People Like Us by Louise Fein: A NetGalley Review

Hi bookworms! I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy during this outbreak. And hopefully you’re able to make a dent in your TBR with the stay at home order! I was lucky enough to receive an advanced e-book copy of Louise Fein’s debut novel, People Like Us (or as its been titled by other publishers ‘Daughter of the Reich’). Thank you to NetGalley and to Head of Zeus/Aria for the gifted copy in exchange for my review.

Synopsis:

‘”I nearly drowned and Walter rescued me. That changes everything.”

Leipzig, 1930s Germany.

Hetty Heinrich is a perfect German child. Her father is an SS officer, her brother in the Luftwaffe, herself a member of the BDM. She believes resolutely in her country, and the man who runs it.

Until Walter changes everything. Blond-haired, blue-eyed, perfect in every way Walter. The boy who saved her life. A Jew.

Anti-semitism is growing by the day, and neighbours, friends and family members are turning on one another. As Hetty falls deeper in love with a man who is against all she has been taught, she begins to fight against her country, her family and herself. Hetty will have to risk everything to save Walter, even if it means sacrificing herself…

Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Book Thief.’

My Thoughts:

I liked how it looks at Germany before the war officially started and the measures that Hitler took when he came to power in the 1930’s, as I think a lot of people forget that these atrocities didn’t start when the war started but in fact long before war was officially declared. I was intrigued right away, with Fein’s beautiful writing and narration style.

It’s a difficult story to read as the Main Character, Herta, is a Nazi and the daughter of an important Nazi official, but I think it’s an important perspective to understanding how things progressed. We see the mind of German citizens and how the Holocaust was able to happen because of the actions of ordinary citizens. It was also refreshing since most of the WWII fiction we see is from the perspective of the camps or those fighting in the war, its rare to see books about ordinary citizens who become brainwashed by Hitler’s rhetoric.

I always love good character development and Fein didn’t disappoint! Hetty developed a lot from the beginning of the book to the end. I enjoyed the side characters as well, learning their secrets, lives, and seeing morally grey characters. The book made me cry and sob throughout the book but especially the last 100 pages. This book broke me; I haven’t cried this much since I read “Me Before You.” You should totally read it!

I give this book 5 stars!! “People Like Us” is a unique historical fiction novel set in Pre-WWII and unlike most set in this era. It’s definitely my number 1 fave book of April, and will also be one of my favorites for the year.

This book will be released on May 7th under the both “People Like Us” and “Daughter of the Reich.”
Triggers: Antisemitism, Xenophobia, violence, genocide, rape, sexual assault, loss of loved ones

An ARC Review: Lost Autumn by Mary-Rose MacColl

Hello bookworms! I hope you are all staying safe and healthy during this time.

I wanted to thank Putnam Books for sending me a gifted copy of Lost Autumn by Mary-Rose MacColl! It was a welcome distraction from the news and I was so happy to receive this historical fiction novel.

Synopsis:

“A young woman’s coming-of-age in 1920, the royal tour of Edward, Prince of Wales, and the secrets that surface more than seventy years later.

Australia, 1920. Seventeen-year-old Maddie Bright embarks on the voyage of a lifetime when she’s chosen to serve on the cross-continent tour of His Royal Highness, the dashing Edward, Prince of Wales. Life on the royal train is luxurious beyond her dreams, and the glamorous, good-hearted friends she makes–with their romantic histories and rivalries–crack open her world. But glamour often hides all manner of sins.

Decades later, Maddie lives in a ramshackle house in Brisbane, whiling away the days with television news and her devoted, if drunken, next-door neighbor. When a London journalist struggling with her own romantic entanglements begins asking Maddie questions about her relationship to the famous and reclusive author M. A. Bright, she’s taken back to the glamorous days of the royal tour–and to the secrets she has kept for all these years.”

