The Better Liar by Tanen Jones

Leslie’s father’s dying wish was to have his daughters rekindle their relationship.  He wanted it so much that he made it a condition under this will that no money be disbursed to either until they presented themselves to the attorney together. 

When her hunt for Robin takes her to Las Vegas, Leslie discovers Robin dead from an apparent drug overdose.  While trying to work out her next plan, Leslie comes across a girl who looks enough like Robin to fool the acquaintances who haven’t seen her in a decade.  It looks like Mary is in need of a new beginning and so a plan is hatched. 

While waiting for the estate to pay out, each woman starts to learn just ow many secrets the other is keeping.  
The story is told from 3 points of view: Leslie, the good daughter that stayed home and cared for her emotionally unavailable father to the bitter end, Robin, the wild child that ran away from home a decade ago and Mary, the lookalike and sometimes con-artist. 

I really liked the idea of this book and the story is full of twist and secrets.  I had some issues with inevitability and didn’t feel any connection to Leslie, which may have been the author’s intention.  She came off very beige and boring with no depth to her character, even when her secrets were revealed. 
This would make a good rainy weekend read.

Thank you to NetGalley at the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review

Followers by Megan Angelo

The followers follows 2 timelines, current day and 2051.  In the current day, we find Orla, an aspiring author with a roommate named Floss that is working on “making it”.  To make ends meet, Orla finds herself writing for a gossip web-zine called Lady-ish.  When the celebrity that Orla writes all of her articles about dies, she finds that she needs a new celebrity to follow or she will be out of a job.  Orla and Floss combine their talents and turn Floss into the next big thing, influencer du jour and twitter famous in the blink of an eye.

In the 2051 timeline, we find ourselves in Constellation, California, a picture perfect community designed by The Network to be not just a reality show, but several reality shows in one community.  The stars all where a device that allows them to see their followers, read commentary and allows The Network to influence their choices and behaviors.  

The story focuses on Marlow, who has lived in the community since she was 5.  She has grown up in front of the camera for the past 30 years and has had every moment of her life filmed and directed.   After a violent episode in her teen years, she even finds herself as the face of Hysteryl, a mood stabilizing drug that keeps her “happy”.  When the Network decides that she needs to have a baby to spice up her life for her followers, Marlow has to stop taking Hysteryl.  As she emerges from the drugs haze, she realizes that she is not happy with her picture perfect life and when a lab tech tells her about an anomaly with her DNA, Marlow decides she wants answers. 

While Marlow is looking for answers, she discover the story of her parents, Floss and Aston and their short lived reality show that featured Orla as the nerdy disgruntled roommate.  She also finds herself face to face with her nemesis who helps her discover the truth as it centers around The Spill.  

The book is an interesting commentary about social media and sharing, the desire for celebrity and it’s consequences.  It pokes fun at influencers and people who find themselves famous just because they are famous. 

This was a light and sometimes dark read, humorous and thought provoking.  It would be a good beach read, a book club read and even a required reading for later high school and early college to discuss the media and other agencies role in our lives and our actions. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick

The story opens on the life of Luella and Effie Tildon, privileged children, raised by a strict mother and a father interested in keeping up appearances.  Luella, the older sister, has a bit of a rebellious streak but dotes on Effie.  Effie was born with a heart condition that leaves her prone to “blue fits” and leaves her parents amazed each year that she does not die.  The girls are inseparable and make their own adventures.. 

When Luella goes missing, Effie assumes that her parents have sent her away to the reform school (work house) up the road, known as the House of Mercy.  Desperate to be with her sister after her parents refuse to bring her home, Effie dreams up a plan and enters the House of Mercy under a different name only to find that her sister is not there.  

Trapped by her own story, Effie finds herself stuck in the House of Mercy and falls victim to the cruelty of the nuns and the girls that find themselves there.  Effie's gets entangled with another girl, Mable, who is also not using her own name but for far different reasons.   While trying to save Effie, Mable's find herself face to face with her past.

