Mattia Goddard

oh man did I enjoy this read. It was not easy, not joyful, quite unrelenting in its awfulness and sadness. I loved the way this writer unspooled his life and the life of his father. Wow what a mess they are. His story telling is devoid of emotion and has not filler or fluff. You get the raw, real pain of homelessness and the cascade of decisions and opportunities made and lost that have brought them to the various stages they find themselves in. If you know Boston, definitely read this book. If you're interested in homelessness, the how, the why and the mechanics of it in an urban setting- definitely pick this book up. I learned a lot and I work in the legal field where housing crises are common and help is always needed. This book is a revelation. I loved it on many levels.

This one is a gut punch. I'm late to the table on this one so this isn't news- everyone knows that the story behind the ICarly star's life is bad. How bad? Well now that I've joined the other 2 million people who have bought this book I can safely say she was abused by her mother- mentally, physically and psychologically- and in none of the ways I am familiar with abuse. Her mom was a messed up individual on so many levels. At the end of this book I was just so glad Jennette McCurdy had figured out a way to wrestle herself clear of the demons her mother so effectively had given her. This is one powerful story. Shocking and sad and thankfully by the end, hopeful and restorative. If you can take heavy subject matters- I highly recommend this book. Lots of triggers though so tread carefully.

I love a trapped group of guests in winter weather. This is a good one with a high body count. I was easily able to tell the characters apart which is nice and sometimes tough. I enjoy this author's writing style and I would definitely recommend this book. Satisfying story, characters and ending.

This book wasn't much of a mystery. It was more just an opportunity for snarky internal monologuing. Not what I expected. Not suspenseful, characters unlikeable.

Zevin is a gifted writer. I know this because she has given us 400+ pages about two video game creators. And I know very few women readers who play video games or care at all about video games- and yet here we are- so many of us loving this book. It spent 48 weeks on the NYTimes Bestseller List and I say again- they are Video Game Makers... now normally I would never, ever pick up a book about such a topic. This time, however, it was recommended by enough people that loved it- women like me- that I knew I needed to read it.

I tell you what it is- it's a triumph about the lives of two young, brilliant friends with lots of baggage. This story tracks their lives- successes, failures, tragedies, loves from age 10 to 40(ish).

I took my time with this one, allowing the story to wash over me. Beautiful, complicated characters that will stay with me for a long time. Fantastic read.

This one took me a bit. Frankly, it didn't hold my interest like I expect domestic thrillers to do. I found the main character to be annoying- a nervous nelly- with an eye rolling internal monologue. I wanted to know what was going on and I'm glad I finished it. Not sure I'll remember it in a year though.

Loved this one. Very Agatha- finite group of suspects trapped in snowy hellscape. One dead, lots of motives. I love the different narrators. highly recommend this read.

I am not one to choose rom-com books. I prefer murder and chaos and a high body count. So imagine my astonishment at thoroughly enjoying this well developed enemies to lovers workplace story - dare I say ROMANCE- with a solidly layered backstory and characters I actually cared about. All the Hallmark Holiday Movie lovers out there will adore this book - as will the readers who love an obscure literary reference- plus shades of famous bookish bits and characters sprinkled throughout. Book lovers, thus the appropriate title, of all stripes will find something to smile about when reading this book. Bonus for the New York lovers- the writer does a lovely job of describing the city in small, authentic ways throughout the story, as described by the main character. As a Northern transplant to the South, I absolutely loved those treasures. This one is a perfect, light summer read- you will be invested and you will feel really good when you come to the satisfying end. Highly recommend.

what a tormented woman this protagonist is. I felt compelled to read until the brutal end. I liked her unemotional narration. Talk about a woman desperately in need of help.

This was a good one. Three moms- “besties” -as the kids say. Their boys are likewise also besties. Then there's a dead body- which I love. These characters were well drawn, the neighborhood was unusual and interesting. I liked the writing throughout. My only issue is while I liked the ending, I wanted more from the epilogue. I had a few questions- nothing bad just things I'm wondering about- if anyone reads this one let's discuss. Good summer read, especially in these dog days- they are in Austin, TX in the same sweltering heat.

This book was fun and a great escapist kickoff to my year in books. It has a great time skewering the rich celebrities at its core and I'm here for it. Fame has become absurd. This book takes that reality and looks at what famous people get away with through an upstairs downstairs lens. It also reveals what the rich and powerful do to get to the top and stay there. I liked the cast of characters. Not LIKED liked - but enjoyed their backstories. Well done by this husband wife writing duo. My second from them. They definitely choose of-the-moment plot points and very timely stories.

