Things to Do When It's Raining by Marissa Stapley

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mae Summers and Gabriel Broadbent were childhood friends. They grew up together at the Summers' Inn which is owned by Mae's grandparents, Lilly and George.  Mae and Gabriel were raised together—Mae was orphaned at a young age, and Gabriel needed protection from his abusive alcoholic father. Their relationship progressed into their first loves, and the young couple were torn apart when Gabe abruptly left Alexandria Bay.

Fast forward and Mae and Gabe are grown. Both end up back in Alexandria Bay—Mae after a romantic setback, and Gabe because of his father. Mae returns to her grandparents Inn and finds that her grandparents relationship is suffering because of past secrets that also impact her.

Are these relationships worth salvaging and the past worth reclaiming?

Things to Do When It's Raining is a story about love, loss, forgiveness, and truth. Families are complicated, and this book doesn't shy away from family drama and complex relationships.

I enjoyed the character development, setting, and premise for this story. Sometimes when a narrative incorporates both the past and the present, it can be cumbersome for the reader particularly if they have connected with one storyline over the other. In this case, this type of narrative worked because of the well-written characters and their solid development. Stapley's writing is truly lovely and captivating.

My only criticisms were that I wanted more of Gabe's present story, and that the ending felt rushed especially given the pace throughout the rest of the book.

A gorgeous book and I look forward to reading more from Marissa Stapley.

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MARISSA STAPLEY is the Globe and Mail bestselling author of Mating for Life. She writes the commercial fiction review column "Shelf Love" for the Globe and Mail, and reports on books and culture for the Toronto Star.

She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.    

I Found My Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice

A special thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This rambling, manic at times, narrative is a raw and honest book about living with MND (here in Canada known as ALS—amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—or Lou Gehrig's disease).  Ruth Fitzmaurice's filmmaker husband, Simon, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2008.  He is wheelchair-bound, not able to move or breathe on his own, and can only communicate through the use of an eye gaze computer.  It is these eyes that Ruth uses as the windows in which to find her husband—she knows he is still in there even though he can't speak to her, or touch her.  

Ruth and Simon are parents to five children, all under the age of ten.  As if that weren't chaos enough, there is a constant parade of nurses that come and go 24 hours a day, and a gaggle of pets including an aggressive basset hound.  One of the many challenges Ruth faces is to find any sort of peace in the chaos, any moment of stillness and calm to keep her sane and grounded.  She craves connections, whether it be to her "Tragic Wives' Swimming Club", or to her favourite nurse, Marian.  Human connection is so important to survival, especially in times of tragedy.

Fitzmaurice doesn't use any type of timeline, or write in any kind of order.  Instead, she chunks her  staccato type narrative into mini essays.  To be honest, it took me a while to get into her groove,  there are times where she is all over the place and scattered and it feels like she has simply taken every thought in her head and put it on the page in order to make sense of her life.  While this type of writing doesn't appeal to everyone, it works for this book.  This memoir is raw, honest and heartbreaking, while at the same time showing the beauty of love.  It inspires, and demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit.  Ruth is unabashedly open with her thoughts and feelings and I think she is incredibly brave to bare her life in this way.  

Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Liz Nugent's dark and compelling thriller opens with the perfect hook: "I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her."  Told from multiple points, Nugent's debut is a chilling exploration into the nature of evil.

Oliver Ryan is a handsome, charismatic, and successful children's author.  He is married to Alice, who illustrates his award-winning books.  She is a devoted wife, and their life is one of envy and privilege until one evening, Oliver knocks her into unconsciousness and beats her into a coma hovering between life and death.  

Those who know the couple are shocked and are trying to understand what could have driven Oliver to attack his wife so savagely.  With each chapter, the story unfolds, and the layers of Oliver's character are peeled away to reveal his manipulation, deception, and shame.

Nugent has a fresh approach to this genre—there is no question of whodunit, and there is no doubt as to what the crime was.  Instead she takes the reader on a ride to figure out what could have driven someone to commit such a horrific act.  For a debut, this is a solid effort, and I can't wait to see what Nugent writes next.  

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Egan's latest offering takes place in America during the Depression.  Twelve-year-old Anna Kerrigan accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who she perceives to be important.  Anna can't help but notice the lavish house equipped with servants, toys for the children, and the pact between Styles and her father.

Years later the country is at war, Anna's father has disappeared, and she has to support her mother and disabled sister with work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  Because of the war, women are allowed to work and perform jobs that were traditionally jobs for men.  She becomes the first female diver—an incredibly dangerous occupation—repairing naval ships.  Anna meets Dexter Styles at a nightclub and realizes that he is the man she visited with her father before his disappearance.  Styles has ties to the mob and Anna begins to understand the complexity of her father's life.  

The first section is smart, sharp, and brilliantly executed.  Egan's writing is solid, exactly what you would expect.  Then the novel makes one of many jumps in time and the story becomes scattered.  There is a complete lack of harmony and the reader is left with a rambling narrative that is a mash-up of three stories.  Hinging on boring at times, I didn't connect with the characters, or the plot, and this is disappointing because Egan has obviously done her homework.  

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

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

I have also had the pleasure of reviewing My Not So Perfect Life and couldn't wait to read Surprise Me. Sophie Kinsella, you've done it again! I absolutely adore your writing and your words make me smile. (If you haven't listened to one of Kinsella's books, I highly recommend it, especially if narrated by Jayne Entwistle.)  

This witty and at times emotional novel takes a closer look at marriage and how we can still be surprised by those we think we know best. Sylvie and Dan have been together for ten blissful years. They have a lovely home life complete with twin girls, fulfilling careers, and an envy worthy relationship. A trip to the doctor predicts that they will live for another 68 years—this gives new meaning to "until death us do part" when it spans seven more decades together.

