Review: Before We Were Yours

Title Before We Were Yours
By Lisa Wingate
Genre Adult Fiction
Format Audiobook
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong. (From Goodreads)

First Sentence

I take a breath, scoot to the edge of the seat, and straighten my jacket as the limo rolls to a stop on the boiling-hot asphalt.

I put the Goodreads synopsis on my review so you could see why I thought I was getting something completely different when I started this book. 

I expected it to feel like a historical fiction where you feel slightly distanced from the characters and like you might be tested on facts later. What I got was a rich and vivid look into the lives of a fictional family whose life was ripped apart by a real historical event. 

I guess what I'm saying is it read much more like a southern family drama than a historical fiction. Which, for me, was a good thing. I was riveted by page one and was wholly invested in the characters the whole way through. 

Great writing, gripping plot, memorable characters...what more can I say? I really liked it. My only beef with the book was the convenient way no one would reveal secrets that kept the plot moving. Not my favorite plot device. But don't let that deter you. This one is worth the read.     

Review: The Orphan Keeper

Title The Orphan Keeper
By Camron Wright
Genre Adult Fiction
Format Print
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Kidnapped as a young boy and thrown in an orphanage, Chellamutha tries to explain he's not an orphan but no one will listen. Adopted by a family in America he slowly adjusts to his new life. Years later memories come back and won't leave him alone prodding him to return to India and search for the family he can barely remember.

First Sentence 
The City of Erode was like a thousand others that dotted the vast landscape of India.


Another book club book. Based on the true story this one tells the story of a young boy. From his days in India to his life in America and a journey back to India to find the family he's nearly forgotten.

I did not expect to like this one. It sounded OK but also very much like the story the movie Lion was based on. However, I ended up enjoying it. The writing wasn't my favorite but the story moved along quickly and before I knew it, I was flying through pages wanting to see how everything turned out.

While I flew through the pages, I wasn't too fond of the writing, some of the characters fell flat and the story often felt rushed. So in the end this was a three star read for me. I liked it but didn't love it. 

Review: Baby Teeth

Title Baby Teeth
By Zoje Stage
Genre Adult, Fiction
Format Audio book
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Life was supposed to be good for Suzette now. She has her crohn's under control and is married to a wonderful man. Her seven year old daughter, Hannah, however, doesn't speak, has been kicked out of every school she was enrolled in and is growing increasingly more violent. In her father's eyes, Hannah is the perfect angel but Suzette is starting to feel like Hannah would prefer her out of the picture. Permanently.

First Sentence
Maybe the machine could see the words she never spoke.


I've been eyeing this one for a long time. For some reason I'm fascinated with stories of psychotic children. I think I was expecting a disturbing horror like book and while I found this one incredibly disturbing, I think the author was going for a more serious issue-y book???

I'm not sure. All I know is I couldn't put it down. I was disturbingly fascinated from the get go.

There were a lot of plot holes in this one. I highly doubt the father would be THAT blind to how psychotic his daughter was and there was no way Suzette wouldn't have thought to record her daughter's behavior. I feel like those things were left out just to keep the story going. So, yeah, like I said, holes.

Still, the book was a page turner and all in all I enjoyed it. It was very disturbing and I kept shaking my head and muttering, "what the hell is wrong with this kid" but I couldn't look away.

Review: Our Souls at Night

Title Our Souls at Night
By Kent Haruf
Genre Adult, Fiction
Format Audio book
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Empty-nesters and widow Addie and widower Louis have made an arrangement to spend the nights together and keep each other company. They talk about all sorts of things and it helps them sleep but in a small town people will talk.

First Sentence
And then there was the day when Addie Moore made a call on Louis Waters.  




First of all I can not read this title with out thinking of this Spongebob episode and adding the inflection.

IBurned My Hand Spongebob GIF from Iburnedmyhand GIFs

Now that you have the correct way to say the title down let's move on to the story.

This is a short story and a very sad one at that. We have two people who have reached their "twilight" years. Their spouses and children are gone and they're puttering about alone and lonely. So they decided to spend the nights together. Of course, in a small town people start talking and assuming there's some sort of love affair going on and take in upon themselves to judge the hell out of them.

