Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent

What was supposed to just be an interview, has been transformed in Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, the story about Judi Dench and her Shakespearean career.

For the very first time, Dench opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career. In a series of intimate conversations with actor & director Brendan O’Hea, she guides the reader through. Shakespeare’s plays with incisive clarity. This includes her personal interpretations of some of Shakespeare’s most famous scenes with honesty and hilarity. Dench shares stories that haven’t been heard until now. Ultimately, this is Dench’s love letter to Shakespeare.

There were only two photos, one from the past and one from the present day. I would have loved to see more pictures of her in her roles and costumes. This would have made the book more interesting. But there are line sketches that provide visual stimulation. These drawings are done by Dench herself.

The best parts of the book are when her 0 humor and her honesty come out. My favorite quote? “The Merchant of fucking Venice….I used to dread going to the theatre every night.” On a side note, apparently, they took out the curse words for the audiobook; poor Stella Newing. I also enjoyed hearing about the behind-the-scenes hijinks and what it was like working with the other actors. But I have to be honest: I was very bored through most of it. I’m not a big Shakespeare fan so them breaking down each character and play was not my cup of tea. There are a lot of play quotes and discussions about them. Not enough of the fun anecdotes to keep me interested.

Honestly, this should have just been an interview. I would have loved to watch or listen to it in Dench’s voice (maybe the audiobook version is the way to go—wait no curse words! I just need a recording!). This will only truly appeal to true Shakespeare fans.

Publication Date: April 23
I received an ARC from the publisher; all opinions are my own.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Amy Tan’s latest book is not a novel that transports us from this world. Instead, it is a book about our world that takes away from everyday issues. The Backyard Bird Chronicles focuses on nature, and its use as a healing balm.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles is the journal she kept making daily entries, posing thoughtful questions, and drawing beautiful original sketches. In 2016, Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world. In search of peace, Tan focused in the fauna that came to her, the birds visiting her yard. These moments were an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time (Including the pandemic), connect to nature, and flex her curiosity and imagination.

This nonfiction book is mixed in with some fiction as Tan can’t help but create stories for her birds and other critters. These stories include drawings of animals with captions. My favorite is the set of animals she named after The Great Mouse Detective. The reader still sees what has always moved us about Tan in these moments.

This comes from a journal; it isn’t edited. But she writes her journal the same way she writes her novels. It’s not just notes—it’s full of thoughts and descriptions. Even without the drawings, you understand the bird she is writing about. That being said it’s still an easy read. It’s not full of incomprehensible jargon or too big metaphors. This is accessible to anyone interested in reading about birds.

My favorite part is watching her go from bird sketches to full-blown paintings. Watching her skill grow was like a coming-of-age journey with her. She mentions that she was glad she knew she wasn’t going to publish the journal at the beginning because she would have tried to make it all perfect. One, we don’t need perfect. Two, I loved watching her journey more than I enjoyed learning about birds.

Anyone who is interested in birds will love the Backyard Bird Chronicles. Tan fans who prefer fiction might enjoy it as I did or be disappointed without a grand tale.

Publication Date: April 23
I received an ARC from the publisher; all opinions are my own

Darling Girls

My appreciation of Sally Hepworth’s work has hovered between average (The Younger Wife)  and pretty good (The Soulmate). Darling Girls levels out at pretty good. But I can’t wait to read one that is outstanding.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia met in foster care under the tenuous and harsh care of Miss Fairchild. Told to be happy that they had been saved from tragedy, the girls toil on an idyllic farming estate. Their trauma keeps them bonded into adulthood and the present day. When the women find out that a body is discovered at the estate, all the pain, secrets, and lies come to light. Who is the dead body? And who killed them?

The story is framed in three timelines. The first is the present when the women find out about the body at the house. The second is the past when the girls stayed there. And, the last, is an unknown talking about her past with her therapist. These threads weave together to tell several stories that affect the story as a whole. The back story takes over the mystery in the beginning, leaving the reader slogging through. When it finally reaches its apex, things start moving quickly.

