The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

Such a fresh change from the regular Thrillers I have been reading. This book takes us into the world of influencers, the upper crust in England, and the differences and issues for individuals not from that world, or people of color in relation to that subsection. The story follows a young woman who is murdered, is an influencer, and is dating a very rich, posh, man. The descriptions were wonderful but the story itself was what kept me interested in the book. There were various different storylines that all worked together to make a fun and quick read. I highly recommend this book if you want something different, but still enjoy a good thriller!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Future by Naomi

Did I read this book in basically a day and a half? I sure did. Did I stop doing other things to read this book? Damn right. This book was so compelling, so engaging, so pertinent and of our time that to stop reading it probably would have driven me crazy. The story follows a world not unlike ours - run by a very few tech company billionaires who have contingency plans in place for the end of the world, and ways of knowing ahead of time when that will occur. The story was so well thought out and so completely feasible that I could not put it down - no joke. I recommend this book to anyone who is passionate about Earth's future, about the state of the world today, and about what social media and the power of most of the world being in the hands of very few people who only have the bottom line and profit in their sights - not the world's best interest. So many lessons can be found in this book, and I highly recommend you read it and find out.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen

A great fall book! The story takes us to the East Coast to a small island where Thalia has grown up, and goes back to solve the mysteries surrounding a letter she receives telling her she has had a sister that was given up for adoption. The story was spooky, fun, and a little kitschy as well. I enjoyed the moodiness and ambiance that definitely helped me get into the fall season, and would suggest it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery! The characters were really fun, the story twists were not predictable and the story itself touched on some real issues in our world - including addiction, which was portrayed in a very thoughtful way. I would recommend this book to someone wanting to get into a spooky mood!!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

This book was so perfectly fall, it's hard to describe how happy it made me. It is a story of a man who finds an heirloom apple tree and decides to graft it onto other apple trees in order to regrow the heirloom varietal. However, in classic Chuck Wendig style, this is not really about apples. This book is about the evil incarnate in humans, and how this apple changes them. The tale was clearly well-researched, and the characters were so interesting and I found myself in many of them as well. As someone who loves the idea of apple-picking and tasting interesting and new apples, but also how they came to be in our country, this book was the perfectly spooky fall / Halloween book to read and at the perfect time as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something to scare you just enough this fall!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer

When I tell you that I read this book so fast, it was unbelievable, I am not lying. This book was SO GOOD. It was clearly extremely well-researched, so engrossing, and one of the most upsetting but also touching and moving books about this subject matter I have read in a long time. The story follows a woman in seventeenth century England who is present during a witch hunt. The woman, Martha, is a healer and a midwife in her town, and is present at the beginning of the witch hunt, hoping to not get caught up in it. The story was so interesting, the characters were so believable and it was so easy to see how so many can quickly get caught up in something based in lies and fear. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates good historical fiction.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan

This story was fantastically done. The book follows a young woman, Ana, who works in the Lincoln home, as well as a few various individuals who are affected by slavery. The story takes place in Springfield, before Abraham Lincoln is elected to the presidency. The characters were very well-written, and the story was very relatable even though it took place almost two centuries ago. I highly enjoyed the insight of women's positions in society at that time as well as the fact that clearly women have come a long way but at that point still had wishes, dreams, and the hope to become educated. The story was beautiful as well because it highlighted Mary Todd Lincoln who I now see was somewhat misunderstood for struggles with mental health.

I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys good historical fiction that is well-written, relatable, and is clearly well-researched.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

What an interesting premise. The story follows Proctor Bennett, the Ferryman in Prospera. Prospera appears to be, on its face, a utopian or possibly dystopian future where people don't have children, but they are brought in as a "ward". This story was so engaging and different in ways that were very similar to some of Cronin's other work, but in ways that were fun and exciting to behold in this book. I would highly recommend this if you enjoy post-apocalyptic books, or if you have recently read and and enjoyed "How High We Go In the Dark" which I so interestingly had done. This is a more engaging and dystopian version, with interesting fascist themes!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon

