The Death of Mrs. Westaway

The Death of Mrs. Westaway

By Ruth Ware
Published: Scout Press, 2018
Pages: 368
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Check it out on Amazon

For in that moment that you turn your head to look for the second magpie, in the hope of changing your fortune from sorrow to joy - that's when you take your attention away from the things you can change, the crowing light, the speeding car, the moment you should have turned back.

Hal Westaway is a young woman who is struggling to make ends meet following the unexpected death of her mother. Hal believes the rest of her family to be gone until she receives a letter that says a large estate is bequeathed to her by her grandmother. Thinking it a mistake but desperately in need of cash, Hal proceeds to attend the funeral only to later realize that she's actually more tangled in the family than she could ever imagine.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway is an addicting thriller that will leave you up at 3 a.m., unable to put it down. It's the perfect novel for those who love psychological thrillers. Author Ruth Ware conjures the perfect old, decaying gothic estate; it reminded me a little of the house in Rebecca. It was impossible to pull myself away from the book this morning before I left for work - it's one of those stories that dig under your skin until you reach the ending. The one criticism I have about The Death of Mrs. Westaway is some of the characters seemed shallow... I didn't really enjoy Harding (or his family except for his wife). Also, I couldn't really picture Hal's relationship with her mother... maybe if there were full memories or anecdotes that showed how Hal and her mother interacted, that would fill that void. Other than that, this book is perfect for those in the mood for a dark thriller.

RATING (out of five puppies):

Outlander

Outlander

By Diana Gabaldon
Published (my version): Delacorte Press, 2011
Pages: 662
Genre: Historical fiction, Romance
Check it out on Amazon

People disappear all the time...
Many of the lost will be found, eventually, dead or alive. Disappearances, after all, have explanations.
Usually.

It's 1945 and Claire Randall is reunited with her husband after being apart for several years because of a war. Claire accidentally touches an ancient boulder in the British Isles and gets thrust 200 years into the past. On just her wits and nursing knowledge along, Claire must survive in eighteen hundred Scotland long enough to get back to her home. Or will she be stuck in 1743 forever?

Outlander starts out promising and then falls flat. I tried to read Outlander a few years ago but didn't bother finishing it because I found it too unbelievable. I managed to finish it this time because I actually did enjoy reading it and wanted to know the ending.

Plot: OK, so the premise behind Outlander is really interesting. The book itself is very well-written, and Gabaldon's writing is addicting. It's also clear that she did her research - it really feels like I'm transported to that time while reading the novel. However, about two-thirds of the way in the book, I felt like the plot goes stale and I was left wondering when Outlander would end. Also, I still feel like the parts with Jamie were forced at the beginning - like I know that Claire is opposed to the marriage at first and is seen feeling guilty about her husband in 1945 but Claire and Jamie having to be forced to be married at the beginning is still unbelievable to me.

Characters: The characters in Outlander are great - especially Jamie. I love the little traits Gabaldon writes for Jamie, such as smiling in his sleep while being touch is a sign that he's happy. Ignoring the whole forced to be married thing, I really got a feel for Claire and Jamie's love. I have to admit, the ending portion when Claire talks to the priest to sort out her feelings was a great way to close that part of the storyline.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Outlander but I doubt I will be reading the other books in the series anytime soon unless I get in the mood for some Scotland historical fiction. I'd recommend the series to someone who enjoys Outlander's setting... but other than that I would not. I give Outlander three puppies instead of two because I really enjoyed the writing.

RATING (out of five puppies):

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

By Michelle McNamara
Published: Harper, 2018
Pages: 352
Genre: True Crime, Non-Fiction
Check it out on Amazon

The unidentified murderer is always twisting a doorknob behind a door that never opens. But his power evaporates the moment we know him. We learn his banal secrets. We watch as he's led, shackled and sweaty, into a brightly lit courtroom as someone seated several feet higher peers down unsmiling, raps a gravel, and speaks, at long last, every syllable of his birth name.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark is essentially the story of the Golden State Killer, who raped over 43 women and eventually moved to raping then murdering his victims throughout a 10 year period, and crime true writer Michelle McNamara who never got to follow through with her story due to her untimely death.

