Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

A seat at the anchor desk of the most-watched morning show. Recognized by millions across the country, thanks in part to her flawless blond highlights and Botox-smoothed skin. An adoring husband and a Princeton-bound daughter. Peyton is that woman. She has it all.

Until . . .

Skye, her sister, is a stay-at-home mom living in a glitzy suburb of New York. She has degrees from all the right schools and can helicopter-parent with the best of them. But Skye is different from the rest. She’s looking for something real and dreams of a life beyond the PTA and pickup.

Until . . .

Max, Peyton’s bright and quirky seventeen-year-old daughter, is poised to kiss her fancy private school goodbye and head off to pursue her dreams in film. She’s waited her entire life for this opportunity.

Until . . .

One little lie. That’s all it takes. For the illusions to crack. For resentments to surface. Suddenly the grass doesn’t look so green. And they’re left wondering: will they have what it takes to survive the truth?

Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty is highly entertaining and completely addictive. With its clever title, this book is witty and indulgent. 

Weisberger's latest is about two sisters perfect lives and their perfect lies. Peyton and Skye are very different, but equally as intriguing. Inspired by her own younger sister and its ripped from the headlines plot, this novel is a comment on entitlement, helicopter parenting, and the expectations that are placed on women (even by themselves) to maintain their youthful appearance—why don't women just age gracefully anymore?  

Perfect for discussing with your girlfriends, or mom groups, over your favourite cocktails! Cheers, Lauren!       

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LAUREN WEISBERGER is the New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada, which was published in forty languages and made into a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. Her books—When Life Gives You Lululemons, The Singles Game, Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston, Last Night at Chateau Marmont, and Revenge Wears Prada—have sold more than thirteen million copies worldwide. 

Weisberger lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children. 

The Swap by Robyn Harding

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads, Edelweiss, NetGalley, Gallery/Scout Press, and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cruelty of adolescence has inflicted itself on Low Morrison. It doesn't help that she has hippie polyamorous parents, a name that becomes a suggestive punchline, and that she's unusually tall.

At her high school, Low sees a magnetically beautiful woman posting a flier for pottery lessons. Intrigued, Low signs up for one of Freya Light's classes where she completely falls under her spell. Freya, a former social media influencer, basks in the attention that she craves and has been missing.

But then Freya crosses a line when she starts telling Low her darkest secrets and deepest desires. Freya and her husband, Max, moved to escape a scandal that not only ruined Max's professional hockey career, but hers as well. Low mistakes the oversharing as friendship and becomes even more enamoured with Freya, dangerously teetering on obsession.

Jamie Vincent and her husband, Brian, have moved to the island to start a family. Her friendship with Freya has Low feel threatened. One night, the couples get together to do magic mushroom and the evening ends in a partner swap. But what they don't know is that Low saw everything that happened in the glass house, and she's not afraid to use it to her advantage.

As events spiral out of control, Harding delivers a thrilling tale about how toxic relationships can be.

The Swap is a deep dive into obsession, desire, and jealousy. But be careful, this book has got some teeth and will sink them into its reader. Harding's writing is sharp, evocative, and riveting.

The narrative shifts among the main characters with the exception of Freya which only adds to her appeal and perceived perfection. But what hides behind the celestial exterior is a dangerous darkness. Robyn's character development is nothing short of flawless. Her cast are insidious and electric, both likeable and loathsome.

It is hard to resist the allure of a Robyn Harding book. In this novel, she expertly builds tension and resentment through venomous relationships. Prepare to be shocked and consumed—this is an absolute must-read that will be one of the best books of the summer.

Congratulations, Robyn on another remarkable work.

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ROBYN HARDING is the author of The Party, Her Pretty Face, and The Arrangement. She has written and executive produced an independent film.

Harding lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband and two children.

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Q & A with Robyn Harding*

GWR: If you could tell your younger self something about writing and becoming an author, what would it be?

RH: I’d tell myself that being an author is not a career with a smooth trajectory. It’s a rollercoaster of ups and downs and you have to be willing to adapt, change, and grow. I’d tell myself that some people won’t like my work and that’s okay. Just focus on the part you love—the writing.

GWR: Describe your writing space and what your process looks like? Are you a pantser or plotter?

RH: I have an office/spare room where I do my writing. One wall is painted a pale lemon colour because yellow is supposed to stimulate creativity. I work at an adjustable desk so I can alternately sit and stand.

