Weekly Recap #33: Week of 12/24 – 12/30

 

It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  We had a great Christmas here and since I was off the rest of the week, I’ve spent much of it relaxing, watching cheesy Christmas movies on Hallmark, and just have a good time in general.  I made it to the theater to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and Pitch Perfect 3.  I thoroughly enjoyed all three films, with Jumani being the biggest surprise.  I was leery going in, just because the original had Robin Williams and how do you compete with that, but they did a surprisingly nice job with the movie, especially in terms of updating it with a more modern feel. My son absolutely loved it.

On the blog, you’ll also probably notice that my list of upcoming reviews is pretty much the same as it was for last week.  Since blog traffic usually seems to be pretty light during the holidays, I decided to stick with year-end type of posts and save my reviews for after the holidays.  I’ll be posting a new one tomorrow to kick off 2018 and will resume my normal blogging schedule this week as well.  I have several reviews ready to share as I did get a fair amount of reading done this week too.

As you’ll see from my Stacking The Shelves list, Santa was also pretty good to me this year too.   Based on the reviews of my fellow bloggers, I feel like I have a lot of great reads coming up in 2018.

I also took time this week to decide what reading challenges I’m going to take part in and shared those on Friday.  I picked a couple more than I usually do, but I’m hoping they’ll all be a good fit for me in terms of what my reading goals are for 2018.

Hope everyone has a Happy New Year and a wonderful first week of 2018!

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

    

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

 
 
     

 STACKING THE SHELVES

 

   

   

 

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

A Look Ahead to My 2018 Reading Challenges

Designed at canva.com

 

It’s that time of year again! Time to start thinking about what reading/blogging challenges I want to participate in during 2018.  I love taking part in challenges, but I like to pick challenges that I think won’t overwhelm me and make reading suddenly feel like a chore.  There are so many great challenges out there for the upcoming year though, that it’s easy to find a few that I think will be perfect for me.  So, please consider this my as my sign-up post for the following challenges:

 

1.  GOODREADS READING CHALLENGE

 

It’s not even time to sign up for the 2018 Goodreads Challenge yet, but I already know that I’ll be doing this one.  My reading goal for last year was only 60 books, so this year I’m pretty sure I’ll be increasing that, possibly as high as 90.  I love this challenge because aside from marking the books you’ve read, Goodreads keeps track of everything else. All I have to do is read.  The only stress is self-imposed and that’s if I set my goal too high.

 

2.  2018 BEAT THE BACKLIST CHALLENGE

 

 

I did do a separate sign-up post with all of the rules, etc., for the 2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge here so that I could post my intended TBR. I participated in this one last year and loved it because it helped me to knock 24 backlisted titles off my TBR.  Since I was able to make it through 24 backlisted titles by September last year, I’ve decided to increase my goal to 30 for 2018.  Wish me luck!

 

3.  2018 NEW RELEASE CHALLENGE

 

The rules for the 2018 New Release Challenge are simple:

  • Books have to be released and reviewed in 2018.
  • Other challenges can be used as well, if you are participating in the Netgalley / Edelweiss challenge or in the COYER challenge, books can count towards more than one challenge, as long as the ones you use for the 2018 New Release Reading Challenge qualify to the other rules.
  • The minimum length for a book to qualify is 100 pages, it can be in any format though, physical, e-book, ARC or audiobook.
  • The New Book Release Challenge is open from January 1st through December 31st 2018, and sign-ups are open until September 1st 2018.
  • You don’t have to be a blogger to participate, you can link to your review on Goodreads or Booklikes instead – so don’t be shy!

There are five levels  in the 2018 New Release Challenge:

  1. 1-30 books per year – New Release Newbie
  2. 31-60 books per year – New Release Pro
  3. 61-100 books per year – New Release Veteran
  4. 101-200 books per year – New Release Enthusiast
  5. 200+ books per year – New Release Obsessed

Since I will also be trying to focus on finally reading backlisted titles this year, I will be aiming to read 20 new releases, which would put me firmly in the New Release Newbie level.

 

4.  2018 DEBUT AUTHOR CHALLENGE

 

 

I love to read debut authors so I thought this challenge was a great fit for me, and at a goal of 12, I think it’s going to be quite manageable even with all of the other challenges I’m taking part in .

