Mahala

I will scream forever (until they give in and comply) that Goodreads needs half stars. I would legit give this 3 and a half stars. But I guess I'll give it the extra half because I love Gayle Forman's writing usually.

The thing is, the bones of an amazing story are here. Cody's best friend Meg took her own life. While cleaning out her room, Cody finds some encrypted files on Meg's computer that may lead her to find out why she committed suicide. This book should have made me feel something. Anything, really. It should have made me sad and hopeful and angry. But it didn't. I didn't really feel anything when I read this. It was just another YA book for me.

The romance aspect was a huge turn off for me. It seemed completely out of place and unwarranted. And honestly, it felt like a reach by the author to make it more appealing to YA readers. That kinda sucks, whether that's what she meant by it or not. Maybe she just felt like it needed a side plot. Idk, it just wasn't for me.

Really, I think I'm giving it three and a half stars because the bones of the story are there. I get what she was going for. It just felt lacking in execution. And also for the writing style. Obviously, Gayle Forman is a talented writer and I've always enjoyed her flowing writing style.

I must not be intellectual enough for this because this was the most boring and pointless book I've read in ages. It's small print so it's eternal even though it's only around 400 pages. It took me weeks to finish this, WEEKS. I 100% would have DNF'd this had it not been for the fact that it fills a prompt on my reading challenge this year.

First of all, thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm apparently in the minority considering that this book has such good reviews so far. Maybe it's because I don't already have a fondness for the author; this is the first of his novels I've picked up. I really did not enjoy it. I found the protagonist, Cassie, to be unrelatable. She continually makes ridiculously bad choices which is understandable with an addiction but she seems like she just doesn't care. It's hard to empathize with that. Also, sorry, but we GET that Cassie likes alcohol a little too much. Does it really need to be repeated in EVERY single paragraph?

The Flight Attendant is marketed and described as a suspenseful thriller but it was neither suspenseful or thrilling. Instead, I found it rather boring and predictable. Nothing drew me in. If it wasn't for the fact that I needed to review it as an ARC, I wouldn't have bothered to finish the last few chapters as it was clear how it would end. The characters were shallow and one dimensional. I had high hopes in the first few chapters but it quickly went downhill for me and it was just a chore to finish reading it.

Confession time: I was a John Green fan girl at some point in my life. One of my most vivid memories of the home I grew up in is laying on the porch swing on the screened in side of the porch in a hugely oversized orange hoodie late, late at night sobbing my eyes out to TFIOS for the 77th time. I also gifted copies of Looking For Alaska to everyone that I could rope into a conversation about my favorite book. Moral of this story is of course I had to read Turtles All The Way Down.

This book is uncomfortable. One of the most uncomfortable books I've read. And because of that, my review is so mixed, my feelings are so mixed. So for you, dear reader, and myself, I'm making a list and not checking it even once. I'm just writing it and releasing it into the wild. Here we go.

Pros: Amazing mental illness representation, specifically OCD and anxiety disorders. The protagonist suffers from these and that's part of what makes this book so uncomfortable, tbh. I'm not saying that because I'm uncomfortable reading about mental illness, quite the opposite. My husband struggles with OCD, thankfully not as advanced as Aza's. We both have anxiety disorders and depression. I'm not unfamiliar with mental illness. It's uncomfortable because it's real and it's triggering. But it's amazing, accurate representation that is so needed, which leads us to pro number two.

A realistic ending. No one saves anyone in this book. No one has the perfect happy ending. Loose ends are not tied up. Aza isn't normal and never will be. She isn't magically cured. Because that's not how life works. And that's something I personally enjoy now and then in a fiction. Happy endings get old sometimes. This is a pro on my personal list, but I understand some people would not love this.

Moving on.


Cons: Terrible plot. I did not at any point understand or enjoy the storyline. I feel like Green wanted to write a book about a girl with OCD (for which I applaud him) but he had no storyline so he just threw in a disappearance and sprinkled in some romance here and there. It was honestly super super boring and highly predictable. It also kind of made no sense whatsoever.

