Review: The Peach Keeper

Title The Peach Keeper
By Sarah Addison Allen
Genre Adult magic realism
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Descended from a once wealthy family, Willa still calls Walls of Water home but knows her life is very different than her grandmother's used to be. The mansion Willa's family once owned is being restored to its former glory by Paxton Osgood, an old high school classmate who's family is still wealthy. Paxton intends to make it a high class inn. But when a skeleton is found buried beneath an old peach tree on the property, Willa and Paxton will learn about their families history and be drawn together to solve the mystery.

First Sentence
The day Paxton Osgood took the box of heavy-stock, foil-lined envelopes to the post office, the ones she'd had a professional calligrapher address, it began to rain so hard the air turned as white as bleached cotton.

I love Allen's books. Just look at that first sentence. You just know it's going to be a good book, right?  My life's been so nuts and stressful right now I needed some of Allen's magic to comfort me. While this one wasn't quite as wonderful as some of her other books, I still found myself happily and dreamily turning pages while I tuned out my crappy life.

The underlying message I took away from this one was pretty awesome. I loved its take on women's relationships and how they usually look and how they could look. It was just beautiful.

The story seemed a little light to me. There wasn't much substance to it. And it was short. Less than three hundred pages but in the end I wasn't bothered by any of that.

So while, I wasn't blown away, It was still a lovely story that was just what I needed.

Should you read it
If you've never read and Allen book before this wouldn't be the first book I'd recommend you try but, yes, it's a lovely story.

Mini Movie Reviews #12

Oi! I've fallen behind in movie reviews. Life is not going so great for me right now and blogging is becoming a last priority.  Still, I'm seeing movies so I thought I'd do my old style Mini Movie Reviews to catch you up.

Flatliners
I'm not sure why they felt the need to remake this one. There's not some amazing story here that's worth retelling but since I never saw the original I figured what the hell. I was more entertained than I thought I'd be. It was creepy and enjoyable enough but nothing special...or memorable.

Victoria & Abdul
I was really excited to see this one. It seemed like it would be cute and fun. And it was...to a point. And then it just got weird. I don't know how accurate this was to real history, I'm guessing not very. And while I wanted to just watch and appreciate the relationship between these two it just got a little "what's-the-point" and I was left slightly disappointed.

Made in America
This one was the husband's pick. I had no desire to see it. And, as usual when I don't want to see it and he convinces me, I ended up liking it. I know Tom Cruise isn't anyone's favorite anymore but I thought he did a great job. It was very entertaining to watch this guy's life. It does end sadly but you know it's coming. I'd actually recommend this one. I guess I should listen to the husband's recommendations a little more often, huh?

 The Mountain Between Us
Why I didn't realize this one was going to be a romance I'll never know. I thought it was going to be about these two completely different people surviving some horrible stuff together. And it was but...then romance came into it. And the romance wasn't bad but when you're not expecting it and have to adjust your perception mid movie it can be a bit jarring.  It was still very entertaining and emotionally investing, though. I'd recommend it.

Review: Dark Matter

Title Dark Matter
By Blake Crouch
Genre Adult Sci-fi
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Jason Dessen lives a somewhat mediocre life with his wife and child. Once upon a time he could have chosen to go a different route but he didn't. When he's abducted and wakes up in a alternate universe where he has no wife and child and gets to see where his life could have gone, his mediocre life doesn't seem so mediocre after all and he'll do anything to get the life he had back.

First Sentence
I love Thursday nights.



Another book club read. Since I read and loved Crouch's Pines (the first book in the Wayward Pines series) I was very excited to read this one. Sadly, it didn't do much for me for several reasons.

First of all I've read several multiverse novels lately. It seems like that's the "In" thing right now and I'm a bit tired of them. They're hard to follow and wrap you're head around and must be done right. This one was not done right.

Littered with problems that were quickly brushed under the rug for the sake of the story, I found myself growing increasingly more angry as I listened to this one. Sure, it was a fast paced ride but that doesn't make up for all its flaws.

Luckily, I wasn't the only one at book club that felt this way. Usually I feel like I'm alone in my dislike of a book but there were a few other people there that had just as many issues with it as me.

Burnt out on multiverse stories or not, this one was just too flawed for me to appreciate. I'll still give Crouch's other books a chance, though.

Should you read it
No. I can recommend a few other multiverse books that are better than this one.

Review: The Warden's Daughter

Title The Warden's Daughter
By Jerry Spinelli
Genre Middle Grade Historical Fiction
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Cammie O'Reilly lives and unusual life. Her father is the warden at the Hancock County prison and they live in an apartment on prison grounds. When Cammie was a baby her mother died saving her life. Now at the cusp of 13 her need for a mother has made her desperate. Finding a mother figure in a prison probably isn't the best idea but desperate times call for desperate measures.

First Sentence
It's a birdhouse now.



I'm not a huge middle grade fan so I'm not sure why this one ended up on my tbr list but it did and I'm very grateful. Actually, I think it's right on the line between middle grade and YA.

This was such a beautiful little story about a girl healing from the death of the mother she never knew. I found Cammie a bit of a brat at the beginning of the book and though I could clearly see why she was the way she was it still bothered me. Eventually she started to grow on me and I became very invested in her happiness.

I've heard people have a problem with this one because they think there's some stereotypical racism going on and I just have to smack my face. As I listened to his one I didn't have a clue what anyone's race was because no one in the book mentions race. They all treat each other the same which I'll admit was rare as this book takes place in 1959 but there you have it. Sheesh! Some people!

Anywho! The story wasn't perfect. I found some things to be skeptical about but I also found a thousand little moments that tugged at my heart strings. I really ended up liking it. I want to read more of Spinelli's books now.

Should you read it
I would highly recommend this one.

Review: Imaginary Girls

Title Imaginary Girls
By Nova Ren Suma
Genre YA Magic Realism
Rating ⭐️

Synopsis
Chloe has always lived in the shadow of her older sister Ruby. The girl the whole town is in love with. But Ruby raised Chloe when their deadbeat mom didn't so Chloe loves her as much or more than anyone else. When a horrible accident results in a girls death Chloe is taken away by her father but when Ruby comes back for her and Chloe goes back home, the truth of what really happened will come out.

First Sentence
Ruby said I'd never drown - not in deep ocean, not by shipwreck, not even by falling drunk into someone's bottomless backyard pool.


What the hell did I just read?! You see that cover and you're intrigued. You find the book for $2.00 at a thrift store and you have to buy it, right? So I did. I guess I should have realized it was probably at a thrift store for a reason.

I'm sorry but I feel like this book falls in that "Emperor's New Clothes" category. You know? Everyone is too afraid of looking stupid because they missed something so they all rave about how beautiful it is even though they're all wondering what the hell.

Yeah. I loathed Ruby. She got what ever she wanted and it made her an insufferable brat who didn't give a damn about anyone else. Oh, she claimed to love Chloe but if she'd really loved her she would have let her stay with her dad.

I'm pretty sure the author wants you to love Ruby but I hated her. If my opinion of the book was to be dependent on my opinion of Ruby...well...it's not good.

And Chloe drove me nuts too. She was so weirdly obsessed with Ruby it bordered on creepy. And it wasn't just the stupid characters that ruined this one but the completely unbelievable story line that was so twisted and nonsensical that I spent most of the book just angrily trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Complete waste of time.

Should you read it
Um, no.