Jefferz

If a book is billed as a romance novel but the romance isn’t the most memorable part of the novel, either the romance sucks or the story is so well developed that it punches much higher than typical for its genre. For me Beach Read falls into the latter category with such strong characterization and plot development that the romance sits comfortably in the backseat for most of the ride. There’s certainly a lot of romantic beats and some spicy scenes, but I found myself far more engrossed with both characters’ narratives and how they play off and almost heal from their broken pasts together. The plot is genius pairing off two authors with polar opposite styles and reversing them both in their professional work and in their personal lives. While there’s plenty of hilarious hijinks, Emily Henry’s sarcastic and snappy character banter elevates the material while still keeping the dialogue smart and witty (which I’m learning is the norm after also reading Book Lovers last month). I also thought the leads are both well-developed with elaborate backstories and upbringing and have great chemistry. I often find romance leads to either be too emotionally volatile and dramatic or stereotypically too…

It would’ve been nice to end 2023 on a high note with my last read for 2023, but unfortunately it was not meant to be with The Sun Down Motel. At a first glance and for the majority of the book, there was nothing inherently wrong with the story. A murder mystery told via a split narrative perspective switching between Viv Delaney in 1982 and her niece Carley Kirk in 2017. Feeling listless after the recent death of her mother, she goes on a spur of the moment trip to Fell, New York. Looking into the great family mystery, Carley retraces Viv’s movements 35 years later in an effort to uncover what led to Viv’s sudden disappearance. Carley finds herself eventually working the night shift at the rundown and empty Sun Down Motel, the same job Viv occupied and happens upon some rather unusual and supernatural entities. Sounds interesting right? Unfortunately, the execution and contents are better suited and were probably written for a Book Club type of genre read. On the plus side, the Sun Down Motel itself (as in the actual building) is described well and is a great setting. I don’t know why the book cover design…

It’s done purposely to avoid giving away spoilers and the core plot of this novel, but honestly the synopsis of this novel really doesn’t do a good job at selling how ambitious and high-concept this sci-fi thriller novel is. Minor spoiler alert but the synopsis fails to mention the multiverse-hopping quantum mechanic physics that makes the plot far more interesting than what it says on paper. However in retrospect I see that it was probably done this way for fear of alienating certain readers who may be off-put by a synopsis sounding big brain (it’s quite easy to follow and not big brain at all). Dark Matter is for sure a definite page turner especially once things get going once Jason Dessen is kidnapped by a mysterious man and I can see this making an excellent movie/tv-drama; the plot is excellent. As a novel though, I had some minor nitpicks holding this back from a 5-star read. What I loved about Dark Matter is its explanation and mechanics to the alternate reality/multiverse plot. Instead of just throwing in a random portal to another world or futuristic device (cue most time travel stories), Dark Matter uses an interesting interpretation of Schrodinger’s Cat…

A strong opening chapter followed by a lot of slow plodding around sleepy Wakarusa, Indiana, I had my doubts about All Good People Here being able to close things out and salvage itself after a very lackluster first half. Fortunately I thought it did just that once Ashley Flowers’ background in True Crime podcasting pick up in the last third of the book and lends itself to a successful and at times exciting resolution. My biggest gripe with All Good People Here lies with the main protagonist leads and the perspectives of Margot Davies in the present 2019 and Krissy Jacobs in the past beginning with her childhood and the sequence of unfortunate events in 1994. For me personally it felt like the two women were in constant competition of who was more insufferable to read about and who would make the unintelligent emotion-driven decision at any given moment (which is quite counterintuitive for a supposedly successful journalist). I realize this is to show character development and growth; for Margot it’s to show growing validation for her initially off-base preconceived assumptions on the case and for Krissy, to show a young adult trapped and spiraling in a life she never…

For two hundred pages I questioned why I was reading Klara and the Sun which for the most part, is a introspective and quiet story of an AF (artificial friend, think of M3gan without the horror malfunctioning) observing and learning from human activity around in her adopted household. An artificial friend resembling a doll of sorts, Klara spends an awful lot of time thinking about the sun (yes there’s reasons for that) and watching over a young but weak girl named Josie and her childhood life. However, there are signs and a slow foreboding sense that nothing’s is quite right but it takes a close look to notice it under Klara’s well-meaning yet unreliable narration. (On an unrelated note this book was an absolute pain to get and read for me locally, I had to wait 6 months on a library hardcopy waitlist and the ebook copy I had a hold for still currently has a 20+ week wait). To say anymore would potentially give away the surprises and dark developments left in the last 100 pages, but needless to say things go dystopian really really fast. I’m accustomed to the more stereotypical takes on the dystopian genres such as…