Also, every character other than Aza felt so flat and one dimensional that I was so disappointed. Who are these people and why should I care about them or Aza's relationship with them? The world shall never know. This is not what I was expecting from a John Green novel. But again, it felt like he had a prerogative here and everything else just kind of fell by the wayside.
I'm sure I could ramble on some more but I just don't want to. The storyline was boring and since that's the core of a novel, my cons list is done here.


Would I read it again? No. The only reason I gave it three stars is the mental illness rep.

Would I recommend this book?
Probably not. And trigger warning for OCD and anxiety. I guess read it if you want to feel represented? But seek out other options first. Sorry this is harsh!!! I hate being mean but I'm so disappointed tbh.

Educated is so truly bizarre that it reads like fiction. I borrowed this book from my husband's coworker. She told me to read the synopsis and when I did, it sounded like a VC Andrew's novel. I've seen people raving about how good this memoir is, but I was still blown away. It's a memoir of mental illness, abuse, family, paranoia, the importance of education, and did I mention abuse? Yikes.

I couldn't put it down. I was so absorbed in her world that when someone started talking to me in real life, I had a full five seconds of confusion about where I was and who I was. That's how riveting Tara's writing is. I was absolutely drawn in to her surroundings, her emotions. It's heart wrenching. It's also such an incredible story of the absolute necessity of education. Something said near the end really hit hard for me. To paraphrase, the difference between the siblings who left the mountain (and the delusion) and who stayed was an education.

A brief synopsis:

Dr. Anna Fox, a child psychologist, is agoraphobic. Separated from her husband, she lives alone in New York City, unable to leave her home. She spends her time watching classic films, drinking a lot of wine, playing chess online, and her favorite pastime, spying on her neighbors. When a new family moves in across the park from her, she becomes obsessed with them. While watching their house, she sees something terrible happen. But why does no one believe her?

What I enjoyed:

The first twist. I really didn't expect it. It was about three quarters through the book, and after finding it out, I couldn't stop reading until I got to the end. And that's why I got four hours of sleep last night, thank you very much, A.J. Finn. I am admittedly kind of a snob when it comes to mysteries or thrillers. Having grown up with Nancy Drew, then moved into Mary Higgins Clark stolen from my mom's collection, I now as an adult find mysteries and thrillers overwhelmingly predictable for the most part. Maybe it was because I was so tired when reading this, but I really didn't anticipate this one. I gasped and was so excited that I hadn't guessed it. It was kinda bizzare, which I loved. That was definitely, I think, the best part of the whole book.

Something I also really liked was the sneaky little Easter egg of the title itself. I didn't realize it until I was done reading it. But the protagonist, Anna, is a huge fan of classic black and white movies. They're talked about and quoted a ton in the book as Anna is always in the house and watching at least one a day. The Woman in the Window is also the title of a classic mystery film from 1944. :)

What I didn't enjoy:

The first three quarters of the book were slow. Not excruciatingly slow, but slow enough that I was like, “Can we please just get to the point?” There's a lot of lounging about the house, watching old movies, drinking wine. Like, lots of wine drinking. I'm unsure if the author was trying to show us how unreliable a narrator Anna was because she was drunk all the time and mixing it with pills, but I got that in the first few chapters. It was totally unnecessary to constantly talk about it for the entire rest of the book. It took away from the plot and was boring. (And also made me feel a little like the author thinks we're simpletons that are unable to latch on to a concept.)

I feel a little guilty saying this because maybe if I had read this one first, I would have liked it more, but this book was SO similar to The Girl on the Train that I was bored. It's SO similar, I was a little blown away. I actually just did a reread of Girl on the Train because my husband was reading it for the first time and it had been years since I read it so I read along with him. Because of that, it was very fresh in mind. Female narrator is unreliable because of alcoholism, sees something terrible happen, no one will believe her, she can't remember if it's real. Yikes. They're almost the exact same plot, y'all.

Recommend for:
Huge fans of The Girl on the Train that want to read more like it. Or someone who likes a light mystery but rarely reads them. I for sure do not recommend this to anyone who is an avid mystery reader. This is one that if you've read one, you've read them all.