Thoughts:

• The novel was confusing at first with all of the different characters and I still couldn’t keep some of the minor characters straight even after 200 pages.
• I absolutely loved the dueling timelines and characters, hopping from 1920 to 1981 to 1997. Historical fiction is my favorite genre, especially when its told through different POVs and timelines!
• Lost Autumn was the first historical fiction I’ve read with a 1920’s timeline and featuring royalty so I liked being able to read about something new in the genre.
• A bit slow at first but once I got more invested in the characters I was hooked!
  I ugly cried a lot and was not expecting that ending (I’m teary eyed just writing this review and still thinking about this incredible, unique, original novel).
• It’s only April and it’s already going to be one of my faves of the year! Even though
  historical fiction is one of my fave genres, I haven’t read it much lately since I wanted to try and get out of my reading comfort zone. But this book made me remember why I’m so in love (obsessed) with the genre and makes me want to read it more often, especially books featuring the monarchy!
• I have also added more of MacColl’s books to my TBR because her storytelling style is fantastic and she could easily become a new favorite author for me!

Overall I’ve given this book 4.5 stars

Triggers Warnings: domestic violence, loss of loved one, suicide, PTSD, sexual assault

Thank you again to Putnam books and Mary-Rose MacColl for the gifted book! I hope you readers continue finding joy and escapism in books through these tough times, and thank you for reading my review. Leave a comment below and tell me what you’ve been reading during social distancing.

A Bite-Size ARC Review- Shortlisted: Women in the Shadow of the Supreme Court

“Women, and especially female minorities, regularly find themselves equally or more qualified than the white men on the shortlist, but they are far less likely to be selected. Shortlists thus project a façade of diversity with their inclusion of women and minorities but function to preserve the status quo.”

Hi readers! I’m back with another ARC review this week. Thank you to netgalley and NYU press for the ARC of Shortlisted: Women in the Shadow of the Supreme Court by Renee Knake Jefferson and Hannah Brenner Johnson.

Synopsis:

“The inspiring and previously untold history of the women considered–but not selected–for the US Supreme Court

In 1981, after almost two centuries of exclusively male appointments, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female Supreme Court Justice of the United States, a significant historical moment and a symbolic triumph for supporters of women’s rights. Most do not know, however, about the remarkable women shortlisted for the Supreme Court in the decades before O’Connor’s success.

Shortlisted gives nine women formally considered but ultimately passed over for a seat on the Supreme Court going back to the 1930s the recognition they deserve. Award-winning scholars Renee Knake Jefferson and Hannah Brenner Johnson rely on previously unpublished materials to illustrate the professional and personal lives of these accomplished women. From Florence Allen, the first woman judge in Ohio, and the first to appear on a president’s list for the Court, to Cornelia Kennedy, the first woman to serve as chief judge of a US district court, shortlisted by Ford and Reagan, Shortlisted shares the often overlooked stories of those who paved the way for women’s representation throughout the legal profession and beyond.

In addition to filling a notable historical gap, the book exposes the harms of shortlisting–it reveals how adding qualified female candidates to a list but passing over them ultimately creates the appearance of diversity while preserving the status quo. This phenomenon often occurs with any pursuit of professional advancement, whether the judge in the courtroom, the CEO in the corner office, or the coach on the playing field. Women, and especially female minorities, while as qualified as others on the shortlist (if not more so), find themselves far less likely to be chosen. With the stories of these nine exemplary women as a framework, Shortlisted offers all women a valuable set of strategies for upending the injustices that still endure. It is a must-read for those vying for positions of power as well as for those who select them.”

The first part of the book looks at the women shortlisted throughout history, specifically focusing on 11 women who were considered before the nomination of the first female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor. This section was informative given that I had never heard of any of the women mentioned and the authors give a short background of feminist history to put the shortlistings into context. But it was a slow start and felt more like I was reading through Wikipedia pages for each woman, and I didn’t enjoy the book until part 2.

The second part of the book was a lot more interesting with evaluating how qualified women are tokens that are put on lists for leadership roles but ultimately passed over to maintain the status quo. The authors evaluate each woman’s experience being shortlisted and how they were portrayed in the media with regards to age, relationship status, motherhood, and physical looks.

It was also inspiring that they pointed out that although these women were in the legal profession, the issues of women and especially minority women being put into leadership roles and the criticism from the media spans across all professions. The authors also discuss how we need to do better with our feminism by including all women, not just heterosexual, cis gendered, able bodied, white women. Their calls to action were inspiring and just what I needed after what’s been happening in US politics lately.

