Reviews – FUNNY STORY & CHRISTA COMES OUT OF HER SHELL

April 19, 2024/9 Comments/by Suzanne

Hey everyone! My blogging slump unfortunately continues, but I did have to pop on to share two of my favorite reads from April. Emily Henry and Abbi Waxman are both auto-buy authors for me, and their latest releases prove why

Funny Story Goodreads

Author: Emily Henry

Publication Date: April 23, 2024

Publisher: Berkley

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Berkley Romance via Netgalley and a gifted ALC from PRHAudio. All opinions are my own.

Emily Henry has knocked it out of the park yet again with her latest novel, Funny Story. It’s the perfect blend of heartache, humor, and healing, and I devoured it in a couple of sittings.

When we meet Daphne, she has just been dumped by her fiance Peter, who has decided, at his bachelor party of all places, that he would rather be with his childhood best friend, Petra. Since the house they were living in is in Peter’s name, this leaves Daphne homeless until Petra’s ex, Miles, invites her to move in with him now that he finds himself dumped and living alone.

I fell so hard for both Daphne and Miles. On the surface, they seem to have nothing in common – Daphne is a children’s librarian who has basically let Peter dictate most of her life’s choices, while Miles comes across as a stoner who spends most of his time either high or tending bar. As the two of them start to bond, however, Daphne quickly realizes there’s more to Miles than meets the eye and he realizes the same about her. Even though they initially started hanging out as a way to mourn their breakups and then shift to fake dating to make their exes jealous, they eventually start to do things together simply because they enjoy each other’s company.

I loved the chemistry and the easy banter between Daphne and Miles. Their evolution from roommates to lovers is fun, flirty, and just an all around good time. The star of the show for me though is actually the more emotional journey that each character takes on their path to healing. I thought Henry just did such a beautiful job seamlessly weaving in those more emotional moments with all of the fun ones.

Julia Whelan narrates the audiobook and as always, her narration is flawless!

Funny Story is Emily Henry at her best, so be sure to pick up a copy. 5 STARS

Christa Comes Out of Her Shell Goodreads

Author: Abbi Waxman

Publication Date: April 16, 2024

Publisher: Berkley

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Berkley Romance via Netgalley and a gifted ALC from PRHAudio. All opinions are my own.

I’m a huge fan of Abbi Waxman’s writing because she has a gift for creating the most wonderful characters. They’re charming, quirky, and just so lovable that you can’t help but root for them to overcome whatever struggles they are facing. And she has done exactly that in her latest book, Christa Comes Out of Her Shell.

When we meet Christa, she is happily studying snails on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. That is, until she receives a phone call that rocks her world. Her father, a beloved TV star who was presumed killed in a plane crash 25 years ago, has suddenly turned up, alive and well. As much as Christa would love to stay on her little island, she knows she has to go home, both to meet her dad and to confront the demons of her own past.

I adored Christa right from the start and absolutely loved the journey of personal growth that she goes through in this story. Christa was so young when her dad went missing that she barely knew him but both his immense fame and the media circus surrounding his disappearance impacted her young life tremendously. There were people in her life who hurt and betrayed her, making her close herself off from people. I loved watching her gradually come into her own and confront those who had hurt her, which in turn allows her to more freely open her heart to those who would never hurt her. While it definitely takes a backseat to Christa’s personal journey, there is also a delightful second chance romance with a childhood friend in this story.

While some of what Christa and her family faces veers into some heavy topics, Waxman keeps things from getting too heavy by infusing the story with her signature humor and warmth. I especially enjoyed listening to the audiobook because the narrators, Jesse Vilinksy & Jonathan Todd Ross, do such a wonderful job capturing both the heartwarming and humorous aspects of the story. 4.5 STARS

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Invocations & The New Couple in 5B

April 18, 2024/6 Comments/by Sharon

Welcome to another edition of Thriller Thursday with Sharon. This week I am excited to share my thoughts on Krystal Sutherland’s newest YA thriller, The Invocations and Lisa Unger’s newest thriller, The New Couple in 5B. Both of these books were amazing and I loved them both.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Invocations & The New Couple in 5B

The Invocations Goodreads

Author: Krystal Sutherland

Publication Date: January 30, 2024

Publisher: Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books

Krystal Sutherland’s newest YA thriller, The Invocations, is everything I was hoping it would be and more. The story follows three seventeen-year-olds who team up to stop a serial killer who is killing witches and stealing their powers. The Invocations has it all, badass teenagers, witches, magic, murder, and more.