Challenge Objectives:

  • To introduce readers to this year’s wonderful group of debut authors.
  • To challenge readers to read 12 or more (or less! It’s up to you!) middle grade, young adult, and new adult debuts this year.

Challenge Rules:

  • You must post your thoughts on each debut book you read in order for it to count towards the challenge. You can post anywhere: your blog, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, etc. If you can link it up, it counts!
  • You can join the challenge whenever you want.
  • The debuts must have a publishing date in 2018 and must have been read between January 1, 2018 and January 31, 2019 (this extra month allows readers adequate time to read December debuts) in order to count.
  • Each review gives you an entry into the bi-annual (two times a year) debut book giveaways (you will get to choose the book you win). Make sure you post the links to my bi-annual link-ups. I will post these link-ups on the first day of January and July.
  • This challenge is open internationally, as are the bi-annual debut book giveaways (provided Book Depository ships to you).
  • I don’t care what language you write your reviews in, I just need to know which book you have reviewed so I can verify your entry. When you post your link in the Linky, please include the book title in English.
  • Use the hashtag #DebutAuthorChallenge so we can all see what everyone’s up to!

Which Books Count:

  • The book must be classified as middle grade, young adult, new adult fiction.
  • The book must be a full-length novel and not a novella.
  • The book must be the author’s MG/YA/NA 2018 debut. (If the author has published adult fiction before, but this is their first MG/YA/NA book EVER it still counts. If the author has published a YA book before and this is their first MG or NA book, it does not count. We are reading the author’s first book for young people, excluding picture books.)
  • Self-published books do not count, so if the author has self-published a MG/YA/NA book before and this is their first book published by a traditional publisher it counts toward the challenge.
  • ARCs are fine, but only if you read them the year they are published. (If you read a 2018 debut in 2017, it does not count. If you read a 2019 debut in 2018, it does not count. This way, participants who do not have access to ARCs are not at a disadvantage.)
  • Since this challenge is international, some books will be debuts in some countries and not in others. This can be tricky and put some books into a gray area, so here’s what we will do. If the book came out this year in your country for the first time, even though it was available elsewhere, then you can count it. I’m going to trust you, so please be honest.
  • Please feel free to tweet, email, etc. me if you do not know if a book counts or not. I am happy to help you.

 

5.  2018 BOOK BLOGGER DISCUSSION CHALLENGE

 

Writing discussion posts continues to be a fear/weakness of mine, so I’m hoping this challenge will push me to write more of them this year.  So as not to stress myself completely out, I’ll be aiming for one post a month, for a total of 12 discussion posts, which would put me firmly in the Creative Conversationalist level.

Here’s All You Have to Do:

  • The 2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge runs from January 1st until December 31st, 2018.
  • Sign-ups will remain open until December 31st, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. Central. (So, you can sign up all year long! Come join us!)
  • Create a sign-up post announcing your intention to participate and link up below. There is no need to say what your discussion posts will be about – just tell us that you’re joining and let us know what your goal is. (Please note, you may do this in an update post, or a post of other challenges—you’re not required to make a completely separate post—but you can if you’d like!)
  • Please link back to both challenge hosts and include the challenge button in your sign-up posts.
  • There will be a kick-off post on January 1, 2018 on both Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight where you’ll be able to leave your links for any January discussions. At the beginning of every month, a new post will go up on both blogs for that month’s links. Every month, we’ll update this 2018 Book Blog Challenge Page with the links to that month’s Challenge linky—so you’ll always know where to find the latest link-up!
  • Share it! The more people we get to participate in this, the more awesome discussions we can all be a part of and the more fun it will be! So, invite your friends to join us!
  • This challenge is to help get us discussing books and book blogging, so talk about whatever you want as long as it’s relevant to book blogging. Discussions can be book related or book blogging related (or generally blogging related—no discussions about things that are completely off-topic like travel or fashion, etc). Discussions can also be about you personally if it’s a get-to-know-you type post.
  • If you forgot to leave your discussion link in the challenge month in which you posted the discussion or the linky list closed before you had a chance to leave it, you can leave it in a future month. (No duplicates, though.)
  • There will also be monthly giveaways, so make sure you check in each month!
  • Every month, we’ll feature our favorite posts from one randomly chosen participant. There will be extra options in the Rafflecopter for commenting on posts by our featured blogger.
  • Use the hashtag #LetsDiscuss2018 to share your progress and connect with other participants on Twitter.
  • Have questions? Feel free to ask in the comments!

