We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

 

I’m honestly having trouble finding the words to write about this book. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is haunting. It's uncomfortable. It's tragic. And it's disturbing. 

It is told from the perspective of Eva Khatchadourian, a woman who was never sure about motherhood to begin with. Eva is the mother of Kevin, a boy who murdered nine people just days before his 16th birthday. We Need to Talk About Kevin is written through a series of letters from Eva to her estranged husband, Franklin. Through her letters, Eva details her life starting from before Kevin's birth to the present day. This book causes the reader to ponder the topic of nature versus nurture, and question which aspects of both led Kevin to turn out the way that he did.

Although this book is not for the faint of heart, I thought it was well written and compelling. 

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

I really enjoyed In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. It’s the sort of book that reminds me of a romantic comedy. I quickly devoured the story from front to back within a few hours. I would highly recommend it! 

It tells the story of Dannie Cohen, a woman best described as a “planner”. She has her whole life figured out from her dream job to when she will get married. Her plans seem to be coming to fruition as she and her boyfriend get engaged the same night she interviews for her dream job at a prestigious law firm. 

Everything is working out perfectly until she has a dream in which she finds herself engaged to another man. The dream takes place 5 years in the future and feels like more than just a dream. Despite the fact that she doesn’t believe in “visions”, the dream leads Dannie to question everything. As years go on, Dannie finds herself unable to forget the dream. 

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

I had this book on my "To Read" list for so long, and I cannot believe that such a gem of a novel has been sitting in my TBR pile! This book was nothing short of fantastic!

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine (pen name of 2 sisters who co-wrote this book) tells the story of Amber Patterson, a woman desperate to do whatever it takes to become one of the "elite". Amber has spent her life detesting those who grew up with the privileged life she always longed before, and she is determined to secure this lifestyle for herself. Her plan is simple... befriend Daphne Parrish and slowly infiltrate her life until she is able to push Daphne out of the way and secure Mr. Parrish for herself.

My favorite part of the book was the change in character perspectives in the second half. It was reminiscent of Gone Girl in the best way possible. I found myself unable to put this book down and greatly look forward to reading anything else Liv Constantine publishes!

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

A Good Neighborhood tells the story of two very different families living next door to one another in Oak Knoll, a "good" neighborhood in North Carolina. Valerie Alston-Holt is a widow and a professor of ecology raising her biracial teenage son on her own. All is peaceful until the Whitman family moves next door. The two families become at odds with one another initially over the treatment of a historic Oaktree and soon after over the budding romantic relationship between their teenage children.

For the first half of this book, I really, really, really enjoyed it. Fowler did an amazing job with the character development of each of the main characters in the novel. The last quarter of the book took a wild turn that had me reeling, and yet... the ending fell short. In fact, I couldn't have been more upset, disturbed, or let down by the ending. I felt as though this book was so strong and compelling and the ending was much too abrupt and unsatisfying.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

The Grace Year is set in a dystopian universe in which it is widely believed that girls possess magic so powerful they must be banished for this 16th year. The story follows Tierney Jones, a feisty 16-year-old, as she embarks on her Grace Year. She finds that the biggest threat isn't the poachers who lurk in the woods awaiting their chance to kill, nor is it the struggle of foraging for their own food and shelter -- it's each other. 

This book sparked such intense thoughts within me about the underlying meaning and Liggett's message on the way our modern society encourages and forces women to be pit against one another and that female success is only possible if others fail. I loved the way this book enforced the power of females coming together and how strong they are when they unite. The true definition of synergy. 

I went into this book completely blind and was really blown away by it! It's a mixture between The Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale. I was really impressed by the whole dystopian universe that Kim Liggett created. I found myself thinking of the book any time I wasn't reading it as I was so deeply immersed in the lives of the characters, particularly the protagonist, Tierney. I'm so glad that I read this book as it's definitely one of my 2020 favorites so far!

Secret Lives by Diane Chamberlain

Although, Secret Lives by Diane Chamberlain didn't captivate me from page one, by the end of the book I was completely enthralled. Secret Lives tells the story of A-list actress Eden Riley's decision to learn more about her mother in an effort to write a film about her life. This quest forces her confront her past and explore the secret life her mother lived that she knew nothing about. By reading the diary her mother kept from the age of thirteen, Eden learns about the hardship and tragedy that her mother endured throughout her short life. 

Although I predicted the plot twist early on, that didn't stop me from enjoying the book immensely. Chamberlain's prose never fails to captivate me and draw me in eagerly to the lives of her characters. I always hate completing one of her novels because the characters become so real that it's almost like losing a friend. (That's how you know I'm a huge nerd who gets way into books).

The Escape Artist by Diane Chamberlain

So sometimes I tell myself that I should read other authors, and then I read another Diane Chamberlain novel and I remember why I just want to read every book she's ever written!

The Escape Artist is one of Chamberlain's earlier novels, written in 1998 and tells the story of Susanna Miller, a mother who loses legal custody of her eleven-month-old son. Like any mother, she refuses to let anyone take her baby away from her. Susanna ignores the court order dictating she give up her son to his father and his new wife and instead changes her name, changes her appearance, and runs away to give both her and her a son a new start. The hardest part about leaving her old life behind is not having the chance to tell Linc, her lifelong friend and lover, about her plans to leave. 

I could not put this book down. I found myself instantly immersed into the lives of Susanna (who changes her name to Kimberly) and sympathizing with her plight. Chamberlain's beautiful prose never seems to fail to create compelling characters and moving stories. I can't wait to read even more of her work.