First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston might be the easiest 5 stars I have ever given, and I love that this is the author's adult debut! If her YA is anywherFirst Lie Wins by Ashley Elston might be the easiest 5 stars I have ever given, and I love that this is the author's adult debut! If her YA is anywhere as close to as good as this adult book was, I am clearly missing out and need to check her backlist out ASAP. The story is told from Evie's viewpoint in the current timeline with glimpses into her previous aliases in the past until everything comes together for the big climax. This book is positively packed with twist after twist, and I didn't see a single one of them coming.
The audiobook is a gem with Saskia Maarleveld as the narrator, and while this would make an excellent book to take to the beach, I encourage you to listen to the audio! Maarleveld did such a great job with Evie, and you can tell she's a pro with how she was able to bring this book to life. I loved Elston's writing from start to finish, and First Lie Wins is thrilling and engaging as well as having one of the most satisfying endings I have read in a while. I would recommend going into it as blind as possible so you can enjoy every minute of the ride!
I received an advanced listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own....more
After seeing great reviews for The Nigerwife by Vanessa Walters at least 30 times on Bookstagram, I decided I had to give it a shot. I am very glad I After seeing great reviews for The Nigerwife by Vanessa Walters at least 30 times on Bookstagram, I decided I had to give it a shot. I am very glad I did because I ended up really enjoying this one! The majority of the story is told through Nicole before chapters and Claudine after chapters, and I loved the way Walters blended the two together to give us the full picture of what happened to lead up to her disappearance and Claudine's subsequent arrival in Lagos. I have only read a couple of books set in Nigeria, and this was my first time learning of the term Nigerwife and what it means. I loved the setting of Lagos, and it was fun to get to learn more about this city at the same time as learning more about the community that is the Nigerwives.
There is an excellent air of mystery throughout the entire book, and I really had no idea where the author was going to take the story. The climax AND the very end both completely shocked me, and I was a big fan of the way Walters handled both. I don't usually love national book club picks, but The Nigerwife definitely lived up to the hype for me and I would read this author again for sure. It also didn't hurt that I was a big fan of the audiobook, and Dami Olukoya & Debra Michaels did an impeccable job as the voices of our two MCs. I think I would have gotten about as much enjoyment from reading the book though, and I would recommend it to readers who love learning about a setting and its intricacies through a slow burning mystery....more
I want to start out this review by saying The Audrey Hepburn Estate by Brenda Janowitz is basically a love letter to Hepburn's life and movies, and yoI want to start out this review by saying The Audrey Hepburn Estate by Brenda Janowitz is basically a love letter to Hepburn's life and movies, and you will probably love it the most if you are a fan of her. The author includes a boatload of Easter Eggs, and I will be eternally grateful that she includes these at the back of the book (by chapter no less). There was also a fantastic author's note, and I appreciated the story even more after reading both of these things. Even if you don't know anything about Hepburn or her movies, this is still an excellent mix of historical fiction, mystery, WWII, and drama, and there was even a pinch of romance thrown in. There are 2 timelines that we move through in the story, one is of course set in the present, and the other is Emma at various ages. The past time period tended to get a bit confusing for me at times and I would have to say the present timeline was by far my favorite of the two.
All that being said, I will be recommending the audiobook to everyone I recommend this book to, and I thought Cassandra Campbell did an absolutely stellar job. If I put a list of my top 5 narrators together, she would definitely make the cut, and she was the perfect person to be the voice of Emma. Her voice even manages to remind me of Audrey Hepburn for some reason, even though I haven't seen a single movie of hers! I think she has such a classic-sounding voice and tone, and that made her perfect for The Audrey Hepburn Estate. I was really surprised to find a mystery buried in the pages of this book, and it was such a pleasant surprise. I was very into the story, and it even managed to shock me a couple of times which was awesome. I was immediately drawn in by Janowitz's writing, and being a big fan of historical fiction, I will now be checking out even more of her books.
I received an advanced listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own....more
Based on the cover and title, Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, but boy did it hit. Every woman inBased on the cover and title, Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, but boy did it hit. Every woman in the Rubicon family touched my heart, and honestly, I think the best thing about the book is its characters. The viewpoints alternate between Jack, Jack's mother Beth, and Beth’s mother Lana which was a wonderful way to highlight each of the women. Jack may have been the youngest as a teenager, but she was also pretty mature, and I quite enjoyed what her POV brought to the story even though it doesn't occur as much as the adult viewpoints do. There is plenty of drama in this family, even before the dead body, and I loved that it was mixed with emotion and humor.
If you are a fan of listening to audiobooks, I would highly recommend this one and I thought Jane Oppenheimer did a fabulous job as the voice of the 3 different women. Even though I prefer full casts, she somehow managed to feel like a different person every time the viewpoints switched. This ended up being a more complex plot than I would have initially realized, and I had no idea what was going to happen right up until the climax. I would put Mother-Daughter Murder Night partially in the cozy genre, and it definitely gave me all the warm and fuzzy vibes. I already foresee a re-read in my future, and I would LOVE to see this turned into a series (hint, hint). Overall, I recommend this debut to fans of cozy mysteries, family dramas, and whodunnits!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own....more
It has been a while since I read a book that is painfully slow, and unfortunately, that is one of the issues I had with Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose. IIt has been a while since I read a book that is painfully slow, and unfortunately, that is one of the issues I had with Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose. It starts out strong enough with someone being dead, but then we start from the beginning before it all happened, and things quickly petered out from there. I can't in good conscience even call this a thriller since besides the beginning, nothing really happens again until the end, although we do explore a lot of sensitive subjects such as cheating and abuse. There are a handful of different viewpoints, and I thought some of the most unlikeable characters I have read about in a long time. I don't think I liked a single person in this book, especially the men, and the story does a deep dive into each of the marriages of the couples and the various issues they are facing. All of this eventually leads us to what happened, but it didn't do a great job of holding my attention.
The audiobook is also one of my least favorites that I have listened to, and I don't know if it was an editing issue or the narrator herself Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan, but it sounded like she was almost constantly sniffing in through her nose for the first half of the book and it was extremely annoying and distracting. That did eventually stop but then I could hear her taking breaths in through her mouth and while that wasn't worse, it was equally as annoying. Long story short, I do not recommend the audiobook and I think you would be better off reading words on a page. I stuck it out with the audio but if I had been reading, I would have been skimming, and I am clearly just not the target audience for this book. It is a decent debut and I'm sure others will love it, but it was just too slow for me, and the conclusion wasn’t able to make up for it.
I received an advanced listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own....more