Seriously! What the hell is wrong with us? Why do we feel the need to judge people? Argh! This book just made me mad and depressed.

If it only showing us how badly we judge then I might have accepted and liked it but there was no happy ending, no escape from the judging; the uptight, judgmental people won. I was just so sad.

Review: All We Ever Wanted

Title All We Ever Wanted
By Emily Giffin
Genre Adult Fiction Chick-lit
Format ebook
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
A photo snapped in a drunken state at a party and four lives are changed forever. Nina can't believe her son would risk his privileged life and recent acceptance in to Princeton but things aren't looking good. Tom Volpe is trying his best as a single father but when a promiscuous photo of his daughter Lyla goes viral he'll do anything to protect her.


First Sentence
It started out as a typical Saturday night.


I was so excited for a new book from Giffin and even more excited when my hold for it came in sooner than expected. Sadly, I'm like ninety percent positive this wasn't written by Giffin. Maybe I'm wrong but the writing was off and the story was all over the place.

It starts out introducing a pretty popular issue and I was thinking, "Um, OK. I guess Giffin is going to give us her thoughts on the #MeToo movement. Should be interesting since this isn't her normal thing" but then, no, it kind of lost steam and turned into her usual chick-lit.

I was so confused! It kept me reading but I'm not sure if that's because it had her usual addictiveness style or if I just wanted to know what the heck was going on. And the writing was all off! It was all tell no show and I don't recall her previous books being that bad.

In the end, all I can say was this book was one hot mess. It was all over the place and I had no idea if that's what the author was going for or if she wasn't sure what she was going for either.

Super disappointed.

Review: A Grown Up Kind of Pretty

Title A Grown Up Kind of Pretty
By Joshilyn Jackson
Genre Adult Fiction
Format Audio book
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Three generation of women. A small grave unearthed. A secret that could tear them apart. A love that will hold them together.



First Sentence
My daughter, Liza, put her heart in a silver box and buried it under the willow tree in our backyard.




I thought this was the first Jackson novel I've read but I guess I read one years ago and wasn't that impressed. I'm glad I didn't remember that or I might have passed this one up and that would have been a shame.

A Grown Up Kind of Pretty is one of those types of stories I love. It reminded me a bit of a Sarah Addison Allen book without the magic realism in it. A Southern setting, a generational secret and incredibly strong, vibrant, unforgettable characters.

The characters are almost what make this story. They're all so vivid and real and likable...or unlikable in some cases. But the plot is strong too. I couldn't stop listening, I needed to know what was going to happen.

The writing was great too. Basically this book had everything I look for in a book. The only fault with it was I couldn't quite get behind Liza. Her choices and attitude bugged but she wasn't the only character and there were others to love and I did.   

Review: Wishtree

Title Wishtree
By Katherine Applegate
Genre Middle Grade Fiction
Format Print
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Told from the perspective of a tree comes the story of a young girl that doesn't fit in and a blooming friendship that will be forged to save the tree's life.


First Sentence
It's hard to talk to trees.





I've never read a Katherine Applegate book before. I like middle grade books well enough but I don't really seek them out. I found this beautiful book at a thrift store and couldn't resist it's charm.

The book is beautiful; and I don't just mean the story. Every page is illustrated with sketches of leaves to enjoy but also has these beautiful pictures that go with the story. If you read this one for no other reason than the artwork you'd be satisfied.

But the story is beautiful too. It's a simple story that's been told before of prejudice and judgment and friendship conquering all. I didn't find anything new within the pages but the angle of the tree telling the story was a fun one and gave this book life.

 I'm lucky to have found a hard copy cover of this sweet story and am happy it's in my collection now.

Review: Optimist's Guide To Letting Go

Title The Optimist's Guide To Letting Go
By Amy E. Reichert
Genre Adult Fiction
Format Audio book
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Gina's an optimist at heart but losing her husband and dealing with her increasingly angst filled daughter isn't making it easy. To make it worse her perfectionist mother has just had a stroke and a secret she's been keeping from Gina is coming out.

First Sentence
1. Throw away Xmas cards.