To keep the marriage alive, Project Surprise Me is born. The couple will surprise each other to keep things fresh and exciting. But is seems that each "surprise" exposes the flaws in their relationship and drives them apart.  

Sylvie seemingly enjoys her work at a museum even though there are some pretty archaic systems in place—the owner, Mrs. Kendrick resists technology and Sylvie chalks this up to as charming. Mrs. Kendrick's nephew, Robert, takes an interest in the operations of the museum and questions their methods and systems. Is he trying to close down the museum and turn it into two-bedroom condos?     

Facing changes both personally and professionally, Sylvie experiences a tremendous amount of growth. She adored her late father and has kept up the Princess Sylvie persona he created as a way to honour him, when in actual fact, she is doing herself and her family a disservice because she is not being true to herself.        

I fell in love with the supporting cast of characters, this is really where Kinsella excels at writing.  The tender exchanges between Sylvie's neighbours John and Owen were some of the most beautiful writing in the book. One of my favourite quotes is when John says "Love is finding one person infinitely fascinating."

Kinsella's latest work is charming, thoughtful, and simply delightful.

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SOPHIE KINSELLA is the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series as well as the standalone novels Can You Keep a Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, Twenties Girl, I’ve Got Your Number, Wedding Night, and My Not So Perfect Life.

She lives between London and the country.

Here So Far Away by Hadley Dyer

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

I don't like to give negative reviews, especially to a Canadian author.  My mother also taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all.  But here is my dilemma...as a reviewer, I am obligated to provide feedback.

So here goes...I couldn't relate to the main character, George, at all.  The dialogue was trite, and the story itself was simply not engaging and at times bordered on ridiculousness.  For me, it was a struggle to even finish. 

Dyer really needs to up her game in this genre.  There are so many outstanding YA novels out there that are deserving of your time.  Here are some of the ones that have left me completely gutted and honoured to have read them: The Hate U Give, All the Bright Places, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, A List of Cages, One Half From the East, and Andrew Smith's Winger and Stand-Off.

That being said, Dyer is a champion of literacy here in Canada, and I admire her efforts and contributions to the children's book industry.

Brother by David Chariandy

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

This gorgeous and powerful novel is the winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, longlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize, a Globe and Mail Best Book, and a Quill & Quire Best Book of 2017.

Brother is a tight and compact novel that packs a huge punch.  Chariandy explores questions of race, class, family, identity, and social standing.  Set in a Scarborough housing complex during the summer of 1991, violence is at a peak as is the heat.

Michael and Francis, the brothers, are the sons of Trinidadian immigrants.  Their father has disappeared and to keep them afloat, their mother works double/triple shifts so that her boys have every opportunity in their adopted homeland.

This coming-of-age story takes place in The Park—a cluster of town homes in the outskirts of one of Canada's major cities.  The boys' options are limited as they battle against stereotypes, prejudices, poverty, and the low expectations that confront young black men; they are perceived as thieves from shopkeepers, less intelligent from their teachers, and strangers fear them.  The brothers' only escape is the Rouge Valley, a lush green wilderness that perforates their neighbourhood, and it is here where they imagine a better life from what they are destined for.

The boys witness a tragic shooting of an acquaintance, a boy named Anton, and they are handcuffed and roughed up by the police.  The police crack down on hem, and in doing so, suffocate their hopes and dreams of a better life.  It is this event that drives Francis' anger and pulls away from his family and into his gang—a group of boys who are interested the exploration of music in the form of hip hop in its infancy.  

Chariandy's novel is a devastatingly emotional piece.  It opens ten years after the event that altered their family and left their mother constrained by grief.  The family still live in the same rundown apartment although the roles are now reversed and it is Michael who is the caregiver to his mother in her fragile state.  The narrative shifts between past and present and it is the sheer force of it that drives the story.  Short in length, but lasting, this story will linger with the reader long after the last page is turned.

All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson

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

Alternating between past and present, Swanson's newest domestic psychological thriller is a standout in the genre which seems to be increasingly popular as of late.

Harry Ackerson is set to graduate from college when he receives word from his stepmother, Alice, that his father has died in what appears to be a suicide.  Devastated, Harry skips his graduation ceremony and travels to his late father's home in Maine.

Harry and Alice lean on one another to pick up the pieces after such a monumental loss.  For Harry, things start to become uncomfortable and awkward with Alice—he has always considered her attractive, and she has been nothing short of kind to him.  Alice is also 15 years younger than his father was.

A mysterious young woman named Grace makes Harry's acquaintance shortly after he arrives.  She claims to be new to the area, but she was at Harry's father's funeral.  Things aren't adding up, and Grace seems to know more than she is letting on.  Grace is not the only woman with interest in Harry, Alice is also growing closer and ends up seducing him.  The more involved Harry gets to with these women, the more he realizes that he doesn't know them at all.  Both women are hiding secrets and the truth about who they really are.  Things are not what they appear, including his father's death which is now looking like murder.

Swanson excels at character development and this novel is no exception.  He has a gift for writing characters that are boardering on being psychotic, yet believable.  There is a cleverness and preciseness to Swanson's storytelling without being overly dark.  With just enough plot twists, the story is not predicable or confusing.  If you like psychological thrillers, I encourage you to pick up this, or any of Peter Swanson's other books.

PETER SWANSON'S debut novel, The Girl With a Clock for a Heart (2014), was was nominated for the LA Times book award. His second novel The Kind Worth Killing (2015), a Richard and Judy pick, was shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and named the iBooks Store's Thriller of the Year, and was followed Her Every Fear (2017).

