Review: The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

I read Jane Eyre when I was in high school and I remember being drawn into the dark magnificence of the gothic romance. It became an immediate favorite, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard about The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins. It is more or less a modern retelling of Bronte's plot, but there is plenty of originality in this twisty tale. The mood of this gothic domestic thriller also reminds me of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, since Jane is always trying to live up to her seemingly perfect predecessor. However, there is no brooding Mrs. Danvers in this version and the house in Thornfield Estates where Jane and Eddie live doesn't quite have the same larger-than-life character that Manderley did. Despite the obvious similarities to these two classics, The Wife Upstairs stands on its own as a modern mystery full of twists and turns that readers will devour in no time at all!

Jane is a young woman who is running away from a troubled past. She is utterly alone in the world until she meets Eddie Rochester, a recent widower who owns a large estate in the posh neighborhood where Jane works as a dog walker. Sparks fly when the two meet and a romance blooms between the unlikely pair. Jane slowly learns how to live in a life of luxury, but is always keeping true happiness at arm's length, subconsciously fearing it's all too good to be true. She becomes obsessed with learning as much as possible about the late Mrs. Bea Rochester, the founder of a successful business who was declared dead after disappearing during a tragic boating accident that also killed her best friend. It is presumed Bea drowned alongside her friend, but her body was never found. Jane finds out soon enough that things aren't quite as they seem when the police determine the two women's deaths were actually homicides and Eddie is a prime suspect. Jane can't seem to figure out who is the bigger threat to this new shiny life that's waiting for her- her fiancé or his dead wife.

Fans of Jane Eyre will recognize major elements of the plot, but Hawkins does a wonderful job recreating this tale for the twenty-first century. Jane herself isn't quite as pure and innocent as the original. She is running from a terrible secret in her past which she fears could destroy this new life she's made for herself if it were to ever be discovered. Bea is also a very modern woman, the creator of a popular southern lifestyle brand called 'Southern Manors' that reminds me of Reese Witherspoon's Draper James clothing line. Unfortunately, something is lost in the reinvention of these characters because I couldn't connect with any of them, Jane especially. I wanted to like her, but I just didn't. She was a little too hard and flat throughout the novel and even when she voiced her vulnerabilities, it didn't come across as genuine. 

The lack of character depth is my only complaint about this novel. I would still highly recommend it to fans of the domestic suspense and thriller genre. You don't have to have read the classics I mentioned to enjoy this title, although it will definitely give you a better idea of the mood the author was trying to create. I couldn't put this one down and felt like it was a wonderful take on some of my favorite gothic romances!

My Rating: ★★★★ out of 5

*Thanks to the author, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

At the time of this review, this title will be available to purchase on January 5th, 2021.

Plus-Size Heroines You'll Want to Meet

 My interests primarily stray towards the mystery and thriller genres, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy getting down and dirty with some quality chick lit every now and again. In fact, I used to read quite a bit of authors like Jane Green and Jennifer Weiner back in the day. After being frustrated that I couldn't easily find titles that featured plus-sized heroines above a size 14 (pfft!) with whom I could relate, I took a break from the genre.

I was intrigued by the premise of One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London when it appeared as an option for my Book of the Month Club selection this summer. The novel follows Bea, a plus-size fashion blogger, as she navigates the world of reality TV in an effort to get over a recent heartbreak and find her true love. I'll admit that I have watched a few seasons of 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette' in my college days, and I thought it might be a lot of fun to see how a show like that could serve as a setting for a novel. As soon as I learned that Bea was plus-size and dealing with a lot of the same issues modern plus-size women face, I just knew I had to take a break from my lengthy TBR list and give it a try. 

