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.