I loved this book! I had never read anything by this author before but I had heard good things so I knew I would be in for a treat. Wren is a woman living in England, who we see leave her home and country to visit her father after a particularly difficult break-up, and stay on her father's farm in the rural midwest. Unlike a lot of chick lit books, this was not predictable in some ways and very much more emotionally relatable. I really felt like the story was believable and far less rote than other books I have read. I would highly recommend this book because it was definitely a sweet story, and unlike most other books actually has the high honor of having made me actually cry during it! Please do yourself a favor and snap this up for summer reading. You won't regret it!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

This was a lovely reimagining of Pinocchio. Set in the not too distant dystopian future, robots have taken over the entire world, with the exception of one young man - Victor. The story was so beautifully written and touchingly tied together with themes that are pertinent today. I loved the way that the author was able to bring in many different ideas and concepts that one would not have expected from Pinocchio. The character development of what were essentially robots was wonderful, and the characters really came to life. The fact that a robot named Rambo existed was hilarious and also a wonderful play on words with Roomba, etc. I would recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed writings from this author before, although it seems to be a big departure from the type of writings they have offered before. Highly recommend!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stash: My Life in Hiding by Laura Cathcart Robbins

This book was so unique. In the vein of other memoirs, this book transported me, but also made me feel the same things that Laura was feeling. It was such an interesting outlook, as an addict who was also an affluent woman of color, this book really shows that addiction is a disease, and it can happen to anyone no matter their place in life. The story laid bare Laura's struggle and made very real and understandable the factors that come into play when someone is struggling with a pill addiction or alcoholism. Unlike other similar books I have read, this book was unputdownable. I kept hurrying what I was doing to get back to reading this and finding out whether or not she has finally gotten sober and how her divorce turns out. I think this is a must-read for everyone because it really opens your eyes to the struggle of others and shows how difficult it really is for people suffering from addiction to overcome it. Highly recommend.

This ebook was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Forager by Michelle Dowd

What a great and unique read. This book follows Michelle's life from her childhood in the "The Field", a religious cult with a distinct focus on living off the land, foraging, and very strict and particular views regarding Christianity. The story was at times exciting, touching, sad, and beautiful. Michelle's self-sufficiency even as a child at odds with her upbringing and abuse is so heartwrenching. Being denied even the basic needs a child should be given - love, care, and the time to have "fun", she has clearly grown into a wonderful individual. A clearly intelligent person, she was deprived the basic things most children take for granted - having a loving family and the freedom to do as they might for periods of time. I highly recommend this book to people interested in seeing life from a very different point of view.

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a great combination of outlooks from various different characters, and the book itself was so fun to read. The story follows a "Great British Bake-Off" type show that takes place in New England, and follows all of the characters as secrets, scandals, long ago disappearances and new murders occur. It sounds like it could be too busy but it's not. The writing is so so well done, and the characters are so well-fleshed out that the book worked fantastically as it was. It reminded me a lot of something along the lines of Serial, which followed different characters and their backgrounds. I would highly recommend this to someone who wants something fun, fast, engaging, exciting, and shocking! 

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

The premise of this book was so interesting. Alejandra, the main character is stuck with a generational curse, the curse of La Llorona who has followed her since the birth of her daughter. The story was so well done, and very informative and interesting. I learned a lot of things about curanderas, La Llorona herself, and Mexican-American culture that I would not have known about before. The story follows Alejandra as she starts experiencing more and more serious run ins with the curse, and goes about trying to handle the situation without causing worse things to occur. As I said, the story was nothing like anything I have read before, which honestly was a breath of fresh air since I was able to find out about things outside my usual realm of understanding. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes supernatural things, but also enjoys mysteries.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang

What an interesting concept this book revolved around. The story concerned an aristocrat who had died, and his will left to his children the possibility that if they were to find his murderer, the entire estate would be theirs. He left behind three children, but that was just the beginning. The mystery of who killed Sir Lawrence is the main one, but there are all sorts of trails off into different side plots. The characters were interesting and fun and well developed and the plot itself was original and very unique. I greatly enjoyed the time period as well, because it gave a great sense of ambiance to the story that something that took place in contemporary times or after the 1950s would not have been as fun I think. I would highly recommend this book to people who enjoy Agatha Christie, because in the same vein, this was a whodunit with some interesting twists.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Catch me Jane Eyre-ing up in this

Bringing a book into the legal clinic even though I’m helping clients? Addict status.