The Broken Girls: This book has two parallel narratives, set in the early 1950s and 2014. It's a mystery, and I didn't find it predictable. There was a supernatural element that I thought was pretty extraneous -- it didn't affect the primary plot much and felt a little cheesy to me.
An Unwanted Guest: Ugh, this was bad. A murder mystery that was pretty freakin' boring. And then unfurled everything in the last five pages. No thank you.
The Great Alone: This book is about Leni, a 13-year-old girl in the '70s who moves to Alaska with her family to live off the land. That premise is not really my cup of tea, but I loved this book. It was a nuanced story of love and relationships and belonging.
The Forgotten Hours: I couldn't put this book down. All I could think about at work the other day was going home to continue reading this book, lol. I liked that this showed a crappy situation from various perspectives, and I liked the ending. I don't need everything to be tied in a neat little bow, but I like books that end with some sort of indication that the characters are going to be OK.
Linking up with Steph and Jana. Thanks for hosting, ladies!
I really enjoyed the great alone!
ReplyDeleteI loved The Great Alone so much. I loved Alaska as a setting that was so important to the story that it was a character itself.
ReplyDeleteI think the supernatural element I keep hearing about in The Broken Girls is why it has sat on my shelf for over a year unread.
I havent read the great alone yet but cant wait to get to it!
ReplyDeleteThe Great Alone was one of my favorite books last year. I started An Unwanted Guest and couldn't seem to get into the writing style for some reason- kind of glad I skipped over it now.
ReplyDeletethe great alone was so good - didn't expect to like it based on the synopsis but it was so good.
ReplyDeleteI can't get into books with supernatural elements, especially when I'm not expecting them. I have The Forgotten Hours on my Kindle, so good to see another positive review of it!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED The Great Alone.
ReplyDeleteI don't generally like books with supernatural elements to them, but I did read Holding Smoke last year or two years ago (by Elle Cosimano) which had that and I wasn't expecting it. Wound up really liking the book.
Ooh, I'll have to check it out. Thanks!
DeleteI've never been impressed with a Shari Lapena book...I've read two...so I didn't pick up this last one.
ReplyDeleteAdding The Forgotten Hours!
Both the Broken Girls and The Great Alone are on my TBR. I don't mind supernatural elements, although I typically like to know in advance that there is one when it doesn't necessarily seem a natural fit.
ReplyDeleteSorry you didn't really love The Broken Girls and An Unwanted Guest. I was a bit curious about those...but we'll see. Might be library reads some day. :)
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
The Forgotten Hours sounds really good! I loved The Great Alone!
ReplyDeleteThe Forgotten Hours sounds really good!
ReplyDeleteI read The Broken Girls this month too, and I enjoyed it. I agree though, the Supernatural part was a bit cheesy!
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