I've only read one Reichert book before and found it quite cute so when I saw her latest available on audio book I snatched it.

Can I just say how much I love the cover of this book?!  Not only is it pleasing and adorable but it's actually relevant to the story! Isn't it great when that happens? No? Hmmm, maybe it's just me. Anyway, the story is as cute and pleasing as the cover.

The character's are what make this one so great. Jumping between Gina, her daughter May and her mother, Lorraine it tells a great story that pulled me in and had wanting more.

Besides making me crave grilled cheese and brownies I had zero complaints. I wasn't in love with the book but I found it a solid read with memorable characters and a interesting plot. The perfect beach read.

Review: The Perfect Nanny

Title The Perfect Nanny
By Leila Slimani
Genre Adult fiction
Format ebook
Rating ⭐️

Synopsis
Louise seems like the perfect nanny. She's loving, organized and goes above and beyond. Cleaning the apartment and cooking for the family. She stays late and comes early and is becoming quite invaluable. But Louise begins to unravel. Strange little habits she has hint of what is to come and goes to show you can never really know a person.

First Sentence 
The baby is dead.



This one sounded like a train wreck of a story. Something morbid and depressing that you just can't quite get enough of. I was exited to get my hands on it. Sadly, it wasn't for me.

I don't know if it was the translation (it was originally written in French) or the way the author didn't seem to want you to care about a single character but it just didn't work for me.

The whole story kept you cold and removed and I had a hard time caring about the horrors I was reading about.

It was also just overly depressing and I kind of wished I'd just skipped it. There's nothing worse than not liking a book and it not even have riled you up enough to hate it. I was just....meh.

Review: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Title Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
By Gail Honeyman
Genre Adult Fiction
Format ebook
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Eleanor is completely fine. She has a nice, normal job in accounting, a modest apartment, and a perfectly ordinary routine. OK, she's a little weird and her coworkers make fun of her and she doesn't have any friends but so what? She's just met the love of her life. He just doesn't know it yet. As we learn more about Eleanor we begin to understand that maybe she isn't fine after all and that you should never judge a person you don't know.

First Sentence
When people ask me what I do-taxi drivers, dental hygienists-I tell them I work in an office.

I don't know why I decided to read this book. I don't think I ever even read what it was about. I just heard both good and bad things and was just inexplicably drawn to it.

I adored it. It was engaging and hard to put down. I had no real idea what to expect and I as I learned more and more about Eleanor my heart broke a little. She was so quirky and weird and if she existed in real life I bet I would have judged her too; imperfect human that I am and that makes me sad.

I think that's why I adored Raymond so much. He just accepted her as she was and offered no judgment at all. He was a great character.

In a world so full of the "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality and all the hate bursting from social media and the news it was delightful to read about how a little kindness can go a long way and be reminded not to judge.

I really loved this book and would highly recommend it. 

Review: The Resurrection of Joan Ashby

Title The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
By Cherise Wolas
Genre Adult Fiction
Format ebook
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
A best selling author at the age of twenty one, Joan Ashby has a plan. Don't fall in love and get married and don't have children. Of course life never goes as plans and love and children come into her life taking over and Joan's writing is put on the back burner. Will Joan ever write again? When a horrible truth comes out about her first child Joan must relearn who she is and was to find happiness and fulfillment again.

First Sentence 
Joan Ashby was frank with Martin Manning right from the start: "There are two things you should know about me.

I have absolutely know idea why I bought this one last year on a Kindle Daily Deal. Maybe someone was talking about it? (If that's you, raise your hand) Maybe I just thought it sounded interesting. I'm not sure and I'm not sure what made me pick it up when I did but here we are.

This one was a longer book at 550 pages and yet I was quite glued to it. The author did a wonderful job of making me want to follow Joan through her normal, rather boring, day to day life. Of course, things did pick up and get interesting when you learn about her oldest son and what he did but then it kind of fell back into a quiet, unassuming pace that still managed to keep me interested.

I think it helped, that I related to Joan. Not that I'm a great writer and I don't have children but I sometimes get that trapped feeling and it helped me empathize with her. I wanted to see her find herself again and find peace.

