Girl Last Seen – Nina Laurin

It’s been a minute since I’ve read anything that wasn’t a super quick romance, but as soon as I finished all the ones on my list, I started Girl Last Seen. I knew it was about the disappearance of a girl, but that was essentially all I knew. When the book started, it was the end of the disappearance and I was VERY confused. Like…how do you have a story about an abduction if the abduction is already over? Unless of course you just do flashbacks or some such…but it’s fine. So, what I missed when I bought the book was that it was a story about a girl who was the victim of a child abduction who is following the story of another missing child.

Oooooh intrigue!

Discovering that (finally, even though I should have known because I should have read the blurb instead of just being like OH THAT SOUNDS GOOD), made me very happy. Because, seriously…I just didn’t want to do the back and forth with a present past present past thing. I wasn’t in the mood. So anyway, I was very pleased when I realized they hadn’t completely biffed everything. Although, I suppose that would just be MY assessment based on the mood I was in right that moment. It wouldn’t necessarily be biffed…ANYWAY.

The main character, Ella/Laine(y) is exactly as jacked up as you’d expect a victim of abduction/rape/torture to be. She’s likable enough that you can look past her numerous flaws, and though kind of obnoxious, her flaws make her a much more interesting character. There are a number of other characters…none of which I really want to talk about because you kind of need to be surprised by who is and is not in her corner.
There are quite a few twisty turny bits that actually had me saying “what the hell” and made the book exactly the kind of thing I enjoy. I will fully recommend this book because it’s a dang good suspense doodad.
Book Description:
Two missing girls. Thirteen years apart.
Olivia Shaw has been missing since last Tuesday. She was last seen outside the entrance of her elementary school in Hunts Point wearing a white spring jacket, blue jeans, and pink boots.

I force myself to look at the face in the photo, into her slightly smudged features, and I can’t bring myself to move. Olivia Shaw could be my mirror image, rewound to thirteen years ago.

If you have any knowledge of Olivia Shaw’s whereabouts or any relevant information, please contact…

I’ve spent a long time peering into the faces of girls on missing posters, wondering which one replaced me in that basement. But they were never quite the right age, the right look, the right circumstances. Until Olivia Shaw, missing for one week tomorrow.

Whoever stole me was never found. But since I was taken, there hasn’t been another girl.

And now there is.

(from GoodReads)
Rating:
4/5

-Lesley

Behind Her Eyes – Sarah Pinborough

What the actual hell did I just read?
That is legitimately the first thought I had once I finished this one. Two of my friends had read this previously and as soon as I put the book down I texted them both with a LOT of profanity. I don’t even know how to review this damn book.
I enjoyed the read. I really did. It was one of those books I couldn’t put down and ALSO as it got more batshit crazy, I found myself wanting to skim through quickly just so I could figure out what the hell was happening. FORTUNATELY, I didn’t do that. I didn’t REALLY want to ruin it. Although…now that I’m done with it, it would have been nice to be prepared for that ending.
Y’ALL. THAT. ENDING. WAS. TOO. MUCH.
I don’t think I’ll recover.

Anyway it’s another psychological thriller that’s often recommended once you’ve looked at The Girl on The Train, The Couple Next Door, and others. It’s got a few serious twists. I found myself alternating between hate and love, trust and suspicion soooo rapidly. The characters are so damn bizarre. Seriously…every. single. one. is. crazy. Even the relatively normal protagonist is an odd creature.

IT WAS JUST A LOT…OKAY?!

Book Description:
Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone.

When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise.

And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend, but she also just happens to be married to David. David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife, but then why is David so controlling, and why is Adele so scared of him?

As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong, but Louise can’t guess how wrong―and how far a person might go to protect their marriage’s secrets.

Rating:
4/5

-Lesley

Girl on a Train – A.J. Waines

So I downloaded this for free on my kindle app ages ago without paying attention because I thought it was The Girl on The Train. When I realized it was something else entirely, I nearly deleted it, but the little blurb convinced me to keep it. I didn’t even attempt to read it until I started it a few days ago, and now I’m glad I didn’t delete it. I think I may even prefer it to The Girl on The Train.

It’s a pretty decent psych thriller. Lots of twists and turns and cryptic clues and “treasure hunt” type things. There are a large number of characters who get involved in one way or another, but the main character is a journalist who gets dragged into this dark secret by chance. While she is the main character, our focus is on a girl who, authorities believe, jumped in front of a train and once we hear her story, she’s the type of person you really really like. She comes across the journalist by chance and asks for her help, without asking for her help.

