Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave

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

Sunshine Mackenzie seems to have it all and is truly living the perfect life.  She has a successful YouTube cooking show, a series of cookbooks that would rival any lifestyle celebrity's, a devoted husband, and millions of followers.  With a name like Sunshine, she radiates kindness; in actual fact, she is hiding who she really is.  After a few tweets, Sunshine experiences a catastrophic fall from grace.  She is left to pick up the pieces and reconnect with who she really is.

I really liked this foray into the effects of social media on one's life, and the pitfalls it can have on your social standing.  Without giving a preachy commentary about how toxic social media can be, a lighthearted chick-lit novel is just the remedy one needs to remind themselves that everyone's life is not as picture-perfect as Instagram and Pinterest would lead one to believe.

My only criticism is with the actual characters themselves.  Although Dave pens them as complex, there aren't any redeeming qualities, and the likability factor just wasn't there for me.  For a novel that was about the superficiality of social media, I expected more.    

The pace was on point, I was drawn in with her effortless writing style but was left unsatisfied by the ending.  That being said, I would definitely pick up another book by Laura Dave.

The Child by Fiona Barton

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

Dubbed a psychological thriller, Barton's newest work takes us to a London construction site where the skeletal remains of a baby are found.  Kate Waters, a local reporter, decides to pursue the story of The 'Building Site Baby'.  As she investigates, she discovers connections to a decade-old kidnapping of a newborn baby from the maternity ward of a local hospital—the baby girl was never found.  Waters is drawn into the past of the people who once lived in the neighbourhood.  Told from multiple points of view, truths are revealed, and Kate must decide which secrets to keep and which to tell.

Without spoiling anything, there is a fantastic plot twist that is brilliantly executed.  A slow burn, but worth your patience.

FIONA BARTON is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author.  Her debut, The Widow, was a bestseller and has been published in thirty-five countries and optioned for television.

Previously, she was a senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at the Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards. While working as a journalist, Fiona reported on many high-profile criminal cases and she developed a fascination with watching those involved, their body language and verbal tics. Fiona interviewed people at the heart of these crimes, from the guilty to their families, as well as those on the periphery, and found it was those just outside the spotlight who interested her most . . .

Born in Cambridge, Fiona currently lives in south-west France. 

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

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

Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one

Or did she?

I'm not going to lie, I kept putting this one down.  The opening chapter narrated by Lizzie was well-written with a nice hook, and then the second chapter narrated by her sister Emma threw me off.  However, I limped through it, and then a few more chapters here and there, and then I couldn't put it down.  This book was well-written and captivating, especially for a debut, and I would definitely recommend it.

In See What I Have Done, Schmidt takes on the daunting genre of historical fiction with her account of one of the most famous murder cases of all time—Lizzie Borden's father and step-mother are found bludgeoned to death at the Borden residence.  Told from multiple perspectives, the reader goes inside the mind of the unreliable Lizzie, her older sister Emma, the Irish maid Bridget, and a mysterious stranger, Benjamin, who has ties to the family.  This multiperspectivity works brilliantly and while I enjoyed Lizzie's chapters the most, the other perspectives were needed to balance out the story.  

Schmidt juxtaposes the visual imagery of sickness—blood, vomit, rotting food—against the relationships of the family. This is more than fiction, it is a foray into the human psyche and a study of the most intimate kind of relationships.

Generation One (Lorien Legacies Reborn #1) by Pittacus Lore

A special thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.  I just couldn't get into this book after several tries, but because I committed to reviewing, I limped through.  And by limped, I mean I skimmed.

There is nothing new here, just more of the same from the first series.  But there is something off and I can't put my finger on it.  Perhaps it is the writing, it was very staccato, with choppy and disjointed sentences—maybe this was done on purpose to move the story along at a more rapid pace to lay the groundwork.  I hope that this narrative style doesn't continue throughout. Needless to say, I won't be continuing with this series.  

The Story of Arthur Truluv A Novel by Elizabeth Berg

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

In the same vein as A Man Called Ove, Berg's latest novel doesn't disappoint.  This delightful, easy read is about three people whose lives intersect because of loss.  Arthur is a widow that visits his dead wife's grave every day to have lunch with her; it is here that he meets Maddy, a teenager who hides out in the cemetery to avoid high school.  Although they are an odd pairing, Berg's character development brings their relationships with loss and loneliness to an end and in its place, creates a beautiful friendship.  Lucille is Arthur's neighbour.  She is incredibly forward and the epitome of a nosy neighbour, but totally endearing.  Fresh from a loss of her own, she becomes part of their makeshift family.

My only criticism is that I wanted more from the relationships.  I wanted more Nola and Arthur, and more of Maddy and her father.  If Berg had fleshed out these relationships, the story wouldn't be so saccharin-sweet. 

Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica

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

Clara Solberg and her husband Nick seem to have it all—a  great marriage, two healthy children, and a successful dental practice. That is until Nick and the couple's four-year-old daughter, Maisie, are in a car accident that claims Nick's life. Clara is only a few days postpartum and her emotions are running the gamut from shock, grief, confusion, disbelief, and now paranoia that is fuelled by Maisie's night terrors of "the bad man".

Although the crash is ruled an accident, that Nick was speeding and lost control, Clara can't stop obsessing that Nick was run off the road. It is here where Kubica turns truths into lies, and secrets start to take flight.

Told in alternating perspectives of Clara in the present day, and Nick leading up to the accident, Every Last Lie accelerates in pace and suspense, but ultimately it stalls a little at the end. Unfortunately with this ending, Kubica negates all of the suspense and build up she so masterfully weaves throughout. That being said, I would still recommend this book as well as Don't You Cry and The Good Girl.

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. 

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck and Nick Bertozzi

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

This graphic novel by Nick Bertozzi gives a makeover to Pearl S. Buck's 1931 Pulitzer Prize-winning classic about the rise and fall of Chinese villagers before WWI.  

Disclaimer: I didn't realize I was requesting a comic/graphic novel adaptation. If I had realized this, I wouldn't have requested the title.  That being said, I was pleasantly surprised.  This actually works as a graphic novel and I think that it will put this classic willingly into the hands of the YA audience.