What I did NOT like about the story was endless pieces of Joan's writing that was scattered plentifully throughout the book. Joan's "amazing" writing was anything but, in my opinion, and made me want to tear my hair out. I found it incomprehensible and tedious and way, way, WAY too abundant. Seriously! Without all that dribble the book would have been much shorter and much better. I even thought that maybe the writing was supposed to be tied into the story and that it was symbolic but it was far too indecipherable to tell. By the end I was just skipping it all together.

  Horrible story excerpts aside, it was a slower but interesting story that I think a lot of women could relate to and appreciate.

Review: Young Jane Young

Title Young Jane Young
By Gabrielle Zevin
Genre Adult fiction
Format Audiobook
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Aviva Grossman had a bright future ahead of her when she started interning for her congressman. When she makes the mistake of having a love affair with her boss and blogging about it the truth comes out and she takes the fall. Ridiculed and condemned for life she has no other choice to move far away from her home, change her name and try to start her life and career over and give her daughter a better life. But when she decides to run for public office will the truth come out again? And when her daughter finds out will she still be respected and loved as a mother?

First Sentence
My dear friend Roz Horowitz met her new husband online dating, and Roz is three years older and fifty pounds heavier than I am, and people have said that she is generally not as well preserved, so I thought I would try it even though I avoid going on line too much.

 I've never read a Zevin book and while this wouldn't normally be my first choice among all her books it was available on audiobook so I gave it a go.

Zevin is one hell of a writer. I loved her style and the voices of all the characters were endearing. I'm very excited to read more by her.

The plot of this one, however, was a little weird for me. I felt like we were really only getting a brief look into these character's lives rather than a start to finish story. There wasn't much closure or resolution; particularly with Aviva's daughter and her new opinion of her mother. Maybe I missed something?

Issues aside, I loved Zevin's writing so much that I ended up liking, if not loving, this one and am eager to try her other books now.

Review: I Liked My Life

Title I Liked My Life
By Abby Fabiaschi
Genre Adult Fiction
Format Audiobook
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Alternating narratives from a husband, his daughter, and the wife and mother that committed suicide tell the story of a women who watches her family from the other side deal with their grief and  determines to find the perfect replacement for herself.

First Sentence
I found the perfect wife for my husband.





I just couldn't resist this one. A story about a woman who committed suicide and is trying to find the perfect replacement from the other side?  Add the seemingly untrue title and that bizarre cover and I'm in.

There's nothing quite as wonderful as fully met expectations. Am I right? Life is full of disappointments and unmet expectations so I always try to keep mine low. But I often find myself getting way too excited for a book. I get the whole thing so worked up in my mind that by the time I read it I'm usually left deflated and unsatisfied. For the first time in a long time I went into a book with freakishly high expectations and was absolutely delighted to find them met.

I really loved this book. It was exactly what I wanted. It met my criteria trifecta of great writing, great characters and great story AND won the coveted fifth star that determines a new favorite that I'll definitely be rereading.

Review: A Monster Calls

Title A Monster Calls
By Patrick Ness
Genre YA fiction
Format ebook
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined. (From Goodreads)

First Sentence

The monster showed up just after midnight. 

I've been wanting to read this one forever but I knew it was going to be sad and hard to read, especially since my mother died of cancer.  I finally picked it up and flew through it. 

I loved the way this book captured grief. I loved it how so perfectly captured a 13 year old boy. I loved the fantasy/symbolic nature of the monster and how well it just worked. 

It wasn't as hard to read about as I thought (considering my mother) but it was hard. It's sad to watch anyone deal with the awful soul crushing grief of a loved one having cancer but watching a 13 year old deal with it broke my heart. 

I felt like the book still manages to end on a peaceful note and not leave you completely devastated which I was very grateful for. Highly recommend this one! 

Review: White Tears

Title White Tears
By Hari Kunzru
Genre Adult Literary Fiction
Format Print
Rating ⭐️

Synopsis
The only thing Seth and Carter have in common is their love of music. Particularly old blues recordings. When Seth accidentally records a song at the park Carter edits and posts it on the internet claiming it's a song by a blues artist known as Charlie Shaw. The whole thing is made up but then they learn that maybe Charlie Shaw really existed and the past begins to haunt their lives in ways they never expected.

