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Take It Back

Title: Take It Back

Author: Kia Abdullah

Genre: legal/domestic thriller

I don’t read enough books by Muslim authors, and this is a failing on my part. Not only do I want to support the community, but I also want to learn more about the Muslim ethnicity. So when I stumbled upon this book, I was eager to read and understand a bit more. Even though this book is fiction, being written by a Muslim author brings a level of authenticity to it. And I’m glad to say this book was really excellent overall. I definitely recommend it.

From Goodreads: The Victim: Jodie Wolfe, a physically flawed 16-year-old girl accuses four boys in her class of something unthinkable.

The Defendants: Four handsome teenagers from hard-working immigrant families, all with corroborating stories.

The Savior: Zara Kaleel, a former lawyer, one of London’s brightest legal minds, takes on this case. She believes her client, even though those closest to her do not.

Together, they enter the most explosive criminal trial of the year, where the only thing that matters is justice for Jodie. But this time justice comes at a devastating cost.

Poor Jodie. What a sad character. She was born with facial deformities and has grown up being called every taunting name, shunned from society, stared at by strangers, just a terrible world. Her father left after seeing her face, and her mother treats her like garbage. Jodie just wants to be loved and accepted like any other teenage girl. So, when she approaches Zara with the story of being gang-raped, Zara immediately takes her side and learns the boys she is accusing are Muslim, as is Zara. As much as Zara wants to support her community, she can’t just ignore Jodie’s claims. The Muslim community supports the accused, Zara is drawn into scandals, and plenty of people think Jodie is lying for attention. The plot just kept drawing me in. Did the boys do it? Whew… the story that unfolds is worth reading. I really enjoyed this book and wavered between Jodie telling the truth vs not. I won’t say how the book ends, but I will say I was left satisfied.

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Disorder collection

Title/Author: The Best Girls/Min Jin Lee

Anonymous/Uzodinma Iweala

Ungirls/Lauren Beukes

Loam/Scott Heim

Will Williams/Namwali Serpell

The Beckoning Fair One/Dan Chaon

Genre: horror/thriller

These Amazon short stories are just so great. I’ve never read one that was awful. I like some more than others, of course, but they are a lot of fun. I was particularly excited about this one because they are horror-ish stories, which I love. Some are more graphic than others, but all are definitely worth reading.

From Goodreads: The Best Girls: An excellent student from a poor, traditional family in Seoul, the narrator has absorbed the same message her whole life: Only a boy can provide the family with dignity and wealth. Not her. Not her three sisters. Receiving approval only for uncomplaining sacrifice, she has resolved to take on her family’s troubles. She is a good girl. And she knows what good girls must do.

Anonymous: He’s a well-traveled consultant arriving home at a metropolitan airport. He’s also become accustomed to extra scrutiny for his brown skin and many-stamped passport. But when he’s whisked away, isolated, and chained in a stark white room without explanation, his reality crumbles. Because what he doesn’t know is the most damning evidence against him.

Ungirls: Actor and sex worker Nats is experienced at putting on a show. However, her new gig supplying intimate whispers for growgirls takes her to a place darker and lonelier than she could have ever imagined. The lab-grown dolls can respond to pleasure or pain; their synthetic heads contain only the simplest AI to prevent any pesky robo sex doll uprisings. But just because growgirls don’t have a brain, doesn’t mean they don’t have a voice…

Loam: Forty years ago, triplets Miriam, Louise, and Edward were swept up in a case of rural mass hysteria. Coerced into fabricating unspeakable lies about their first-grade teacher and her adult son, they were complicit in destroying two lives. Ever since, they have believed they are being followed by a presence still seeking retribution for their childhood sins. Unless their guilty consciences are conjuring as many monsters as their innocent minds once did.

Will Williams: Ever since high school, somebody’s been playing the echo game on Will Williams. A look-alike with the same tattoos and the same name has been following him. Starting by implicating Will in petty crimes, and escalating to offenses with serious prison terms, he’s undermined every attempt Will has made to get his life on track. Now, drifting from city to city, Will’s doing everything in his power to outrun his shadow.

The Beckoning Fair One: Ever since they were orphaned, Tyler has kept close tabs on his sister, Shannon. He has to, considering her weird and risky obsessions. Now she has a new one: an inexplicable crush on an odd-looking stranger. And what Shannon wants from her unwitting “honey boy,” Tyler can’t begin to fathom. Not until he follows his sister into the darkest corners of her desires.

The Beckoning Fair One was definitely my favorite, and it was also the most insane of them. I had no idea where it was going. Also, The Best Girls was a slow burn, but oh my that last line. I was floored. If you have Amazon Prime, be sure to check these collections out. There’s something for everyone. I absolutely love them.

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An Untamed State

Title: An Untamed State

Author: Roxane Gay

Genre: thriller

To get right to it- this is easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. I’ve been a fan of Roxane Gay’s for year, but I’ve never read her fiction. I loved Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body and have read plenty of her essays, but this was her first novel. I pulled this off my shelf at random and had no idea what it was about or what to expect. And it turned out to be just fantastic. I couldn’t read it fast enough.