As an overweight woman myself, I appreciate how relatable Bea and her experiences are. I know all too well what it feels like to deal with the crap that comes along with being fat: low self-esteem, unsolicited weight-loss advice, feelings of unworthiness, stores not carrying your size, negative self-talk, body shaming, internet trolls, etc., etc., etc.  That all sounds pretty depressing, but Stayman-London does an amazing job of balancing Bea's strengths and weaknesses. From the first chapter, the reader gets a sense that Bea will overcome all the sh*t life plans to throw at her, all while wearing an amazing outfit! With that being said, her weight is a constant source of vulnerability for her and that is a recurring theme in the novel. Any woman who has been forced to deal with weight issues will certainly she herself in Bea at some point in this novel. And the best part about this book? Bea doesn't have to lose weight to get her happily ever after, sending the message that bigger women are just as worthy of being loved as slimmer ones.

My Rating: ★★★★★ out of 5

If you've read One to Watch and are looking for other novels with plus-size heroines, you might want to check out Jemima J. by Jane Green and The Next Big Thing by Johanna Edwards. They both has female protagonists you'll remember for a long time and one also includes a reality TV show! 

Like I said, it's been awhile since I read any chick lit, so my recommendations are probably a little outdated. But, I still remember these novels and their stories after all this time, so I think there's something to be said for that.

Review: What My Husband Did by Kerry Wilkinson

What My Husband Did by Kerry Wilkinson starts off a little differently than most murder mysteries. A twelve year-old girl is found barely alive in a stream on a cold, wintery night. She was last seen getting into a man's car outside a gas station in a quaint little village town where everyone is in the middle of everyone else's business. The protagonist, Maddy, is more than a little concerned when her husband is revealed to be the driver of the mystery car. She's sure her husband can offer a reasonable explanation that would quiet the unsettling rumors that are beginning to spread, but there's only one problem- he never returned home. This only fuels the gossip and suspicion surrounding her husband's involvement in the terrible crime. The title and first chapter alone do a pretty convincing job of pointing the finger at Maddy's husband, but as all good detectives know, small towns are good at keeping big secrets.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be into this story after reading the first few chapters, but somewhere around 25% in, I was hooked. Maddy is a strong character and I appreciated that she wasn't portrayed as some naive, devoted housewife who refuses to believe her husband might be capable of keeping secrets from her. Her reactions came across as authentic and I was very much rooting for her. There were many suspenseful moments and suspicious characters that kept me on high alert. Several of the townspeople have prominent roles in the story and I enjoyed learning their backstories in addition to Maddy's. The small town setting and cliquey women reminded me a lot of the characters in Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. 

While the characterization in the novel was excellent, there were some issues with the plot that kept me from being able to rate this book higher. There's a secondary storyline within the novel that flashbacks to show Maddy's relationship with her father who was imprisoned for a violent crime. While at first this backstory added to the intrigue of the story, it ended up feeling like an unnecessary addition. It didn't end up affecting Maddy much in the present-day, or at least not to the level one would expect, so I'm confused as to why it was even included. The novel ends in a flashback with what was clearly meant to be a shocking twist, but it just left me confused. To avoid spoiling anything, I can't go into too much detail, but the last chapter felt misplaced. To have any kind of impact on the reader, it needed to have had a larger impact on Maddy. Had this "reveal" been earlier on in the novel, the author could have given herself time to show how Maddy was left damaged from that piece of her past. Instead, it just feels like it was slapped onto the end as a way of throwing one more surprise at the reader. 

If you enjoy mysteries with authentic characters in an intimate setting, you will probably enjoy this book. There was plenty of suspense and twists that I didn't see coming, but the ending was disappointing.

My Rating: ★★★ 1/2 out of 5

*Thanks to the author, Bookouture, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

At the time of this review, this title will be available to purchase on November 17th, 2020.

Review: Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane

I finished Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane the day I saw it was one of the November choices for the Book of the Month Club. I wasn't surprised at all to see it had been chosen. It's a tightly woven murder  mystery that is sure to please fans of the domestic suspense genre.

Right from the start, this novel hooked me. Lila is a trophy wife who is sick of taking her husband's abuse and finally decides to put an end to their marriage in the most vengeful way possible. She's plotted his murder out to the tiniest of details, but things do not go as planned. Instead of the police knocking on her door to tell her that her husband's body has been found, she answers it to find Aaron's boss instead. He tells her that Aaron didn't show up for work that day, which isn't a surprise to Lila. Dead men don't show up for work. What is a surprise, however, is that his car isn't where she left it and there is no sign of Aaron's body anywhere. Dead men also don't come back to life and drive away...or do they?