“I can't take another dead girl.”

I truly can't. In addition, I can't put my feelings about this book into words, but I'll do my best. I read it in one day. I wish there was more. And less. My heart is broken, not just for Sadie and Mattie, but for every child in this sick world. I've been crying for 10 minutes and I can't stop now. Sadie is a masterpiece. It tells the truth about being a child and a teenager and about life in general. It doesn't sugar coat and it doesn't hide. It destroys you and it breaks your heart and I just want to scream at everyone, but you need to read it if you can.

Aside from my heart being ripped out because of the story, let's talk about formatting. Courtney Summers is a genius. This book is half novel, half podcast and I couldn't be happier with it. There is literally a podcast that you can find on your favorite podcast app and listen to. The chapters are alternating between Sadie's first person account and a podcast called The Girls that is, Serial style and Someone Knows Something style, trying to crack the mystery of Sadie's disappearance. If you don't want to listen to the podcast, it is transcribed in the book. I listened and read along because I'm obsessive. And it was perfect.

Would I recommend it?

Yes. I would recommend Sadie to anyone who can handle the following TW: pedophilia, child sexual abuse, mentions of drug use. This is an uncomfortable book. It hurts. But it's worth the read.

This storyline was unlike anything I'd read before. It's dual POV. First, we begin the story of Sophie Lefevere during World War I in France. Her husband, an artist, is fighting in the war. Sophie's town is taken over by Germans and a Kommandant sees the portrait Sophie's husband painted of her and becomes obsessed. (No spoilers here.) Flash forward and we're now in modern day London with Liv Halston. She is in possession of Sophie's portrait, The Girl You Left Behind, which was a wedding gift from her late husband. She becomes involved in a bitter battle over the portrait once it's found in her possession.

It only took me like three weeks to read this because Depression™. But that shouldn't reflect on the book, because it was beautiful and interesting. So like I said, we start with Sophie's story, which is a harrowing one. Then in the MIDST of it, we're suddenly dropped into modern day London with a totally new character. EXCUSE ME. I was a little upset at first, not gonna lie. I wanted to finish Sophie's story, I had to know what happened. But then I did end up getting interested in Liv's world, so it was okay. The characters in the historical fiction part were real to me and fleshed out and living. The modern day characters were just okay. They felt a little like pawns in the game other than Liv, but eh, whatever.

Here's what I truly think. I think this would have been better as a single POV historical fiction, just totally cutting out the modern day part. BUT I did find it interesting the way she revealed what happened to Sophie. I don't want to give any spoilers, but as the synopsis states, there is a court battle over Sophie's portrait, which brings up a lot of found evidence. I've never read anything like that or the big reveal being made in a modern day courtroom in a historical fiction. So I was really interested in the setting. But I think I would have enjoyed it more without. That's the reason I've rated it four stars instead of five. I also felt the court battle was really drawn out and could have been at least 50 pages shorter. I truly loved Sophie and company and wanted to read about everything they did and what happened to them. It was heartbreaking and beautiful and I freaking sobbed at the end. It's truly a beautiful story of love and loss and the human condition.

Would I recommend?
If you've read anything else Jojo Moyes and enjoyed it, yes. If you like historical fiction, it's worth dual modern day POV. It's worth it.

I have very mixed feelings on this. First of all, I wouldn't recommend this as a first look into personality types by any means as this is seemingly not based in research at ALL. The author is not a scientist or doctor and has no real qualifications to create four personality types, but has done so based on personal opinion and observation. So I took the whole thing with a grain of salt and would suggest anyone else to do so as well.
That being said, it has been interesting to me to consider how my “tendency” and those of other people in my life might affect my behavior, relationships, way of thinking, etc. This was really just more of a thought project than anything, and it did indeed get me thinking. But I'd like to dive further into similar thoughts that have real research to back it up.