A year ago, Zara Jones’ sister, Savannah, was murdered and Zara wants nothing more than to bring her back to life so she can apologize for the hurtful last words she said to her. Zara is smart and she has been reading up on everything she can find that deals with magic and bringing the dead back to life. But so far nothing has worked.

Jude Wolf is the daughter of a billionaire. Two years ago, she cursed herself and her soul is now tied to demons. Jude is slowly rotting away and is trying anything to find someone who can undo the curse before the demons eat her alive.

Emer Bryne is a witch. Ten years ago, her entire family was killed by witch hunters. Emer has vowed to find those responsible and destroy them. Emer sells spells to women who are in desperate situations, the payment for these spells is that a demon gets part of their soul. Emer was seven years old when her family was killed, and she would have died if not for the demons living in the forest. These demons knew that they needed to keep Emer alive so she could find them souls.

I loved everything about this book. I loved the magic and the demons and the gore when a demon ripped someone apart (Lol). But most of all I loved the characters. Zara, Jude and Emer will always have a special place in my heart. I loved getting to know each of their backstories. And the more I learned about them, the more I loved them. They are so different from each other, but when they finally got together they clicked. They were the piece each other was missing. I loved their banter back and forth. Especially Jude, she had me laughing so many times.

Sutherland did a great job of bringing the magic and demons to life. Especially Bael, who is one of the demons that helped Emer when she was younger. Bael is waiting for Emer to give him her soul, so right now he is just like her own personal bodyguard, and I loved it when she would sick him on someone.

I don’t really want to say much more about what happens and spoil things. But if you like YA stories, badass teenage protagonists, magic, and demons, then you definitely need to check out, The Invocations. 4 ½ stars

The New Couple in 5B Goodreads

Author: Lisa Unger

Publication Date: March 5, 2024

Publisher: Park Row

Lisa Unger’s latest book, The New Couple in 5B, was inspired by Rosemary’s Baby. But this is not a retelling of the horror classic, and Lisa Unger does a great job of giving the Rosemary’s Baby vibes, while creating her own story.

Chad and Rosie Lowan have inherited apartment 5B at 55 Park Ave, called the Windemere, from Chad’s uncle Ivan. Chad and Rosie took care of Ivan while he was dying, but they never thought he would leave them his apartment. Chad is an actor and Rosie is a true crime author. Rosie plans to write a book about the Windemere. There have been many deaths in this building, murders, suicides, accidents, and natural causes. There was a murder/suicide that took place in their actual apartment many years ago when it was owned by Paul and Willa. When they first moved in everyone was so welcoming, but Rosie soon starts to feel that things are not right with this building. The same doorman is always on duty, and Rosie is positive that she has seen the ghost of a small boy in the basement and hallways. The more Rosie digs into the building’s past, the more her life becomes in danger.

Wow! Lisa Unger sure had the hairs on my arm sticking up with this book. I loved the whole supernatural feel this book had, as well as the gothic vibe from the building itself. I will admit that when I was first reading, I thought it was going to be like a retelling of Rosemary’s Baby and I was actually comparing them when I was reading. But I am happy to report that the book took a turn, and I was like “Okay so not the same as Rosemary’s Baby.” LOL!

Lisa Unger did a great job in creating these characters and making them so untrustworthy. I loved that I didn’t know who to trust. Rosie was the only one I trusted, and I liked how she too started not trusting people. I am glad she was not a naïve character that just went along with everything.

I also liked getting chapters from the couple that lived in the apartment years ago, Paul and Willa. These were told from Willa’s POV and getting these chapters added more mystery to what was going on at the Windemere.

The more the story progressed, the more the tension built up, as well as the body count. I had no idea where things were going and when the secrets of the Windemere were finally revealed I was totally surprised. So, thank you for that Lisa Unger.

I definitely recommend The New Couple in 5B. If you are a fan of Lisa Unger and like supernatural stories with gothic buildings, then I really think you will enjoy The New Couple in 5B. 4 ½ stars

Top Ten Tuesday – April Showers: 10 Books With Rain on Their Covers

April 2, 2024/17 Comments/by Suzanne

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is April Showers — Pick your own title for this one to reflect the direction you choose to go with this prompt (books with rain on the cover/in the title, that have rainstorms in the story, or that have anything to do with rain). I decided to go with books that feature raindrops on the cover but also wanted to find some that were still somewhat bright since I associate brighter colors with spring. This was harder than I thought it would be because most of the covers I initially found were stormy and gloomy. I had to dig deeper and there are a couple that I’m not sure are even meant to be raindrops (the Waxman and Mills covers) but I’m counting them anyway since they look like raindrops, haha.

* * * * *