The Levels:

1-10 – Discussion Dabbler
11-20 – Creative Conversationalist
21-30 – Chatty Kathy
31-40 – Terrifically Talkative
41+ – Gift of the Gab

A Look Back at My Year in Books

 

 

I’m kind of a stats nerd, so I always love to look at my end of year reading recap on Goodreads.  I’ve never actually shared my stats on the blog before, but I enjoyed Birdie Bookworm’s 2017 Goodreads Year in Books post so much that I decided to follow her lead and share how I did reading-wise in 2017.

 

READING CHALLENGE AND OVERALL READING TOTALS

 

 

 

As you can see, I successfully completed my Goodreads Challenge this year.  I probably should have set my goal higher, but prior to blogging, I usually only read 40-50 books a year so I was hesitant to set the goal too high. The last thing I would want to do is make reading feel like a chore.  I will definitely be increasing my goal for 2018 though, probably to at least 80 but maybe even 90 or 100. We’ll see how I feel when it’s actually time to join the challenge, lol.

I think the stat that most impressed me this year was not so much my increase in number of books read, which was still a pretty impressive jump from 68 in 2016 to 104 in 2017, but rather my increase in the total number of pages I read.  In 2016, I read 25,412 pages and in 2017, that number jumped to 40,391!  I attribute both of these increases to becoming more dedicated to my blog this year and to just wanting to read more books because all of your reviews make so many books sound so appealing.  Knock on wood, but I don’t think I had any kind of a reading slump this year either, which definitely helped these numbers.

 

LENGTH OF BOOKS READ

 

 

At first I was surprised to see that my shortest read of 2017 was still 209 pages long, but then I remembered — now that my son reads independently, I’m not reading as many shorter novels with him as I typically do.  I also knew before I even looked at the stats that my longest book of the year would be A Storm of Swords.  At 1,177 pages, I honestly thought it was going to take me the entire year to read just that one book.  I’m planning to read the next book in that series in 2018 so I predict it will be my longest read of next year.

 

 

BOOK RATINGS

 

I guess I’m pretty consistent in terms of how I rate my reads because my average rating last year was 3.8.  I’m not sure if I just go too easy on books when I rate them or if I’ve just gotten better about selecting books that I’m pretty sure I’m going to enjoy.  I lean towards the second option, especially when I’m often relying on blogger recommendations to choose my next reads now. Prior to blogging, I almost always relied on those ‘Most Anticipated Reads’ list that appear on major entertainment sites like Entertainment Weekly.  My luck with their picks was always hit or miss.  These days I definitely trust the recs of my fellow bloggers way more than I trust those lists.

 

 

MOST POPULAR/LEAST POPULAR

 

Even though I read a lot of popular and hyped books this year, I’m not at all surprised to see a Harry Potter novel was the most popular book that I read.  I am surprised that only 134 other people have read Murder Over Mochas.  I thought it was a really cute cozy mystery and would definitely recommend the series if you’re into the cozies.

 

 

FIRST AND LAST REVIEWS OF 2017

 

 

I seem to have read more fantasies and thrillers this year than ever before, so it didn’t surprise me to see that my first review was a fantasy and my final review was a thriller.  In 2016, my first review was a historical fiction and my last was a mystery.

 

 

HIGHEST RATED 2017 READ

 

I guess this is probably considered more of a bit of trivia than a real stat, but the highest rated book on Goodreads I read in 2017 was A Court of Mist and Fury. Sarah J. Maas is such a popular author that this didn’t surprise me a bit, especially since I rated it 5 stars myself.  It’s my favorite book in that series.

 

 

MY 2017 JOURNEY IN BOOKS 

 

It’s kind of cool to see my year in books laid out in visual form.  I had actually forgotten about some of the books I read, plus it’s just pleasing to the eyes to see all of these gorgeous covers again.  It also reminds me that I still have several reviews to write for books that I read in December that I haven’t gotten around to yet.  (Goal for 2018 – To stop procrastinating when it comes to writing reviews!)  Anyway, 2017 was a great reading year for me overall and I’m looking forward to an even better year in 2018.