And as a huge side note, she completely missed the meaning of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off. “I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain,” is sarcasm, Gretchen. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't say it. :)

Okay. So it took me a hot minute to figure out what I wanted to rate this and I'm still not even sure if this is a correct representation. I don't think a rating can explain. For the first 250 pages of this book, I would have rated it a 1. Honestly. It was so bad. The subplots were actually ridiculous, the characters were SO shallow, the writing was flat out bad, and I was bored. The ONLY reason I didn't manage to talk myself into DNFing it was because the plot was intriguing and I wanted to find out what happened. I really just wanted to see how it ended. But again, I did not at all enjoy the first 250 pages.

The last 90-ish pages completely changed. It honestly seemed like it was written by someone else. It was riveting. I couldn't put it down. I ignored the intermittently buzzing dryer, letting our clothes get wrinkled, in favor of finishing this book that I didn't like five minutes ago. I truly had no idea what was going to happen up until the last page.

Am I glad I powered through to finish this book? Yes. Would I read it again? No, probably not.

I'm always so torn on whether I like Fredrik Backman books or not. There's always a ton of hype around anything he authors. But I'm still on the fence. I loved the story here, it was quirky, cute, hopeful, sad, happy, all the things. I enjoyed getting to know the characters. I'm just not sure if I vibe with the writing style. I feel like sometimes he tries too hard to be quirky and it just makes me roll my eyes. All in all, I'm still on the fence on his books so I'll probably end up picking up another one if I'm being honest. A big shrug emoji is all I can conjure up anytime I read him.

This one is tough to review! I'm giving it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 (because Jeffrey Bezos refuses to give us half stars). Some parts made me roll my eyes, some parts made me cry. I'm going to keep this short because I don't really have anything insightful. The 7-year-old main character was definitely precocious (as I think she was meant to be), but sometimes too much to the point of annoyance. And that just made me think maybe she wasn't wise, she was just a brat. But then it's also a lovely found family story, a story of grief and love and choices and anger and friendship and really getting to know people and realizing they all have a story instead of just judging them by what you see.

This was my first Backman and I'd like to read another. I can't quite tell if I enjoyed this one or not.

This was actually so unhinged. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that.

Dumplin' is the book I needed as a teenager. I related so much to Willowdean that it hurt. Everything that she thought was what I thought as a teenager. This book made me ache in the best way and I truly cannot stop thinking about it and crying. It's so well written. I didn't want to put it down and so I didn't. It's beautiful and a little too real. It's uncomfortable sometimes and that's the point. Please read this gorgeous book. This is probably the worst review ever but I can't put thoughts together because I just keep crying.

P.s. I'm now slightly obsessed with Dolly Parton and big hair.

Y'all. This book is SO detailed. I cannot imagine the amount of work put into this. I love everything about the fairytale aspects. The retelling and modernizing and switching things up a little bit. SO GOOD. This is the kind of series where I'm sad it's over because I feel like I can't hang out with my friends anymore. These characters are my friends and now it's over.

Thorne and Cress forever. Goodbye.

Forever obsessed with this series and the detail that's gone into this whimsical fairytale retelling. The beginning of this one was a little slow for me, but once it picked up, I had to know what happened. As always.

Two lives were taken when Hae Min Lee was murdered.

Adnan's Story is probably the most frustrating and infuriating book I've ever read. It's brilliant. It's honest. It's compelling. I'm not going to recap this story because you already know it. Who hasn't at least listened to Serial? (If you haven't, run don't walk.) Serial is, of course, where I first encountered the story of Adnan Syed. And for a year, I took it at face value. Just by this (what I see now is) tiny amount of information about the case, I thoroughly and wholeheartedly believed in Adnan's innocence. Just recently, I found this book by the fiercely multifaceted Rabia Chaudry and had to read it. In the midst of reading this, I listened to the Crime Junkie podcast's episode about Adnan. And wait, I thought Serial told the whole story. You see, I'm clearly terribly naive. I believed a journalist.