To make matters worse, Lila starts receiving threatening notes. She doesn't want to believe it's Aaron, but who else could possibly know what she tried to do? As if she doesn't have enough to worry about, Lila has become the target of a bulldog detective who isn't buying her clueless wife act. Lila feels the walls begin to close in around her as her husband's disappearance becomes connected to a series of missing women. She's not sure what to believe anymore, but one thing she knows for certain- if Aaron is still alive, he won't rest until he's killed her.

This novel was a thrilling ride from start to finish. I loved every twist and turn and even though I was able to figure out some of the ending, Kane did a wonderful job explaining all the whys and answering all the questions I had. The story was fast-paced throughout and I'd give it a solid 4.5 stars out of 5. My only complaint was in the characterization of Lila. Despite having valid reasons for portraying her as cold and unfeeling, she was just too hard a character to connect with. She was flat and lacked the depth I was really hoping for. If Kane had developed Lila the same way she did Ginny, the bulldog detective, then this would have easily been a 5/5. Despite that small critique, this was a gripping novel perfect for a chilly fall or winter night and I encourage you to pick up a copy if you're a fan of domestic suspense.

My Rating: ★★★★ 1/2 out of 5

*Thanks to the author, HarperCollins Publishers, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

At the time of this review, this title will be available to purchase on December 29, 2020.

Review: Little Bones by N.V. Peacock

 I was really excited to read Little Bones by N.V. Peacock for two reasons. The first being that the plot was unique and stood out from the average missing child thrillers I often read. The protagonist is the daughter of Mr. Bones, a serial killer who murdered little boys and used their bones to create macabre works of art. Cherrie has given herself a new name and a new life in an attempt to escape her previous life as "Little Bones," the nickname she received at 8 years-old when the public discovered she was a potential accomplice in her father's crimes. Considering her involvement in the kidnappings of eleven young boys when she was a child, Cherrie is not the typical protagonist.  The second thing that lured me in was the mention of a true crime podcast that stirs up Cherrie's life and leads to the subsequent abduction of her young son. I enjoy listening to true crime podcasts myself, such as "Serial," "Teacher's Pet," and "Up and Vanished" to name a few, so I was interested in seeing how the author incorporated her own version of this popular media into the story.

The book had me hooked from the beginning and I was not able to put it down for the first 60% or so. I was rooting for Cherrie to find her son and was very intrigued by her relationship with her serial killer father. Unfortunately, the last 40% of the novel did not live up to the beginning and I was left feeling disappointed and confused. While there were several red herrings introduced, the "bad guy" wasn't a huge shocker. I had suspected the culprit multiple different times throughout the story so the final reveal was less than shocking. My other complaint is that I lost my connection with Cherrie as soon as she switched into vigilante mode. I'm all for a bad ass protagonist, but Cherrie almost came across as being manic where she'd be frantically plotting and scheming on how to run her own investigation into her son's disappearance and the next minute she's sitting on the couch eating a bowl of cereal and watching Grey's Anatomy. Thankfully, my child has never gone missing, but if she did, I could promise you that I would NEVER be able to chill out and watch mindless television just a few days into her disappearance. One minute she'd talk about not being able to sleep because her mind is racing with fears for her son and the next minute, she's calmly going to bed early as a way of passing time as she waits for developments. It just seemed so unlikely to me that a mother in this position would act the way she does. Her actions made me dislike her which was frustrating because I didn't start the novel feeling that way.

Overall, this was an entertaining enough read, but the inconsistent characterization of Cherrie ruined it for me in the end.

My Rating: ★★★ 1/2 out of 5

*Thanks to the author, Avon Books, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

At the time of this review, this title will be available to purchase on October 31, 2020.

