The Girls

 The Girls by Emma Cline

Published: June 14, 2016

Publisher: Random House

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

The Girls follows Evie, a middle aged woman slouching through life, as she recounts her summer with a Manson family like group during the summer of '69.

I just could not connect with any of the characters in the story. If it had been Suzanne or Roos' POV I think I would have found it more interesting. Instead I had to follow Evie, a fourteen year old girl of privilege. I get being a lonely teen is rough, dealing with divorced parents is rough, dealing with trying to navigate your sexuality is rough. My problem was Evie's struggles didn't interest me. She comes from a well off family and her parents are selfish people. She likes girls more than boys but it never comes up aside from her internal struggles.  Compare that to the little bits we get about Suzanne or Roos. One had to work as a stripper, maybe, the other was an abused wife that left her husband. Let's not even think about all the people out there who, because of their sexuality, faced homelessness after being disowned by their family and violence.

Cline also was constantly pointing out how dangerous men are. How they look lustfully at young girls and take advantage of them. How women are all wrapped up in pleasing men to the point of denying themselves their own identities. Okay, but again I'm following Evie. Yes, some guys perv on her but compared to what Suzanne or Roos had been through? I just had a hard time caring.

Maybe if I had been alive during the time period I would connect more with Evie. It isn't a badly written book. The prose gets a little purple here and there but nothing so egregious that I'd dock points. Someone that finds the time period or the whole cult angle interesting might love this book. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me.

The Stranger At Black Lake

The Stranger At Black Lake

Author: Christina McDonald

Publisher: Intrigue Ink Publishing

Projected Publication date: March 19, 2024

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Black Lake is more than a peaceful new start for Jess Lambert and her 

husband. New friend? Check. Rumors and local legends about an old

 house? Check. Grisly murder scene? Unfortunately, also a check. Jess soon 

forgets about settling in and becomes obsessed with solving a mystery.

 

A big thank you to Netgalley and Intrigue Ink Publishing for the ARC of The Stranger

 At Black Lake.

 

McDonald’s novel These Still Black Waters is on my TBR so when I saw this novella

on NetGalley I quickly applied. The Stranger At Black Lake is the backstory for 

readers of Jess Lambert’s adventures. It can also be a taste test for anyone 

that wants to see if McDonald’s style is for them. Short, sweet, and entertaining this 

is an easy pick for mystery lovers.

Companions on the Road

 

Companions on the Road by Tanith Lee

Genres: Fantasy, Novella, Horror, YA, Scifi, Magic

Publishing date: Nov 1, 1975 by Random house UK

My copy: Physical, purchased at a used book store

This is the kind of book half stars are made for. Companions is two novellas by 

Tanith Lee. The first story felt like a parable and I really liked where it was going.

 The second one was interesting and I enjoyed following Oaive on her hero's 

journey. My problem is with the endings. Both endings felt too "and everyone 

lived happily ever after". I don't hate happy endings but they just didn't feel like

 the proper conclusions to the stories being told. They were creepy and, the

 first especially, felt more like horror than fantasy. Maybe that's just me though.

 I'm going to find another of Tanith Lee's books, preferably a full length novel, 

and try that out. Lee's writing is beautiful and I really did enjoy how she wove

 her tales just not how she finished them off.

Strange Folk

Lee seeks comfort and safety after the life she worked hard to create falls apart. This means heading back to Craw Valley. Back to her family that she has complicated feelings about. Having no where else to go she heads back taking her two children with her. Townspeople say Lee's family are magic until a man dies in the woods near the family house. Then they wonder if the town healer created something darker.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. 

The blurb sounded interesting and I always love reading debut fiction. Plus, who doesn’t need magic in their lives, right? Underneath the magic is a story about family, addiction, and coming to terms with yourself. Lee resents the way she grew up and the people that failed her. Yet, Lee ends up repeating the same mistakes that her mother did. Being confronted with emotional baggage you thought you buried is never easy.

Why didn’t I give this five stars? The thing that caused me to score this lower is the murder mystery plot. I feel the murder wasn’t necessary and took away from Lee working through her past. Lee has a lot of emotional baggage to deal with because she moved back. She is drinking more and walking around acting like she is better than everyone because she left. Her hypocrisy gets put on the back-burner because Lee has to figure out the murder mystery. I think the story would have been better if Dyer had focused on Lee coming to terms with and dealing with her past. The romance subplot felt like wasted potential. The guy Lee starts dating is someone she knew when she was young. He stayed in town while Lee took off as soon as she had the chance. There are a few different times he says that the town isn’t that bad and Lee scoffs. There is so much to explore there but, for me at least, it felt like a box to check off for plot points.

Still, I did enjoy this book and I recommend anyone that likes witchy stories and folksy magic to check it out. I’m going to be keeping an eye on Alli Dyer's career and look forward to seeing how she refines her craft.

Four Weekends and a Funeral

Author: Ellie Palmer

Genre: Romance 

Expected publication Date: August 6, 2024

Alison Mullally arrives at the funeral of her ex-boyfriend, Sam. She quickly finds out almost no one knew about their breakup, including his parents. Sam's parents, especially his mother, seem comforted that Sam had someone. Always the people-pleaser, Alison agrees to pretend they were still together. It’s a few hours for the funeral, no big deal. Then the subject of cleaning out Sam’s apartment comes up. Alison agrees to box up his stuff so his parents don’t have to. Again, no big deal. Except she won’t be doing this alone. Adam Berg, Sam’s longtime best friend, is also going to be there. To say they have a rocky start is an understatement. It is obvious Adam doesn’t want Alison there. Determined to get through this Alison tries to befriend Adam. If for no other reason than to make her next four weekends not suck. Soon Alison starts getting some feelings for Adam. He is pretty gorgeous after all. It seems like he might be getting them too. The problem is Alison is still his dead best friend's girlfriend.

This was a very fun read that delves into Alison's relationships with everyone. Alison and Sam’s breakup was pretty friendly. She was drawn to him because of his thrill-seeking ways. See, Alison’s mom had breast cancer and so Alison got tested for the gene BRCA 1. She has it which means she has a high likelihood of developing cancer. Before the book started she got a double mastectomy. Instead of dealing with her feelings about it she tries to push them away. It's easier to fill her life up with amazing things like hiking in nature. Things that Sam loved and Alison tries to love.

Alison’s relationships with Sam and Adam aren’t the only ones she has to navigate. There are her best girlfriends and her overbearing mother too. These are so complicated its no wonder she ended up in a fake relationship.

I enjoyed all the characters Ellie Palmer created. They feel like real people. They aren’t perfect, but I never sat there questioning why Alison kept them in her life. There were times I wanted her to defend herself, especially when it came to her mother, but Alison wasn’t there yet. I appreciate that Alison’s problems didn’t vanish because of love. Minor spoiler but she does end up seeing a therapist to deal with her feelings.

Four Weekends is Palmer’s debut and I am impressed. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a slow burn romance with realistic characters. Tread carefully if you are dealing with loss or cancer as those two topics are big themes of the book. I look forward to seeing what Palmer writes next. 

A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/ G. P. Putnam’s Sons for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.