Sloane is on the path to rebuilding her life after years of caring for her ailing mother. She rents a new apartment and applies for college. But when the college informs her that her social security number has raised a red flag, Jessie discovers a shocking detail that causes her to doubt everything she’s ever known.

Finding herself suddenly at the center of a bizarre mystery, Jessie tumbles down a rabbit hole, which is only exacerbated by grief and a relentless lack of sleep. As days pass and the insomnia worsens, it plays with Jessie’s mind. Her judgment is blurred, her thoughts are hampered by fatigue. Jessie begins to see things until she can no longer tell the difference between what’s real and what she’s only imagined.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier and two hundred and fifty miles away, another woman’s split-second decision may hold the key to Jessie’s secret past. Has Jessie’s whole life been a lie or have her delusions gotten the best of her?

My Thoughts

Even though I did not dislike the book but it was not my favorite either and that ending really did not help. 

I was intrigued at the beginning, psychological thrillers told from different points of view and with that wave of suspense as soon as you start them, plot twist and an unexpected ending but I found it to be very slow pace and I lost interest at times. Although I liked the premise and enjoyed the start but unfortunately not the best thriller I have read. 

Thank you Netgalley and Park Row for the advanced free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wendy

Book Review: Educated by Tara Westover-Biographies/Memoirs

Hello dear Readers,

Below my book review of Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover.

Title: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Biographies/Memoirs

Author: Tara Westover

Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: February 20, 2018

Language: English

Hardcover: 352 pages
Meet the Author: Tara Westover
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University

Book Club Pick for Now Read This, from PBS NewsHour and The New York Times 

“A coming-of-age memoir reminiscent of The Glass Castle.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“Tara Westover is living proof that some people are flat-out, boots-always-laced-up indomitable.”—USA Today

“The extremity of Westover’s upbringing emerges gradually through her telling, which only makes the telling more alluring and harrowing.”—The New York Times Book Review

Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills” bag. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged metal in her father’s junkyard.

Her father distrusted the medical establishment, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when an older brother became violent.

When another brother got himself into college and came back with news of the world beyond the mountain, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. She taught herself enough mathematics, grammar, and science to take the ACT and was admitted to Brigham Young University. There, she studied psychology, politics, philosophy, and history, learning for the first time about pivotal world events like the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty, and of the grief that comes from severing one’s closest ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes, and the will to change it.

My Thoughts

Not only one of the best books I have read in 2018 but in my life.

Tara, and whoever decides to tell their story publicly, I have always found that to be brave, honest. It is not just about what you decide to tell but how you tell it, and in the case of Educated, Tara does a fantastic job at telling her story. 

This book made me sad, angry, frustrated, in awe at times but also happy, made me laugh, gave me hope, and made me think about my life and about humans and the world in general. I think when an author can make you feel this way, all these emotions and feelings by telling their story, that is when you realize how powerful and the impact a book can have in your own life. That is how I feel about Educated. 

I love Tara's writing, the pace, the way she tell us about her life and all the difficulties she faces, how as she does we the readers also try to make sense and understand why all those things are happening to her. I was so fascinated and intrigued as to how things were going to turn out, by this story in general. Some things in life you never think of or that can happen until you read about them, and I absolutely appreciate the author's work on sharing her life experience, a very difficult one, but her openness and honesty about it makes this book a masterpiece.

Educated, a must read.

Wendy

Book Review: All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover-New Adult/Contemporary/Romance

Hello dear Readers,

Below my book review of All Your Perfects: A Novel by Colleen Hoover.

Title: All Your Perfects: A Novel 

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Genre: NA/Contemporary/Romance

Author: Colleen Hoover

Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: July 17, 2018

Language: English

Paperback: 320 pages
Meet the Author: Colleen Hoover
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us—whose writing is “emotionally wrenching and utterly original” (Sara Shepard, New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars series)—delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it.

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?

My Thoughts

I have read Colleen Hoover before and have enjoyed and loved her books. Of course I was excited to read All Your Perfects. One hundred pages into it I could see why it was said this was her best work yet. In terms of her writing style development it is, and I still think it is, however, in terms on how the subject of infertility is treated and presented, it was a complete disappointment for me. 

Reason I said that is because it was so painful and frustrated at times to go through the pages. I could never connect with the characters. As much as I wanted to like the book, to somehow connect, relate with these two people, with all they go through, that never happened. Some of the key events in the book were not treated with the seriousness I would have expected. Some of the dialogues between Graham and Queen felt like they did not care. The excuses or justifications they give each other for their behavior or why they did what they did felt almost childish at times and that irritated me a lot. I kept on reading in the hopes that the ending was going to bring some sense but except for this thing that happens towards the end that actually made me cried, the story, the characters, the dialogues, never felt real to me. Except for the writing being better than her last book, but this book did not make it for me.

Wendy