January 2024 Reads

Five Stars

Go As A River (Read)

This is a phenomenal book. I have a habit of reading books where there is a strong female lead who overcomes the patriarchy in her family and society to build themselves a life all their own. Victoria Nash's story from a young woman in 1948 in Colorado to adulthood is one that you will love.

While You Were Out (Kissinger)

This is a retelling of family history (non-fiction) of a family where several members of the immediate family - parents, children - deal with severe mental health issues. The time frame spans from the 1960s through current times. Their story is gripping, but the underlying journey of the recognition, treatment, and acceptance of mental health issues in society is just as interesting.

All The Dangerous Things (Willingham)

This is a great twisty story that will keep you guessing until the end. Isabelle Drake's infant son goes missing in the middle of the night and vanishes without a trace and no leads. When the police seemingly give up on finding her son when there are no leads, Isabelle makes it her life's mission to find out what happened to her son and to find him. She uses her platform to bring his story to True Crime conferences and is approached by a True Crime podcaster to get her story to a wider audience. Isabelle teams up with him but isn't sure if she can trust him...hell, she doesn't even know if she can trust herself.

Four Stars

Yellowface (Kuang)

Yellowface follows a young female novelist's (June Hayward) rise to fame after her friend Athena Liu - a very famous author herself - dies suddenly during a freak accident when June is with her. June's rise to fame occurs when she publishes a new novel...a novel centered on a historical Chinese group...a novel which some people feel sounds very much like Athena Liu's writing.

No One Can Know (Marshall)

NOCN follows the story of three estranged sisters who are thrown back together after one of them (Emma) is forced to move back to their home town and into the house where their parents were murdered. At the time of the murder, Emma was the main suspect but was not convicted of the horrific events and all three sisters get out of the town and each other's lives.

Emma is forced to confront the past and a small town with a long memory. Concerned about what Emma is up to, each of her sisters separately show up to investigate each other and will eventually uncover what really happened to their parents.

None of This is True (Jewell)

NOTIT is a great, twisty read. Alix and Josie meet by chance when they are both out celebrating their birthdays in a pub one night. Alix seems to have an amazing life while Josie's life seems quite unremarkable. Josie finds a way to bump into Alix and ingratiate herself into Alix's life and work by telling her that she (Josie) would be a great subject for Alix's next podcast as Josie explains that she is on the cusp of a year where her whole life will be changing. Things with Josie though are far from what they seem.

Two Stars

What Never Happened (Howzell Hall)

WNH had a great premise but too many things just ruined it, most of all the 'bad guys' when revealed. It just didn't seem believable.