Adnan's Story is a must read for anyone who listened to Serial. It tells the WHOLE story, detail by detail. At times, it's slow. This is because Rabia is incredibly detailed in her storytelling, not wishing to leave a scrap, a morsel, of information unshared. I admit that despite it's popularity, I haven't listened to Undisclosed (don't judge me, I'm listening to like 5 true crime podcasts at any given moment) but you can BET I'll be starting it from the beginning ASAP.

I'm angry, I'm upset, I'm sad, and I'm SO SO disappointed (as always) by the “justice” system. There is almost nothing that frustrates me more than the injustice in this cruel world. Adnan's Story (and Hae's story) is a prime example of this. Cold hard facts prove that Adnan had no involvement in his close friend's murder. The motorcycle! The fax cover sheet! Asia! The reward! The #taptaptap! Jay's confession of lies! The list goes on and on. I will not rant about my own theories in this case, as that will do nothing but hmu with your theories, let's rant. This book is important. Adnan's story is important, Hae's story is important. READ IT. Listen to ALL the podcasts, dive deep, find new evidence, be a web sleuth.

Shout out to Rabia and JUSTIN, the defense lawyer Adnan needed all along. I hope next time I see this book pop up in my feed, Adnan is free and Hae's true killer is brought to justice.

A brief synopsis:

Willa Jackson comes from small town Walls of Water, North Carolina. Her family was once wealthy, her great-great-grandfather built the finest home in town, the Blue Ridge Madam. But then the family met financial ruin, and so did the Madam. It has stood in ruin for many years, but “townie” Paxton Osgood is in the process of restoring the Madam to it's former glory, complete with an anniversary gala for opening night. But when a skeleton is found buried under the lone peach tree on the property, the town is thrown into scandal once again and Willa and Paxton's families are forced together to figure out what happened at the Madam so many years ago.

What I enjoyed:

Okay, first you should know that I'm a sucker for a good Southern sweet tea, peach pie, we love nature, small town story. They're characteristically cheesy, but I think I love them because I'm from a small, Southern town in Tennessee and the reality is that it's actually just full of meth heads and racists. I think I always wanted that sweet Southern belle ideal to be real and not problematic. Plus, if you've ever read Sarah Addison Allen before, you know this has some elements of magical realism. Now, I don't love high fantasy or supernatural fiction, but I like a little sprinkling of fantasy. And magical realism fits the bill. So all in all, the setting was perfection for me.

I'm going to put this in the category of what I enjoyed although it may actually be what I'm on the fence about. There's an enemies to lovers trope here. I honestly never know how to feel about those! As an avid reader of young adult contemporaries, you know I've read a lot of them. I don't love them or hate them. I'm somewhere in between. For this particular story, I feel like it worked and the first blossoms of ~falling in love~ described within made me nostalgic for those days with my now husband myself.

What I didn't enjoy:

The writing is a liiiiitle cheesy, as I already mentioned. Typical of sweet Southern story. But the mystery was not really a mystery. I think it was fairly obvious, after the skeleton was found, what happened. But although it's kind of billed as a mystery, I didn't personally think that was the plot. It was more a story about family, friendships, finding out who you are, etc. So I'd say this isn't a mystery, but I didn't mind.

Would I recommend?

This story is cutesy. Do you like cutesy? Then sure, yes. Especially if you like a lighthearted Southern belle story. But listen, if you're only into high-brow, intellectual stories, this is not the one for you.

Favorite quote:

“Happiness is a risk. If you're not a little scared, then you're not doing it right.”

Jacob is a teen with Asperger's Syndrome (now known as an autism spectrum disorder, I believe. It's no longer a separate diagnosis.) Like many people with this disorder, he doesn't meet people's eyes in conversation and doesn't understand social cues. But his obsession is true crime, specifically forensic science. He watches reruns of the equivalent of Forensic Files every day, and often shows up at local crime scenes to try to “help” solve the case. But when a murder happens close to home, Jacob ends up as a suspect.

I believe this is meant to be a mystery but I'm not putting on my mystery shelf because it's not. It was extremely clear from the beginning what really happened, which made the 500 pages a little exhausting, just waiting for it to be “revealed.” But it is a story of family. As always, Jodi Picoult went above and beyond with her research. I may not always love the storyline, but I am ALWAYS impressed by the research she does. In this case, not only living with Asperger's, but also forensic science. It's so obvious that a ton of work and research went into this book, as usual with her books.