Review: The Zenned-Out Guide to Understanding Auras by Cassie Uhl

I first discovered Cassie Uhl’s work when I read The Zenned Out Guide to Understanding Crystals (see review here) and practically devoured it in one sitting. I knew immediately that I wanted to check out the other two books she has available as part of this series on auras and chakras. If you’re familiar with any of these books, you’ll already know that they provide a wealth of information on the topic in an easy-to-understand and visually-appealing way. 

I was excited to dive into The Zenned Out Guide to Understanding Auras because the subject has always fascinated me, even long before I started trying to figure out my spiritual beliefs. The book covers a wide range of knowledge that readers of all experience levels will be able to appreciate. It begins by giving background information about auras, including what they are and the various ways people can experience them. Explanations behind the various colors and what they mean about you and your energy are provided along with very pretty illustrations and infographic pages that sum up key ideas. Uhl teaches you how to protect, cleanse, and heal your aura. She gives a variety of options for each of these so every reader can find the method that works best for him/her. The final part of the book is about how to conduct aura readings for others, both quickly and more in-depth. This is not probably something I will try, at least not until I become more experienced in reading my own aura, so I didn’t try any of these techniques myself.

While I was skeptical when Uhl claimed that almost everyone is capable of “seeing” at least parts of auras in some way, I gave the exercises she suggested a try. Much to my surprise, after using a piece of amethyst on the third eye and a brief meditation, I was able to determine three colors of my aura. I kept an open mind and had no preconceived notions about the colors I might “see” during my meditation. Uhl says that it might take some time of practicing the various exercises she gives in the book before you can determine your aura’s colors, but she also provides a simple quiz that could help with this information too. I’ve been doing a lot of intuition work recently, so I believe that’s why I was lucky enough to get results on my first try. I plan on continuing to use the techniques daily and work them into my regular spiritual practices.

While I still have some questions, this book gave me the foundation and the confidence to continue exploring auras. Since auras and the chakras are connected, I think I’ll have a better overall understanding once I get a better handle on my chakras. If you’re new to the idea of auras or want to know more about them in depth, I highly recommend The Zenned Out Guide to Understanding Auras!

My Rating: ★★★★★

*Thanks to the author, Quarto Books, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Review: She Lies Close by Sharon Doering

I just finished reading She Lies Close by Sharon Doering and I have to say that it exceeded my expectations! I've read a ton of mysteries involving missing children, but if you asked me to give you details about one, I probably wouldn't be able to. While plenty have been great- full of suspense and shocking twists- they just don't have characters that stick with me. Doering's take on the popular theme caught me by surprise as I found myself laughing and connecting with the protagonist in a way I hardly ever do. There's one point in the story where the main character is annoyed at being delayed on her way home because all she is looking forward to is taking off her pants. (Lady, I feel you!) That's not to say the plot doesn't check all the genre's boxes; it is suspenseful and creepy and sad in all the right ways.

Grace Wright is a recently divorced mother of two who is just trying to survive each day. Her first priority is taking care of her young children, which seems all the more challenging when she realizes her next-door neighbor is a suspect in the disappearance of a local girl, Ava Boone.  Grace does her best to appear "normal," but it's not hard to see that she's a hot mess. She already struggles with ADD and anxiety, and on top of that her insomnia is keeping her up for days at a time, causing her to hallucinate and black out in the middle of the night. She obsesses over her neighbor, convinced he is grooming her three-year-old daughter to be his next victim. One day, she thinks she sees little Ava in her neighbor's house and that pushes Grace to act. She breaks into his house and finds disturbing evidence that only make her all the more certain he is responsible for kidnapping Ava, but no one will listen to her concerns. When the neighbor turns up dead, Grace finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

This novel has a lot of dark humor that makes it stand out from typical books in this genre. Grace is snarky and sarcastic, which I loved! If I could choose a fictional best friend, she'd definitely be in my top three. She comes across as so real and vulnerable which is so refreshing. The plot itself is solid, but I will remember She Lies Close because of the life Doering brings to her characters. Readers who are not fans of crass language or sexual details in their books should probably stay away from this one, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone else looking for a well-written mystery with memorable characters.

My Rating: ★★★★★

*Thanks to the author, Titan Books, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!