It’s a pretty good slow burn…but once you get close to the end it goes VERY quickly. Just everything in flames in a matter of seconds. Sadly, a part of me feels like the author got sick of the suspense and decided just to bring it all crashing down. I didn’t mind much, but I honestly could have tolerated a few more chapters before the reveal. At the same time, I’m one of those readers who has to fight the urge to skip ahead to figure out what the hell is going on, so it’s probably best that it ended when it did!

Book Description:
Everything points to suicide – but I saw her face…

Headstrong Journalist, Anna Rothman, knows what suicide looks like – her own husband killed himself five years earlier. When Elly Swift, an agitated passenger beside her on a train, leaves a locket in Anna’s bag before jumping onto the tracks, Anna starts asking awkward questions. But everything points to suicide and the police close the case.

Anna, however, believes Elly’s fears for Toby, her young nephew, missing since being snatched from St Stephen’s church six months ago, fail to explain the true reason behind Elly’s distress. Through a series of hidden messages Elly left behind, Anna embarks on a dangerous crusade to track down Toby and find Elly’s killer.

But nothing is as it seems and Anna opens a can of worms that throws into question even her own husband’s suicide – before the threads of the mystery converge in an astonishing conclusion.

Rating:
4/5

-Lesley

I am Watching You – Teresa Driscoll

Y’all….this book. I’m pretty sure I downloaded it on my kindle app for free because it was recommended once I finished The Girl on The Train (same with Girl on a Train). I liked it quite a bit more than Girl on a Train. Apparently, I’m really into all these psych thriller murder mystery type novels right now.
Anyhoo…I was most fond of the witness character, Ella, because of course I was. She was the most sympathetic character in the story. There’s a private investigator who I rather liked too. The rest of the characters were your typical dysfunctional family type people. We don’t really know a whole lot about the missing girl, Anna because we don’t get any of her story, except second hand while reading her dad’s storyline…so (in my opinion) it was a little difficult to feel anything beyond “oh how terrible” regarding her. Her mother was sort of insufferable, her sister a little too angry. Her friend, Sarah was written exactly as she should have been.
It ran along at a pretty good clip (I mean, I finished it in a day, so duh) and I was really glad not to struggle to stay interested in a slow-paced book. I mean, so many psych thrillers these days rely on a “slow burn” to prolong the inevitable…to provide way too many twists and turns. That can be good…but more often than not, it seems like authors rely on that slow burn to add heft to the physical book. It doesn’t usually do much good for the storyline.
Anyway…I really enjoyed this one. It had moments, just like all books, that weren’t great and/or weren’t necessary, but not nearly as many as some of the other, more critically acclaimed, books we’re seeing out now. In short, this is a good one to grab for a fast summer read!

Book Description:
What would it take to make you intervene?

When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realizes they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls—beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard—has disappeared.

A year later, Anna is still missing. Ella is wracked with guilt over what she failed to do, and she’s not the only one who can’t forget. Someone is sending her threatening letters—letters that make her fear for her life.

Then an anniversary appeal reveals that Anna’s friends and family might have something to hide. Anna’s best friend, Sarah, hasn’t been telling the whole truth about what really happened that night—and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own.

Someone knows where Anna is—and they’re not telling. But they are watching Ella.

Rating:
5/5

 

-Lesley

Secret Sisters – Joy Callaway

WOMEN’S RIGHTS!
Now that I have your attention, that’s what this book is about. It’s set in the 1880s, soooo this is prime suffrage days. I really had no idea what this book was about when I bought it, but I liked the sound of the title, so I went with it. I’m not a huge fan of the Greek system…I’m sure it has its merits, but it’s just not my thang, as they say. Considering that, I was prepared to hate this story…and then I realized it was really more about women’s rights (which is why I yelled that at you…duh) so I kept with it.
The main characters were likable enough. They’re a group of girls who are attempting to start their own women’s fraternity (I guess “sorority” didn’t become a thing until later?) and a handful of guys who are in a fraternity. Obviously, you find yourself rooting for the girls. You’d have to be anti-feminism if you DIDN’T root for them. There are several little side stories that rush by along with the main storyline. Annnd those are what kept me from really loving the story. I guess there needed to be some drama/scandal to keep the book from being a super dry account of the founding of sororities in American universities, but they got a little…soap opera-y. A few of the situations were definitely worth being added to the story, but others were just fluff. Meh.
I hoped Secret Sisterswould be this really significant feminist message, and it touched on it, obviously. That’s sort of the whole point of the story…but it didn’t really seem like it was taken as seriously as it should have been. Especially considering it was set in this very turbulent time for women’s rights.
That’s pretty much it. I mean…it’s not terrible (really it’s not…I swear), but it could have been given a more somber tone. It’s a quick read and did keep me interested, but if you’re looking for something really STICK IT TO THE MAN, this isn’t it.