Something else I really loved was Jacob's brother Theo's point of view. This is written in alternating POVs, including Jacob, Theo, Jacob's mother Emma, his lawyer, Oliver, and a police detective. I enjoyed seeing the story from everyone's point of view, but especially Theo's. Theo was so realistic. He was resentful at times. He felt cheated out of his childhood and being the little brother. If you've ever taken care of a family member with a disability or even a debilitating disease, it's very relatable. I appreciated that it wasn't just rainbows and sunshine. The only thing that was a little annoying was how repetitive it was. I feel like the book could have been a couple hundred pages shorter had we not had to listen to Emma talking about his symptoms over and over and over. Like, we got it in the first hundred pages. But overall, I only discounted one star for this because I adored the realism of Theo and the research was over the top good.

Would I recommend?
Sure, why not?

Wow, I didn't love this.

Okay first, because of the title of this book, I would honestly never have read it EXCEPT for the fact that I met the author once and she was absolutely spectacularly lovely. So then of course I HAD to read it. I met Kody very briefly at YALLFEST in 2015 (??) and I just now read the book because I'm a professional procrastinator, clearly. I also did the unthinkable and saw the movie years ago before I read this.

I don't have a lot to say about this other than I don't like many YA tropes. And this book is a melting pot of classic tropes (love triangle, enemies to friends, etc). It was kind of all over the place, dealing with a lot of issues at once including (spoiler alert??) alcoholism, divorce, family problems, low self esteem, teen pregnancy, friendships, and trying to find a means of escape from problems instead of dealing with them. Let's throw in a love triangle! Because there were so many issues on the table, it felt scrambled, rushed, and like nothing was really properly addressed or resolved.

Anyway, I don't have much positive to say and Kody is lovely and I would try reading another of her books instead so I'm going to cut this short.

Would I recommend? No, but maybe pick up another of her books instead.

I'm currently rewatching Gilmore Girls for the millionth time and was finally able to get my hands on this book. I read it all in a few hours because I couldn't put it down. Lauren comes across as sweet, hilarious, and authentic. Her stories are funny and genuine and grounded in something we can relate to. She has a way of speaking and writing that captures attention and keeps it. She talks about filming both the original seasons of Gilmore Girls and a Year In The Life and I cried through BOTH chapters. Her little tidbits of information are so fun and bring so much more to fans of the show. Also, Parenthood is my 100% favorite show of all time and I loved her chapter about that as well. All in all, reading this memoir was an actual joy. And after reading everyone else's reviews, I need to get the audiobook as well!

This is the first review I've written so I'm going to make it brief.
But as a disclaimer, this review won't be very objective (and may have general spoilers but no details.) I lived this. This book resonated so deeply with me because I had a boyfriend just like this. I wonder how I would have responded to this book had that not been the case. However, as it is, this book is SO important.
Sometimes, it's easy for us to judge people who stay in any type of abusive relationship, whether it be emotional, physical, or mental abuse. It's easy to say “That guy is a loser, she should've left him a long time ago. She's asking for it. How stupid can she be?” (Obviously these roles could apply to either gender, I'm just using the ones in the book as an example.) This book takes you inside her head though. It shows you just how easy it is to be trapped in a relationship and not even know it.
I hope people read this book and see its importance and have a better understanding of what it's really like.
That being said, I loved this book. It really is incredible. Deb's writing style is one of my favorites and Stay definitely didn't disappoint.

A classic. Sarah Dessen never disappoints. Even on my millionth reread. :)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm so glad I didn't go to high school.

This book has been on my TBR since 2016 and I finally spotted it at my local used bookstore. I was in the midst of reading my least favorite genre, a classic, but I've been in a slump for about a month and a half. I heard this one was un-put-downabble so I started it in the hopes that it would get me out of my slump. And reader, I chose well. My official rating for this is 3.5 stars, but since we live in 1995 apparently and Amazon hasn't caught up to the fact that we could have half stars on here, three it is.