I read this quickly because I was so sure that the plot would pick up on the next page. Ok, maybe the next page... it did not. Well, the book picked up in the last 20 pages but only after I slogged through giant paragraphs of description of her mother and the games they'd play, their childhood, reminiscings of that one terrible night. I found myself skimming early on- bad sign. The premise of this story held so much promise -but how can I suspend disbelief about a woman raised by a spy who doesn't know what her husband is planning?!? Give me a break. For such a “brilliant” main character she sure was blind or naive or both. Ugh. Do not recommend.

This book shot out the gate at a solid 4. At some point about a hundred pages in I realized there was lots of narrative, and almost no dialogue. That old writing adage “show, don't tell” - alas, this one is all tell, no show. Then, three fourths in, we get to the legal case, which is absolutely impossible with zero evidence but anyway, and the book slows to a crawl. I almost didn't finish it. I did skip ahead then force myself to go back. But damn this book started out fantastic then died a painful slow awful death in my arms. The last 30 pages took me 3 days to read. I could say so much more but I won't.

I don't know why it took me until 2022 to find this book. It was written in 2015 but nonetheless a timely story. I finished this book at midnight, went to bed thinking about it and woke up to think about it some more. First, I loved Ani's inner monologue. Her acidic wit was spot on- especially the description of women in New York. So many truths, painful but perfect. Second, it turned out that I was reading a whole different book than I thought I was- and that was really interesting. Great story and it went deep. I felt empathy for Ani and I don't think there's a teenage girl alive, particularly those of us who are now grown, who can't relate to her life. It was that well done.

The myriad characters, the twisty plot- another brilliant read from Michael Robotham. This is the third of his books that I've read and all are 5 star reads for me. Normally I don't go in for the persecuted heroine, but this was unlike any I've read before. I put this book down only to go to work and cook dinner. I stayed up way too late the last 2 nights reading this. It's that good. Highly recommend.

This book took me weeks to read. I didn't care about the characters. They had no depth and no chemistry. That about sums it up. I don't recommend it. It wasn't compelling enough.

This one has too many internal monologues that I did not enjoy. Women making stupid decisions and talking us through their not good thought processes. Needed to redline edit those parts. Plus the ending romanticizes red flag bad behavior. Not good. Solid premise but the story didn't have enough layers for me.

this book hits on all cylinders. Fantastic grab-you beginning, brilliant and original inciting incident that leads the reader through the well plotted unraveling of a complex story line. great how all the pieces come together. This was such a satisfying read. I recommend it all the time.

A New York Times bestseller worthy of the hype! Take note. This book is an absolute delight. So original, a heroine we can all relate to, laugh with and root for. I blew through this one. Highly recommend!

I picked this one up for the politics. That part was fun and these two characters had great repartee. I don't know much about same sex couples but as an LGBTQ+ ally I found this romcom well done. It's not my usual genre- I always want murder in my books -but overall this one was enjoyable with a solid plot underpinning the love story.

This book is not quite a domestic thriller but also not just a novel. It's something in between. I enjoyed how this story unfolded. We know what happens to wife number 3 at the beginning of the story. What unravels is the Why. The main character- in this one it's a man named Adrian- is fairly oblivious which the women in his life put up with. That bit is hard to grasp but I like how the writer slowly shows all the problems that he previously did not see. Good read, different and quite interesting. I recommend this one.

I picked up this collection of short stories to fulfill a reading challenge prompt. Specifically a Book about Mythology.

Cassandra has always been a favorite of mine. I love a character that can see the future. This particular version of Cassandra is sly and witty and full of that feminist rage you'd expect at knowing her truly awful plight in life. If you recall any Greek Mythology- you know her story is not a happy one.

But this set of stories moves quickly on to many different types of women and their pieces of life with their small humiliations and general inequalities.

Some of the stories are fantastical in their unspooling. Others are funny or just plain weird. One in particular, my favorite- called Friday Night- is frantic in its delivery. A two page story that is one long sentence. And wow does that work. Talk about driving the point home.

I love Gwen Kirby's writing. I see so clearly all that she describes and I found myself thoroughly immersed in these women and girls, and sometimes men, and the situations she put them in.

If you like short stories, women-centric narratives, and well drawn characters- add this one to your list.

I continue to wallow in my favorite genre- domestic suspense-and the other day I finished this delight. I loved this therapist-turned-consultant-because-she-lost-her-license character. The writers should consider writing other books with her as their Main Character. She's that compelling. There's a lot going on in this book and I liked all of it. The more of this genre that I read, the more I want complicated plots and characters whose pasts weave together in uncomfortable ways. I figured out a few things in this one, not early, just right on time- which is nice. The protagonist was a bit on the goody-goody two shoes side for me but otherwise this one was a solid, fun and super fast read. Highly recommend.

Took me too long to get through this one.

My, My, My this was a GOOD read.
Characters with depth and messy backstories, questions all over the place about what did or didn't happen. I particularly liked the format- 3 POVs-mostly - and the crime happens on the first few pages then the story works backward.