Book Review: "The Trees" by Percival Everett

Wow. This one really blew me away.

So far this year I’ve read some truly fantastic books, and then there have been books so unlike anything I’ve read before, or at least in a long while. The Trees definitely falls into the second category.

“If you want to know a place, you talk to its history.”

The small town of Money, Mississippi isn’t well-known. For now. Because two white men were brutally murdered, and no one can figure out how anyone could’ve gotten into to kill them. But even more perplexing is the fact that next to the body is another body, of a man who resembles Emmett Till. And that body keeps disappearing and appearing again.

Three Black investigators come to Money to try and determine what is happening. These murders seem to be revenge killings, but then this same thing keeps happening across the country. To understand the genesis of the murders requires an understanding of the history of lynching in America.

As serious as this subject is—and Percival Everett has given it and racism the attention it deserved—I never would’ve imagined a book like this would’ve been so funny at the same time. It truly kept me hooked on every word. This is the second of his books I’ve read—I loved So Much Blue a few years ago.

Absolutely genius.

Book Review: "Dream On" by Angie Hockman

Sometimes our dreams seem so real…and they actually may be.

“Most people wake up from a coma with memory loss. I woke up with memory surplus—specifically, countless memories of a man named Devin Bloom.”

When Cass Walker awakens from a six-day coma after an accident, she doesn’t remember what happened that night. But she does have vivid memories of Devin, the guy she’s been dating for three months. Only one catch: Devin doesn’t exist.

A year later, as she’s attempting to restart her life and her law career, Devin remains a memory. So when Cass meets the actual Devin in a flower shop, she’s completely thrown for a loop. He’s never met her before yet all of the things she knows about him are inexplicable. As the two explore what possible connection they could have had, or whether it’s fate that brought them together, they embark on a real relationship.

Isn’t it funny, though, when you get all you want, it’s not quite what you wanted? Do you follow the path of your dreams, the one fate seems to have led you down, or do you carve your own path?

This is a sweet story. It has dashes of While You Were Sleeping in it but it’s also very different. I loved the concept and thought the romance part was sweet, but things tied up a little too neatly for me.

Book Review: "Smells Like Tween Spirit" by Laurie Gelman

Smells Like Tween Spirit heralds the return of one of my favorite fictional mothers/grandmothers!

I’ve really enjoyed Laurie Gelman’s series of books featuring smart-ass mom Jen Dixon (Class Mom, You’ve Been Volunteered, and Yoga Pant Nation) and I’m so glad that her fourth book helped wake me from my reading slump.

Now that her son is in 7th grade, Jen’s days as class mom are over, but much to her surprise she’s now a “mat mom,” as Max has decided to take up wrestling. (She does hate the name “mat mom,” but no one jumps at her suggested name changes.)

While she’s amazed at what being the mom of an athlete entails—including having to wash the gym clothes of a bunch of middle schoolers on occasion—she’s more amazed at the competitiveness of other mothers and the extents to which they’ll go to motivate and cheer for their kids.

But that’s not all Jen has to deal with. Her daughters decide to go into business together and start feuding, her aging parents are becoming more difficult to deal with, and her decision to get to know the students in her spin classes comes with some hilarious results.

What I really enjoy about these books is Jen, and how she’s matured (sort of) through the series. While she still has her smart-ass tendencies, as her son has grown up, she has, too, and as she juggles marriage, motherhood, grandmotherhood, and the realities of aging, her character has become even more well-rounded.

If you enjoy humorous books, dive into this series!

Book Review: "Wrong Place Wrong Time" by Gillian McAllister

Can going back in time help her save her son?

You’ve probably saw this thriller all over the place this summer, and for good reason: it’s fascinating and tremendously addictive, with some twists you might not see coming.

It’s late one night, and Jen is waiting for her son Todd to come home. She knows she shouldn’t worry about him now that he’s 18, but she can’t shake her protective instinct. She sees Todd approach their house, and then she sees a man walk over to him. Much to her horror, she watches Todd stab the man to death.

Todd is arrested and refuses to have a lawyer. Jen and her husband Kelly feel powerless to help their son, but more than that, Jen is desperate to understand who this man was, and why her son killed him.

