Month: June 2025

Title: Heartwood

Author: Amity Gaige

Genre: mystery

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Excellent story of Valerie, who is lost in the Maine woods; Bev, the warden who is searching for her; and Lena, a would-be armchair detective who is helping find her. The story unfolds from multiple points of view, but also in news articles and interviews. I love a mixed-media book!

Valerie was hiking the Appalachian Trail, but toward the end, she didn’t meet up with her husband, who is keeping track of her progress. Her parts of the story are told in endearing letters to her mother. Each woman featured in the story is a powerhouse of strength and personality, which is always wonderful to read.

I loved this book. I had no idea what I was expecting because lost/survivor stories can be rather bland, but I thought this one was great. Definitely worth reading.

Title: You Belong to Me

Author: Hayley Krischer

Genre: YA thriller

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I flew through this book and loved it! The story follows Frances Bean, yes, named after the real person, who marches to the beat of her own drum, follows her own path, whatever cliche you want to use. She and her small friend group are the “outcasts” of the school of rich kids. Bean attends because her mother teaches there, but she never fits in due to her lack of finances. Her friends are kind and accept her, but she’s always felt different.

Julia Patterson’s mom owns a wellness company, and, as Julia and Bean are paired together for a school project, Julia pulls Bean into her circle. As their romance heats up, Bean begins to uncover some dark secrets of the company.

This book is a fun satire that pulls back the curtain on the wellness industry sham, but in a less harmful take than Pyramidia, for example. Love that this was LGBTQ friendly, as well. Definitely a fun read.

Title: Twenty-Seven Minutes

Author: Ashley Tate

Genre: thriller

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Set in both past and present tense and starting with the death of Phoebe Dean, several lives are intertwined because of her loss. Her brother, Grant, was driving when Phoebe was ejected from his truck and killed. A friend, Becca, was injured in the back seat. And June’s brother, Wyatt, goes missing the same night.

As the story of what actually happened that night unfolds, we see just how tragic the event was. June and her mother were never the same, given June’s father left after Wyatt did, and neither returned. Becca never fully remembered that evening and has a lot of survivor’s guilt. And Grant chose to drown his memories in alcohol.

The author does a great job of shifting between the present and past timeframes, which all leads to a big reveal of just what happened that night. The only frustrating thing about this book was that the female characters were just awful. They nagged, were demanding, and generally insufferable. Not that the men were better, but I just am frustrated with books, particularly written by women, where the female characters are just negative stereotypes with no development.