Although the first half wasn’t the most exciting, I’m still happy to have learned about these lesser known, important women who were sadly passed over for men to serve on the Supreme Court. In the words of the authors, Just think where we would be in terms of equality if we had put women on the Court sooner?

Rating: 4/5 stars

 

Blog Tour: Red Letter Days Book Review

Hi readers! I hope your reading year has been going well for you all and maybe you’ve discovered some new favorite books or authors. I finished my first book of the month, ‘Red Letters Days’ by Sarah-Jane Stratford which I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy (my first ever hard copy ARC *squeals in delight*)! A special thank you to Berkley Publishing for sending me this book in exchange for a review.

Synopsis:

“When two brave women flee from the Communist Red Scare, they soon discover that no future is free from the past.

Amid the glitz and glamour of 1950s New York, Phoebe Adler pursues her dream of screenwriting. A dream that turns into a living nightmare when she is blacklisted—caught in the Red Menace that is shattering the lives of suspected Communists. Desperate to work, she escapes to London, determined to keep her dream alive and clear her good name.

There, Phoebe befriends fellow American exile Hannah Wolfson, who has defied the odds to build a career as a successful television producer in England. Hannah is a woman who has it all, and is now gambling everything in a very dangerous game—the game of hiring blacklisted writers.

Neither woman suspects that danger still looms . . . and their fight is only just beginning.”

I devoured this book! As you all know by now, I’m a sucker for historical fiction and novels told in different POVs, so ‘Red Letter Days’ was right up my alley. Stratford tells the unique story of two strong, badass women that are based on real life women writers during the Red Scare. Even the more minor characters had complex personalities and stories that pulled me into the novel. It was as if an old movie was playing throughout my head with the likes of Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Doris Day, and other Golden Age Hollywood royalty playing the parts. One relationship in the story (which I’m trying not to spoil) had the back and forth banter reminiscent of Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in ‘Charade.’

The book was not only wonderfully descriptive and detailed, but I also learned new things about the Red Scare and HUAC that I hadn’t known before. It was refreshing to have a historical fiction novel that wasn’t about World War 2, although I do love those and will still continue reading them, but now I need more 1950’s era stories! I’m dying to read Stratford’s other novel, ‘Radio Girls,’ and be able to enjoy more of her writing.

From start to finish, Stratford had me biting my nails, gasping, laughing, cheering, and crying for all of the characters! I didn’t want this novel to end and I haven’t felt that way in quite some time. Thank you to Sarah-Jane Stratford for telling this lesser known story of Hannah and the female writers who risked everything to fight HUAC and the blacklist. I hope to read much more from her and this book is definitely a favorite of the month, perhaps even the year!

Rating: 5/5 stars

Lady Clementine: An ARC Review

“Is that what everyone expects my life to be, simply a good influence on my important husband? I may be only twenty-three years old to Winston’s thirty-four, without the education, accomplishments, or nobility of my intended, but my life will not serve solely as the invisible source of ‘sympathy and devotion’ for my husband. Indeed, I want to write my own chapter.”

Happy publishing day to Lady Clementine by Marie Bendict! And a big thank you to netgalley and SourceBooks for the eARC.

Synopsis:

“From Marie Benedict, the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room! An incredible novel that focuses on one of the people who had the most influence during World War I and World War II: Clementine Churchill.

In 1909, Clementine steps off a train with her new husband, Winston. An angry woman emerges from the crowd to attack, shoving him in the direction of an oncoming train. Just before he stumbles, Clementine grabs him by his suit jacket. This will not be the last time Clementine Churchill will save her husband.

Lady Clementine is the ferocious story of the ambitious woman beside Winston Churchill, the story of a partner who did not flinch through the sweeping darkness of war, and who would not surrender either to expectations or to enemies.”

I loved hearing about Clementine Churchill and her resolve to make history rather than be a shadow standing by her husband’s side. I was pulled in right away and interested to learn more about her as the only thing I knew was that she was married to Winston Churchill. I enjoyed learning about her and seeing her as a pioneer of being a political wife. Rather than stay silent at dinner parties, she engaged in political debates with the men which was unheard of for women as it was considered unladylike at the time.

