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Book Reviews
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The Jackal's Mistress
by Chris Bohjalian
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I enjoyed this book taking place in the south, nearing the end of the Civil War. A southern woman, her precocious niece, a freed slave who works for her and a wounded Union soldier leads to an intriguing story.
Destroy Me
by Tahereh Mafi
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This novella is from Warner’s point of view after the events of the first book: Shatter Me. I gave this book three stars not because I don’t like it but because there wasn’t anything crazy out of the ordinary about it and I think that had to do with the fact that I read the first three books and then came back to read this novella. I feel like it also got repetitive at times. I really enjoyed it in the sense that we get to see Warner’s feelings after he portrays himself as a tough bad guy in the first book. I think if you really want an element of newness, you should read it directly after the first book when we don’t know so much about Warner from the next books already. However, even though I read it after the first three books, I still enjoyed back tracking and getting to experience the events from the end of Shatter Me and beginning of Unravel Me and everything in between from Warner’s perspective. We also get to see bits from Juliette’s journal that is spoken about in Shatter Me and of course Mafi’s writing and use of similes and metaphors are excellent. It makes you feel the character’s pain.
The Love Elixir Of Augusta Stern
by Lynda Cohen Loigman
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Interesting and entertaining
Shatter Me
by Tahereh Mafi
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This is a young adult, dystopian novel. It is the first in a series of six novels. It is set in a period where the world is basically dying, and a new form of government is in power, and they are exploiting the people and hording resources. Juliette has a lethal touch where she cannot touch anyone, or they will die. This book follows the story of Juliette as she is seen in different ways due to her power. I really liked this book. It is a bit of an introductory book into the series as it sets up the characters, setting, and plot so it might be a little slow at times. The romance is good. I enjoyed the writing style a lot. It was really unique in that it showed Juliette's growth as a person and really represented her internal turmoil. I really like the dystopian genre, like the Hunger Games, so I really enjoyed the book. I recommend this book to readers who like the dystopian genre and are willing to stick through the series because it gets so much better!
Only Ever You
by Rebecca Drake
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Flashback, Jill and David’s daughter Sophia goes missing at the park, she is found 40 minutes later, fine, but with bug bites, or are they needle puncture marks in her arm? Blood tests reveal no drugs, no harm done. Or so they think. Then three months later Sophia disappears again. The parents are now suspects. Interesting premise. Kept me guessing as to what happened.
Signal Fires
by Dani Shapiro
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I had high hopes for this book in the beginning but the ending was dull and most of the characters were so annoying and selfish, it ended up ruining how much I loved the first 60%
My Friends
by Fredrik Backman
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Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors. Although I prefer some of his other books over this one, I still rank this one as 5 stars. This book focuses on Ted and his relationships at 14 to 15 years old and at 39 years old. One of his friends is a famous artist, who became famous because his 14 year old friends forced him to enter a painting into a competition. As an adult, the artist meets an 18 year old who he sees as a kindred spirit, and introduces her to Ted. Their initially contentious relationship changes as the book progresses. As with all of Backman's books, much of the book focuses on relationships and the psychology of the various characters.
Shutter
by Ramona Emerson
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I wanted to like this book. I actually got it at a previous library summer reading even as part of my parting gift. The premise was a little too into the fantasy camp for my taste. The novel is about a CSI photographer who can see ghosts, both in her family and of the victims she photographs. There is a lot of Native American lore, which is interesting, but unfortunately the reveals are anti climactic and do not live up the the "thrilling" part of being a thriller. More of a summer beach read.
The Sequel
by Jean Hanff Korelitz
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I wanted to like this book. But it (ironically?) shows that the sequels are not always necessary. In the first book the story was compelling but the ending felt muddy, and unfulfilling. Now we pick up with Anna, a character from the first book, who was kind of an anti-hero, but now she is more difficult to root for. She has gone from tragic victim to paranoid sociopath with a high kill count. Just not a compelling story.
Before She Was A Finley: A Novel
by Carol Hoenig
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I really enjoyed this novel. I was inspired to read it after hearing the author speak and read excerpts from her book at EMPL. It is a fast read about why Grace left her family years ago.
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