Monday, June 27, 2022

Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding - 4 Stars

 "Frances Metcalfe is struggling to stay afloat.


A stay-at-home mom whose troubled son is her full-time job, she had hoped that the day he got accepted into the elite Forrester Academy would be the day she started living her life. Overweight, insecure, and lonely, she is desperate to fit into the Forrester world. But after a disturbing incident at the school causes the other children and their families to ostracize the Metcalfes, she feels more alone than ever before.

Until she meets Kate Randolph.

Kate is everything Frances is not: beautiful, wealthy, powerful, and confident. And for some reason, she’s not interested in being friends with any of the other Forrester moms—only Frances. As the two bond over their disdain of the Forrester snobs and the fierce love they have for their sons, a startling secret threatens to tear them apart—one of these women is not who she seems. Her real name is Amber Kunik. And she’s a murderer."

This was a pretty fast paced read and pulled me in from the beginning. I rated it 3 1/2 stars and rounded up. Mostly because I was waiting for something explosive to happen and it didn't. The ending fell flat for me
It took a bit to put some of the characters into the places that they played in the story, but when they did fall into place it made more sense.

Friday, June 10, 2022

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum - 3 Stars

 "Suburbia. Shady, tree-lined streets, well-tended lawns and cozy homes. A nice, quiet place to grow up. Unless you are teenage Meg or her crippled sister, Susan. On a dead-end street, in the dark, damp basement of the Chandler house, Meg and Susan are left captive to the savage whims and rages of a distant aunt who is rapidly descending into madness. It is a madness that infects all three of her sons and finally the entire neighborhood. Only one troubled boy stands hesitantly between Meg and Susan and their cruel, torturous deaths. A boy with a very adult decision to make."


This was a really hard book to get through and I found myself skimming through the end just so I could finish it. It was rough to read about everything that was happening,

Friday, June 3, 2022

A Day Like This by Kelley McNeil - 3 Stars

 "Annie Beyers has everything—a beautiful house, a loving husband, and an adorable daughter. It’s a day like any other when she takes Hannah to the pediatrician…until she wakes hours later from a car accident. When she asks for her daughter, confused doctors tell Annie that Hannah never existed. In fact, nothing after waking from the crash is the same as Annie remembers. Five happy years of her life apparently never happened.

Annie’s marriage is coming to an end. Now a successful artist living in Manhattan, she’s no longer home in their beloved upstate farmhouse. Her long-estranged sister is more like a best friend, and her recently deceased dog is alive and well. With each passing day, Annie’s remembered past and unfamiliar present begin to blur. Haunted by visions of Hannah, and with knowledge of things she can’t explain, Annie wonders…is everyone lying to her?

The search for answers leads Annie down an illuminating path far from home, to reconcile the memories with reality and to discover the truth about the life she’s living."

I thought this book started out really well and was headed in a good direction. Then a little over half way through it, it took a turn that I didn't care for at all.