I’m a combination of plotter and pantser; a “plantser” as Karma Brown calls it. Using screenplay structure, I lay out a rough framework and then I write toward the major plot points. But I don’t outline in great detail.

GWR: What character was most challenging to write?

RH: Low was the most challenging to write, but also the most fun. She’s so odd and dark and creepy—but I love her. I’m a huge fan of Zoe Heller’s novel “Notes on a Scandal.” Low is the teen version of Barbara Covett (played by Dame Judy Dench in the movie).

GWR: How did you choose which characters' perspectives to write from? Did you consciously leave out Freya's?

RH: I’m a big fan of writing (and reading) multiple points of view. I chose the POVs in The Swap organically (I wasn’t originally going to include the men), but I purposely left out Freya’s perspective. I felt that she would be most fascinating viewed through the eyes of the other characters who alternately adore and despise her.

GWR: How did you select the names for your characters? (I thought Freya's Instagram handle was very clever!)

RH: Thank you! Naming characters can be challenging. A couple of years ago I went to Iceland and that trip inspired the name Freya. Sometimes, I scroll through social media to see if a name pops out at me. I try to make the names age appropriate—I wouldn’t name a teenager Dorothy or call a boomer Brittany.

GWR: The themes of The Swap—toxic relationships, desire, the impact of social media—are all relatable, yet your take on them was exciting and fresh. How hard was it to come up with the themes and where did you draw inspiration from?

RH: I write about topics that fascinate me: complicated female friendships, envy, social media celebrity, sex, obsession... And I’ve recently heard about a lot of people having open relationships and practicing polyamory. It got me wondering: How would that really work? Or more appropriately (for a suspense novel): How would that not work?

GWR: The pottery making was interesting to read about, do you have any experience or other artistic talents besides writing?

RH: I took a pottery class last year and I loved it. Was I a natural? No. Were my pieces usable? Not really. But it was a ton of fun. I can draw a little but I’m left-handed, so that has made some arts and crafts (knitting, sewing, pottery) difficult for me. That’s my excuse, anyway.

GWR: What are you working on now?

RH: I’m just starting a new book about a family that is being harassed by a gang of faceless teens. The family members all profess their innocence and deny any knowledge of why they’re being assaulted, but each of them has a dark secret. And one of them has brought this attack upon their home.

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads and Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?

Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family—especially her teenage son—as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.

I love Jodi Picoult's work. And it isn't just because in Small Great Things she mentioned Depeche Mode, my most favourite band EVER, but it's because she's incredibly talented.  

Plain Truth was the first book of Jodi's that I read and I was hooked! I can honestly say that I've enjoyed all of her books, some more than others, but that's not to say I haven't liked/loved them all.  But this book...THIS book is my favourite (so far).  

Small Great Things spared much to think about—there's a lot to digest and process with themes of race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion. Picoult expresses that racism can be active and obvious, as well as passive in terms of privilege and biases. It is obvious she did her homework, but did she do enough? I think so—even though it was a little didactic at times—but I have to preface that with my lack of experience with race issues and also from my white privilege position in life.

Not unlike her other books, there are alternating perspectives, interesting characters that deliver page-turning dialogue, and courtroom drama (which is where I think Picoult's writing excels).  The difference between 4 and 5 stars is because of the ending. Obviously I'm not going to spoil it, but it tied up a little too neat, and as we all know, life is messy.

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JODI PICOULT received an AB in creative writing from Princeton and a master’s degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of twenty-four novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, and My Sister’s Keeper, for which she received the American Library Association’s Margaret Alexander Edwards Award.

She lives in New Hampshire with her husband. They have three children.

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“I’ve been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don’t know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she’s scared. But I will.”

Mia Dennett is a 24-year-old art teacher from a predominant Chicago family. One fateful night, Mia Dennett is at a bar, waiting for her sometimes boyfriend.  When he fails to show, Mia leaves with a mysterious stranger. As far as first impressions go, Colin Thatcher seems like a norma,l one-night stand kind of guy. However going home with Colin will prove to be the worst mistake of Mia’s life.

Instead of delivering Mia to his employers as promised, Colin instead hides Mia in a cabin in a secluded area of Minnesota. Mia’s mother, Eve, is desperate to find her daughter and so is detective Gabe Hoffman. Almost nothing turns out as expected, especially when Mia returns and has no memory of what happened to her or her former life before the kidnapping.