First Sentence
That summer I would ride my bike over the bridge, lock it up in front of the bars on Orchard Street and drift through the city on foot, recording.

Another Tournament of Books read. Oi! Some of these are hard to read but usually, if I stick with them, they pay off. Not so much with this one.

While it took a bit to get into it, I found myself easily making my way through this one. It was, for the most part, easy to read. About half way through it, however, it got really, really weird. It started to feel like some strange hallucinatory fever dream and I found myself wondering what the hell was going on! I stuck with it hoping my efforts would be rewarded but, alas, they were not.

At it's heart this is a book about racism and, quite frankly, I'm tired of all the talk about racism. If all we do is talk, talk, talk about it nothing gets better and we just keep feeding the machine. Books like this aren't helping. They too are just fueling the machine.

Personal feelings aside, this book just didn't work. It starts out telling a story and then gets so convoluted and far fetched with in your face agenda pushing that it just didn't work. I felt like I'd been taken in with the promise of a story and handed, instead, a pamphlet on why I should feel like crap for being born white. It's the old bait and switch. I should have just set it aside.

Should you read it
No. There are much more beautiful books out there that handle this subject with no agenda and a more hopeful message of love.

Review: So Much Blue

Title So Much Blue
By Percival Everett
Genre Adult Fiction Literary
Format Print
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Kevin Pace is an artist. He's been working on his masterpiece. A 12 x 21 foot canvas covered in shades of blue. No one, not even his wife or children are allowed to see it. As he recalls the past events of his life, two instances stand out. Could these instances be the inspiration for his painting? And why can't he let anyone see it?


First Sentence
I will begin with dimensions.


These Tournament of Books, books make me feel so well read. ;) I'm not really because apparently Percival Everett is a somewhat famous author who has written over 20 other books and some have won awards. I, however, had never heard of him before this book.

It started off rather slow and I read about 25 pages and thought about giving up but when I picked it up again I got sucked right in. The main character, Kevin, recounts two past events in his life, an affair he had with a much younger french girl 10 years ago and a trip he took to a war torn El Salvador with his best friend in 1979 to find his best friends little brother and the events that happened there that altered his life forever. He also recounts what's happening in his life currently with a devastating secret his 16 year old daughter has asked him to keep.

The book jumps in time from these events in the past and the present and it all comes together in such a beautiful way that in the very last paragraph of the book I was staring at the book thinking, "Oh, wow". (In a good way)

While I found the main character, Kevin, infuriating, selfish and annoying at times, I also tried very hard to be patient and open minded about him. And I felt like, in the end, he redeemed his character in my eyes.

I've heard this isn't even close to Everett's best work and I might just have to give him another go. Anytime a book can leave you feeling this reverenced at its close is glorious praise for the author and his work, don't you think?

Should you read it
I think this one is most definitely worth a read.  

Review: Idaho

Title Idaho
By Emily Ruskovich
Genre Adult Literary Fiction
Format Audio
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Follows the life of three ladies and the tragic event that bring them together.


First Sentence
They never drove the truck, except once or twice a year to get firewood.





Another Tournament of Books read! Some of these are far too deep but this one was more relatable and more like a typical story.

I was about half way through this one when my friend who got me interested in this Tournament of Books informed me that you don't get answers to some of the questions. And, boy, am I glad she warned me. I might have been peeeesed off. The story isn't necessarily about what happened as much as it is about the results of it happening. Does that make sense?

It was an interesting read and while it's not the best Tournament book I've read, I liked it.

There's a song that plays an important role in this one and I'm very happy I listened to the audio of this one because I got to hear the song. A song that the author's dad wrote for the book. Fun little fact and I'm glad I got to hear it.

I was amazed at these women's ability to forgive and act so reasonably. There's no way I could have handled things like they did. I think that might have been the message of this one. Moving on and not dwelling.

Oi! I should not be writing reviews right now. I feel a bit loopy and unfocused today. Forgive my ramblings.

