thoughts on books

Category: Debut

  • bitter sweet by hattie williams

    No idea why I requested this but I’m grateful that I did. I’m more of a heartwarming / happy ending person. This debut novel is just wonderful, despite the cringeworthy subject matter. So many novels about an imbalanced extramarital affair are heavy handed and depressing, you read with your hand over your eyes. This one is tender, realistic, and will anger you but also keep you wanting to protect Charlie.

    Charlie is an assistant at a UK publishing company, she does pretty menial work, processing expense reports and getting coffee. But at age 23, she is happy just to be working in the publishing industry and hoping to advance her career. She inevitably meets Richard, a 56 year old bestselling author, her favorite. Immediately she is star struck and they connect and start an affair that lasts a year. Obviously the imbalances of power in the relationship is egregious, and the reader is likely older than Charlie. I remember what it is like to be- truly- in a sort of relationship with your job, with the hope of your industry and in becoming something special. “Work never ceased to give us something to talk about.”

    The author has this way of sharing a few anecdotes about a character, and within a few paragraphs, you know exactly who this person is and how they will interact with everyone else. Charlie never really properly grieved the sudden loss of her mother at age 16, and at 23 she is eager for love and approval in a way that makes her – while brilliant – insecure to the point of being incredibly vulnerable. It is also written from a past perspective, as if Charlie has had 10 years of therapy and is now able to look back at her relationship with a healed perspective. “If you told me … I wouldn’t believe you.”

    Somehow by the end- you realize that she has grown and taken back her power. It’s depressing and sad and yet at the end she has come full circle. Well written and a fresh voice in literary fiction.

    Thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review. Book to be published July 3, 2025.

  • see how they fall by rachel paris

    An Australian who-dunit locked room mystery. A billionaire empire family meets for a vacation. Nina dies of arsenic poisoning and Skye’s daughter, Tilly, fights for her life being poisoned as well. Nina’s husband Jamie runs the company, his brothers Hugo and Skye’s husband Duncan have leadership positions as well. Skye has become a partner husband’s blue blood wealthy elite although she comes from humble beginnings.

    This is multi POV and happens over just a week or so. The chapters are between Skye- mother of the poisoned victim and detective Mei. Mei knows that there is more to this case than meets the eye. Skye is trying to determine the cause, pray for her daughter’s recovery, and not become a suspect. Everyone- including Skye- has secrets that will be uncovered over the course of the narrative.

    This thriller is fast moving; many reveals and red herrings- this is a new to me publisher and debut author. Mei was a flat character without a lot of background; Skye had a history. It was easy to keep the characters apart despite a large family, many suspects and different directions. Great for fans of Jason Rekulak, Jeneva Rose, and Riley Sager.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Scarlet publishing for the ARC. Book to be published March 26, 2025.

  • julie chan is dead by liann Zhang

    Well this one was coo-coo-ka-kooky- choo!
    First half book: 5 stars
    Second half book: 3 stars

    I don’t want to say a lot about the 2nd half because I love to keep my reviews spoiler free.

    Julie Chan is a supermarket employee who is living paycheck to paycheck and not much going on in her life. Typically, her workplace puts her in a position to have no choice but to steal from them and then threaten to fire her. She is a pitiable individual. Julie is an identical twin, she and Chloe were separated at the age of 4. After a car accident killed their parents, Julie is taken in by their greedy, rude aunt. Chloe is adopted by racist white people who are rich and will use her as an exploitation device.

    Still, Julie has it worse. Due to Chloe’s privilege- and also likely her extroversion- she is a successful and rich influencer. When she is found dead, Julie takes her phone (Face ID works!) and completely takes over her identity. Will she be found out? Can she infiltrate into the influencer world by studying the people Chloe is following and her DMs? Some of this is easy, and others, not so much.

    This book is making a point to compare social media and influencing to being in a cult like mentality. That the collective internet thinks they know you and they don’t. That all of us, to some extent, curate our identities into an online brand. In a way, I am doing it right now, by writing this review. It gives you a lot to think about. The second half will tell you how Chloe died and will unite the social media Chloe with the real world Julie. The reader will find themselves rooting for her.

    Again, the second half takes a turn. It is much darker and more disturbing. If you like the themes and exploring how celebrity and wealth change people, and you like a roller coaster dark thriller, you will probably love this book.

    Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for recommending this ARC to me. I am grateful that I got to be one of the first people to read this talented new debut author. Book to be published April 29, 2025

  • life hacks for a little alien by alice franklin

    An interesting and quirky tale for all the awkward souls written in the second person (you). It is written about a young girl, descriptive of her experience in not fitting in and not quite feeling human. She gets a friend that is a “new kid,” Bobby, who has moved to her school. She loves the library and the ability to research languages. “Little alien” is an endearing, neurodiverse character, as a mom of an autistic son I do love main characters who are on the spectrum, and have not come across one that I liked as well that was a child. British accent with audiobook “footnotes” was a bit awkward and I would have rather read with my eyeballs. The alternating “book titles” are distracting and take you away from the character development and story. The book has a middle that drags on but I loved the ending. “You don’t know what to do with your mind, or your body. But especially your hands,”

    Thanks to @netgalley and @hachetteaudio for the audiobook e-ARC. Book to be published February 11, 2025.

  • deadly animals by marie tierney

    I’d almost call this debut interesting. Ava is a precious and bright but poor young girl that finds 2 dead bodies. She calls in anonymous tips to the police. The police are the opposite chapters and work through additional murders. I enjoyed the character of Ava, she was so brave and smart. The murders themselves are described in a very creepy and gross way. I listened on audiobook and had a hardcover library copy, I found it difficult to follow on audiobook but easier in reading. My main criticism is that the book went on a while, it was long and descriptive and I maybe could have just skipped the middle 100 pages.