 

Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT by Becky Albertalli

 

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT by Becky Albertalli.  Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is one of my all time favorite contemporary reads so I’m over the moon at the idea that we’re getting another book in the series.  I’m especially excited to see that it is focused on Leah, who is seriously one of the coolest characters in the first book.  I love Albertalli’s writing style and I also love her characters.  I can’t wait to see Simon again and I also can’t wait to learn more about Leah.

 

LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT by Becky Albertalli

Publication Date:   April 24, 2018

 

From Goodreads:

Leah Burke—girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier’s best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda—takes center stage in this novel of first love and senior-year angst.

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.

So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.

 

 

 * * * * *

 

I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Books I Resolve to Read in 2018

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I’m Looking Forward to In 2018 (These could be new releases, or books you resolve to read, ten debuts we are looking forward to, etc.)

* * * * *

Now that the end of the year is upon us, it’s time to start thinking about those New Year’s resolutions.  Normally I don’t make many because I almost always fail at them, but I’m thinking I might actually have a good chance of succeeding at a bookish-themed resolution.

In that spirit, I’ve come up with a list of Top 10 Books I Resolve to Read in 2018.  These are all books that I have heard nothing but wonderful things about but somehow still have not managed to make the time to read them.  It’s actually embarrassing how long some of them have been on my TBR and how long I’ve talked about how much I’m dying to read them but then never following through.  So now it’s time to make a real effort to do something about it.

 

TOP 10 BOOKS I RESOLVE TO READ IN 2018

 

1. SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

2. EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

3.  NEVERNIGHT by Jay Kristoff

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

4. A FEAST FOR CROWS by George R.R. Martin

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

5. REBEL OF THE SANDS by Alwyn Hamilton

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

6. DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

7. INK AND BONE by Rachel Caine

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

8. THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

9. SALT TO THE SEA by Ruth Sepetys

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

10. TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD by Eowyn Ivey


(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

Question:  Do you have any books that you are determined to get off your TBR list in 2018?

Weekly Recap #32: Week of 12/17 – 12/23

 

It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

This post will be short and sweet as I’m trying to type it using an internet hotspot while riding in a car.  I’m heading home for a long day of spending Christmas Eve with my various relatives.  It should be a lot of fun but will be exhausting. Our first stop will be at my Dad’s to visit with him and my stepmom.  My second stop will be the nursing home to visit with my grandmother, and then my final stop will be my mother’s house to visit with her and with my sister.  Once all of the visiting is finished, then I’ll be in for a 2-hour drive home to put out all of my son’s gifts for tomorrow and then fall into bed.

Needless to say, I probably won’t be doing much reading or blogging for the next day or so, but thankfully I’m off for the rest of the week so I’ll be working on getting caught up on everything blog-related during that time frame.

Have a great week, everyone, and Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating!

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

   

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

 
     

 STACKING THE SHELVES

 

 
    

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

source: blaze press.com

 

Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on CATWOMAN: SOULSTEALER

 

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is CATWOMAN: SOULSTEALER by Sarah J. Maas.  I don’t think I really need to say anything more here, do I?  As much as I adored the first book in the DC Icons series, I seriously cannot wait for the next two books in the series, especially this one because Catwoman has always fascinated me.  I just wish I didn’t have to wait until next August to get it!

 

CATWOMAN: SOULSTEALER by Sarah J. Maas

Publication Date:   August 7, 2018

 

From Goodreads:

Sizzling with action and suspense, #1 New York Times bestselling author SARAH J. MAAS delivers a coming-of-age Selina Kyle who will steal readers’ hearts in a new, highly anticipated YA blockbuster: CATWOMAN!

When the Bat’s away, the Cat will play. It’s time to see how many lives this cat really has. . . .

Two years after escaping Gotham City’s slums, Selina Kyle returns as the mysterious and wealthy Holly Vanderhees. She quickly discovers that with Batman off on a vital mission, Batwing is left to hold back the tide of notorious criminals. Gotham City is ripe for the taking.

