Bzynbooked

When I’m not busy reading , I write about books

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The Good Sister By Sally Hepworth

I try to write my thoughts on a book shortly after I finish it so I don't forget what I read. But since I'm inconsistent here, I clearly don't do that. I saw some hype about this book on Instagram and added to my list of books to read eventually.

Once I got this book, I almost gave up after a few pages. It was hard for me to get into the mind of Fern Castle, our main character because of the way she viewed the world around her and herself. I honestly caught on fairly quick why she thinks the way she does which is what pushed me to carry on and I am glad I did. I finished this book probably a week ago and it's still on my mind. I keep thinking I have more to read and I didn't finish it. This may be a book I read a second time in the future.

The story shifts between the views of Fern and her sister Rose. They are twin sisters who obviously grew up together, but somehow experienced the same life events in two totally different ways. Fern has always felt like Rose has taken care of her and that she owes a great debt to her for helping her, especially during a tragic event in their childhood. Fern has a very pragmatic mind which can lead her to see things without much emotion.

Things start happening around Fern that makes her question her abilities as a person and Rose's devotion to her. If you find the beginning hard to get into, stick with it. You absolutely will be happy you did. What an excellent book.

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Do No Harm By Christina McDonald

This book was very good but also very frustrating. I almost passed on this book due to the premise. A doctor finds out her son has Leukemia and starts selling Oxy in order to pay for an experimental treatment to save his life. I just so happens that her husband is a detective who is in charge of uncovering the uptick in Oxy sells, overdoses, and eventually murders that all seemed to be linked.

The book was extremely well written and the story was engrossing. I thought it was going to give me Walter White vibes (which in a sense it did) but it turned out to be an incredible story. The book was frustrating because at times there were too many unnecessary words and the shift from Emma’s (the doctor) point of view which was first person and her husband’s point of view which was third person was a little annoying. 

The book ended in a way I didn’t expect but I think if you like thrillers, you will love this one.

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Sister Dear By Hannah Mary McKinnon

This book is definitely a slow burner. Eleanor learns from her dying father that he’s actually ..... not her father. I mean, that sucks on many levels. Her father is her best friend, he’s dying , and then she learns he’s been hiding this life altering secret from her. Naturally this sets her on a course to find her birth father who is married and has another daughter. She’s already not close to her mother and the sister she grew up with, so she hopes maybe she can find acceptance with the family she didn’t know she had. She’s wrong of course, which makes her turn to thoughts of revenge instead and leads to crazy consequences both Eleanor and I never saw coming. This book taught me a valid lessons. Sometimes when you think you’re going to get somebody, you get got. Hahahaha, bye!

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Anxious People By Fredrik Backman

“This is a book about idiots “ is something the author reminds us several times in this book and it’s no lie . Every single character is an idiot and does what they do for idiotic reasons. This book is supposed to be about a bank robbery which turns into a hostage situation. Neither one of these things are true but neither are they a lie. The book is written in a way that is supposed to be funny satire but just came off as annoying and TRYING to be funny. It’s supposed to be insightful about the human condition and show us the various ways we can influence each other’s lives. While it does that by blending the characters stories together , I didn’t connect with any of them or even the author. I read this book because it had great reviews and received high praise but it was a complete let down. I found it hard to read and only finished it because I started it.

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Little Secrets By Jennifer Hillier

Easily one of the best books I have ever read. I don’t even know how to describe it without giving away too much. The book is centered around Marin Machado a successful business woman and happy wife and mother who’s world shatters when her son is abducted from a shopping center right before Christmas. I felt every single ounce of her pain. The writing is so unbelievably vivid and clear. I love books where I can really get into the characters heads and lives. I did not want put this book down. I was honestly annoyed when I had to work or sleep or be human and couldn’t read. Anyway, we follow Marin through her grief and guilt. She left go of her sons hand for a second to answer her phone and just like that, he was gone. How do you recover from something like that? The only lead they have is a grainy security video of her son holding someone else’s hand as they leave the shopping center and that’s it. With no other leads, she hires a private investigator to look into his disappearance only to discover her husband is having an affair. She couldn’t do anything when he son was taken, but she’ll be dammed if some h-, I mean other woman, steals her husband. What follows is an amazing story full of twists and turns and surprises I did not expect. GO READ THIS BOOK!

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His & Hers by Alice Feeney

I was so impressed with this book. If you have read any of my reviews from a few years ago, you know I will read anything that is compared to Gone Girl as I believe this book was. The two main characters in this book are a detective and a reporter who used to be married and are assigned to the same case. The author does get into their backstory a little and why they are now divorced but, that is not central at all to the plot.

The plot is centered around a group of friends who one by one are murdered. As the cases start to pile up, Anna ( the reporter) and Jack (the detective) find themselves caught up in the case in more ways than one.

The brilliance of this story is every time you think you’ve figured it out, you’re wrong. The story is all the way messed up, I was slightly traumatized by some of the subject matter but, it’s an outstanding book. I wish it had a better cover. As I said before, I do judge a book by it’s cover. 