There isn’t enough time spent on the girls’ relationships now besides the mystery at hand. I would have liked more of that. I wanted to see the tightness and how things were between them. This would have had more emotional impact to something that happens towards the end. But above all this was an enjoyable thriller. I savored each twist and turn Hepworth took me on, as well as seeing who the mystery narrator actually was.

Darling Girls may not be the best psychological thriller, but it is still solid. Also, try this one on audiobook. The narrator does an amazing job with the characters and supplies great beats to twists.

Publication Date: April 23

I received an ARC for review; all opinions are my own.

You Know What You Did

You Know What You Did is an enjoyable and unputdownable thriller.

Annie Shaw nee Anh Lee grew up poor. Her mother immigrated from the Vietnam War with her son and unborn daughter. Their life growing up was hard as Anh’s mother suffered trauma and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. But Anh, now christened Annie, escapes to college From there she marries a loving and wealthy journalist and has become a painter of some esteem. When her mother dies, Annie, who has also developed OCD, finds her mental state slipping. Her symptoms, which were once in remission, of OCD rear their ugly heads. Then her art patron disappears, and her husband leaves for an assignment overseas. Annie starts having trouble telling fact from fiction. But she knows something is going on.

While author K.T. Nguuyen doesn’t share a personality with the main character, she also is recovering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This gives readers a unique and realistic view into disgust-driven, contamination-based OCD. Because of this, the book is heart-wrenching. You worry so much for Anh who also suffers generational trauma. The kind that is usual for immigrants fleeing violence. You just want to wrap a warm blanket around her and give her hot cocoa even when she makes bad decisions. It was hard to put down the book because you didn’t want to leave Annie.

That being said, I personally feel that mental illness is used unwisely in this book especially when trying to bring knowledge and understanding about OCD. I can’t reveal how this happens as I do not want to spoil the book. While I didn’t see the mental health aspect of the ending, I did see the big twist. (NOTE: I have read a lot of books and can see the ending to a lot of stories so that doesn’t mean that the author telegraphed the twist,) It was a bold move, and I  liked most of how it went down.

Thriller fans will love I Know What You Did and get an education from it.

Publication Date: April 16

I received an ARC for review; all opinions are my own.

The House on Biscayne Bay

Chanel Cleeton once again balances emotion, mystery, and history to create another unputdownable novel.

The House on Biscayne Bay opens after the Great War ends and people are flocking to the South hoping to make a fortune. Southern Florida sees the worst of it, and Anna’s husband wants to have the showiest house in the area. Marbrisa is built on a large estate abutting Biscayne Bay. The house is a beautiful spectacle, but Anna doesn’t feel very comfortable there. Her anxiety manifests when several deaths are tied to the house.

Years later, Carmen arrives at Marbrisa after the loss of her parents. The culture shock of the home compared to what her life was like in Havana overtakes her. If only Carolina would reach out, welcome her, make her feel comfortable in this home. Strange things have been happening lately including murdered animals and a weird “friend” of Carolina’s husband lurking around. Are events of the past repeating themselves?

The book is a page-turner. Switching from past to present, tension builds up because you want to know what happened next. But Cleeton makes you just invested the other time period. So, then you want to know what happens to them. Each time period leaves you wanting while answering the previous question. Not only that but she keeps you on your toes: just when you think it’s peacocks screaming, it ends up being a person and vice versa.

While Cuba isn’t a huge focus like in earlier novels, it is still represented. Carmen and Carolina are from Havana. Their bringing there and family dynamics are an important part of who they are. It is a part of them.

This gothic mystery makes Marbrisa a character all her own. I wish she would have had a little more room to breathe. I wanted more exploration of the house and its secrets. I need more meaningfulness in the house itself. But this is my only critique of this novel.

I would absolutely recommend The House on Biscayne Bay, Like The Cuban Heiress, Cleeton shows she can create meaningful and enjoyable tales without The Perez Family. She’s no one-trick pony.

Publication Date: April 2

I received an ARC for review; all opinions are my own.