Meanwhile, Luke Fox wants to prove he has what it takes to help people in his role as Batwing. He targets a new thief on the prowl who seems cleverer than most. She has teamed up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and together they are wreaking havoc. This Catwoman may be Batwing’s undoing.

In this third DC Icons book–following Leigh Bardugo’s Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Marie Lu’s Batman: Nightwalker–Selina is playing a desperate game of cat and mouse, forming unexpected friendships and entangling herself with Batwing by night and her devilishly handsome neighbor Luke Fox by day. But with a dangerous threat from the past on her tail, will she be able to pull off the heist that’s closest to her heart?

 

 

 * * * * *

 

I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top 10 Books I Hope Santa Brings Me This Year

Created at canva.com

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings (If you celebrate a different Winter holiday, adapt this topic to fit it!).  This wee’s topics was pretty easy to complete since I seem to always have an endless list of books that I would love to own but haven’t gotten around to buying for myself yet.  Here are some that I would love to wake up Christmas morning and find under my tree.

 

* * * * *

Top 10 Books I Hope Santa Brings Me This Year

 

HUNTING PRINCE DRACULA by Kerri Maniscalco

THE LANGUAGE OF THORNS: MIDNIGHT TALES & DANGEROUS MAGIC by Leigh Bardugo

SIEGE AND STORM  by Leigh Bardugo

THE FIREMAN  by Joe Hill

THE CHILD FINDER  by Rene Denfeld

GEMINA  by Amie Kaugman, Jay Kristoff, and Marie Lu

GODSGRAVE by Jay Kristoff

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate

WONDER by R.J. Palacio

HALF A YELLOW SUN  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

* * * * *

Question:  What books would you like for Santa to bring you this year?  Happy Holidays, everyone!

Book Review: The Wife Between Us

Book Review:  The Wife Between UsThe Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen
Also by this author: An Anonymous Girl, You Are Not Alone
Published by St. Martin's Press on January 9th 2018
Genres: Thriller, Mystery
Pages: 352
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

 

 

 

*

8

 

MY REVIEW:

Okay, so I have to admit I was a little nervous when I started seeing my fellow reviewers compare The Wife Between Us to Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.  Even though I loved Gone Girl, not many of the novels that have been compared to it since its rise to popularity have lived up to the hype.  And boy have there been a lot of them.  I’m thrilled to say that not only does The Wife Between Us live up to the comparison, but I enjoyed The Wife Between Us even more than I enjoyed Gone Girl.  I think we’re looking at what is going to be one of the must-read books of 2018.  I also recently read that there is already a deal in place to make it into a film and I’m really excited about that.

 

 

I know this is the part of my review where I would typically describe the book without giving away spoilers.  In the case of The Wife Between Us, however, I can’t really do that.  To write any kind of description of even the basic plot points and characters would just spoil it. So all I’m going to say is just know based on those Gone Girl comparisons that you’re diving into an addictive psychological thriller filled with twists and turns and complex characters, and that there are also questions regarding narrator reliability.  Most importantly, as the synopsis indicates, assume nothing!

My favorite part of The Wife Between Us is that it really did keep me guessing from beginning to end.  I read the synopsis, which told me to ‘assume nothing’ because everything I assumed would be wrong. And then I proceeded to jump right in and start making assumptions anyway.  The book just lends itself to that and no matter how hard I tried to keep an open mind, I continued to make snap judgments about characters and situations, and yes, as the synopsis warned, I was dead wrong every time.  And that may sound like it should have been a frustrating reading experience, but I LOVED every page of it.  Nothing about the story was predictable and that was just fabulous and refreshing.

There is one plot twist about halfway through that was such a shock to me that it made my head spin.  I actually had to backtrack a few pages to make sure I had read what I thought I had read.  It was truly mind blowing!

The characters in The Wife Between Us are also so well drawn.  They’re complex, flawed, and utterly human, and unlike in many of the Gone Girl-style books, they are actually quite sympathetic in spite of the unreliable narrator issue.  I won’t go so far as to say that I liked any of them, but I did feel tremendous sympathy for what at least one of them was going through.