Should you read it
   Some of these Tournament books are hard to recommend but this one is worth a read and easy to recommend.

Review: The Night Circus

Title The Night Circus
By Erin Morgenstern
Genre Adult Fiction Fantasy
Format Print
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Two magicians, a duel, a magical circus and an epic love.

First Sentence
The circus arrives without warning.








I think I'm the last person in the world to read this book. At least the last person in the bookish world. I tried reading it five years ago but I was on a European cruise at the time and in the throes of twitterpation with my husband (then, boyfriend) and it just wasn't happening. I knew I needed to give it another try and it seemed like now was as good a time as any.

I must say I'm not sure what everyone saw in this one. As you can see by my rating I didn't hate it, I thought it was quite beautiful discovering all the circus's magic but I found it slow. And don't have a problem with slow books. Not everything needs to be fast paced and frantic but I do need a plot in all that slowness and the plot was almost non existent in this one. I felt like we were supposed to be invested in Marco and Celia's relationship but I was far more into Bailey and Poppet's.

So, yeah, I was hoping to love it not just be luke warm about it. I needed more story and less instalove.

Should you read it
You haven't? Um, OK. Sure.

Review: Fever Dream

Title Fever Dream
By Samanta Schweblin
Genre Adult Literary Fiction
Format ebook
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Amanda is dying, she can hear the voice of a little boy named David. Together they recall the events that brought Amanda to her deathbed.

First Sentence
They're like worms.






It's that time of year again! Remember last year when I followed The Tournament of Books that the Morning News does? No? It's a fun little tournament. With a shortlist of books that gets chosen and then book by book voted off till there's a winner. These books are very literary. Some go right over my head and I never manage to read them all but I find it challenging in a good way. This year I've noticed several of the picks are foreign books that have been translated. Such as this one.

Fever Dream. Have you ever had a fever and had such a high temperature that you have crazy dreams and hallucinate? I have. This book is accurately named. While it's a frantic page turner and quite short at only 192 pages I knew there was more to it then the story of what happened to Amanda and the strange things that happened to David.  It was strange and would latch onto a detail here and there that hinted at a deeper meaning.

After reading it in one sitting, I wasn't sure I understood what it all meant but I knew I enjoyed the ride. I did look up and read an interview with the author that talks about what it all means which I found helpful but I'm not sure it heightened my enjoyment. And I did enjoy the book. It was very fast paced and as I mentioned, a page turner.

All in all, I don't regret reading it. Sometimes reading these books makes me think and expands my reading horizons and for that, I love them.

Should you read it
I'd recommend this one.  It's an easy read that will get you looking for the deeper meaning. And I'd recommend you look up the interview with the author when you're done.

Review: All The Truth That's In Me

Title All The Truth That's In Me
By Julie Berry
Genre YA fiction
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Judith disappeared for two years.  She returned to her small town with her tongue cut out and unable to speak of where she's been. Her mother barely tolerates her presence, choosing instead to dote on Judith's brother Darrel. When their small town is attacked secrets about Judith's disappearance come to light. Now she must choose to stay quiet or find her voice and change her world forever.

First Sentence
You didn't come.  



First off, I have to say how much I hate the cover of this book. I actually think it's an awesome cover for what the story is about except for a few details. The girl has like twenty pounds of eye liner on and looks like she's in the present. Not so. This book takes place back in like the 1600s-ish. Why couldn't they use a picture of a Puritan girl instead of this modern looking girl? Whatever. The book I read just had a flower on the front but I'd seen this cover and was shocked when I found out it wasn't modern.

So, yeah, this book isn't modern. Moving on.

I think this strange little story was trying so hard to be important. A book about silencing a woman and the harm it can cause. If it was going for that, I felt like it should have been modern after all and not so literal. Cutting out the MCs tongue was overkill (for that particular message) in my opinion.

The story was too long. It just kept meandering along and making me keep questioning WHY the MC wasn't telling her story? Did I miss something? Oh well. I read this one for book club. Maybe after our discussion I'll have some different insights. For now I just found it too long and trying a little too hard.

Should you read it
If you do, maybe don't think about it so hard.