Book Description:
From the author of The Fifth Avenue Artists Society comes this unforgettable historical novel based on the founding of the country’s first sororities.

Illinois, 1881: Whitsitt College sophomore Beth Carrington has two goals to fulfill by the time she graduates: obtain a medical degree, and establish a women’s fraternity, Beta Xi Beta, that will help young women like herself to connect with and support one another while attending the male-dominated Whitsitt.

Neither is an easy task. The sole female student in the physicians’ program, Beth is constantly called out by her professors and peers for having the audacity not to concentrate on a more “fitting” subject like secretarial studies. Meanwhile, secret organizations are off-limits, and simply by crowding together in a dank basement room and creating a sense of camaraderie, she and her small group of fraternity sisters risk expulsion.

In order to have the fraternity recognized, she knows she needs help. She turns to the most powerful student on campus: senior Grant Richardson, Iota Gamma fraternity president and the scion of a Whitsitt family—a man she’s only acquainted with because of her longstanding friendship with his fraternity brother Will Buchannan. Staunchly traditional, Grant doesn’t see the purpose of this women’s organization, but captivated by Beth, he agrees to give her a helping hand. What she doesn’t know is how many will stop at nothing to keep her burgeoning organization out of the record books—and who she can actually trust along the way.

As Beth fights for her beloved Beta Xi Beta to be recognized, she will uncover deep secrets about the college and those who surround her, and will have to put both love and friendship on the line so that history can be made.
(From GoodReads)

Book Rating:
3/5

-Lesley

The Wonder – Emma Donoghue

Okay so I added this book to my wish list a while back after Amazon recommended it because of my interest in other books set in Ireland. Immediately after, I forgot about it. This past Christmas, my mom gifted it to me. I didn’t pay much attention to it at first and assumed it was Wonder by R.J. Palacio. (Spoiler: it’s not.) Somehow, the very different cover wasn’t a big enough clue that it wasn’t, in fact, Palacio’s book. No…this book is much, much different.
Now, let me just tell you. I LOVE stories that have some element of “magic” or “the miraculous.” I ALSO love historical fiction and basically anything set in Ireland. I have a bit of Irish ancestry, myself, so I’m always trying to find books that are set in Ireland, or are about Irish immigrants, etc. Donoghue provided the perfect story for me. I’m pretty sure she wrote this specifically for me. I’m like…super important that way.
Anyhoo, we find ourselves in Ireland a few years after the potato famine. It opens on an English nurse (trained by Florence Nightingale) traveling to a tiny Irish village. She was hired, along with a nun (who was also a nurse), by a committee to watch over a young girl who allegedly quit eating but was still alive after several months. The purpose of the watch is to ascertain whether this seemingly miraculous fast is legitimate or a scam. The child, Anna, is believed to be living off manna from heaven. Our English nurse, Lib, doesn’t believe in God or miracles, and is determined to prove there is some kind of trickery involved. Anna has become the subject of national debate. People come from hundreds of thousands of miles away to meet this wonder of a girl. There’s even a possibility she’ll be canonized! And this is all dependent on the nurses proving (or disproving) her ability to survive with no food. Is she actually living off nothing but air? Is she being fed by her caretakers without anyone knowing?
I do love Lib as a character. She’s exactly who I’d nominate to take on a watch like this. She was equal parts resolute and concerned for Anna’s well-being. Anna is a very interesting character, considering she is beyond devout and only 11 years old. Most children that age waver. She never did. Of course, things may well have been different back in the 1800’s in tiny Catholic villages. I’m most certainly not an expert in that field. I just really loved this book. I don’t really know how else to say it. I guess a lot of people weren’t as impressed by it, but I don’t really know why? It could be because the story is a bit slow-paced, but I think it had to be. Hell, I don’t know. When I like something, I have a hard time understanding why others DON’T like it. ANYWAY that’s all I have to say about that. Ta-da!

Book Description:
In the latest masterpiece by Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room, an English nurse brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle-a girl said to have survived without food for months-soon finds herself fighting to save the child’s life.

Tourists flock to the cabin of eleven-year-old Anna O’Donnell, who believes herself to be living off manna from heaven, and a journalist is sent to cover the sensation. Lib Wright, a veteran of Florence Nightingale’s Crimean campaign, is hired to keep watch over the girl.

Written with all the propulsive tension that made Room a huge bestseller, THE WONDER works beautifully on many levels–a tale of two strangers who transform each other’s lives, a powerful psychological thriller, and a story of love pitted against evil.