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Review coming

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When I Was You by Amber Garza

 I can already feel this turning into a movie. Two women in the same town with the same name. Of course their paths are going to cross and madness ensues. I’m going to be honest, I had a hard time reading this book. Parts of it were obvious and predictable. Parts of it were a surprise but still predictable. Kelly Medina ( and the other Kelly Medina) accidentally on purpose meet each other outside a pediatricians office and become stalkers, I mean friends. They get deeply invested in each others lives and uncover many lies and secrets. Usually, I find there is only one crazy person in this type of thriller but, they are both crazy. I’m sure a lot of people will or already do love this book but, it was only ok for me. It had too many words and flashbacks where it didn’t need them.

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The Whisper Man by Alex North

Let’s ignore the fact that I haven’t posted in a year, shall we? I admit that I judge books by their cover. If the cover or title is not intriguing, I am not going to bother reading your book. It’s just how my mind works. A hand print isn’t exactly exciting but it’s so simple it made me want to know more and the title implied some sort of old school horror movie type of situation, I needed to know what was going on.

This book perfectly weaved together the past and the present. The characters are compelling and flawed in a wonderful way. A serial killer known as  “The Whisper Man” was convicted of murdering several boys. Twenty years later, another boy is  missing and it’s very similar. Detective Pete Willis has been haunted all these years for not being able to recover one of the bodies and is brought on to the new case. This forces him to face his past mistakes in a way he never expected.  Tom Kennedy is a single father who is doing his best to raise his imaginative son Jake alone but he feels he will never be able to measure up to is late wife’s parenting. Tom is also haunted by his past and hopes that moving to a new house and city will help Jake deal with the loss of his mother.

At some point, Pete and Tom’s stories intertwine  in a way that hopes both of them reconcile their past as well as deal with who they have become.The twists and turns in this story are remarkable and I don’t want to give too much of anything away. This is Alex North’s first book and I am sure he has many years of brilliant writing ahead of him.

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

This book came highly recommended by the amazing Jenny Han ( one of my favorite authors, check her out). I also saw this book was called the best book of the year. The story is deep, I will say that. It explores the complexity of family, race, and fitting in. The book starts off with the words “Lydia is dead. But they, don’t know this yet.” Set in 1970, Lydia is our main focus or rather what lead up to her death. The character that struck me the most was her father James. He spent his entire life not feeling good enough because he was different. He found that being Chinese, he stuck out when all he wanted to do was fit in. Both of Lydia’s parents put all their unfulfilled hopes and dreams on her shoulders and eventually, it became too much to bear.

This of course effects her siblings too who felt left out and ignored. I think this book is an important read and although heartbreaking, it teaches many valuable lessons.

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New Year, Old Book #2 Mystic Freaking River by Dennis Lehane

I read this book for the first time many years ago. My mother and father are both avid readers and would often just hand me a book and say read this and let me know what you think and I would just shrug and dive in. Again, I remember reading this, but couldn’t remember why I liked it.

Mystic River is..... ice cold. This book is gritty and grimy AF. Sometimes I read without imagining but with this book, every word came to life. I could feel the weather, I could see what the characters were doing, right down to their hand gestures. The book is about three boys who aren’t really friends but find themselves spending a lot of time together due to their fathers jobs. One of the boys is talked into getting into a car with two men pretending to be cops and disappears for four days. At first everyone is happy he’s returned but then treats him like a leper. It’s never said what happened to him during those four days but it is implied. 

Years later, the boys (now men) are brought back together due to the murder of one of their daughters. One man is the cop investigating the crime, one man is a suspect, and one is a grieving father who will do anything to find his daughters killer.

If you like thrillers and a mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end, read Mystic River. You can also watch the movie on Hulu.

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New Year, Old Book

Happy New Year! *queue explosions*. I thought I’d start by revisiting books I have read before and  liked/loved and couldn’t remember why. Ideally I’d like to do that along with reviewing a new book at least once a month.

Anyway, the five people you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom is a beloved book. It was published in the stone age (2003) and made into a movie the year after. The book is about an old man (Eddie) and starts on the day he died. Once he dies, he is told that there are five people in heaven who have been waiting for him to basically explain key points in his life. Some of these people he never met when he was alive. The purpose is to show us how past and present events impact our lives and how we are all connected in one way or another. Although heaven and God are mentioned, it is not a religious book.

Eddie is a character I think we can all relate to, whether you’re an old man or not. After the war, he spent his life feeling useless and like he never did anything that mattered. He even tells one of the people he meets in heaven that not only was his life a waste, but so was his death. Of course, the purpose of those five people his to prove him wrong.

The book isn’t very long, coming in at 158 pages and I highly recommended if you have ever felt alone, forgotten, useless, or mistreated.