He lives with his wife and cat in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Odd Child Out by Gilly Macmillan

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

Macmillan's second instalment in the Jim Clemo series is about inseparable best friends. Despite their vastly different cultures—Noah Sandler is British and Abdi Mahad a Somali refugee—their loyalty sees no boundaries. After what appears to be a prank gone wrong, Noah is found floating unconscious in a canal in Bristol, and Abdi has been shocked into silence.

Detective Jim Clemo is just back from a mandatory leave as a result of his last case. Because the investigation seems cut and dried, it is assigned to him. After tragedy strikes, it is apparent that the case it is more than just an accident. Social tensions begin to rise as the families fight for their sons and seek the truth.

Told from alternating perspectives, Macmillan's story is a slow, tense burn with a deep plot. She effectively and deftly captures how relentless the press are. This is especially relevant and relatable in today's climate—whether they print facts, fiction, or a little of both, people will believe it if it is spun the right way.   

All-in-all, a good read and I will definitely be checking in with Detective Clemo again.  

GILLY MACMILLAN grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire and also lived in Northern California. She studied History of Art at Bristol University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Gilly lives in Bristol, UK. 

Little Broken Things by Nicole Baart

A special thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Past secrets and strained relationships are at the heart of Nicole Baart's newest novel, Little Broken Things.  Nora, estranged from her sister, Quinn, sends a cryptic text before showing up on her doorstep with a six-year-old girl.  Nora abruptly leaves the girl in Quinn's care with the instructions to keep her safe, and not to ask any questions.  Quinn and her mother, Liz, believe that the girl may be Nora's daughter.

By telling the story through multiple viewpoints—Quinn, Nora, Liz, and Nora's friend, Tiffany—Baart slowly reveals the circumstances that led Nora to leaving the little girl in her sister's care.  Other past indiscretions are also brought to light to help explain why the relationships between the women are so strained.  Not everything is how it appears from the outside; Liz kept up appearances at all costs, no matter how exhausting and this was the trade off to preserve what she envisioned her image to be as a wife, mother, friend, and socialite.  

At times this novel is not an easy read; Baart tackles some pretty big issues.  Even though I wasn't blown away with the ending, I still enjoyed this exploration of familial relationships.  Sometimes the most fragile bonds are with those we love the most.  

Look for Her by Emily Winslow

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

The fourth in a series, Winslow is getting better with each book.  Told from various points of view in first person narrative, this case is about a cold case of a beautiful missing girl from a small English village.

In 1976, Annalise Wood, a teenage girl disappears on her way home from school.  Her body was later discovered, the person responsible for the crime was never found.  Decades later, Annalise is a celebrity of sorts to the small town and for one woman especially.  Named after the dead girl, Annalise Williams believes that sharing the same name has bonded her to the dead girl.

DNA linked to the Annalise murder surfaces and investigator Morris Keene enlists the help of his former partner, Chloe Frohmann to finally solve the mystery and bring closure to the residents of Lilling.  As the investigation progresses, more questions arise rather than answers, the body that was perceived to be the missing girl may be someone else and that a recent drowning also has connections to the cold case.

The partnership between Keene and Frohmann is what great detective series are made of.  These characters are flawed, but endearing, and just so likeable.  The perspective of Dr. Laurie Ambrose added to the story giving it more of an edge and pushing it more into the psychological thriller genre.

My only criticism is how Winslow ties up some of the storyline.  Again, her downfall is linking too many of the supporting cast—it feels a little forced and sometimes convenient.

Finally, finally the marketing team at William Morrow has stopped using Donna Tartt to advertise these books.  

The Night Child by Anna Quinn

A special thank you to Edelweiss, NetGalley and Blackstone for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nora Brown is a high school English teacher.  She leads a low-key life in Seattle with her husband, Paul, and six-year old daughter, Fiona.  After dismissing her class for Thanksgiving weekend, Nora sees the face of a young girl.  She is filled with terror and confusion—is she hallucinating or could this be related to the headaches she has been having? 

The next day while on vacation, Nora sees the face again and is left shaken and disturbed.  She consults with a neurologist and eventually sees a psychiatrist to work through the visions and what they mean.  Through these sessions, Quinn moves the narrative.  We learn that Nora is the victim of a traumatic childhood and as a result has suffered a psychological breakdown.  As the plot unravels so does Nora as she begins to fear that what happened to her could happen to her daughter.  The character dissension is sharp and swift and Nora's husband—who has stepped out on their marriage—is less than supportive.  He has completely checked out of the relationship and has little patience for her.   

As stated, this book is not for the faint of heart—there is sexual violence, child abuse, death, mental illness, and suicide. 

The Other Girl by Erica Spindler

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Officer Miranda Rader is known for her dedication, hard work, honesty, and integrity—she's the steadfast leader in a crisis.  But Miranda wasn't always that way.  She grew up as a wild small-town girl from the wrong side of the tracks.  Working hard to earn the respect of her position as a police officer with the Hammond PD, Miranda has left 'Randi' in the past.  

A respected and admired college professor, Richard Stark, has been brutally murdered.  Stark's father happens to be the president of the college and he is putting tremendous pressure on the force to find out who killed his son.  Miranda is called for duty to investigate the murder and what looks like to be a crime of passion however something isn't sitting right with Miranda.  She is shocked not only at the horrific nature of the crime, but to find a newspaper clipping from her past also at the scene.

Then a retired police officer turns up dead—this officer is Clint Wheeler, the policeman that took her statement that terrible night from the newspaper article.  On the surface, these murders appear unrelated, but they have one commonality, Miranda.

Miranda becomes further involved when her fingerprints are found at the scene from the first murder.  Everything she has worked so hard for is in jeopardy as her character is questioned.  Is she being set up?  Is this related to what happened to her all those years ago?  Relationships are tested, truths become lies, and evidence tainted.  Will Miranda have to reinvent herself again, this time proving once and for all that she is innocent?