Let me start by saying I had the impression that this was a psychological thriller and it's not. It's a straight up mystery. And usually, I don't like mysteries as I read so many at a young age that I find them all predictable now. I'm super picky and I'm just gonna admit that's why I didn't give this a great rating. I found it predictable, yes. Definitely. BUT it wasn't boring. I could not, in fact, put it down. It's 1:30 AM and I've just finished it. It's like even though I knew I was not gonna be shocked and scandalized by the final twists, I still had to read it. The writing isn't anything spectacular but it is gripping. I had to know what happened at all times. The storyline is very high school, specifically rich high schoolers, which is maybe worse. There are some emotional moments (even if they seem forced).

But mainly, we all wanna know, why did smart, successful Amelia die that day? Did she jump off the roof of her school or was she pushed? And so ensues the chaos of reading through a teenager's texts/emails/social media to figure out what was missed and what was really going on in her life.
And as always, teenagers lie and live double lives. I truly do not like teenagers (sorry if you are one, pal.) and this was a lil awful to read just because they're kind of the worst and it's the worst part of life. I'm just gonna end this review because I'm just rambling now.

Would I recommend?
If you like mysteries and are not easily bored by them, yes, you'd probably really enjoy this one.

There are so many stories going on in this book, but I'll try to sum it up. First, Cecelia is that PTA mom with the perfect life and family. She's a lovely, sweet person, a great wife, and a great mom to her three girls. When she finds an old letter to her from her husband to be read only in the event of his death, she doesn't know whether to open it or not. But then she starts to notice how strange he's acting. In the letter is something that will change their lives forever. Secondly, Tess and Will are in a seemingly happy and comfortable marriage until Tess finds out something close to home that rocks her world. There is a third POV, but I honestly think it gives away the plot so I'm not going to mention it.

What I enjoyed:
I loved that all the characters were connected. There were many, many characters in this book who all had completely different storylines going on, but it was really interesting to see how everyone intertwined. It made me think about cause and effect and how delicate relationships are. Relationships we may not even know are significant can be changed in an instant. All of us are connected somehow, but we don't always see that.

After reading and loving Big Little Lies, I was determined to read Moriarty's other novels. BLL was so fast paced and kept me involved in the story. For the most part, The Husband's Secret was the same way. It was definitely fast paced, and I didn't get bored. Although some POVs were more interesting than others, I thought.

The epilogue. Y'all, the epilogue kind of made the book for me. It's kind of like a Sliding Doors situation. The tiny choices we make can have large consequences. The tiny choices we make can change our life forever. In the epilogue, the author gives us insight into what would have happened to many of the characters had they made different choices. I've never read an ending quite like that, and I loved it. 10/10 epilogue, would recommend. If I had gone home after an exhausting weekend instead of saying yes to meeting some friends for frozen yogurt, I would never have met my husband. I wouldn't be sitting her writing this review today. Thinking about chains of events and the tiny choices that set them off blows my mind.

What I didn't enjoy:

The third POV I didn't mention earlier because it gives away the secret. Honestly. The secret was so easy to guess, it's like I didn't even have to guess it. It was just there for me to take and acknowledge. Literally having the third POV is a straight up spoiler. It's obvious what Cecelia's husband is hiding almost from the very beginning. And although I still enjoyed the plot, I wish it hadn't been so obvious.
I also think the character (third POV) is unlikeable. But that's neither here nor there. I don't need to like every character. Just a side point and opinion.

I wasn't honestly sure I wanted to even say or include this because I'm so torn about it, but by the end, Tess's story felt a little out of place. As I said before, all the characters are intertwined so it wasn't that she didn't belong at all. But it just felt like filler at times. Like maybe it should have had a different novel altogether. I don't know, it just felt strange.

Would I recommend?
I would recommend this book for someone who enjoyed Big Little Lies or books like it. This is a very light mystery with little scandal, but overarching sentiments about choices and secrets.