You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

A special thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not really sure what intrigued me about the book initially given that I know nothing about gymnastics, nor am particularily interested in that sport (hey, I'm a mom to boys so it is hockey and baseball around here) but I requested the ARC and I'm so glad I did.  We meet Devon Knox, a gymnastics prodigy and Olympic hopeful who is adored by her her parents, Katie and Eric, who have given everything to ensure Devon's success (even ignoring their other child).  A death of one of their own gymnastic family members rocks the community only weeks before an important competition and everything the Knox family has sacrificed and worked so hard for is in jeopardy of slipping away.  Rumours are rampant, agendas are exposed, and allegiances tested.

The staccato pace that Abbot tells the story is mesmerizing.  Even when I had suspected whodunnit, I still pressed on and raced to the finish.  Her writing is crisp, tense, effective, and dark at times.  She captures the psyche of the teenage girl incredibly and is able to get into the head of her characters and pour them out on the page.  I can't wait to read more by Megan Abbott!  

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

A special thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A missing persons case is at the core of the story although there is much more going on character-wise. Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw has just returned from another internet date gone wrong and is unwinding listening to her police radio when a report comes in of a missing woman. Edith Hind—daughter of Sir Ian Hind, physician to the royal family—has gone missing. Her flat door left open, blood at the scene, and she hasn't taken her handbag, keys, or phone. Bradshaw realizes how big this case is, and that the first 72 hours are critical in any missing persons case—you find the girl, or you look to recover a body.

The story unravels through multiple perspectives. Steiner develops her characters via their personal lives and relationships. Manon is incredibly layered and we've only just scratched the surface with her character. Steiner takes a woman in a high-power position and juxtaposes her with such a vulnerability in her love/relationships. I can't wait to see how she develops over the series.

This was my first Susie Steiner read and I absolutely loved it!  I could totally see this as a BBC show, a dark copper drama like Luther or Broadchurch.  In fact, Davey reminded me of Justin Ripley from Luther.

Can't wait for book two!

SUSIE STEINER is a former journalist at The Guardian, where she worked as a commissioning editor for eleven years. Prior to that, she worked for The Times, the Daily Telegraph, and the Evening Standard.

Steiner lives in London with her husband and two sons.

The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen

A special thank you to Edelweiss and Grove Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Viet Thanh Nguyen has been on my "to read" list for quite some time after hearing about the success of The Sympathizer (winner of several awards including the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction).  This beautifully written compilation left me amazed and anxious to read The Sympathizer.

This collection of stories explores immigration, family, love, and identity while straddling two worlds—the homeland, and the adopted homeland. 

These stories explore the hardships of immigration, of the aspirations and dreams of those that immigrate, and of the relationships and desires that define us all.  Filled with figurative and literal ghosts of the past, each story stands alone, yet is tied to the others thematically, and through the strength of the writing.

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.

BUY NOW

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 Strays by Emily Bitto

A special thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Strays follows the Trentham family and their other live-in artists in 1930s Melbourne.  Bitto draws the reader and narrator, Lily, into the art world through Eva.  Lily meets Eva, one of the three daughters of the infamous avant-garde painter Evan Trentham, on her first day of school and is mesmerized.    

Bitto explores the Australian art scene in this story which is loosely based on the Heide Circle.  The artists make their own small alternative commune that offers Lily a lack of rules and more fluid way of life.  Unfortunately, their radical lifestyle comes at a staggering psychological cost to the sisters.

Fast-forward 30 years, Lily is leading a vanilla life compared to her past.  She realized that when the moth flies too close to the flame, it will burn its wings.  But it doesn't stop her from going back to the flame, only this time, she won't get to close.

The Keeper of Lost Things : A Novel by Ruth Hogan

A special thank you to Edelweiss and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Forty years ago, author Anthony Peardew loses a keepsake from his fiancee, Therese, and on that very same day she dies.  As a result, Anthony becomes the keeper of lost things.  He picks up objects he finds, random things people leave behind, or have dropped, and writes stories about them.  As he nears the end of his life, Anthony continues to catalogue the items and worries that he has not lived up to his undertaking of reuniting the items with their owners.

Laura, Anthony's assistant, is a divorced middle-aged lonely woman that unbeknownst to her is one of Anthony's lost things.  He bequeaths everything to her, including the daunting task of his life's mission of reconciling the lost items to where they belong.  She moves into the house and with the help of the gardener Freddy, and the neighbour's daughter Sunshine, embarks on a remarkable journey of self-discovery, new beginnings, and of completing a final request.

The characters are rich and warm and are all lost objects in one way or another.  Hogan weaves them together in a wonderful tale.  I absolutely adored this book and felt like I had lost a friend when it was over.

RUTH HOGAN was born in the house where her parents still live in Bedford, England. She was a veracious reader as a child and studied English at Uni.

Hogan lives in a Victorian house with her husband and an assortment of rescue dogs.

We Were On a Break by Lindsey Kelk

A special thank you to Edelweiss and Harper for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What should've been a proposal on a vacation turns into a break for Liv and Adam.  From here things further spiral out of control as Adam tries to climb out of the hole he's dug while Liv throws herself into her veterinary practice.  They keep colliding throughout the story, but can they get themselves back on course and take a run at happily ever after?

I adore British books, their phrasing, and slightly cheeky-yet-charming characters—this book is no exception. My only criticism is that the pacing was off in that it stumbled when the narration changed mid-chapter. I don't mind the alternating points-of-view, but to randomly change part way through a chapter is confusing. That being said, Kelk is a gem and I would definitely pick up anything she writes.

LINDSEY KELK is an author and journalist. She was also a children's book editor and columnist for Marie Claire. Lindsey is published in twenty-two countries and her novels, including the I Heart series, the Tess Brookes series, and standalone books, have sold over a million copies worldwide. 

Kelk is newly married and lives in Los Angeles.