The novel also shows the darker side of their marriage and Winston. He’s normally seen as this conquering giant due to his role of prime minister during WWII, but I really like how the author acknowledges how problematic Churchill actually was with some of his views. I also found myself disliking him a lot as I learned more about him as a person rather than just as a great leader.

The writing reminded me of classical British literature like Charlotte Brontë. I did get a little frustrated with some of the language and use of big words like “lasciviousness” but maybe I’m just stupid haha.

She’s a strong, complex, progressive woman who I’ve come to admire very much through this fictionalized story of her adult life. It was a great first book of the decade and I look forward to learning more about her in the future.

4/5 stars

If you love historical fiction, I highly recommend this book! You can find it online and in stores today.

Let me know in the comments what your first book of 2020 was!

Looking Back at My Most-Anticipated Reads of 2019

We are almost at the end of the year bookworms! 2019 has been a great reading year for me with discovering new authors and reading old favorites. I also set a new reading record with 62 books! I wanted to take a look back at the books I was most excited about being published this year and you can find the full lists below.

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June to August
• September
• October

With this post, I’ll look at which books I read and if they met my expectations, which ones I own but haven’t read yet, which ones are on my TBR, and which ones I may no longer be interested in.

Read

• The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff – the book was unlike most WWII books I’ve read and I loved it! I definitely want to read more books by her and was glad to be able to read this one thanks to my local library.
• Parkland by Dave Cullen – one of my non-fiction reads this year and it was fantastic! I learned more about the movement and how amazing these kids were at organizing. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about the gun control movement and the Parkland students.
• Give, a novel by Erica C. Witsell – this debut novel was an amazing, heartbreaking story. It ended up being one of my top favorites of the year!
• Yale Needs Women: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant by Anne Gardiner Perkins – another non-fiction read for the year and probably one of the most important ones! Perkins told the unheard of stories of brave women fighting for their right to a higher education.
• The Testaments by Margaret Atwood – one of the Booker prize winners for the year and one of the only books I pre-ordered. It was all I hoped it would be and more
• The Girl I Left Behind by Andie Newton – Another debut novel and WWII story. Newton wrote a beautiful spy story that captured my attention right away

Owned but not read

• Naturally Tan by Tan France – I bought this one in an airport and started to read it but got distracted by other books. This one is at the top of my list for 2020!

Still on my TBR

• We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
• When All is Said by Anne Griffin
• The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
• Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• The Night Olivia Fell by Christina MacDonald
• I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella
• The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
• Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Era of Ignition by Amber Tamblyn
• If, Then by Kate Hope Day
• Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
• Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly
• The Peacock Emporium by JoJo Moyes
• Women Talking by Miriam Toews
• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
• Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness
• Dear Girls by Ali Wong
• The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes
• Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

No Longer on my TBR

• The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson – I’ve lost interest in this book especially since its not the usual genre I read.

Conclusion: I still have a lot of books on my TBR not including the books that are backlisted and those being published in 2020. Overall, I read mostly quality books this year and was happy to read both new books as well as older books. Let me know below how your 2019 reading went!

 

A Bite-Size Review: Ayiti

Happy Thursday! This week, I finished Ayiti by Roxane Gay and I can now understand why people love her books!! I was immediately pulled into the short stories about The Haitian community and it’s people. Her writing is beautiful, vivid, and has stayed with me.

I’ve been trying to read more short stories and books about different cultures. This was the perfect combination! Short stories can be difficult to connect with characters sometimes but even with some stories only lasting 2 or 3 pages, I still felt like I understood the characters stories if you’re looking for a great short story collection about the Haitian culture then I highly recommend giving this collection a try! I’ve given it 4.5 stars.

Question of the day: Do you read short stories? If so, what’s your favorite collection? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

A Bite-Size Review: An Unwanted Guest

Hello readers! Saturday Night I finished An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena and it’s no surprise I finished it in only a few short days! This book confirms why she’s my favorite thriller writer. The story was fast paced and intense, with twists that I couldn’t predict, especially the last page.

