Reading Lately: February 2024 Book Reviews

Every time an assignment comes in from the mysterious Mr. Smith, Evie takes a new identity and learns everything she can about the town and its people. Her newest mark: Ryan Sumner. But Evie connects with Ryan in a way she hasn’t in a long time. When a woman shows up using Evie’s real name, Evie must do everything she can to stay one step ahead of her boss and complete her mission. Especially after what happened last time.

After being mostly disappointed with 2023’s selection of thrillers, First Lie Wins was exactly the great thriller I needed. Elston throws you into a delicious cat-and-mouse game between Evie and Mr. Smith. With relatable characters and plenty of twists, First Lie Wins keeps you on your toes from the very first page to its clever ending. 

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Publication Date: 2 January 2024
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When an extremist Russian billionaire runs for president, he promises he will recover the Amber Room, a priceless piece of Russian art looted by the Nazis and lost during World War II. To stop his political ascent, CIA spymaster Frances Coffrey is tasked with finding the Amber Room first and finds the perfect man in Aubrey Argylle, a lonely man with an unsavory family history. Argylle must train and integrate into an already formed CIA team that is recovering from a disastrous mission. Can they find the Amber Room first? And is there a reason why so many things are going disastrously wrong?

Argylle is the most overhyped book of 2024, largely due to its marketing tactics. No, it was not written by Taylor Swift, which should have been obvious from the start based on its hideous cover. Instead, Argylle is ghostwritten by Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen to kick off Matthew Vaughn’s new film, Argylle, which showcases the author Elly Conway finding out her spy novels are actually real.

Setting preconceived notions aside, Argylle is an okay thriller combining a spy plot with a treasure hunt. The book is not particularly memorable or original but it’s a quick action-packed read. Besides the marketing setting up flawed expectations, Argylle‘s biggest flaw is that the premise leaves you with nagging questions because the overarching plot makes no sense. Why exactly is the CIA even doing this mission? What do they hope to achieve by finding the Amber Room first? If they do find it first, what exactly is the plan?

To make things more meta, in the movie, writer Elly Conway discovers her spy novels are hitting a little too close to the truth and she and her cat find themselves in a covert world she thought she was just inventing. The movie was silly yet engaging with tons of twists, some of which were rather clever. After the halfway mark, the twists (and the movie) become more and more ridiculous and outlandish.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Penguin Random House. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Publication Date: 9 January 2024
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Hiding from her past, Cass has made a home for herself among the expats at Koh Sang Resort in Thailand. When Cass starts getting threatening notes, she fears her past is coming back to haunt her. A recently arrived travel influencer, Brooke has gotten close to Cass and her friends but she has her own secret agenda for being on the island. After two accidental deaths on the island, Cass and Brooke begin to wonder if the two cases are connected.

Ochs’ debut novel is a run-of-the-mill vacation thriller, a slow-burn mystery that ends with plenty of action and some unexpected twists. Although Cass and Brooke were decent narrators with an intriguing connection between them, neither were particularly likable. The other expats, on the other hand, felt underdeveloped and forced. However, the hot topic of conversation about The Resort is the controversial epilogue. You’ll either love it or hate it. Personally, I thought it detracted from the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Sourcebooks through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Publication Date: 6 February 2024
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Tommy Orange returns with a new book release that is both a prequel and a sequel to his bestselling novel, There There. In 2018, Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield struggles to hold her family together in the aftermath of her grandson Orvil’s shooting at the Oakland Powwow. In Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange takes you through Opal’s family history, as each generation faces discrimination and addiction.

Although I enjoyed There There, I had a difficult time reading Tommy Orange’s sequel/prequel, Wandering Stars. The first third of the novel showcased disjointed snippets of Opal’s ancestors which are told as reflections on their memories. Then the novel settles into the present day, following Opal and her grandchildren in the aftermath of the shooting at the end of There There. Overall, Wandering Stars was too disjointed and highbrow for my taste, mainly focusing on each character’s internal thoughts.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Knopf through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Publication Date: 27 February 2024
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In 2019, Kate flees London and her abusive partner to settle in the broken-down Weyward cottage. Inherited from an aunt, Weyward cottage seems to be hiding secrets that go back centuries. In 1619, Altha is on trial for witchcraft; her extensive knowledge of the natural world has the villagers on edge. In 1942, Violet feels trapped in her family’s crumbling estate, searching for any clues to better know her deceased mother. Weaving three stories together, Weyward tells of the transformative power of female resilience.

Reminding me of Kate Morton’s books and The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, I can see why Weyward won the Goodreads award for best historical fiction. Hart beautifully weaves together three generations of Weyward women; adding witchy vibes and a gorgeous connection to the natural world in each timeline. Each story holds a unique atmosphere but all add to the feminist tone of the novel, showcasing the fierce determination each woman must hold through her adversities caused by the fear and limitations placed on them by men.

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Publication Date: 7 March 2023
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With the gods fighting again after centuries of sleep, eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to keep her family safe. Her mother is fighting addiction, her brother has disappeared from the front lines, and Iris hopes a promotion as a columnist at the Oath Gazette will help. When Iris sparks up a magical correspondence with a stranger, she never imagined her secret pen pal would turn out to be Roman Kitt, her archrival at the paper. But she can’t deny the connection she feels, even when Iris enlists to be a war correspondent on the front lines.

Rebecca Ross presents an adorably fun young adult fantasy duology that mixes Greek mythology and World War 1 that hooked me from the start. The enemies-to-lovers story was rather obvious yet still so rewarding. For the most part, Divine Rivals reads like a historical fiction book, so it took me a bit to get the feel of the fantasy world. The cliffhanger ending was so compelling that I immediately went out and bought the second audiobook, Ruthless Vows, which shifts much more into the fantasy side of the story.