The book also weeds into some dark territory as we navigate the various plot twists — mental illness, addiction, abuse, jealousy, the struggle to let go and move on after a failed relationship, etc.  All of this dark subject matter weaves together seamlessly into an enthralling tale that you won’t be able to walk away from until you know the whole truth behind ‘the wife between us.’

The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star read for me was that the pacing felt a little inconsistent before that huge plot twist vs. after it.  There wasn’t a huge difference but just enough that it was noticeable in terms of how quickly I moved through each half of the book.

I also can’t say that I was 100% satisfied with the book’s resolution either. I liked it for the most part, but I’ll be curious to see if that is tweaked at all when it is made into a film.

 

The Wife Between Us is a mesmerizing thrill ride that will keep you guessing from beginning to end.  I would definitely say to go into it knowing as little as possible for the most suspenseful reading experience possible.  As the synopsis says, ‘Assume Nothing.’

 

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and of course, authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen for allowing me to read and review this book on my blog in exchange for an honest review.  This in no way impacts my review.

 

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS

A novel of suspense that explores the complexities of marriage and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.

You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement.
You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves.
You will assume the first wife was a disaster and that the husband was well rid of her.
You will assume you know the motives, the history, the anatomy of the relationships.
Assume nothing.

Discover the next blockbuster novel of suspense, and get ready for the read of your life.

About Greer Hendricks

GREER HENDRICKS spent over two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster. Prior to her tenure in publishing, she worked at Allure Magazine and obtained her Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times and Publishers Weekly. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children, The Wife Between Us is her first novel.

Follow Greer Hendricks on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

About Sarah Pekkanen

Internationally bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen’s newest book is THE PERFECT NEIGHBORS. She is also the co-author of the upcoming THE WIFE BETWEEN US (out in January 2018).

Her prior novels are: THINGS YOU WON’T SAY, CATCHING AIR, THE BEST OF US, THE OPPOSITE OF ME, SKIPPING A BEAT, and THESE GIRLS.

Sarah’s linked free short estories, published by Simon&Schuster exclusively for ereaders, are titled “All is Bright,” and “Love, Accidentally.”

Sarah is the mother of three young boys, which explains why she writes part of her novels at Chuck E. Cheese. Sarah penned her first book, Miscellaneous Tales and Poems, at the age of 10. When publishers failed to jump upon this literary masterpiece (hey, all the poems rhymed!) Sarah followed up by sending them a sternly-worded letter on Raggedy Ann stationery. Sarah still has that letter, and carries it to New York every time she has meetings with her publisher, as a reminder that dreams do come true.

Her website is www.sarahpekkanen.com and please find her on Facebook Instagram and Twitter @sarahpekkanen!

Weekly Recap #31: Week of 12/10 – 12/16

 

It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

I hope everyone’s holiday plans are coming together nicely.  I think I’m about as ready as I’m going to be.  I still have 2 or 3 small gifts to purchase for my son to give his grandparents but otherwise I’m good on that front.  Next up is more holiday baking.  Our cookie exchange at work was fun, but I still have a lot of cookies to make for the family.  My mom has volunteered to cook the Christmas Eve meal so I’m excited about that.  All I have to make is a dish of homemade mac and cheese and I’m off the hook for everything else.

My son is going with some friends to see the new Star Wars movie this morning.  I’m jealous since I’m dying to see it too but am hoping to get to it sometime later this week before he spoils it for me, lol.  I want to see both that and Pitch Perfect 3 while I’m off from work over the holidays.

On the blog it has mostly been a reading week for me.  I only got one review posted all week and am playing catch up with writing reviews this weekend.  I finished Dan Brown’s Origin last night.   I know some people think Brown’s books are overrated and formulaic, but I must just like his formula because I always enjoy them and Origin was no exception.  I’ll have my full review of Origin in a few days.  Once I finished Origin, I moved on to Nice Try, Jane Sinner because I’m participating in a blog tour for that the first week of January and want to make sure it doesn’t slip through the cracks in the holiday mayhem.  I also saved one winter-themed book to read over the holidays, Erin Hilderbrand’s Winter Solstice.

Anyway, I think that’s it for me.   Have a great week, everyone, and Happy Holidays!

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

    

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

 
     

 STACKING THE SHELVES

 

    
    

TOTALLY RANDOM