This story touches on new York in the 1910's, the wealthy holding on to their traditions and the poor just trying to hold on, the women who would dare to spearhead the suffrage movement, and the women and girls who found themselves with no say in their own lives.

I enjoyed the authors' use of the names to highlight her title  and the lack of identity woman had outside of their male relations. I wish there had been more history than just the touches of the suffrage  movement and the workhouses for wayward girls. 

Effie enjoys writing and the author would sometimes throw some of her fanciful stories into the narrative that were often distracting and didn't add much to the story. 

It was a solid read, good for book clubs .  3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Dear Edward is a deeply moving story of a young boy that is the sole survivor of a catastrophic plane crash.  

The story is told in alternating timelines, now and during the flight.  At first, I did not like or enjoy the narrative of the time during the flight, but as the story progressed, I began to see its relevance.  

This is not a happily ever after tale, per se.  It has darkness, a sense of stalling, falling, failing.  Edward's unhappiness, the people around him treating him like an unexploded bomb and nobody quite knowing how to move forward feels very real.  It's not overly pretty or hopeful and yet, not completely bleak and hopeless.

The story, for me, could easily have ended with the Colorado\Texas transplant volunteer as it was so moving to read that point of view in it's poignant simplicity. 

I found this to be a great read.  I would be surprised and probably a little saddened if this weren't turned into a movie.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright by Beth Miller

Mrs. Bright is your average middle-aged woman, married for more than half of her life, mother to 2 grown children, keeping up with friends and obligations.  Until one day, when she wakes up and decides that she has had enough and walks away from her marriage.

Kay finds herself at the point in her life where she wonders at the road not taken and looks back  too fondly at what could have been, seeing the past through a distorted lens of wistful thinking.

After her friend’s bi-monthly letters suddenly stop with no notice, Kay decides that while she is spreading her wings and finding her own identity post marriage, she will check in on her friend in Australia.  

What she learns on her travels, about her friends, herself and her marriage helps her to put feelings in perspective and find a new way forward while maintaining her relationships with her husband, children and friends. 

This is a novel about midlife, looking back, family and friendship.  It is a nice light read, the troubles and turmoils are put to bed a little too neatly for my taste, making it a little hard to believe at times, but overall a good book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First Cut by Judy Melinek, M.D.; T.J. Mitchell

Dr. Jessie Teska is new to San Francisco but not new to her job as medical examiner.  She is smart and down to earth, has a very vocal and kind of destructive dog, a murky family history and a very curious nature that just might lead her into trouble.

Something about one of her first cases in her new department feels off and the more she pursues it, the worse it feels. When someone close to the case takes an interest, things quickly spiral in their own direction, leaving Jessie to follow along as her case becomes entangled in other recent cases.

This book feels like the beginning of a series.  I get essence of early Kay Scarpetta and early Temperence Brennan in here.  There is just the right mix of professional story line with a sprinkle of her human side, her dog her brother, her dates and even a smattering of her past.

A solid read. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

The Goode School is an all-girls boarding school full of privilege and history and secret societies.  It is also a breeding ground for hazing, secrets and lies.  Ashlyn Carr arrives at Goode under an assumed name to escape the sudden deaths of both of her parents. It appears that her secrets will be safe as the new headmistress is very interested in protecting her own secrets as well as how Ashlyn's tuition was funded.

When Ash’s roommate is found dead at the bottom of the clock tower.  It brings back parts of the dark past associated with not just the school, but the headmistress and some of the students as well.. But Ash has her own secrets and they are just itching to come back to haunt her.

While it has all the necessary elements of a good ghost story that throws a shadow over the real mystery, it missed the boat in that there were too many characters doing and saying too many things that were not of any pertinence to the story itself.  It didn’t hold my interested and I felt that the story dragged on and on and could likely have been done in about half the chapters.

2.5 rounded to 3 Stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.