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Publication Date: 4 April 2023
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In a sequel to Divine Rivals, Iris Winnow returns from the front bruised and battered. With Roman missing, Iris and Attie head west to report on Dacre’s movements. Meanwhile, Roman awakes in Dacre’s realm with his memory wiped clean. Thankful to the god who healed him, Roman agrees to write articles for Dacre, until mysterious letters appear under his wardrobe that make him question where his loyalties lie in the war between the gods.

Divine Rivals hooked me with its historical fiction feel, adorable enemies-to-lovers story, and hints of fantasy. Instead of building on readers’ expectations, Ross overdelivers the world-building fantasy and underdelivers the romance. Although a main focus of the book, the war between the gods wasn’t particularly interesting. While I still enjoyed the characters, Iris and Roman’s letter writing dragged on too long, feeling like a repeat of the first book without the same charm.

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Publication Date: 26 December 2023
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Hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos’s memoir shows palliative care teaches as much about how to live your life as how to die. Vlahos recounts the most memorable patients she’s worked with and how they each affected her life: a woman who never questioned her faith until death, a man seeing visions of his late daughter, and a young patient regretting how much she cared about others’ opinions.

Although hospice is a major theme, don’t expect an informative look at hospice care. If you don’t know much about hospice, Vlahos does a good job explaining the purpose of hospice and correcting the false impression that hospice is just the last few days of life. However, The In-Between is firmly a memoir centered on Vlahos herself, focusing on how her encounters with patients changed her own life. More spiritual than religious, Vlahos recalls the coincidences she can’t explain, believing there is a thin line between this world and the next. Though I wish the author had gone a bit deeper, I found The In-Between to be an enjoyable and uplifting read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Ballantine Books. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Publication Date: 10 January 2023
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As a seven-year-old, Sam adores her absent father and all she wants to do is climb trees. As Sam matures, she struggles to fit in and be noticed while shying away from attention. Wanting to forge her own path, she is caught between her mother’s plans, her father’s disappointment, and her climbing coach’s attention.

Goodman’s coming-of-age novel describes the struggles of always feeling like an outsider. Sam’s voice provides a powerful narration of the pain of balancing her desires with the weight of others’ expectations. Full of well-developed characters, Sam does an excellent job painting Sam’s troubled home life through subtext, adding convincing realism to the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Penguin Random House. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Publication Date: 3 January 2023
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Florence Day is a ghostwriter for one of the most popular romance writers of the day. But after a bad breakup, a disillusioned Florence struggles to write about love. With a new book due and her editor refusing an extension, Florence’s career is all but over. When her father dies, Florence returns to her sleepy Southern hometown only to be shocked to find the ghost of her editor, whose unfinished business has her second-guessing everything she knows about love stories.

Upon hearing “ghost romance,” I opted to skip this 2022 bestseller but, after loving Poston’s time-travel romance The Seven Year Slip, I knew I needed to circle back. Poston charmingly pens a story about finding love while grieving death. The supernatural premise was delightfully done, adding heartwarming levity while exploring grief and loss. An all-around joy of a read, The Dead Romantics is the perfect cute romance you didn’t realize you needed.

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Publication Date: 28 June 2022
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A year after her aunt’s death, Mira is headed home to spend Christmas with her grief-stricken mom. When her flight is canceled, Mira decides to hitch a ride with four other strangers from her flight. Yet as they travel through a blizzard, Mira begins to suspect that her fellow travelers are all hiding things. Worse, someone might even be actively trying to sabotage their trip.

If you don’t think about it too much, Five Total Strangers is a great read. In this fast-paced young adult thriller, anything that can go wrong will. The constant twists make for an exciting pageturning read. Unfortunately, once you pause and start to think about the premise in the slightest, the glaring plot holes leave you scratching your head. As long as you are willing to suspend your disbelief, Five Total Strangers is a quick enjoyable read.

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Publication Date: 6 October 2020
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On Thanksgiving weekend, an elderly woman is killed by an arrow in the sleepy town of Three Pines, outside of Quebec. Why did Jane Neal never let people into her house? Could her newly released painting of the local inhabitants be connected to her murder? Called in to investigate, Inspector Armand Gamache quietly observes the secrets of the small town in the first book of the Three Pines series.

Readers have been raving about Louise Penny’s latest Inspector Armand books, so I thought it was time I checked out the hype. Although I was warned that the series takes a few books to get into, I was hooked right away by this cozy mystery. Expecting an action-hero style detective, I was delighted by Inspector Gamache, a wholesomely polite yet observant older investigator. The quirky small town was full of charming characters. I’m not sure how such a small town could produce enough murders to sustain the series, but I guess I’ll have to keep reading to find out.

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Publication Date: 3 October 2004
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At the Three Pines’ annual curling tournament, CC de Poitiers is electrocuted in the middle of the frozen lake. The whole town was there but no one seems to have seen anything. Just days after Christmas and a year after his first visit, Inspector Armand Gamache returns to the sleepy Quebec town to investigate the murder of the one woman everyone seemed to hate.

I took longer to get into the second book of the Inspector Gamache series. A Fatal Grace gets off to a slow start, introducing new characters and immersing you back into life at Three Pines. Once the murder occurs and Inspector Gamache arrives, the story settled into the familiar feeling of the first book, a charming cozy mystery set in a small town. A small town that apparently attracts a lot of murder.

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Publication Date: 30 September 2006
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