Category: Book reviews

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo “One cannot change what one refuses to see.” White Fragility is a powerful, thought-provoking, enlightening and deeply meaningful book. It raises startling points about how white people have specific, sometimes unconscious, biases towards race while thinking we are colorblind.…

Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters by Emily Carpenter My rating: 5 of 5 stars A Southern Gothic novel that floats effortlessly between past and present. In the past we follow Dove Jarrod, an evangelist who preys on the faithful to make them believe they’ve been healed. In the present, Eve, Dove’s granddaughter, who learns that beyond…

The Chalet by Catherine Cooper My rating: 3 of 5 stars A time hop mystery about a ski chalet death and the people involved. An interesting story that kept me reading to find out what happened. The start starts with a lot of describing skiing and learning to ski, which went on a bit. I…

The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan My rating: 5 of 5 stars A flawlessly written mystery with twists around every corner, The First To Lie is a timely story about deceit, justice and revenge, all centered around the devastation wrought by a large pharmaceutical company and the family that owns it. Addictive and…

Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins My rating: 5 of 5 stars Spellbinding, poignant and atmospheric, Behind The Red Door is one of those rare stories you can get utterly lost in. With writing so richly evocative I could vividly imagine every detail, this is a mesmerizing tale in which family bonds are broken,…

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite My rating: 5 of 5 stars A dark, compelling literary thriller told in a sparse, almost wry commentary. I absolutely loved My Sister, The Serial Killer, a pacey serial killer thriller set in Nigeria. We immediately meet Korede, who’s been summoned by her sister, Ayoola, with the…

When I Was You by Amber Garza My rating: 5 of 5 stars I opened When I Was You expecting to just have a quick sneak peak…and couldn’t put it down all weekend. Exhilarating, page-turning, shocking, this is one of those rare psychological thrillers that really is the whole package. An electric, raw, emotional story…

White Out by Danielle Girard My rating: 5 of 5 stars A twisty, multi-person murder mystery set in a sleepy, small town, White Out is one of those fast-paced, evocative thrillers that you want to inhale in one go. I loved the writing, the characters, the setting, everything. Ferociously smart, intensely intriguing, it’s just a…

What We Forgot to Bury by Marin Montgomery Another Amazon prime read that I just found a little confusing and hard to get in to. Not entirely unenjoyable, I just couldn’t figure out what was going on or why. View all my reviews

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin My rating: 4 of 5 stars “To tell you the truth, I don’t get how we can almost unanimously agree that murder is wrong, yet when it comes to rape some people still see shades of gray.” The Night Swim is a timely, slow-burn legal thriller that follows true-crime…

Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton My rating: 3 of 5 stars A well-written and mesmerizing story that combines a school shooting with Islamophobia, xenophobia and the danger of the far right. The book starts off literally with a bang, when a bomb goes off outside the school. From there we follow a number of different…

He Started It by Samantha Downing My rating: 5 of 5 stars A wicked-fun read with razor-sharp wit and a killer twist, He Started It is compelling, captivating, and deliciously dark. Samantha Downing writes with a wry, sparse elegance that steadily entangles you until you’re utterly addicted. In He Started It, we get three unapologetically…