But when she wakes up the next morning, ready to fight for her son, she finds it’s the day before the murder. She feels she’s losing her mind, but she knows she has to do everything she can to prevent the murder from happening. That becomes much harder when every morning she wakes up it’s one day earlier.

I enjoyed this very much. The pace was a little slow at times but the whole concept was so compelling. Jen’s fierce love for her son and her husband gave the story such emotional heft.

Book Review: "Luck and Last Resorts" by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

Sometimes love means letting yourself be vulnerable.

Nina learned the hard way not to depend on anyone else. And she’s done a good job of that for the most part—except for Ollie, who has been her on-again, off-again flame for nearly 10 years.

It’s been easy to avoid any real commitment, with Nina working as chief stewardess on a yacht and Ollie working as a sous chef at a restaurant. But when Ollie decides to return to working on the yacht, he comes with an ultimatum: if Nina isn’t ready to admit she loves him by the end of the charter season, he’s going back to Ireland.

It should be easy for Nina: she really only feels complete when she’s with him. But life—and emotions—are far more complex, and her fears and vulnerabilities keep her from admitting how she feels. And a secret they share could tear it all apart.

This follow-up to last year’s Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships is romantic, funny, sweet, emotional, and even a little steamy. Banter is one of my favorite things in a rom-com, and Nina and Ollie make it into an art form. But their chemistry and their feelings for one another work so well, too.

You could read this as a stand-alone but I’d totally recommend reading the first book, which I absolutely loved. I hope to see all of these characters again!!

Book Review: "She's Up to No Good" by Sara Goodman Confino

She's Up to No Good is a fantastic story about love, family, and finding happiness.

Boy, I love the way Sara Goodman Confino writes!! I really enjoyed her first book (For the Love of Friends) but this one blew me away, and I’m so grateful to her and Get Red PR Books for sending me a copy!!

Even though Jenna knew her marriage wasn’t great, she never imagined her husband would actually want a divorce. But yet here she is six months later, sleeping in her childhood bedroom, watching movies with her father, and hiding from life.

When her irrepressible grandmother Evelyn plans to visit Hereford, the seaside town in Massachusetts where she grew up, Jenna agrees to accompany her on the road trip. Along the way, she learns about Evelyn’s first love, and how the decisions she made shaped her life—and future generations.

Evelyn’s story fascinates Jenna, and when Jenna meets Joe, the great-nephew of Evelyn’s first love, Tony, she realizes that she went for far too long accepting unhappiness, and that she deserves so much more. She learns more about her grandmother than she ever imagined and those lessons help her consider a fresh start.

I just loved this book so much. It alternates between Evelyn’s story in the 1950s and the present, and it was romantic, funny, and so moving. I’ll be waiting for whatever Confino does next!!

Book Review: "The Swell" by Allie Reynolds

This thriller doesn’t let up, from start to finish.

Well, after Allie Reynolds took the locked-room thriller to the top of a snowy glacier with Shiver, she’s back, but in the Australian surf this time.

When Kenna learns that her childhood best friend Mikki is engaged to a man Kenna has never met, she leaves her home in the UK and flies to Australia. She hopes to see if the creepy feeling she gets about this guy continues, and if so, she hopes to bring Mikki back to the UK with her.

Kenna finds that while the love between them might not be intense, their love of surfing is definitely mutual. They convince Kenna to join them on a trip to Sorrow Bay, an isolated paradise on the coast, that they, along with some friends, think of as “their place.”

This group of extremely talented and competitive surfers think of themselves as a tribe, and will stop at nothing to keep strangers from finding out about their place. They’re definitely thrill-seekers, risking everything for excitement and victory.

But there are things that don’t seem to add up for Kenna. Why is Mikki acting strangely? If people who have left “The Tribe” did so out of free will, why are some of those same people being reported missing? Someone in the group will stop at nothing to keep those secrets, and Kenna has to fight for her life.

This was definitely a book I had been eagerly anticipating and it definitely lived up to the hype. It feels a little like The Beach but with twists all its own. Reynolds has definitely become a go-to thriller author for me!!