The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

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

As someone that is interested in visual arts, the description of the book sounded interesting, but there was a lot of animation terminology and references that were lost on me.  The art could've become a more central part of the story, become more like a character, but Whitaker compartmentalizes the art to the earlier chapters and takes the plot elsewhere for the bulk of the story.    

There were some interesting plot twists that ultimately kept me reading but unfortunately I started to skim probably around the half way mark.  I felt that these twists were a tactic, like click bait, employed by the author to keep the reader's interest.  

Character-wise, there was a lot going on and Mel became a caricature of herself.  Whitaker tried to tackle too many things in one novel, which didn't work, especially when using first-person point of view.  The book could've benefited from a solid substantive edit.

What I did like was the beginning—the brief backstory of how Sharon and Mel met and their time at school—and wished that the author developed this part because for me this was the grit of the story.  I'm actually surprised that this was not a prologue since this part of the story was not going to be fleshed out.

Dragon Springs Road: A Novel by Janie Chang

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

This beautifully written story is set in early 20th century Shanghai.  Our main character, Jialing, is a Eurasian bond servant who has been abandoned by her mother and is at the mercy of the new tenants of Dragon Springs Road.  Jailing is thought to be the daughter of a prostitute and faces many hardships because of her social standing and mixed race.    

A spirit fox helps guide Jailing and watch over her. throughout the years.  With Fox's guidance, she attends school, receives an education, and befriends one of the headmistresses that tries to help her lot in life.  Jailing's road is bumpy and long—she is faced with many challenges, hardships, love, and loss.

Overall, this is an intriguing story that was thoughtful and well-researched.

Miss You by Kate Eberlen

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

This book was a combination of One Day, and something by Liane Moriarty — really a fun read!  

My criticism would be maybe with the genre?  Is it me, or are the leading ladies in these types of books often a bit pathetic?  From affairs, to accidental pregnancies, to self-sacrificial situations that boarder on martyrdom.  Ugh...  Too much of this stalls the story, and makes the female lead (and in this case, male lead as well) rather weak and at times unlikable.  Speaking of unlikable, I really had a hard time with Gus.  Why did he have to cheat on his lovely girlfriend with his dead brother's fiancée, Charlotte, who is incredibly frigid and appears to be out of his league.       

What I did like was the premise of the book.  Chance meetings, fated lovers, and the unwavering belief in romance.  There were parts that were simply delightful and endearing, and I would definitely read more by this author and recommend this book for a fun summer read.

Searching for John Hughes: Or Everything I Thought I Needed to Know about Life I Learned from Watching '80s Movies by Jason Diamond

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

What a great read!  Growing up binging on John Hughes' movies myself, I loved the premise of this book and thought, why didn't I think of this?

Diamond's childhood is dismal at best, often times his narrative is painful to read as I'm sure it was to recount.  He uses Hughes' movies as lenses to filter his life through, as well as an escape/coping mechanism.  He is searching for John Hughes, to write an autobiography of sorts, but gives up on his search and in doing so, sets himself free and finally sheds his past.

Her Every Fear: A Novel by Peter Swanson

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

Kate Priddy, a Londoner, swaps apartments with Corbin, a distant cousin, in Boston.  She suffers from anxiety and panic attacks as a result of an ex-boyfriend that kidnapped her and nearly ended her life.  Kate thinks that a change in scenery is just what she needs.  

Soon after her arrival to Corbin's apartment, Kate learns that Corbin's neighbour was murdered.  Questioned by the police, Kate realizes how little she knows about Corbin.  She is left shaken and with more questions.

Kate makes the acquaintance of another tenant, Alan Cherney, as well as the grief-stricken former boyfriend of the victim who thinks Corbin is responsible for what happened.  Her jet lagged mind and fragile state begin to wreak havoc, things are not what they appear to be.

Hearing great things about Swanson's previous works, I was excited to get my hands on this book but, it fell a little flat.  There was so much more that could've been done to to really flesh out the main character.  She has a pivotal life event in her backstory that seemed to be disconnected. It is here that Swanson falls down—he doesn't connect this to the character so it comes off as weak and being filler.  This is a life-changing event that should really define who she is.

The ending was predictable.  I wanted suspense and where's the twist?  I did have it all figured out unfortunately.  That being said, his writing is good as is the pace.  The premise was also good, and I will definitely check out his other works (I haven't given up on him yet).

PETER SWANSON'S debut novel, The Girl With a Clock for a Heart (2014), 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.

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

Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews

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

I didn't know anything about 'comfort women'; the women and girls that were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army before and during WWII.  The name is a euphemism for prostitute(s).  Women were either abducted from their homes in countries that were under Japanese rule, or lured with promises of work in factories — our character, Ja-hee and her sister were told they were going to work at a boot factory.  I was completely immersed in the flashbacks, but not vested in Anna.  As a main character, I felt that she was underdeveloped and flat.  

This was an ambitious topic, not only is Andrews writing historical fiction, about another culture, but also as a female.  For the most part, I would say he pulls it off.  The difference in the rating for me between a four and a five star review is that the narration was made up of short choppy sentences and this abrupt writing style between the passages of dialogue was distracting for me as a reader and the story then became a bit forced.