What I Read: May 2021

Another great month of reading! I know I start all these posts this way, but reading has just been so good for me in the past five months.

I felt like I hadn’t read much that this month, and a third of the way through the month I think I had only read seven books- which I realize is still a lot, but for me it’s not up to par with my usual 10+. I finished at nine, which I am still really proud of.

Let’s get into my May reads.

What I Read in May 2021

Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo: 5 Stars

Description: Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha… and the secrets of her heart.

My thoughts: Ok, maybe looking back I rated this one almost too high. It might be closer to a four, but I am rating it a five because it’s been so long since I’ve read a new, good fantasy book. I am so picky when it comes to fantasy being involved in any book, it has to be just right. This one did a great job with the world building in my opinion.

I thought the main character was understandably stubborn, I mean she was going through something crazy. I also appreciated how the romance plot line went, I don’t want to spoil anything, but this had my feelings mixed in the best way throughout.

The Mother-in-Law, Sally Hepworth: 3 Stars

Description: A twisty, compelling novel about one woman’s complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in murder…

From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana was exquisitely polite, and properly friendly, but Lucy knew that she was not what Diana envisioned. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice who helped female refugees assimilate to their new country. Diana was happily married to Tom, and lived in wedded bliss for decades. Lucy wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was five years ago.

Now, Diana has been found dead, a suicide note near her body. Diana claims that she no longer wanted to live because of a battle with cancer.

But the autopsy finds no cancer.
The autopsy does find traces of poison and suffocation.
Who could possibly want Diana dead?
Why was her will changed at the eleventh hour to disinherit both of her adult children and their spouses?

With Lucy’s secrets getting deeper and her relationship with her mother-in-law growing more complex as the pages turn, this new novel from Sally Hepworth is sure to add to her growing legion of fans.

My thoughts: One of my main qualms with this book- the cover makes it look like it’s going to be super twisted and intense, but it really was not. It was just a normal mystery book, but that cover is eery.

Otherwise, I liked it but I didn’t love it. The characters weren’t relatable to me, but I did find the undercurrents of complicated relationships relatable. This book does a great job of highlighting just how complicated all family relationships are, and it also was a good roundabout reminder to tell your loved ones you care about them.

Bel Canto, Ann Patchett: Stars

Description: Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country’s vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera’s most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

Patchett’s lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance.

My thoughts: I love anything by Ann Patchett. This book has a really interesting plot, and I absolutely loved the ending. It was definitely more high energy than The Dutch House in my opinion. I don’t have a lot of thoughts on this book, but I liked it!

The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides: 5 Stars

Description: Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him….

My thoughts: THIS. BOOK. This was definitely one of those books I saw everyone reading all over Instagram and in real life, and it definitely lived up to the hype. I don’t want to say too much because I went into the book completely blind, and I think that made the experience better. The Silent Patient will have you doubting every single character’s innocence, and you just won’t know who did it until the big, final twist. I have recommended this book to everyone because it’s just that good. I also want to say, if you are getting scared by the cover, this book isn’t nearly as scary as the cover makes it seem. I thought it was literally a horror book, but it’s really just a normal thriller.

Normal People, Sally Rooney: 3 Stars

Description: At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers – one they are determined to conceal.

A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

My thoughts: Ugh this was pretty graphic, and I would definitely label it as rated R. It was a lot darker than I thought it would be. The rating is on the higher end here because I thought the writing was really good, but I would just be prepared for a little more twisted, graphic romance than you’re used to. This also isn’t your typical happy ending book, but I actually thought the ending really fit the characters and the story line. I thought the plot points here were all really well developed and realistic!

The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware: 3 Stars

Description: Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

My thoughts: Preston and I listened to this on audiobook together and we generally liked it. I thought the middle really drug on, this was one of those rare books with a really great beginning and end but a sluggish middle. It felt like this one big thing happened at the very beginning and then the main character just thought about it and talked about it to other people with no new plot developments for pages and pages. It might have felt more drawn out because of listening to it on audiobook, so I would still say to go for this book if you are debating.

I liked that it was set on a boat because it’s a more unique setting I haven’t read in a while!

The Forgotten Girls, Sara Blaedel: 2 Stars

Description: The body of an unidentified woman has been discovered in a remote forest. A large, unique scar on one side of her face should make the identification easy, but nobody has reported her missing. Louise Rick, the new commander of the Missing Persons Department, waits four long days before pulling off a risky move: releasing a photo of the victim to the media, jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation in hopes of finding anyone who knew her.

The gamble pays off when a woman recognizes the victim as Lisemette, a child she cared for in the state mental institution many years ago. Lisemette was a “forgotten girl”, abandoned by her family and left behind in the institution. But Louise soon discovers something even more disturbing: Lisemette had a twin, and both girls were issued death certificates more than thirty years ago.

Louise’s investigation takes a surprising when it brings her closer to her childhood home. And as she uncovers more crimes that were committed–and hidden–in the forest, she is forced to confront a terrible link to her own past that has been carefully concealed. Set against a moody and atmospheric landscape, The Forgotten Girls is twisty, suspenseful, emotionally intense novel that secures Sara Blaedel’s place in the pantheon of great thriller writers.

My thoughts: Somehow, I read this book even though it was the SEVENTH book in the series. I don’t know how I didn’t know until halfway through when I logged it into my goodreads and saw that it was #7 in a series… I think many of the reasons I didn’t like this book were due to the nature of it being a series I had hopped in the middle of. I just didn’t care about some of the personal points of the characters, but I could tell I didn’t have all the background.

The plot can get seriously rated R at times, and the big twist at the end if very twisted. If you like good, plain mystery, murder, thriller, this might be the series for you! I told Preston if I had no other books I could get access to, I would read the series, but because there are literally thousands of books I want to read right now, I don’t think I will read more.

Firefly Lane, Kristin Hannah: 5 Stars

Description: Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline; and a simple harbor community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods rely on service to the visitors.

Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl—but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and Littleport resident Avery Greer. Each summer for almost a decade, the girls are inseparable—until Sadie is found dead. While the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother, Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name, before the facts get twisted against her.

My thoughts: Oh my gosh *crying emoji* – THIS BOOK!!! It absolutely ruined me. I was sobbing for what felt like ten chapters straight. The end is just the most heartbreaking story I’ve read recently. There are themes of mother-daughter love, best friend love, romantic love, cancer, you name it. So many different themes to get wrapped up in.

I didn’t have high expectations for this book because it seemed like this was one that came out before she really hit her stride with the historical fiction books she is now popular for. I was wrong, something about this book was just deeply moving and the saddest of hers that I have read! If you faithfully avoid sad books, this might not be for you, but if you’re willing for a little tugging at your heart strings, this is definitely worth your time.

The Last House Guest, Megan Miranda: Stars

Description: In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all—beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable.

From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness.

Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn’t know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she’ll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she’ll envy her famous best friend. . . .

For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship—jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

My thoughts: This kept me guessing the entire time! The suspense and storyline aren’t too gory or intense, so if thrillers usually scare you, know this is on the mild side. Preston and I listened to it on audiobook, and it was a good one for both of us.

The imagery was so good, I felt like I was watching a TV show of this instead of listening to the book. I liked that it was set in a vacation town, I don’t know why, but that story line always interests me.

Pick up my May Reads: