Sarah

Lol, why do I keep reading these when I always end up disappointed? I just wanted something light to listen to while I clean, and I was quite taken with the charming architectural and design descriptions, but the characters were a little two-dimensional.

Cute

DNF because I had to return my library copy. Steamy and smart, but I don't know if I'll go back to it.

Meh. I learned some interesting things about famous 20th century people (Orwell, Guggenheim), but this book mostly fell flat for me. The balance between build-up and climax was way off - the story should have continued past the climax instead of shoving the reader off a cliff at the end.

Not quite what I was expecting, but the setting captured me and White did a nice job of revealing the tensions between locals & tourists, insiders and outsiders, in a place dependent upon both.

What was the point of this book? I really liked St. James's other book, The Sun Down Motel, but this book was just...nothing. There are few reveals or mysteries, so I suppose it's an extended character study, but it really fell flat for me.

This book took me by surprise. It's quieter than much of my reading lately, but with interesting and deeply woven characters and a tidy timeline to move things along. The description makes it sound quirky and funny, but I was completely sucked in to the emotional roller coaster and weighty responsibility of a congregational search committee. I knew nothing about Unitarian Universalists, although I became so engrossed and smitten with these characters that I searched for a congregation near me (there's not one, unfortunately). I am now requesting Huneven's other books through my library, so there's another endorsement :)

Excellent, thoroughly researched, and engaging. Although this book tackles horrific crimes, Miles does so with humanity and grace. I couldn't put it down. I will also never again hike without pepper spray.
(side note: Miles summarized, in two pages, half of my master's thesis about gender in outdoor magazines and catalogs...so, yeah)

The plot was great and very much in line with the historical/cozy mysteries I enjoy. The writing, unfortunately, left much to be desired. Lots of passive explication. I will read the next in the series, though, hoping for less backstory and explanations in the second book.

Propulsive. The shifting suspects and well crafted characters reminded me a bit of Big Little Lies.

I devoured this book. The entire novel is told through emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, and notes - a format that might be frustrating for some people, but it does play into the plot. It reminded me of Big Little Lies, though without Moriarty's eloquent narrative characterizations. Lots of fun, although I don't think it would work well as an audiobook.

A well written novel that earns 2 stars for dramatic and unnecessary emotional manipulation.

Good modern detective fun. It's interesting to think about the kind of access an amateur sleuth would need to solve a contemporary cozy-ish mystery and Pek handles that seamlessly and sets us up for a series.

I'm glad I didn't see the ratings and reviews on Goodreads before reading this. It's powerful and honest and funny and I feel like I made a new friend.

Some cute stuff, but a few world building inconsistencies made me move on to other books.

Good but there were too many characters for me to easily follow the story

Tiny and beautiful.

This was not good. I kept trying to finish it as a light read, but finally convinced myself to spend my time on books I enjoy. Why so many stars? Maybe I read a different book than all of these reviewers.

Brief, smart, and hilarious for anyone who has read and watched every British murder mystery.

There were some good qualities to this novel, but the comparisons to Harry Potter are unwarranted. It was missing something important but nebulous- I felt like I was reading an explanation of a larger and richer story instead of that richer story itself.

Not my favorite of Heller's, but some lovely descriptions of my backyard :)

I love Liane Moriarty's characters and how human and vulnerable they are. Without spoiling anything, there was a spot 3/4 of the way through this book where I almost stopped reading because I feared Moriarty had failed one of her characters. I'm glad I read on, since I was mistaken, but there was one other dark aspect of the novel that troubled me.

I am obsessed with this charming series! Funny and human with wonderful characters.

We all know how the American pandemic response went wrong, but this shows how close we were to getting it right. Completely engrossing and filled with new heroes, it somehow manages to be hopeful and remind us of the good people. I wanted more, which I decided was a petty reason to not give 5 stars :)

This was cute. A little twee, with some dramatic character developments, but I learned quite a bit about rationing.