The story starts off strong, there is a nice hook, but it deflates quickly.  There were too many conveniences in the plot and this could have been avoided if the back story or side plots were fleshed out.  For a cop, Miranda is a little daft—she misses a lot of clues that are obvious to the reader.  I didn't find it overly psychological in nature, and the story was lacking originally and a good twist.  That being said, this was still an enjoyable read and I would definitely pick up this author again.

The Visitors by Catherine Burns

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been reading a lot of thriller/mystery books lately, and while this is not a fast-paced, page-turning type of thriller, it is still true to the genre—it is more in the gothic and psychological vein.   Burns writes a character-driven novel about a brother and sister with an almost Hitchcock feel to it.

Marion Zetland is a fifty-something spinster shut in who lives with her controlling older brother, John.  The siblings still live in their family home, a Georgian townhouse is a seaside town.  Despite having money, the house is literally decaying and is filled with garbage, dust, and secrets.  

Told from Marion's perspective, Burns' character study is no less than fascinating.  Marion is child-like, but not innocent.  She has been beaten down her whole life, first by her overbearing mother and now by her domineering brother.  Denial is her coping mechanism—when at all possible, she either daydreams or simply turns a blind eye.  Her only friends seem to be her collection of stuffed toys.  She uses these as an escape, especially to what John has locked in the cellar.

After John's has a heart attack, Marion is forced to forced to go down to the basement to face what her brother has kept locked up.  She also has to navigate the outside modern world and other responsibilities that John has normally handled.  Things start to unravel and there is a glimpse that John isn't the only one with a dark side.

If you like books that cross the line into the macabre, then this book is for you.  Like the house, it is grimy and gritty and utterly disturbing.

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

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

Heavily influenced by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Zevin tackles slut-shaming in her newest book Young Jane Young and it is glorious!  She examines the double standards, sex scandals, and misogyny that resides not only in politics, but in life.  Women everywhere face these issues and are often silenced from the shame, and the threat of losing everything they have worked so hard for.

Before becoming Jane Young the wedding planner, Aviva Grossman was an ambitious, bright intern with the congressman's office.  Aviva has an affair with her boss, the congressman himself, and blogs about it.  True to life, when the affair is made public, it is Grossman that goes down while the beloved congressman carries on.  Aviva becomes the punchline and butt of many jokes—she is labelled as fat, ugly, and a slut.  She is not employable or dateable and sees no other way out that to change her identity and move away to a remote town in Maine.

On top of running her own event planning business, Jane is also navigating being a single mother to Ruby.  Even though she has started her life over, politics doesn't seem to be out of her system and she decides to run for office.  Unfortunately for Jane, the past catches up with her (the internet is forever) and it is only a matter of time before Ruby discovers who her mother really is/was.  Ruby is the vehicle through which Jane must face not only her past, but Aviva herself.  

Told through the voices of Aviva/Jane, Aviva's mother Rachel, Ruby, and Embeth Levin (the congressman's wife), we hear all sides of the story.  Zevin's characters are not without flaws.  In fact, it is these flaws that drive the story forward and this type of narrative is the perfect vehicle to accomplish this.  She effortlessly moves from past to present without confusion.  Her writing is witty, fresh, and thought provoking.

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

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

On Chris Bohjalian's Instagram there is a post where a reader asked him why he always wears a suit and tie to an author event and his response was that it was a way of showing respect and thanks to his readers. I was touched by his post and thought it showed a tremendous amount of class. In return, I would like to thank Chris Bohjalian for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of The Flight Attendant.

In The Flight Attendant, we have a flawed, self-sabotaging unreliable narrator—Cassandra Bowden is a flight attendant with a taste for adventure and alcohol.  Being a binge drinker, Cassie suffers from self-loathing and the odd blackout. Waking up in a hotel room in Dubai after a one night stand with a dead body is beyond blacking out. Could she have actually killed him? Afraid to involve the authorities, Cassie starts lying to cover up any speculation that she could be involved. With each lie she tells, she increasingly looks more guilty. How far will she go before the truth comes out that she was with the passenger who was found dead in his hotel room?    

Each of Bohjalian's novels is vastly different from the last, yet equally as rich in character development and plot, and this book is no exception. He weaves an engaging tale of regret, murder, and mystery through strong female characters. I highly recommend picking up this character-driven thriller/mystery, you won't be disappointed.

CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the author of twenty books, including The Guest Room; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; The Double Bind; and Midwives which was not only a number one New York Times bestseller, but an Oprah’s Book Club selection.

Bohjalian's work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and three novels have become movies (Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers) and The Flight Attendant has been optioned for a televisions series.

Chris lives in Vermont with his wife.

Healthy Healing: A Guide to Working Out Grief Using the Power of Exercise and Endorphins by Michelle Steinke-Baumgard

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

After losing her husband in a tragic plane crash, Michelle Steinke-Baumgard faced the darkest moment of her life.  Widowed, with two young children, Michelle confronted her grief head on by choosing to strengthen her body, mind, and spirit.  In doing so, Michelle rediscovered happiness through fitness and wellness.  

Please don't let the title sway you into thinking that you have had to experience a loss to benefit from Michelle Steinke-Baumgard's book.  She addresses the physical, mental, and emotional effects of grief juxtaposed against healthy eating and exercise in a 12-week plan that anyone can use.

Steinke-Baumgard dispels a lot of the myths not only surrounding grief, but also with diet and exercise.  There is no one-size-fits-all in grieving, healthy living, or wellness—Michelle tackles these myths with knowledge and personal experience.  Her approach is kind, motivational, and above all, honest.  She has a huge following from her One Fit Widow community where she provides the same support, candor, and honesty to her followers (you can check her out on social media).  Michelle is a wonderful writer and I have been following her for a while now.