McNamara chronicles the Golden State Killer's misconduct while interweaving details of her obsessive search for the killer's identity. I'll Be Gone in the Dark is engaging. McNamara's prose has a nice style to it that made true crime the perfect genre for her. It's obvious the long hours and endless efforts that went into her research; the amount of detail in the novel is massive, but it's also impressive how McNamara manages to write these details in a concise manner so readers are not easily confused. Her passion is infectious and jumps out of the pages.

Unfortunately,  McNamara died in her sleep on April 21, 2016; however, her efforts live on as just over two years after her death and a few months following the book's release, authorities found and arrested Joseph James DeAngelo for the crime. I hope to one day read a detailed account of his arrest. I'm glad this story was able to receive an ending after all.

RATING (out of five puppies):

Tiny Beautiful Things

Tiny Beautiful Things

By Cheryl Strayed
Published: Vintage Books, 2012
Pages: 353
Genre: Self help
Check it out on Amazon

Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can't cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It's just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across a bridge that was built by your own desire to heal.

Cheryl Strayed is the author of the once-anonymous advice column Dear Sugar which was published online at the Rumpus. Tiny Beautiful Things is a collection of published and non-published letters and responses.

I enjoyed this novel. It's the second book I've read by Strayed: the first being Wild. She reminds me of a friend I had in school who was funny, vulgar, a blast to be around and very blunt; but she was blunt because she cared. Several of the pieces I connected with and will be applying to my own life. There's something about two complete strangers being painfully honest with one another that's quite a unique and beautiful circumstance. I'll definitely be checking out more of Strayed's novels.

RATING (out of five puppies):

The Witch Elm

The Witch Elm

By Tana French
Published: Vicking, 2018
Pages: 528
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Check it out on Amazon

Always one more miracle, always one more chance. Pull me from the earthquake rubble, weeks in, dust-coated to a white statute and just one hand lifting feebly, parade me high in triumph. Pull me from the river streaming like a merman, work on me past hope, till the cough and splutter finally come. I'm lucky, my luck will hold.

Twenty-nine year old Toby has always been lucky. He's had an easy life and glides through life in an apparent bubble in which nothing bad can happen to him. One night that all changes when burglars break into his apartment and literally almost beat him to death. Toby is never the same after that; the accident has left him struggling to walk properly, fumbling for his words, and black holes in his memories. He and his girlfriend move into his childhood home, the Ivy House, when he learns his uncle is dying. Things seem to be getting better until a human skull is found inside the witch elm in the backyard. Suddenly, everything Toby thinks he knows is called into question, even himself.

The Witch Elm falls flat. I usually like Tana French's work, but I just didn't like this novel. I could NOT stand Toby. He's basically that rich white kid that has never had a hard day in his life. Of course, that all changes with the burglary but towards the end when his cousin Susanna is telling him how she went through something awful (no spoilers in my reviews!) and he didn't take her seriously back then he is thinking, "Is she still angry at me for that!? It wasn't my fault." URGH. Toby is so selfish and arrogant. This character alone made me dislike reading the book.

PLOT: OK, I liked the plot in general but the book moves so slowly. It's not until page 162 that the skull is even found. I found myself getting bored quite often throughout the novel. However, I will say I was pleasantly surprised by that twist at the end... definitely did not see that one coming but there were hints of what could happen throughout the beginning.

This is just my opinion. I've seen on Goodreads that plenty of others enjoyed The Witch Elm so if you like more of a slow burn type of mystery this book might be for you.

RATING (out of five puppies)

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

By Hank Green
Published: Dutton, 2018
Pages: 343
Genre: Sci Fi
Check it out on Amazon

Her message is clear to me-it will never leave me now. We are each individuals, but the far greater thing is what we are together, and if that isn't protected and cherished, we are headed to a bad place.

April May is an average twenty-something who is walking home from work late one night when she stumbles across what she believes to be a large, robot-looking sculpture placed on a sidewalk as part of an art installation. She and her friend Andy make an amusing, silly video to upload to YouTube. However, they find out the next day that their "Carl" is one of sixty other Carls that have mysteriously apparently overnight, and April soon becomes an internet sensation. April finds herself and her friends drawn into the world of celebrity and the Carls and what this all means for humanity.

