Review: The Great Alone

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found the book very descriptive of primitive Alaska and the dangers and beauties of our most northern state. I also enjoyed the history that was interspersed within the pages. Excellent writing by Kristin Hannah, as usual. Never really grew to love to characters aside from Large Marge. Yet the dynamic of love and violence was very well written.

View all my reviews

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of my favorites by this author. I’ve read a few books by her and two elements have been consistent for me; she is an excellent writer with perfect timing and character development while using language that fascinates me. The other is that her books make me squirm. I don’t like the squirminess but they are typically innuendo and definitely not completely weird. Just uncomfortable.

This book was excellent. Very well paced and I love her writing. The story is very engaging. A beautiful 15 year old with everything going for her disappears without a trace. Ten years later, with no leads, the family fractured and broken, Laurel, Ellie’s mother, meets enigmatic Floyd, who coincidentally, is single parenting a 9 year old child who bears a striking resemblance to missing Ellie.

What is striking about the story is that the author must untangle for the reader the relationship or non relationship between Floyd and Ellie (that is the mystery, after all), but also concentrated on healing of relationships between Laurel and her ex-husband and children. There are different peripheral stories that don’t seem relevant but, in the end, make the book much more satisfying. Threaded throughout the main story is hints of the way each family member dealt with the grief and loss and Laurel’s judgment of each. Rather psychologically insightful. I think I enjoyed that aspect as much as the main story.

This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review

Review: The Death of Mrs. Westaway

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Absolutely delightful spine chiller! Clues dropped sparingly with a few red herrings and an excellent resolution for the ending. I felt the chill throughout as Hal, alone and far too young to be alone, was trapped in Brighton until the letter from the solicitor. Her options so grim, her decision to pursue a possible inheritance looked to be the best choice of action.

Chilling is the best word to describe this book; not only spine chilling, but the setting is also chilly. The large house is always cold. The snow is cold. The characters are somewhat cold. Hal, the protagonist, trapped as she may be, finds options, anyway.

View all my reviews

Review: The Broken Girls

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pretty much one of my favorite thrillers I've read in a long time. Combines different elements that I enjoy without being completely off the wall. The stories of today and before are tied together without an obvious bow. The book includes a solid storyline, character development without over or undergoing it, a little bit of supernatural. Really liked it.

View all my reviews

Review: What Should Be Wild

What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Great concept yet I felt a little unsatisfied. Excellent writing. Perhaps it was a little too abstract for my tastes. I didn’t really feel a strong connection to the characters.

View all my reviews

Review: Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall

Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall by Nina Willner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. Very illuminating regarding life in the Soviet controlled sector of Germany. I must add that the author’s mother is gorgeous! Even well into her eighties.

View all my reviews

Review: Family Trust

Family Trust by Kathy Wang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well written book that she’s trust as a noun and a verb. When a parent is dying, what happens with relationships? I liked the storyline yet it felt a little empty to me.

View all my reviews

The Great Soul Of Siberia

Great Soul of Siberia: Passion, Obsession, and One Man's Quest for the World's Most Elusive Tiger by Sooyong Park
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I feel a little blind sided by this book. I have an interest in tigers so I thought I would read just a bit and see how I liked this guy’s research. turns out that “this guy” immersed himself in the study of this nearly extinct tiger. By the time I was interrupted, I’d become captivated by Bloody Mary and her cubs and was terrorized by her destruction of Park’s bunker. I tried to explain the book to my husband but realized I knew too many details that were important and gave up trying to explain it to him.

With a mere 350 Siberian tigers in the world, Sooyong concentrated his research on one family and her progeny. The reality is that they are highly elusive and it is highly unlikely one will ever actually see the animal. To increase his chances, Park spent the summer studying the land, the trees with food for ungulates, watching for pug marks or tiger trails, measuring the pads and strides, then carefully constructing very small bunkers within the earth then staying very still, very solitary, and very dark and watched with his cameras going.

Tiger activity was few and far between but what he captured and experienced is far more than any other researcher. He found relationships, nurturing, independence, and personalities of the tigers. There is far too much to express about what I loved about this book but the narrative naturally led to poachers. It was heart breaking. The tigers are faced with the natural enemy of the unforgiving landscape but then the encroaching civilization takes up the territory they used to claim. Then poachers illegally hunt the magnificent animal which has brought it nearly to extinction.

I loved the book. I am in awe of the Siberian tiger and also what the author sacrificed to capture so much knowledge and footage to share.

View all my reviews

Then She Was Gone

Then She Was Gone: A Novel by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of my favorites by this author. I’ve read a few books by her and two elements have been consistent for me; she is an excellent writer with perfect timing and character development while using language that fascinates me. The other is that her books make me squirm. I don’t like the squirminess but they are typically innuendo and definitely not completely weird. Just uncomfortable.

This book was excellent. Very well paced and I love her writing. The story is very engaging. A beautiful 15 year old with everything going for her disappears without a trace. Ten years later, with no leads, the family fractured and broken, Laurel, Ellie’s mother, meets enigmatic Floyd, who coincidentally, is single parenting a 9 year old child who bears a striking resemblance to missing Ellie.

What is striking about the story is that the author must untangle for the reader the relationship or non relationship between Floyd and Ellie (that is the mystery, after all), but also concentrated on healing of relationships between Laurel and her ex-husband and children. There are different peripheral stories that don’t seem relevant but, in the end, make the book much more satisfying. Threaded throughout the main story is hints of the way each family member dealt with the grief and loss and Laurel’s judgment of each. Rather psychologically insightful. I think I enjoyed that aspect as much as the main story.

This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review