If you are even remotely considering changing your lifestyle, and/or are struggling with grief, pick up this book.  Not only will your body thank you, but in times of loss, your heart and soul will thank you.  Michelle, you are a wonderful role model, woman, and coach—thank you for sharing your personal story of loss, your fitness journey, and your knowledge.  

The Address by Fiona Davis

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

Fiona Davis' novel takes readers to the historic Dakota —the famous home of John Lennon from 1973 to his murder outside the building in 1980.

The story opens in England with Sara Smythe, a head housekeeper at an elegant hotel.  She is offered a job by Theodore Camden after she saves one of his children from falling out a window.  Wanting a better life, she accepts the job which is to be the managerette of the Dakota, an upscale apartment building in New York City.

Fast forward to 1985 New York City, where Bailey Camden has just completed a stint in rehab and is trying to get her life back on track.  She is hired by her cousin, Melinda, to redecorate her apartment in the Dakota and is hopeful that this opportunity will relaunch her career.  Davis joins the two storylines with the Dakota when Bailey finds Sara's belongings in a trunk in the basement of the decrepit building.  

As a reader, the best parts of the story were in the past.  Even though the 80s are by far my favourite decade, um hello, best music ever, I simply couldn't connect with Bailey and just wanted to stay with Sara.  Davis fell victim of the duelling storylines and I feel of late that this style has been done too much and as an avid reader, this type of narrative is old hat.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

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

Well colour me surprised!  I actually enjoyed The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo way more than I thought I would.  There were things that made me laugh, and things that moved me too.  I could have done without the lists, and most certainly done without the chapter on her stuffed animals, but other than that, I felt she was incredibly honest, and real.

Schumer shares with readers some truly painful experiences.  The way she lost her virginity was sad, horrific, and painful.  She was also in an abusive relationship that resulted in a few terrifying ordeals that left me feeling incredibly sad for her, but optimistic in that maybe by sharing her story, she gave someone else the courage to leave an abusive relationship.  My heart went out to her when she spoke of her father's MS, but she did take things a bit too far (poop story) and this was not necessary.  I could empathize when she wrote about her mother, and their volatile relationship—she has had to establish some pretty tough and firm boundaries.  Many mothers and daughters walk a fine line, and I really struggle to understand why women are so cruel to other women, oftentimes this starts out with criticisms from one's own mother.

I love that she is unabashedly a feminist.  She is also kind, smart, and doesn't make apologies for any of her failures or shortcomings.  Schumer works hard, and is of course funny.

"I know my worth.  I embrace my power.  I say if I'm beautiful.  I say if I'm strong.  You will not determine my story.  I will.  I'll speak and share and fuck and love, and I will never apologize for it.  I am amazing for you, not because of you.  I am not who I sleep with.  I am not my weight.  I am not my mother.  I am myself.  And I am all of you."

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

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

Cora and Caesar are slaves on a cotton plantation in Georgia.  Like all of the slaves, she is treated horrifically, but even more so because she is also an outcast among her people.  Things are only going to get worse for Cora as she is approaching womanhood and is drawing unwanted attention from her owner.

Caesar, recently arrived from Virginia, tells Cora about the Underground Railroad.  She initially refuses Caesar's idea to escape, but then her situation becomes more dire, and the two decide to leave the plantation and head to the north.

The narrative follows Cora's journey—at each stop she is met with a different world.  She is also hunted by Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, and must navigate her way to liberation.  At times, this structure didn't work because the reader gets bumped around from place-to-place and between past and present.    

I wanted more from the supporting cast of characters, Whitehead does them a disservice by not developing them to their full potential.  Caesar is also underdeveloped, and at times, Cora.  There is a definite disconnect—would this book have been better in the first-person?  Whitehead certainly did his research, but I can't quite put my finger on it.  Maybe the research took over the plot?  The idea of an underground railroad was genius, but this component/concept was not fully explored.

This book was hard for me to rate, and at times, to read.  There was a lot of disturbing subject matter, and while this is a fictitious story, there were many Cora's and Caesars, and this story is important to tell.  I don't doubt that this novel will be the topic of many Book Clubs.

Final Girls: A Novel by Riley Sager

A special thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group, and Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ten years ago, a group of college friends went on a getaway to a cabin in the woods, and only one of them came back.  Quincey Carpenter was the lone survivor of this horror movie-style massacre at Pine Cottage.  The press has dubbed her as a "Final Girl" (a term that refers to the last woman standing in a horror movie).  There are two other women in this club: Lisa Milner, who survived a knife attack that claimed the life of nine of her sorority sisters, and Samantha Boyd, who survived the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn.  The women have never met despite attempts to get them together, they all want to put the past behind them and move on.  

On the surface, Quincey seems to be holding it together—she has a successful baking blog, an understanding fiancé, Jeff, and a beautiful apartment.  In actuality, she is using Xanax, and relies on the steadfast support of Coop, the police officer who saved her life that night in the woods.  She also has no recollection of what actually happened.  It is not until Lisa, the first Final Girl is found dead, and Sam, the second girl shows up on her doorway, that Quincey is forced to deal with the past and what actually happened that night.

Quincey invites Samantha, who now goes by Sam, to stay with her and Jeff at the apartment.  Sam begins to influence Quincey and she engages in some destructive behaviour which is completely uncharacteristic and her actions are threatening to jeopardize the "normal" life she has worked so hard to build.  Quincey begins to question Sam's motives—what are the truths and what are the lies?  Why after all this time did Sam decide to show up?  And why is she pushing Quincey to remember things she has blocked out?  Can she trust Sam?

I didn't fully buy in.  How could a complete stranger influence Quincey's behaviour so much?  I understand that Sagar was using Sam as a vehicle for Quincey to deal with the past and uncover what happened, but it was forced.  Unfortunately I had it figured out before the big reveal. 

Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda

A special thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Canada, and Graydon House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rouda weaves a dark tale of marriage, betrayal, and deception in this page-turning thriller.  Readers are in the mind of narcissist Paul Strom, a handsome and successful advertising executive that is trying to have the "best day ever" with his wife—Strom is a combination of a character from "Mad Men" and Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.  Paul is confident, charming, and thinks that every woman wants him.  

The story begins with Paul and his wife, Mia, leaving for a child-free weekend up at their lake house.  He's promised her that this will be the best day ever.  The couple say this phrase several times during the drive and the reader wonders what is going on with these two.  The tension is palpable and written as such that we don't know the extent of the problem, or if in fact these two even like each other.

Paul is an incredibly unreliable narrator, so narcissistic that he cannot read social cues or navigate relationships.  He thinks that women want him, when in fact he is actually stalking them and the attention that he bestows upon these victims is stalkerish and harassing plain and simple.  The comparison to Ellis' Patrick Bateman is there, although Paul is not quite as polished, and unlike Bateman, there is no likability whatsoever.

Rouda goes out on a whimper.  There needed to be more of a psychological throw down to amp it up to another star.  All-in-all, a great read for the summer and I would definitely recommend this book.

KAIRA ROUDA is a USA Today bestselling, multiple award-winning author of contemporary fiction exploring what goes on behind closed doors of seemingly perfect lives. Her novels include All the Difference, Here, Home, Hope, In the Mirror, and The Goodbye Year.  Her modern romance novels are set on beaches, including the Indigo Island series and the Laguna Beach series, also its own Kindle World.

She lives in Southern California with her family.  

Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship by Michelle Kuo

A special thank you to Penguin Random House First to Read for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Michelle Kuo is a recent Harvard graduate that finds herself in a rural town in Arkansas as a Teach for America volunteer.  Wanting to make a difference in her students' lives, she is full of optimism but soon discovers how broken the system is.  Kuo tries a different tactic—she  uses quiet reading time and guided writing exercises as a way to instil a sense of self in her students.

Throughout her tenure, Kuo loses students for various reasons.  Some are as simple as truancy and others are harsh and stem from violence.  She also is inspired by some, and one of those students is Patrick who is fifteen and is still in grade eight.  Under Miss Kuo's attention, he flourishes.  However, Michelle is feeling incredible pressure from her Taiwanese immigrant parents to pursue other opportunities and ultimately leaves Arkansas after a couple of years to attend law school.

On the eve of her graduation, Michelle learns that Patrick has been incarcerated for murder.  Murder?  Patrick?  Kuo has incredible guilt and thinks that she is partly responsible because she prematurely left the school.  Determined to right the situation as best she can, Michelle returns to teaching Patrick from his jail cell while he awaits trial.  It is here that we get a sense of both of their characters.  Michelle doesn't waiver in her dedication, even when it appears as though Patrick has forgotten most of what she taught him.

In this moving and inspiring memoir of a teacher that didn't give up on her student, Patrick, Kuo shares the story of her mentorship of Patrick Browning and his incredible journey of self-discovery through literature and writing.  Kuo is also taken on her own journey as she is forced to navigate through several broken systems, racism, social standing, privilege, and relationships.

Friendship can come unexpectedly sometimes, and you never know your impact on someone else's life.  I highly recommend this wonderful story.  

The Best of Us: A Memoir by Joyce Maynard

A special thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Joyce Maynard, author and journalist, discovers true love later in life.  Before she met Jim, who we are told several times, has a great head of hair—I imagine Patrick Dempsey gets told this a lot too—Maynard believes she is done with marriage.  She is fiercely independent, but open to companionship and ends up realizing that Jim is more than a companion, he is her partner.

The couple has a whirlwind romance, and marry, only to have their years together cut tragically short.  Jim is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just after they celebrate their first year of marriage.  Raw, honest, and heartbreaking, Maynard doesn't shy away from sharing the ups and downs of marriage with the added strain of a terminal illness.  She courageously writes about Jim's final days—her writing is beautiful and reminds us that love is fleeting, as is time, and that both are a gift to the heart.  

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so much more than hockey. What starts off as a story about a small village and their hockey team takes an unexpected turn in both character descension and storyline. Backman exposes the small town mentality of its residents and walks a fine line with his characterization of "crazy hockey parents" that are almost too stereotypical, but because his story is compelling, he gets away with it.

Beartown is universal in topic and appeal—sexism, homophobia, racism, and politics are issues prevalent in every town, anywhere. In Beartown, as the underdogs that represent a community built on hockey, residents are willing to do whatever it takes to make their mark. This includes covering up a terrible crime against a young girl. The mentality is staggering and mind-blowing. It is all too familiar where the victim is the one being bullied, threatened, and emotionally abused. How society hails sports figures as heroes, putting them on a pedestal so that they are untouchable, and not holding them accountable for their actions.

Backman explores hope, perseverance, and the love of sport. He juxtaposes it against the crippling burden of being the best and doing whatever it takes, no matter how high the price and at what cost.

FREDRIK BACKMAN is a blogger and columnist as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.

Backman lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children.

Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais

A special thank you to Penguin Random House First To Read for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Set in South Africa during Apartheid, the lives of two people collide and an unlikely bond is formed. Robin Conrad is a nine-year-old white girl living with her parents in Johannesburg. Beauty Mbali is a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei who has been widowed and left to raise her three children. Divided by race, the two meet as a result of circumstances stemmed from the Soweto Uprising—a protest by black students ignites racial conflict in which Robin's parents are casualties, and Beauty's daughter goes missing.