Kubica's debut is a powerhouse! In the genre of thrillers, Kubica asserts herself as a top player. Her writing is clever, sharp, and tight. There were just enough plot twists, both subtle, and dramatic to make this book a contender to appear on various "best of" lists for 2015. The pace is fast enough to keep the reader engaged to polish off this book in one sitting which is exactly what I did.

MARY KUBICA is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature.

She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter. 

Stand-Off by Andrew Smith

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads and Simon and Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As far as sequels go, this book was fantastic! I was really surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Winger is still better, however Stand-Off was a great follow up.

As in life, tragedy doesn't slow things down for Ryan Dean. Smith's foray into grief has Ryan Dean dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy of his best friend. Smith's writing is honest, and raw. He captures Ryan Dean's grief, his struggle to process the tragedy, and emotion.

Much like Winger, the humour is present, juxtaposed against Ryan Dean's pain, and it pushes the story forward much like it is pushing the character forward to come out the other side of his grief.

“I’ll tell you what, Ryan Dean. If it makes a difference, and I believe it might, we won’t call you fly half. We’ll call you stand-off. I prefer the name for the number ten, anyway, because it really says what it is you do on the pitch–you stand off from the pack and you design the strategy for the squad to win.”

Emma by Alexander McCall Smith

I  received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

I wanted to like this book, I really, really did...but...it failed.  McCall Smith attempts to transport Emma into modern times and the whole thing feels kind of forced.  The language for one, is not reflective of modern times, it still reads with too much formality and McCall Smith relies on rephrasing instead of rewriting/retelling.  The original Emma is not a likeable heroine and neither is McCall Smith's Emma and I think he should've left her alone.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

A murder...A tragic accident...Or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place. 

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the little lies that can turn lethal.

What can I say? I absolutely loved this book! Moriarty keeps the reader engrossed with her effortless prose and gossipy passages that introduce the reader to more characters and provide just enough foreshadowing to keep them intrigued. And it is so believable! She then takes the reader back in time to sort out all of the incidents which lead up to the big event—the murder. The witnesses’ descriptions of what exactly happened on the Trivia Night are amazingly comedic and distorted. There are three sides to every story; mine, yours, and the truth.

The characters are so varied and layered—Moriarty encompasses all types of mums and personalities. Many of these characters exhibit the type of schoolyard behaviours other characters' children are accused of (cruelty and bullying). Each character is also hiding something be it a personality trait, or a deeper, darker secret.

I highly recommend this book—a really fun read!

Adultery by Paul Coelho

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

I'm so torn...I wanted to love the book, I really did! There’s no doubt that Coelho is a fantastic writer, after all he does write poetry. However, I think this novel was a bit of a struggle. Was this done on purpose because the main character, Linda, a thirty-something journalist/mother/wife is struggling? Linda is going through her own crisis (albeit self inflicted). From the outside looking in, she has everything - she is married to a man who adores her (the "husband" as he's referred to in the whole book), a job where she is respected, money, a fabulous home, yet is not happy and feels that she is in a downward spiral.

Having interviewed a writer who talked about the meaning of life, Linda becomes manic in her efforts to find her own purpose and self-diagnosis. She treats what she thinks may be depression with a relationship (if you can classify it as such) with an old flame, Jacob, who is now a politician and known for his infidelity. Linda thinks this new found fling is just what she needs because it is giving her purpose and is thrilling because it is so out of character. Speaking of out of character, I think what she was planning to do to Jacob's wife was far fetched.

Another problem is that none of the characters were particularly likeable, especially Linda and Jacob. I thought this book would have been more interesting had it been penned from Jacob's wife.

The location seems to be of importance, it is mentioned several times and almost becomes like a character. Perhaps symbolic of the put-together, perfect world of Linda?

The novel is entirely written in first person and I think this did a disservice to the story. There was so much more to tell, I felt that Coelho only scratched the surface.

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour was just okay for me. I wasn't laughing out loud like other reviewers, perhaps it was the genre that didn't appeal to me. Nonetheless, I found the subject matter interesting, we live in a time where the social media drives our identity and the internet responsible for our thought process (Wikipedia is a credible source, really?). I'm sure this book I'm sure will strike a chord with many readers.