Synopsis:

“A remote lodge in upstate New York is the perfect getaway. . . until the bodies start piling up.It’s winter in the Catskills and the weather outside is frightful. But Mitchell’s Inn is so delightful! The cozy lodge nestled deep in the woods is perfect for a relaxing–maybe even romantic–weekend away. The Inn boasts spacious old rooms with huge wood-burning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a book and someone you love. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity–and all contact with the outside world–the guests settle in for the long haul. The power’s down but they’ve got candles, blankets, and wood–a genuine rustic experience! Soon, though, a body turns up–surely an accident. When a second body appears, they start to panic. Then they find a third body. Within the snowed-in paradise, something–or someone–is picking off the guests one by one. They can’t leave, and with no cell service, there’s no prospect of getting the police in until the weather loosens its icy grip. The weekend getaway has turned deadly. For some couples, it’s their first time away. For others, it will be their last. And there’s nothing they can do about it but huddle down and hope they can survive the storm.”
The book reminded me of Agatha Christie’s The Oriental Express as strangers gather in a confined space with no way to escape with a murderer among them. I had trouble in the beginning because there are so many characters to keep straight that I found myself confused when it switched perspectives. But after awhile it got a little easier and I loved having so many people to question who did it. Also I would’ve appreciated a trigger warning about a very vivid description of rape/sexual assault because it’s not fun reliving trauma when you’re reading to escape.

Secrets and pasts come to light throughout the story and I highly recommend this book for any thriller fans, Lapena is AMAZING at storytelling and making you question everything!! I give this 4 stars because it was fast paced and interesting but loses a star for too many characters to keep up with and triggering me.

Question of the day: Who’s your favorite thriller writer? Let me know in the comments below!

A Bite-Size Review: My Lovely Wife

Welcome back readers! I hope you have had a good week and have some good books you’re enjoying. I’m back in Michigan for the next two weeks to look at wedding venues and I’m excited to see my family again! Vacations usually mean less reading for me so we will see how much reading I can get done. This week I read My Lovely Wife by Samanatha Downing which wasn’t on my radar until I saw it plastered across Bookstagram (side note: it’s worth the hype).

Synopsis:

“Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting… Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.

We look like a normal couple. We’re your neighbors, the parents of your kid’s friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.

We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive.

Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.”

My Lovely Wife actually reminded me of Gone Girl except the characters here had at least a few likeable qualities. I’m a big fan of thrillers especially domestic/psychological ones so this novel was right up my alley!

There were a few twists that took me completely by surprise, especially the ending. But there were a couple things that I guessed would happen about halfway through which is always disappointing if a novel can be predictable. The writing and storytelling was so good though that I would still give this book 5 stars!

Have you read this book or is it on your TBR? What are your reading plans for the weekend?

A Bite-Size Review: The Immortalists

Hi bookish friends! How is your November reading going? Let me know in the comments below! Last night I finished The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin thanks to a college friend of mine highly recommending it!

Synopsis:

“If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

It’s 1969 in New York City’s Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children–four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness–sneak out to hear their fortunes.

The prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in ’80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel struggles to maintain security as an army doctor post-9/11; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.

Both a dazzling family love story and a sweeping novel of remarkable ambition and depth, The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice, reality and illusion, this world and the next. It is a deeply moving testament to the power of story, the nature of belief, and the unrelenting pull of familial bonds.”

Thoughts:

I love family sagas especially when they move through decades of time and have different perspectives so this novel was perfect for me.  The characters were complex and the writing was beautiful. I loved seeing how the characters handled different historical events and came of age.

Some downsides were that it could be confusing in the beginning following four characters but eventually I got the hang of it. I would’ve liked it better if it switched between characters rather than having four chunks of time divided among the siblings. When you read about one sibling the others just sort of disappear, so I think it would’ve been nice to see all of them throughout the decades (but maybe then the book would’ve been way longer haha). Lastly, I was really irritated by Daniel and I couldn’t wait for his part to be over.

Overall this is a beautiful, heartbreaking tale of siblings, life, and coming of age. If you’re a fan of family sagas, magical realism, or sibling stories, I highly recommend checking this one out! I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Have you read this one? If so, what did you think?