(From GoodReads)

Rating:
5/5

-Lesley

The Chemist – Stephenie Meyer

So like…okay…Meyer gets a bad rap thanks to the Twilight series. But you guys have to realize her other books have been pretty dang good. The Host was great and now that I’ve read The Chemist, I feel like maybe she was just a bit misguided when writing Twilight. SO back to the task at hand. The Chemist was a good example of an intelligent, strong, female lead. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Meyer original if there wasn’t a love story…so that happens too. And to be fair, it was a bit bizarre…but I won’t say more about that because, should you choose to read this one, you’ll want to be surprised by this particular relationship.
The main character goes by Alex. That’s not her given name, but she needs multiple identities, and since that’s what she goes by for the majority of the book, that’s what I’ll refer to her as. ANYWAY, she’s a chemist (duh) who was employed by a secret organization within the American government until one day they decide she needs to be disposed of. Since that day, she’s on the run and uses her know-how to neutralize threats (hitmen) and stay alive. Eventually, she’s called upon to “come back to work,” so to speak, and it leads her down a path she was hoping to avoid. Oh…and there was torture. That’s kind of a cool bit. Ya know…for the tiny sadist in all of us.
I guess this is considered an adult thriller, but it reads more like YA fiction to me. Of course, that could just be a preconceived notion since it was written by Meyer, but honestly, it reads a bit young, in my opinion. The characters are a bit flat, but not unlikable and their interactions are pretty much what you’d expect. Love and hate and distrust and so on. I guess that doesn’t really sound like a ringing endorsement, but it was a decent read. There were a few slow bits that I struggled through, but the story was a new/interesting one.

Book Description:

In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life.

She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn’t even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning.

Now she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They’ve killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon.

When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it’s her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous.

Resolving to meet the threat head-on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of.
In this tautly plotted novel, Meyer creates a fierce and fascinating new heroine with a very specialized skill set. And she shows once again why she’s one of the world’s bestselling authors.

Rating:
3/5

-Lesley

Asking For It – Louise O’Neill

Good gawd you guys.
This book.
I bought it on a whim after it was recommended by Amazon because of my interest in other books set in Ireland. I knew without even reading about the book that it’d be about rape. I knew it would potentially be a difficult story to read, but I was curious to see how O’Neill dealt with the topic. Rape is one of those topics I am personally connected to and feel passionately about. I will always be an advocate for rape victims. Their voices are rarely heard, and they NEED TO BE.
Anyway, the story begins and it’s all about a gorgeous 18-year-old girl and her friends (who are so much like Regina George and her group of followers that I almost laughed out loud at their interactions) and their wild ways. The main character, Emma, isn’t really all that likable…she’s shady and obsessed with being the hottest girl present. She’s dishonest and also has a tendency to be cruel. That being said, O’Neill MUST be a talented writer because by the time all is said and done, you DO feel sympathy for this girl. You may even relate to her.
You will find yourself hating everyone in this story at one point or another. I promise. Oh…except for Emma’s brother, Bryan, and her friend, Conor.
The ending was NOT what I wanted, but after reading the afterword, I understand the choice she made.

Rating
4/5

Book Description
Emma O’Donovan is eighteen, beautiful, and fearless. It’s the beginning of summer in a quiet Irish town and tonight she and her friends have dressed to impress. Everyone is at the big party, but all eyes are on Emma.

The next morning Emma’s parents discover her in a heap on the doorstop of their home, unconscious. She is disheveled, bleeding, and disoriented, looking as if she had been dumped there in a hurry. She remembers nothing from the party.

That day several devastating photos from the party are posted online and go viral, eventually launching a criminal investigation and sending the community into tumult. The media descends, neighbors chose sides, and people from all over the world want to talk about her story. Everyone has something to say about Emma, whose life has been changed forever by an unthinkable and all-too-common act of sexual violence, but all she wants is to disappear.
(from GoodReads)

-Lesley

The Infernal Devices – Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1)

Let me just preface this by saying I really really loved Clare’s The Mortal Instruments. I DEVOURED the entire series in a very short period of time. There was just no stopping me. Immediately after finishing that series, I bought The Infernal Devices, but I sort of forgot I had them until I was going through the large collection of new books I keep forgetting I have. I saw them sitting in their box and began wondering why I hadn’t started them. They looked so sad and forgotten. I still don’t have an answer for the not reading of the books, but short story long…I have started them and I am in love.