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The Disappearances By Emily  Bain Murphy

This book is set in the 1940′s but it doesn’t really feel dated. The story follows Alia and her brother Miles who are sent to live in a strange town with a friend of their deceased mother while their father is off fighting in the war. Alia almost feels immediately ill at ease with the town of Sterling, probably because some random slips her a note that says “you’re not welcome.” She soon learns this town has a past connected with her mother and she starts to feel like she never really knew her mother at all.

The book sort of drags it’s feet when it comes to the plot. Every seven years, Sterling looses something in The Disappearances and Alia and Miles happen to show up right around the time something else will disappear which makes everyone in town suspicious of them. The book is goes back and forth between the town of Sterling and some mysterious man named Stefan who seems to have ties to Alia’s mother Juliet.

It’s not a bad book but I did consider finding some sort of summery online so I could just find out what happens in the end. If you like long Summer reads and Shakespeare, you’ll like this book.

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A Void the Size of the World by Rachele Alpine

I believe I either found this book by searching for new YA books on my local library’s app or a Summer read list I found on Twitter. I was intrigued by the synopsis. The story is about  Rhylee (the spelling of her name bothered me at first but grew on me after awhile) who indirectly  is the cause of her sister Abby’s disappearance. Rhylee along with her family and town are devastated by Abby’s disappearance but Rhylee secretly feels enormous guilt over why her sister disappeared in the first place. She struggles with whether or not to tell anyone, especially when the police start suspecting someone close to her.

This book does keep you wondering will Abby come home and what happens when she does but sadly it drags it out so much that I could careless what about Abby. The reason she ran into the dark woods late at night is kind of petty (although I’m sure most teenage girls would disagree). Rhylee spends the novel feeling guilty and also wanting her family to try and move on with life. She doesn’t want anyone to forget about Abby, but she doesn’t want their life on pause, especially for her younger brother. The book takes on a weird twist when the town seems to idolize the idea of Abby for no particular reason.

The book wasn’t something I’d want to read again and I feel like it wasted a lot of my time.

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Behind Closed Doors by B.A Paris

I am typically wary of any book that has reviews that says it’s “thrilling”, “shocking”, or “you won’t be able to put it down.” I find that when I’m not able to put down most books, it’s because I am trying to find out what happened or how it’s going to end rather than being so encompassed by the book that I simply cannot just put it down.

Behind Closed Doors is a book that is actually shocking. It hits you with a “dang, I didn’t really see that coming” type of plot. You have Grace and Jack, the seemingly picture perfect couple that love each other so much they almost literally never leave each others side. When you find out why and how it isn’t what you thought it would be. The book does have many very interesting twists and turns and will leave you on the edge of your seat wondering how is this going to play out. I did read it in a matter of hours because I really was so encompassed by the story. I also couldn’t wait to review it. I found out about this book on Twitter from a beauty vlogger I follow and really paid it no mind until I saw the book at Target.

If you enjoy a good thriller, you will enjoy this book.

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To All The Boys I loved Before By Jenny Han

Piggy backing off of last weeks love of diversity, let me introduce you to Lara Jean Song Covey. Lara Jean is half Korean and proud of it. Lara Jean is dealing with her sister Margo leaving for college. After their mother passed away, Margo was the one who stepped up as a mother figure and now Lara Jean is trying to step into that role for their youngest sister Kitty. Lara Jean is one of my favorite characters. She’s driven without being a crazy over achiever, she’s kind, and she’s fierce. This book is basically a coming of age story a lot of girls can relate to and it’s a trilogy (P.S I Still Love You and Forever Lara Jean) which allows you to spend even more time in Lara Jean’s world. The book just got picked up as a film and I am so excited. I am excited to see the story play out in more than just my imagination and I am excited for all the Asian American girls who don’t often see someone who looks like them in movies or on tv.

The title comes from Lara Jean writing love letters to her secret crushes. She never mailed them and hid them away in an old hat box that belonged to her mother.Kitty finds them and mails them out which forces Lara Jean to face her old crushes and old feelings. You’ll fall in love with the Song- Covey girls, I guarantee it.

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The Take Down by Corrie Wang

 Going right along with the last review, The Take Down also heavily involves social media. Although this time it is set in the future where your online persona is exactly what people think of you Kyla (who’s real name is Kyle) Cheng is your classic over achiever. She has the good grades and the right friends until a viral video of her doing something scandalous surfaces on her schools website. Kyle swears that’s not her in the video but no one believes her. Everything she worked for slowly starts to unravel. Kyla tries to figure out who is responsible for the video before it has a lasting effect on her future.

The first thing I love about this book is the diversity. Our main character is bi racial which I love. A lot of YA books get made into movies or TV shows and if that ever happened with this book, it would be nice to see someone who is different be a main character. Secondly, I love how once again we are deep in the world of social media. In this book it’s extreme where people can always find you (similar to checking in on Facebook but without you trying), your home can be upgraded to run off of social media, and basically your life. 

Kyla states in the book that she doesn’t expect you to like her and I disagree. She comes off as a normal  selfish teenager who has made mistakes. I feel like she learns something valuable in the end and the writing is superb.