Robin is sent to live with her irresponsible aunt, and Beauty is hired to take care of Robin while continuing to look for her daughter. Beauty and Robin become dependent on one another to fill the voids of their lost loved ones. With the threat of Beauty abandoning her once her daughter is found, Robin makes a decision without understanding the magnitude it will have on Beauty, also failing to realize that this could cost her everything she loves. Robin is taken on a journey of self-discovery, love, loss, racism, and what family truly means.

Told from alternating perspectives, Marais creates a strong character in Beauty, and an unreliable/naive one in Robin. There were times where Robin was endearing, and other times she was incredibly precocious. The difference between 4 and 5 stars was the ending—would Beauty, after everything she had gone through, really have let Robin save the day?

I had much admiration for Beauty, not only for her intelligence, but for her compassion. Her stoicism and strength when met with such adversity was nothing short of amazing and I wish that the entire story was told from her perspective. She is well-written without being trivialized, Marais shines through her characterization. Highly recommend!

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BIANCA MARAIS holds a certificate in creative writing from the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, where she now teaches creative writing. Before turning to writing, she started a corporate training company and volunteered with Cotlands, where she assisted care workers in Soweto with providing aid for HIV/AIDS orphans. 

Originally from South Africa, Marais resides in Toronto with her husband.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After devouring The Woman in Cabin 10, I was excited to get my hands on another Ruth Ware book. Initially I was enjoying this book, especially the parts that take place at the boarding school, but I didn't fully buy in. I don't want to make comparisons, and whether this was on purpose or not, but there were echos of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Is Donna Tartt not one of the most brilliant literary voices? This seems like a compliment, right? But in fact, this comparison does this book a disservice. Ware is a strong enough writer to stand on her own and does not have to draw on this inspiration. Again, this may be me creating the parallel between the two, but it's there: the exclusivity, the boarding school, the murder, the circumstances, the lasting effects of the death on the group, and that it is a murder mystery in reverse. Moving on...

There is an immediate hook. A woman is walking her dog in the quaint coastal village of Salten along the section of river known as the Reach where the tide meets the stream.  Her dog charges into the water to retrieve what is perceived to be a large stick, when in fact it is a human bone.

The next morning, three women—Isa, Fatima, and Thea—get a text from Kate, the fourth in their exclusive group, that simply says "I need you". Hoping they would never get this request, they drop everything and rush back to Salten. The girls were a fearless foursome at the Salten House boarding school. They used to play the Lying Game which involved telling the most outrageous things to people for points. Only there are rules: tell a lie, stick to your story, don't get caught, never lie to each other, and know when to stop the lie. For some, the lines become blurred with what are actual facts versus what is fantasy. Ware reveals bits and pieces of the girl's time at the Salten boarding school, and how extreme the game got—they were all expelled in their final year under mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the art teacher, Ambrose, who also happens to be Kate's eccentric father. 

Where this book stumbles is with our narrator, Isa. She is a new mother, and Ware loses the plot because this character is so consumed by this role. The baby proves to be a distraction for both Isa and the reader which ultimately detracts from the story. Without the baby, Isa could still be an unreliable narrator—her memories of events are viewed through the lens of a naive young girl who seems enchanted with Ambrose, Kate, and Luc (the step-son/step-brother).

More of the girls' time at school needed to be written and the other characters needed more attention. I found it a stretch that these girls were only friends for such a short time, yet remained so incredibly loyal over the span of 17 years. There was simply so much more to the story. Ware took a wrong direction, not in using Isa as our narrator, but with hinging so much of her character on being a mother. The boarding school, and the girls' past is paramount to the plot, yet none of the characters were really fleshed out.

RUTH WARE is the international bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10.

Ware lives near Brighton with her family. 

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

A special thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hoffman revisits the Owens family in this prequel to Practical Magic.  For hundreds of years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town.  It all started in 1620 when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for falling in love with the wrong man.  Hundreds of years later in New York City, Susanna Owens knows all too well the dangers of falling in love, and tries to spare her three children from the curse.  This means no walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no books about magic, and most importantly, no falling in love!  Franny, her most difficult child, has hair the colour of blood, and skin as white as milk; Jet is a dark-haired shy beauty who can read other people's thoughts; and Vincent, irresistible to women, is full of trouble.

The Owens children visit their Aunt Isabelle at her home in Massachusetts where they uncover family secrets, and the truth of who they really are.  Feared and revered, it is made clear that this next generation of Owens will not be exempt from the scorn of the townspeople, that is until they want something that only magic can cure.
Back in New York City, each of the Owens children begins on their own journey of discovery while trying to avoid the family curse by not falling in love.  They cannot escape the magic, just as they cannot escape love and the bonds they share.

Thrilling and magical, this beautiful work sets the table—the sisters grow up to be the aunts from Practical Magic, while Vincent leaves behind the legacy that will define the Owens women.  Rich with imagery and prose, Hoffman sprinkles pop-culture and history in this beautiful story of love, loss, and magic, and I simply did not want it to end.

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ALICE HOFFMAN has a BA from Adelphi University and an MA in creative writing from Stanford University.

Hoffman's first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published over thirty novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults.

Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Hoffman’s advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA.

Hoffman has written a number of novels for young adults, including Aquamarine, Green Angel, and the New York Times bestseller The Ice Queen. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year.

Her works have been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Hoffman's novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel Aquamarine was made into a film starring Emma Roberts. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines.

She currently lives in Boston and New York. 

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom

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

Sixteen-year-old Mel Hannigan has bipolar disorder and she is learning to balance life, relationships, and feelings.  Thinking that she will be abandoned when her friends find out things she has been pushing down, parts of her past, and also parts of who she is—what makes her Mel—she keeps them at a distance, even going so far as to terminate friendships.

This was a mixed bag for me.  While I applaud Lindstrom for tackling such an important topic, especially for this genre, it fell short.  There was a lot going on and this distracted from the beautiful raw emotion that should have been capitalized on.  There were characters that took away from the main story line, and then there were characters, like Nolan, that were not explored enough.

