Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
Goodreads blurb: One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them is a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured vet returning from Afghanistan, a septuagenarian business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. And then, tragically, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor. Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place for himself in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a piece of him has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery–one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do find yourself? How do you discover your purpose? What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?
My take: 4,75 out of 5. This was not what I expected but i really loved it. It’s sad and beautiful and should come with a million trigger warnings but its so wonderfully developed. The relationship between Edward and Shay is so well written and so well developed, i stan. Love John’s love of Broadway songs. Also having read this whilst the previews for the new TV show are coming up, I’m surprised as to how it really doesn’t match the book as much, very interesting to see how they take it and also who is Connie Britton playing (because it def does not seem like a book in the character) because in this blog we are definitely Connie Britton fans!
Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
Goodreads blurb: The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job. Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
This is an ARC review thanks to a gift from the publisher. The book comes out June 13th.
My take: 4.25 out of 5. Ali Hazelwoods first book, The love Hypothesis, as a total 5 star read in my book. Her later books are equally as bingeworthy, however how similar in subject matter and story make them less of a mind blowing read than the first one. It might also be my favorite male lead of all her books. Don’t get me wrong this is still a fabulous romance and should be top of your lists come finding a beach read this summer. I actually didn’t need the steam at the end, I feel her books are so well written than sometimes I fell like its another author when she changes tracks.
The Light Pirate by Lili Brooks-Dalton
Goodreads blurb: Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels gradually wreak havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker; his pregnant wife, Frida; and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds to search for them. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before. As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. Moving from childhood to adulthood, adapting not only to the changing landscape, but also to the people who stayed behind in a place abandoned by civilization, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature. Told in four parts—power, water, light, and time—The Light Pirate mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet, and a call back to the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness
My take: 4 out of 5. It’s a little bit unnerving to read this book when you’re living in Miami, and, uh, it should have a trigger warning if you live in Florida. Do not read this book during hurricane season in Florida, but if you take that away, it’s actually a really good book.
Definitely completely understand the comparisons to Crawdad, I can see that, and in a similar manner in some parts it is a little bit longer than I wanted I think the last two parts just drag after the first two which are just so hectic. I think that contrast, although makes sense for the book, it’s a little bit more annoying for the reader, but I enjoyed this and its magical realism . I do wish there was a little bit more conclusion to the light situation.
The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton
Goodreads blurb: In 1934, a luxury cruise becomes a fight for survival as two women’s pasts collide on a round-trip voyage from New York to Havana in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton’s page-turning new novel inspired by the true story of the SS Morro Castle. New York heiress Catherine Dohan seemingly has it all. There’s only one problem. It’s a lie. As soon as the Morro Castle leaves port, Catherine’s past returns with a vengeance and threatens her life. Joining forces with a charismatic jewel thief, Catherine must discover who wants her dead—and why. Elena Palacio is a dead woman. Or so everyone thinks. After a devastating betrayal left her penniless and on the run, Elena’s journey on the Morro Castle is her last hope. Steeped in secrecy and a burning desire for revenge, her return to Havana is a chance to right the wrong that has been done to her—and her prey is on the ship. As danger swirls aboard the Morro Castle and their fates intertwine, Elena and Catherine must risk everything to see justice served once and for all.
This is an ARC review thanks to a gift from the publisher. The book comes out April 11th.
My take: 4.5 out of 5. I really liked it. I didn’t love it as much as as I like some of the other channel Clayton Books. But here we have historical fiction meets mystery meets romance and I was here for all of it. It expanded her historical kind of family romance drama to a little bit of mystery, which I love. And the fact that this is a real story and the ship existed was just wonderful.
I loved the twist. I was getting a little bit hesitant at some point while I was reading it and then the twist kind of happened and it just kind of went back to being a five star read for me. But I think that makes, just made it simmer in the middle. It was a quick read so it makes a wonderful beach read.
Only other thing I didn’t love, there was a little bit too much of a blow at the end and SPOILER ALERT: I think the two women finding additional romances in this blow up works well for the romance side, but it doesn’t feel very realistic.
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