Your Blood, My Bones

A great horror story for Twilight fans, Your Blood, My Bones twists the enemies to lovers ( and vice versa) genre and makes it more complex than the ones I have read before.

Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she’s just inherited and that’s to burn it down. But when he arrives, she finds Peter, one of the two boys she grew up with, tied up by vines in the basement. This is just the latest in the series of ritualistic murders Peter has suffered from Wyatt’s family. Though she does not know the events, their entire childhood is tainted by these rituals. She also doesn’t know there is only one way for him to truly kill him—he must kill her. And Peter is ready to truly die. Can Wyatt and their childhood friend James save her life? Or is she fated to be killed by one of the men she loves?

This a great book for adult Twilight fans. While there isn’t a true triangle, the three main characters are embedded in each other. The immortal, the girl with secret powers, and the other guy is— I don’t want to spoil it. The biggest difference is that it is well written, Kelly Andrew does a few too many flashbacks with some holes but overall, the novel holds up well. I was pleased with the ending. It was emotional after the buildup as sacrifices were made. There is true horror in the book, something the Twilight Saga lacks. Each new chapter included something more frightening than before. The emotional and horror elements are balanced well.

This is a creepy story that looks at relationships, what life and death truly are, and how your memories don’t always tell the whole story. Your Blood, My Bones is a must for horror and supernatural fiction fans.

Publication Date: April 2

I received an Arc from the Publisher; all opinions are my own.

Off the Air

Off the Air is a great mystery even if you don’t like the main character.

Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona. She works on a variety of stories, from fluff pieces to investigative reporting. When a local controversial radio host Larry Lemmon dies at his studio, all the media descends. Jolene finds out there are mysterious circumstances and is dead set on getting a scoop. When she becomes personally involved in the case, her life becomes on the line.

I’m going to be honest. I didn’t like the main character. She wasn’t much better than the other journalist she claimed to be separate from. While she tried to be objective in her reports, she didn’t care about messing up a police investigation. She thinks her career is more important than catching a killer. The book mentions the media and police working together but that’s not featured here and does not endure me to journalists. (Also, I have some bias because at the time I was reading the book and writing the review, Kate Middleton had to admit to having cancer because “journalists” wouldn’t leave her alone.)

The story is saved by Christina Estes writing. Her writing is what I would expect of a journalist: to the point without excessive, flowering wording. The novel is fast-paced, and the chapters aren’t bloated. This keeps the reader in the moment and on edge wanting to know whodunit.

Estes includes some journalistic tidbits in Off the Air showing the main character’s adeptness at her job even if you don’t like her. Overall, this is a fast-moving mystery that I enjoyed.

Publication Date: March 26

I received an ARC for review; all opinions are my own.

Good Half Gone

Good Half Gone’s premise was promising but the ending ruined the entire book.

Iris narrowly escaped being kidnapped as a teen, but she lives with survivor’s guilt. Her sister was drugged, thrown in a car, and taken away. The cops don’t believe Iris and claim the sister ran away. At least her grandmother believes her and helps push the cops. But because they waited so long; the trail goes ice cold. Now grown, she is beginning a work-study at the Shoal Island Hospital for criminals with mental illnesses. But Iris has ulterior motives; someone there knows something about her sister.

I really liked Iris and her desire to get justice for her sister. She’s the kind of character I like to read about. She is also in a common family set-up that has been popular of late: siblings being raised by grandparents because of something bad with their parents. I was glad to see that she was able to be a good mom even with everything she had gone through.

The story setup is confusing. The story goes back and forth between past and present for chapters until it suddenly stops once the author no longer needs the shock factor. The reader loses the pattern and is questioning because no one has said what is actually going on with the sister. In the present, a lot of things happen but it’s of very little consequence. Only Iris’s romance has any payoff when the entire story comes crumbling down and the pace goes at a frenzy.

Though I liked Iris, I just can’t with this book. Tarryn Fisher creates a conspiracy that would never, ever happen in the real world. In fact, she doesn’t explain well enough how it happened in the fictional world! I lost all suspension of disbelief even though I did call it one of the twists. The last quarter of the book is outrageous and I just wanted to throw the book against the wall (but since I read on my phone, I did not).

