Just a girl and her books
THE INGENUE | Rachel Kapelke-Dale 12.06.2022 | St. Martin’s Press Rating: 3/5 stars When former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis returns home to Milwaukee after her mother's unexpected death, she expects to inherit the family estate, the Elf House. But with the discovery that her mother's will bequeathed the Elf House to a man that Saskia … Continue reading Book Review: The Ingenue
THE PRISONER | B.A. Paris 11.01.2022 | St. Martin’s Press Rating: 4/5 stars Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she is swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she married the … Continue reading Book Review: The Prisoner
ALL THE LIVING AND THE DEAD | Hayley Campbell 08.16.2022 | St. Martin’s Press Rating: 4/5 stars We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what … Continue reading Book Review: All the Living and the Dead
LAST DAYS | Adam Nevill 05.24.2012 | St. Martin’s Griffin Rating: 4/5 stars When guerrilla documentary maker, Kyle Freeman, is asked to shoot a film on the notorious cult known as the Temple of the Last Days, it appears his prayers have been answered. The cult became a worldwide phenomenon in 1975 when there was … Continue reading Book Review: Last Days
ROAD OF BONES | Christopher Golden 01.25.2022 | St. Martin’s Press Rating: 4/5 stars Kolyma Highway, otherwise known as the Road of Bones, is a 1,200 mile stretch of Siberian road where winter temperatures can drop as low as sixty degrees below zero. Under Stalin, at least eighty Soviet gulags were built along the route … Continue reading Book Review: Road of Bones
THE DOOMSDAY MOTHER | John Glatt 01.18.2022 | St. Martin’s Press Rating: 3/5 stars For years, Lori Vallow had been devoted to her children and her Mormon faith. When her path crossed with Chad Daybell, a religious zealot who taught his followers how to prepare for the end-times, the tumultuous relationship transformed her into someone … Continue reading Book Review: The Doomsday Mother
RECKLESS GIRLS | Rachel Hawkins 01.04.2022 | St. Martin’s Press Rating: 4/5 stars When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Stuck in a dead-end job in Hawaii, and longing to travel after a … Continue reading Book Review: Reckless Girls
THE GOOD SISTER | Sally Hepworth04.13.2021 | St. Martin’s PressRating: 4/5 stars Fern and Rose appear to be as close as twin sisters can be: Rose is the responsible one and Fern is the quirky one. The sisters share an incredibly close bond with Rose serving as Fern’s protector from the time they were small. … Continue reading Book Review: The Good Sister
THE WIFE UPSTAIRS | Rachel Harrison01.05.2021 | St. Martin’s PressRating: 4/5 stars Meet Jane. She has just arrived in Birmingham, Alabama and is looking to make a new start. Luck has brought her into dog walking in a gated community, Thornfield Estates, filled with McMansions and bored housewives. It’s the kind of place where Jane … Continue reading Book Review: The Wife Upstairs
TAKE IT BACK | Kia Abdullah 06.2020 (12.2020 in US) | HQ Rating: 5/5 stars The Victim: A sixteen-year-old girl with facial deformities, neglected by her alcoholic mother. She has accused her classmates of rape. The Defendants: Four handsome teenage boys from immigrant families. All tell the same story. Someone is lying. TAKE IT BACK … Continue reading Book Review: Take It Back
What Jess Reads 