I guess it’s just that YA/supernatural/fantasy thing that always gets me…and I truly did love the Shadowhunter world, so it makes sense that a sort of prequel to The Mortal Instruments would make me equally happy. Actually, I may like The Infernal Devices even MORE because I LOVE books set in the past. Clockwork Angel is set in 1878 London and is about an American girl (Tessa) who travels to London after her aunt died at the request of her brother, who had moved and was working there. Of course, as tends to happen in the Shadowhunter universe, things go awry and battles with the supernatural begin. There’s also some of the love drama stuff, because OF COURSE THERE IS…but I REFUSE to give you details, so don’t even try to get it out of me! YOU’LL NEVER MAKE ME TALK!
I will, however, tell you that you should really look into this series. The characters are equal parts fun and infuriating, so you’ll not lack for eyerolls and awws. (and also if you choose to read these, you should know Henry is my favorite character. You’ll see why.) But if you hate it, I totally didn’t recommend it and you have me confused with someone else. I mean, we all know my tastes are a bit strange and maybe also a bit immature. DON’T JUDGE ME!

Book Description:

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them…
(from GoodReads)

Rating:
5/5
Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2)

I’m still deeply in love with these books and these characters. Henry is still my favorite. I will still rave over the supernatural themes and the fictional history in these books. Clockwork Prince has made me so very happy. BUT THEN THERE ARE THE MOMENTS THAT MADE ME SO DESPERATELY SAD. There were moments that made me lose all interest in the third and final book, only because I was hoping for slightly different outcomes. But it’s fine. I’m fine. Ignore the sobbing you can no doubt hear no matter where you reside.

But in all seriousness, I will finish this trilogy and I’m sure I will love it. I had heard a few negative reviews from past readers. Many people were displeased with what seemed to be a greater focus on the characters relationships, as opposed to the wider story. I totally see how that could be a bad thing, but I think it was important to address the people as individuals and to explain their attachments (or lack thereof). I mean, this story would be nothing without the additional stories the players have created between them. You can’t very well have a decent story without developing the characters and their feelings for each other.

Book Description:

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.
(from Goodreads)

Rating:
5/5
Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3)

Man…This trilogy…I’m really glad I read it. I mean…it’s been a while since I consumed a series so quickly. Then again, it’s been a while since I’ve actually sat down and relaxed with a book. Most of the time, I’m trying to do a zillion other things at once, and I can’t really focus on what I’m reading. But anyway…after finishing the series, I was automatically like “OH MY GOSH I NEED TO GO BACK AND READ THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS BECAUSE I REMEMBER HOW THIS TIES IN NOW!” So anyway…the final book wrapped things up pretty much how I anticipated it would. There’s a lot to be said for surprises, but I’m truly glad this one went the way it did. I would have been super disappointed if it didn’t. I’d have to give it a negative review and you all know how much I hate doing that.

As a series, I give this a very sincere two thumbs up. The characters MAY be a bit predictable, but I think it served the story well. Of course there WERE some surprises that cropped up, so don’t think the “predictable” characters make this a bad read. They totally don’t. And honestly, would you really want a set of heroes who don’t follow the stereotypes pretty closely? I’m going to answer that for you…no. You wouldn’t. I promise.
I also promise this rave isn’t just an attempt to make you do what I want, therefore brainwashing you. I would never ever do that. (or would I?) Geeze…why do you people still read anything I write? This is terrible.

Book Description:

Danger and betrayal, love and loss, secrets and enchantment are woven together in the breathtaking finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices Trilogy, prequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.
(from GoodReads)

Rating:
5/5

-Lesley

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me – Mindy Kaling

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I’m just gonna say it. This book was terrible. Not in that it was poorly written. That was fine. It’s fine. I like some memoirs…some being “very few” and basically all of them are sort of focused on mental health (like Jenny Lawson’s stuff). I think the problem is…to enjoy this memoir, you need to really really like Mindy Kaling. And it’s not that I DON’T like her…I’m basically just on the fence about her. I loved her in The Office because she was just such a wreck. It’s fun to watch people be crazy and ridiculous. Here’s the thing though, I know she’s a brilliant woman and I’ve enjoyed her appearances on talk shows and in interviews about important matters like racism and sexism. She has a seriously impressive mind…buuuut that doesn’t really translate into the characters I’ve seen her play. I couldn’t stomach more than a few minutes of The Mindy Project.
ANYWAY the book just sort of became that more of that for me. It was all pretty shallow and I think I was expecting something a lot more engaging and I got mostly fluff. BUT I guess if that’s her life, she can’t really write a memoir that isn’t fluffy. Still…she’s so so smart and I just NEEDED to see more of that.

Soooooo if you’re a fan of Mindy Kaling this book is probably your thing. If you’re not, you’ll be disappointed.

 

Book Description:
Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”

Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!

In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

 

Rating:
3/5

 

-Lesley