Good Half Gone is mistitled as clearly Iris is the good half. She’s a great character. But the plot is ridiculous. This one gets both thumbs down.

Publication Date; March 19
I received an ARC for review; all opinions are my own.

Under This Red Rock

Mindy McGinnis looks at mental illness from the inside out, creating a character that allows you to see and hear her hallucinations.

Neely is plagued by monsters. Monsters that speak to here. Her family has a history of mental illness and her brother just committed suicide over his. She knows when she hears the voices growing louder that she doesn’t have as much control of her mind as she needs to. Trying to establish some normalcy and quiet her mind, she works as a tour guide in a local cave system. Not only are the caverns astonishing, but they block the voices from bothering them. Here she makes an actual friend, a college student named Mila. She is gorgeous and confident and full of life; a balance against Neeley’s own personality. Neely finds herself becoming more stable. But then Mila goes missing and Neeley can’t fight the voices anymore. Something lurks underground. Be it man, monster or delusions is unknown.

I always love McGinnis’ characters. They are complex looking into their moral grey areas. Even those that seem perfect on the outside always have something dark hiding inside. Neely’s complexity is multiplied by her mental health issues. She struggles to do right but ends up doing wrong. Characters like Mila have something dark lurking within them due to an event in the book though she will deny this. No one is ever what they seem. The book is scary and best when it looks at something people live with daily. I couldn’t imagine Neely’s life. The cave itself is a character in its own right. The deep darkness sizzles with fear and danger even though they give Neely relief. But wouldn’t darkness save Neely from her own darkness?

The ending crashes down on the reader too quickly. Tension is lost and readers don’t have time to process the answer to the mystery of Mila. There is an epilogue that gives you some idea of what happens after the climax, but I feel like I didn’t get enough resolution for Max who I had bonded with during the book.

McGinnis does include a Content Warning for suicide. Besides suicide, this book has drug and alcohol use, as well as mentions sexual deviancy and rape. Some animal deaths are alluded to.

This is a dark psychological thriller that twists and turns giving the reader an amazing thrill. The ending is not the best, but horror fans will enjoy Under This Read Rock

Publication Date: March 19

I received an ARC for review; all opinions are my own.

What Grows in the Dark

What Grows in the Dark is an other-worldly and dark horror novel. Readers should be aware of a Content Warning of suicide before delving into this grotesque world.

Sixteen years ago, Brigit Weylan’s older sister, Emma, walked into the woods and never came back. Accepting her sister as dead, Brigit leaves Ellis Creek as soon as she can. Now Brigit travels around the country investigating paranormal activity with her cameraman, Ian. The twist? She’s just another sham and feels no guilt about it. But when her reputation for being a ghost hunter gets back to Ellis Creek, Brigit gets pulled back in. Something strange is going on in that forest where her sister disappeared, and more teens are disappearing. When Brigit starts to see and hear hallucinations, she realizes the paranormal is real. And it’s not happy with her.

The first half of the novel is perfectly paced and enjoyable. There is some mystery, and I want to read more and find out what’s going on. Plus, I loved the idea that karma was coming after someone who had been faking talking to ghosts. But at the halfway point the book turns incredibly violent. This is also where the book turns into chaos.

Plot elements explode and stack on top of each other. Jaq Evan’s writing style becomes frantic.  Without true quiet moments, readers don’t have a chance to truly understand what is going on or why before they are thrown into something else that hasn’t been fully explained. Even the ending didn’t clear everything up. All this is exacerbated by an overpopulation of characters with unclear motivations.

Brigit has no pro-nouns, and our written language is not ready for that it seems. This is reflective of the author’s own pronouns. Evans used “she” for lack of a better choice. This seems weird but using the character’s name over and over would have slogged the book down.

I see great potential for Evans in horror though a true grasp of pacing and character growth/inclusion will be a hurdle.

Publication Date: March 5

I received an ARC for review; all opinions are my own.