February Book Reviews
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 5/5 Stars
Kristin Hannah sure can write to play with your emotions. There were a few things I didn’t like about this book, mostly excessive details in the beginning. It took me a while to get into this book as an audiobook and I absolutely could not get into it reading on my kindle. In the beginning it was really irritating how immature Isabelle was and how uptight Vianne was. My absolute favorite part about this book is how they developed throughout the course of the book. I liked that it had a more first person, personal POV of what was going on compared to other WWII books I’ve read, which isn’t a lot. The ending was gutting and I actually had to take a break at one point because it was getting to be too intense. Not a beach read, but if you’re looking to get sucked in and don’t mind tears then I’d recommend it.
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James 5/5 Stars
This was such a delightful surprise! The ghost aspect was surprisingly actually scary to me, which is a big deal because I can never find actually scary-to-me books. I loved Shea’s true-crime blog and her relationship with the P.I., and I loved the Lady Killer Murders storyline. I was engaged and scared and excited while reading. Highly recommended.
The Dark Heart by Joakim Palmkvist, translated by Agnes Broomé 3/5 Stars
This book was disappointing to me. The meat of the story, the actual story of the murder of Göran Lundblad, was very interesting and worth reading. There were a lot of extra details and back stories that I frankly did not care about and didn’t have a direct relation to Lundblad’s story other than making the book longer. As is often the case with translated books that I’ve read, I didn’t really get immersed in the story. It wasn’t a very engaging read and I did skim some places where it got dense. If you’re interested in the story you could probably find a more concise accounting online.
Mortuary Confidential: Undertakers Spill the Dirt by Todd Harra, Ken McKenzie 2/5 Stars
The ratio of stories I enjoyed to the ones I could have done without is pretty low, which is the reason for the two stars. There were a few that were actually funny or heartfelt/moving, and I liked those, but overall this one is a pass for me.
Verity by Colleen Hoover 5/5 Stars
When I noticed that Colleen Hoover had something insane like 7/10 spots on the top 10 of the NYT Bestseller’s list, I figured I should give one of her books a try. This book was gripping, surprising, and kept me wondering until the very last page. Some of the writing got pretty intense (Verity’s autobiography) and I’m not crazy about the characters, but Colleen Hoover is a damn good writer so I easily overlooked things I would not have been able to with a writer not as talented.