Paul O'Rourke is the novel's first person narrator. Is he unlikable? For me, yes. He's a bit on the dull side, and I couldn't really relate to him or buy into his character. But was that the point, to come up with a character that was so self-absorbed and uninteresting that becomes a target for identity theft when he really doesn't have much of one? The most interesting part of the story for me was how Paul is so intrigued by himself, or who he is perceived to be. Ferris really does well with this angle.

The ending left me wanting. Again, why did this man choose Paul to impersonate, he's not even interesting? The book ends rather abruptly even though Paul seems better off for what he has experienced. All-in-all, the book left me flat.

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The Glass Kitchen: A Novel of Sisters by Linda Francis Lee

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan... and never cook again. 

But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream. 

The Glass Kitchen is a delicious novel, a tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family.

Charming! This story was as delightful as the recipe, a very fun read. I adored the sisters, their names, and their personalities. I loved how New York City became almost another character, the setting really worked for me however, I didn't care for the repetitive mention that the sisters were from Texas...

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LINDA FRANCIS LEE began her writing career in college where she published her first article. She has since written more than twenty books that are published in sixteen countries.

Lee is a native Texan now living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars! I forgot how delightful this series is. After reading Bradley's The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie I remembered thinking that I needed to get my hands on the next book as I was so enchanted by the 11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce. Flavia is a brilliant and unique child, absolutely charming—Bradley does a great job with her voice.

Flavia is quite the detective, and Bradley brings a fresh approach to the classic mystery—again, this is done through Flavia's narrative and his spot-on writing.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag works as a sequel to the earlier book rather than as a stand-alone novel; readers may not get the family dynamics and Flavia's quirky love of all things poisonous. Bradley walks a fine line with Flavia's precocity and childishness. She seems to be so intellectually advanced, yet stunted emotionally. I think this is what makes her such a successful sleuth and I cannot wait to see where Bradley takes her in the next installment.

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ALAN BRADLEY is a New York Times bestselling author. His first Flavia de Luce novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award, and was nominated for the Anthony Award. 

Bradley was born in Toronto and lives in Vancouver.

A Gift for My Sister: A Novel by Ann Pearlman

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Ann Pearlman writes about female friendships and relationships.

A Gift for My Sister is the second book in the Christmas Cookie Club series. In this book she explores the depth of the human heart through a sister relationship.  Tara and Sky share a mother, but other than that, they seem to have little else in common.

When a series of tragic events take place, the sisters must come together and face heartbreak and past demons. The journey they embark on forces each woman to walk in the other’s shoes and examine what sisterhood actually means to them.  The two women must navigate through tragedy and chart a course for their relationship since it is unknown territory for both.

Although the book was an easy read, it still manages to keep the reader's interest. Pearlman tells the story through both sister's perspective and creates a unique voice for each character. At first, Tara seems to cry out for attention and almost becomes a stereotype while Sky, unlikable at times, is Tara's opposite. Pearlman's character juxtaposition is interesting in that it creates a whole—there is almost a yin and yang effect—while examining another kind of female relationship, the one between sisters.

The recipes at the end were a nice touch.

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ANN PEARLMAN is a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Nominee and bestselling international writer.  She is the author of fiction, nonfiction, memoir, cookbook and illustrated short stories.

She lives in a forest near Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

The Lion Seeker by Kenneth Bonert

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kenneth Bonert’s debut is fresh, exciting, and confident. Gitelle's fierce with love for her children is juxtaposed against the fierce disfiguring facial scar that drives the plot's backstory. Her son, Isaac, with hair "gleaming like fresh-skinned carrots" is every bit the spirited red head. Isaac is likeable at times, but can be tiring and his schemes naive—if anything, he is interesting. 

Bonert fleshes out his story in rolling scenes, dialect, and sharp prose. With its sweeping scenes I could easily see this book being adapted for the big screen. 

My only complaint is that I felt the book to be a bit long and that Bonert was trying to hard to prove himself. The writing speaks for itself—Bonert has arrived.

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KENNETH BONERT is a South African-Canadian writer. His debut novel The Lion Seeker won both the 2013 National Jewish Book Award for Outstanding Debut Fiction and the 2013 Edward Lewis Wallant Award. The Lion Seeker was also a shortlisted nominee for the 2013 Governor General's Award for English-language Fiction, and the 2013 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.

Originally from Johannesburg, Bonert moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1989.