WOW, guys. I never expected this book to make me cry. I'm not sure what I entirely expected, to be honest. I think, maybe, some kind of lame robot fighting novel. How do I even begin this review?! April is a such a well-written character; she's really one readers can relate to. She makes many mistakes and hurts those she loves but this shows that she's only human. I dislike novels that have perfect characters who make all the right decisions; how is that even believable? The other main characters are also enjoyable as well.

As for the plot, Green uses the concept of the Carls to show how people can come together, can work together to make the world a better place. As April's popularity quickly rises, she becomes obsessed with increasing her fame and markets herself as a tool rather than a person. I feel like that's what many Instagram and YouTube famous individuals do these days; they turn themselves into something completely different for the camera instead of using their platforms for good causes. April eventually obsesses over arguing with Defenders - those who are strongly against her opinions on the Carls. She realizes, probably too late, that she has put her online persona and life before those she loves the most.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a remarkable novel. Be sure to pick it up if you can; you won't regret it.

RATING (out of five puppies)

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park

By Michael Crichton
Published (my version): Ballantine Books, 1993
Pages: 399
Genre: Sci Fi
Check it out on Amazon

"Real life isn't a series of interconnected events occurring one after another like beads on a necklace. Life is actually a series of encounters in which one event may change those that follow in a wholly unpredictable, even devastating way." Malcolm sat back in his seat, looking toward the other Land Cruiser, a few years ahead. "That's a deep truth about the structure of our universe. But, for some reason, we insist on behaving as if it were not true."

Since this is Jurassic Park, a book that sparked a series of successful movies and that almost everybody in the first word knows the plot of, I'm not going to write a summary. I picked up a secondhand paperback edition of the novel while browsing through the book section of an antique shop, and wow, I'm glad I did. Jurassic Park says so much about how we as humans pretend like we are in control of our lives and the world around us. In reality, life is actually complete chaos. This book came out, what, like 25 years ago and it's still relevant, even though we are far more technically advanced in this day and age. We cannot imitate nature, and we will never be able take command of Mother Nature.

Jurassic Park is compelling. It's fast-paced, and the multiple viewpoints allow the readers to observe how everything comes together to create a big mess. Hammond and Arnold were sure the park was so secure, but couldn't foresee Nedry's betrayal - an example of how life is completely unpredictable. They believed that dinosaurs could be trained, similar to a dog. However, the creatures proved to be more intelligent than they could ever imagined. Arnold calmly asserted that even with the electrical fences down, the dinosaurs wouldn't even attempt to leave their designated areas because they had been shocked many times before... yet, the dinosaurs did leave. Additionally, Mother Nature found a way to make sure the dinosaurs could reproduce, even with Dr. Wu structuring the DNA so that all the creatures were born female. Again and again, Crichton shows us that nature will never be controlled.

As for the characters, I liked Grant quite a bit; he was written well as more of a down to earth and hands-on academia as compared to those who prefer to sit behind their desks and attend stuffy gala events. Grant is someone the reader can relate to, can be pictured as enjoying him in real life. It was amazing to me as how in the end, after multiple people have died from failures in his park, Hammond is still thinking about how it's not that big of a problem, how the disaster just shows him what needs to be improved so Jurassic Park can be made even better. Greed really takes control of him.

Jurassic Park is a very well-written, thought provoking novel. Even if you've seen all the movies a thousand times, like I have, I still recommend reading the book. I've also read Congo, also by Crichton, and I enjoyed that as well. I look forward to reading more of his novels.

RATING (out of five puppies):

For Better and Worse

For Better and Worse

By Margot Hunt
Published: Mira Books, 2018
Pages: 329
Genre: Thriller
Check it out on Amazon

"Well then." Nat raised her wineglass in a mock toast, as another boom of thunder sounded outside. "To our future as criminal masterminds."
Will clinked his glass against hers. "To getting away with it."

Natalie and Will, both attorneys who met in college, are going through the motions of their mundane lives when they discover that the principal at their son's school has been arrested for indecency with a minor. Worse, they discover that Charlie has also been victimized by the principal, someone that had considered a friend. Overcome with rage, Natalie plots her revenge which has dire consequences.

For Better and Worse is another novel that has taken me by surprise. When I first started reading this book, I was SO sure I was going to dislike. I thought the writing to be so boring and Hunt had described boring scenes; but then towards the end I realized she intently did that as a comparison between "the before" and "the after" and to show how not everyone is as they appear to be on the surface. I got completely hooked into the storyline; this is the type of book that you stay up reading until 2 a.m. There's also multiple twists. I mean, that ending! I did NOT see that coming, at all! If you like suspenseful thrillers, you should definitely pick up For Better and Worse.