Without sounding harsh, I found Mel to be bright, confident, and honest, but the way she tracked her feelings was incredibly juvenile.  This is where her relationship with the retired doctor could have been fleshed out—this was a flaw in the story in that there was a beautiful and honest relationship that was never explored and this could have been the perfect vehicle to her memories of Nolan.  

All-in-all, a good read, and I would like to read Not If I See You First.

High Tea with Karma Brown and Lainey Lui

Photos by Girl Well Read

"In This Moment is a powerful and evocative story about the life-altering consequences of a single decision. [A] riveting tale." —Emily Giffin, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Karma Brown is one of my new favourite authors.  I had the pleasure of attending an event to celebrate her latest book In This Moment at a high tea and book signing at the King Eddy in Toronto, hosted by BookClubbish.  Guests enjoyed hot tea, finger sandwiches, and decadent desserts.  

Lainey Lui, as in gossip maven, etalk correspondent, co-host of The Social, and founder of laineygossip.com Lainey, joined Karma for a Q&A session.  The women chatted about the writing process—Lainey has also has written a book Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's A Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of)—what it's like being a woman in the publishing industry, and where Karma gets her inspiration. 

In This Moment is an emotional and thought-provoking read that asks readers some challenging moral questions. Brown said of her main character, “I wanted to put Meg in a place where she only had her instincts as a person and as a woman. Meg is trying to be everything to everyone. But all it takes is one small wheel to fall off the bus for things to change.”   

Both ladies were well-spoken and super interesting!  If you have an opportunity to attend an event with Karma, I highly recommend you do so, you won't be disappointed.

In This Moment 

Meg Pepper has a fulfilling career and a happy family. Most days she’s able to keep it all together and glide through life. But then, in one unalterable moment, everything changes.

After school pickup one day, she stops her car to wave a teenage boy across the street…just as another car comes hurtling down the road and slams into him.

Meg can’t help but blame herself for her role in this horrific disaster. Full of remorse, she throws herself into helping the boy’s family as he rehabs from his injuries. But the more Meg tries to absolve herself, the more she alienates her own family—and the more she finds herself being drawn to the boy’s father, Andrew.

Soon Meg’s picture-perfect life is unravelling before her eyes. As the painful secrets she’s been burying bubble dangerously close to the surface, she will have to decide: Can she forgive herself, or will she risk losing everything she holds dear to her heart?

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KARMA BROWN has always loved the written word. As a kid she could usually be found with her face buried in a book, or writing stories about ice-skating elephants. Now that she’s (mostly) grown up, she’s a bestselling author whose debut novel, Come Away with Me, was a Globe & Mail Best 100 Books of 2015. Karma’s next two novels, The Choices We Make and In This Moment, also earned spots on both the Globe & Mail and Toronto Star bestseller lists.

A National Magazine Award winning journalist, Karma has been published in a variety of publications, including SELF, Redbook, Today’s Parent, Best Health, Canadian Living and Chatelaine.

Karma lives just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband, daughter, and a labradoodle named Fred. 

Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

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

Joan and her four-year-old son, Lincoln, have just spent a leisurely day at their local zoo.  Estimating that it is almost closing time, Joan gathers up her son and his toys, and starts their journey towards the exit.  She quickly realizes that something is amiss—there is a shooter.  She gathers Lincoln in her arms and runs back into the zoo.  They are now trapped like the animals.     

Keeping one step ahead, Joan relies on her instincts and previous zoo trips to keep her and her little boy safe.  Her survival instincts kick into overdrive when she discovers there are others that are also trapped, and that there is more than one shooter.  Joan is determined for her and Lincoln to walk out of this alive.  The only communication she has with the outside world and her husband is via her cell phone and she realizes this same lifeline is also putting them at risk.  In a rash, but clever decision, Joan uses her cell phone as a decoy and throws the glowing object into the bushes. 

Phillips' primal and raw novel illustrates the powerful bond between a mother and her child and the lengths a mother will go to in order to protect her child.  This riveting novel pits a mother's love against fear, good against evil, and instinct against rationality.  Spanning three hours, this incredible story will have you mesmerized and your heart pounding until the very last word. 

White Horses by Alice Hoffman

A special thank you to NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For those of you who read my reviews, you know how much I love Alice Hoffman's words. Hoffman could teach a master class. You know those online seminars that you see advertised on social media sites? Well, Alice Hoffman should lead one.

Teresa's mother, Dina, fills her head with bedtime stories of an Aria—a dark-eyed fearless hero on a white horse who would come and rescue her. Aria's are rule breakers and so is her brother, Silver, who Teresa comes to believe is one of these fabled men. Instead of a fairytale, Teresa and Silver's relationship is dark and dysfunctional, not unlike her mother's relationship with her father, King Connors. The women in this story are swayed by myth and folklore instead of realizing that they can rescue themselves and be their own hero. It doesn't help that women can't seem to resist Silver, this only fuels Teresa's belief of him being an Aria.

This story may not sit well with all readers due to the incestuous relationship that is the underlying current of the novel. There is so much more going on here, Hoffman explores when when fantasy collides with reality and its repercussions. Teresa must change who she loves and rewrite her story into something real and not forbidden and taboo before she loses herself in myth and fantasy.

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ALICE HOFFMAN has a BA from Adelphi University and an MA in creative writing from Stanford University.

Hoffman's first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published over thirty novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults.

Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Hoffman’s advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA.

Hoffman has written a number of novels for young adults, including Aquamarine, Green Angel, and the New York Times bestseller The Ice Queen. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year.

Her works have been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Hoffman's novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel Aquamarine was made into a film starring Emma Roberts. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines.

She currently lives in Boston and New York.