RATING (out of five puppies):

The Comet Seekers

The Comet Seekers
By Helen Sedgwick
Published: HarperCollins, 2016
Pages: 301
Genre: Historical, Contemporary
Check it out on Amazon

He can feel the rush of the wind as the Earth races around the sun. He feels like he needs to cling on, or he will go flying off into space. Things shifted while he wasn't looking at the group and now the world is different; everything is beautiful, and wild, and precarious, because now he knows how the sky can change.


The Comet Seekers is a whirlwind of a novel written by former physicist Helen Sedgwick. Roisin and Francois meet during a scientific expedition in Antarctica in 2017. Though at first glance they seem completely different, they are drawn together by tragedy and their backgrounds unexpectedly intertwine.

This book was completely unexpected. Sedgwick has a unique voice and engaging writing style which quickly became addicting. I felt like I was actually inside of the characters' minds - I shared Liam's loneliness, Roisin's restlessness for something greater, and Francois's turmoil. The novel being centered around comets is creative; I interpreted as showing that we are the ones responsible for our perceptions of the world. The Comet Seekers is a real gem. I can't go into much detail without reveling spoilers. I definitely recommend it.

RATING (out of five puppies)

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street

By Susan Jane Gilman
Published: Grand Central Publishing, 2016
Pages: 518
Genre: Contemporary, Historical Fiction
Check it out on Amazon

Everybody thinks that once you reach the top, you can lie back on a divan with a goddamn mai tai. No. Wrong. Success is not a mountain climb. Success is a treadmill.

Malk Treynovsky is a young child who travels to America in 1913 with her family but tragically becomes crippled then abandoned by her parents. Taking pity on her, a man who owns an ice cream business takes her in and Malk, utilizing her creative intelligence and the knowledge she gleans from childhood, builds an ice cream empire. Spanning over 80 years, she chronicles her metamorphosis into Lillian Dunkle and her struggles as a crippled woman in an unforgiving age.

I enjoyed this novel. Lillian is a very lively character; her sassiness and bluntness really jumped out at me. It was easy to be really sympathetic to her at times while at others to dislike her. Yet, I can understand why she made some of her bad, sometimes cruel decisions. I liked how Lillian's story came together, how the present was inserted at just the right times. Overall, I felt like it was a well-written book. The only complaint I have is that at certain parts, I felt like Gilman overused "darlings." I stopped reading and though to myself, "Jeeze, I think that's enough already," because it was used too often in those parts. However, at other portions of the novel, I believe her phrase made Lillian stand out. I recommend "The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street" to those who want an enjoyable summer read.

RATING (out of five puppies):

The Bluest Eye

The Bluest Eye

By Toni Morrison
Published (my version): Alfred A. Knopf, 2000
Pages: 215
Genre: Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
Check it out on Amazon

Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs - all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured. 

Set right after the Great Depression, Pecole is a black preteen who faces horrible circumstances. She yearns to be beautiful like the blond, blue-eyed children; more specifically, she wants blue eyes. As the story unravels, Pecole's nightmare is revealed and her wish is horribly fulfilled.

So, wow. "The Bluest Eye" packs a lot of punch for a book so small. What really strikes me about the novel is how Morrison breaks up the novel by seasons and then the characters tell their stories. There's something about this that forces the reader to see the humanity in each character. We see Pecole living in squalid conditions and with abusive parents, but we also see how her parents had a rough childhood as well; her mother with her limp foot and her father who had parents who wanted nothing to do with him. It doesn't make what Pecole is going through OK, but it makes you see things in a different light.

"The Bluest Eye" also speaks strongly on beauty in America. Even in this day and age, light skin, thin, blue eyes and blond hair still appears to be the standard definition of beautiful. Pecole, along with the other characters, is constantly being told from every direction and in every possible way that she is ugly. Her mother feels the same way about herself as well; that no matter how well she does her hair or what clothing she wears, she will never be like the actresses in the movies. The fact that this novel is still relevant says a lot about what's wrong with our culture. It will only be through teaching our children that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes that we will finally be able to change society's standards of beauty.

RATING (out of five puppies):