From Goodreads: Mireille Duval Jameson is living a fairy tale. The strong-willed youngest daughter of one of Haiti’s richest sons, she has an adoring husband, a precocious infant son, by all appearances a perfect life. The fairy tale ends one day when Mireille is kidnapped in broad daylight by a gang of heavily armed men, in front of her father’s Port au Prince estate. Held captive by a man who calls himself The Commander, Mireille waits for her father to pay her ransom. As it becomes clear her father intends to resist the kidnappers, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who resents everything she represents.

An Untamed State is a novel of privilege in the face of crushing poverty, and of the lawless anger that corrupt governments produce. It is the story of a wilful woman attempting to find her way back to the person she once was, and of how redemption is found in the most unexpected of places. An Untamed State establishes Roxane Gay as a writer of prodigious, arresting talent. 

The first half of the book is about Mireille and her captors, and it’s very descriptive as to what happens, although not necessarily graphic, but it definitely will be hard for some to read. The second half (this isn’t a spoiler…she tells us she was released after thirteen days on page 1) is about Miri trying to come to terms with and heal her mind and body. The chapters about Miri are from her perspective, but there are chapters about her husband and father that are third-person narrator, which was an interesting shift. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I loved about this book because some of it is so brutal, but Miri’s strength and resolve are admirable. This book also puts life into perspective. The value of life, the importance of family and loyalty, the strength to survive. I cannot recommend this book enough. Just absolutely amazing.

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Cape Fear

Title: Cape Fear (formerly The Executioners)

Author: John D. MacDonald

Genre: thriller

When Stephen King wrote a column for Entertainment Weekly, he wrote one about his Top 10 Villains in literature. That list made me want to read every book he mentioned. I’ve read No Country For Old Men, Sanctuary, 1984 (my all-time favorite book), Harry Potter (Voldemort), and Lord of the Rings (Sauron). The other villains include Dracula, Pazazu from The Exorcist, Rhoda Penmark from The Bad Seed, Harry Powell from Night of the Hunter, and Max Cady from Cape Fear. I’ve never seen the movies, so this was all new to me.

From Goodreads: An insane criminal threatens to destroy a family, and the police are powerless to protect them.

For fourteen years, convicted rapist Max Cady nursed his hatred for Sam Bowden into an insane passion for revenge. He lived only for the day he would be free—free to track down and destroy the man who had put him behind bars.

Murder was merciful compared to what Cady had in mind—and what Cady had in mind was Bowden’s innocent and lovely teenaged daughter….

This short book starts out with Cady terrorizing the family. It takes no time at all to get to the suspense. Sam is a good guy who did nothing wrong, but Cady doesn’t see it that way. He’s out for revenge and will stop at nothing to kill each and every Bowden. Written in 1957, this book is definitely dated (Sam and wife Carol sleep in different beds), but it’s a fun way to look at the past when life was so simple. And the story definitely holds up. I say this is a must-read for any thriller fan. Books like this just aren’t written anymore.

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The Stranger Inside

Title: The Stranger Inside

Author: Lisa Unger

Genre: thriller

I had only read one book by Lisa Unger before, Ink and Bone, and thought it was great. So when my book lottery (seriously, I just choose a number at random and what comes up is the book I read) selected this one, I was excited and looking forward to a new thrill. Sadly, this one didn’t work for me at all. I had to roll my eyes a few times, and there was a giant plot hole that I could not get past.

From Goodreads: Even good people are drawn to do evil things … Twelve-year-old Rain Winter narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, and Hank was held in captivity before managing to escape. Their abductor was sent to prison but, years later, was released. Then someone delivered real justice–and killed him in cold blood.

Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, her dark childhood buried deep. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom, putting aside her career as a hard-hitting journalist to care for her infant daughter. But when another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case. Eerie similarities to the murder of her friends’ abductor force Rain to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?

This book just misses the mark all the way around. The main character is okay, not too annoying, but I just didn’t care about her much, which I should have, given her childhood trauma. And a secondary character, who is a bit of a spoiler, so I’ll keep quiet, was absolutely absurd. I didn’t believe this character’s situation at all. The dialogue was super cheesy and didn’t sound authentic. And the plot twist, ugh, just no. I gave it three stars because I definitely wanted to get to the end, but it was just so lame overall. Bummer.

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Saint X

Title: Saint X

Author: Alexis Schaitkin

Genre: literary thriller

I like a good murder mystery, but this wasn’t one exactly. However, it was really great in its own unique way. The story deals with an unexplained death (was it murder? was it an accident?) and the aftermath of the people surrounding it. The language was just beautiful, which is why I added “literary” to the genre. And for a debut novel, I was really blown away by how great this book was.

From Goodreads: Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister, Alison, disappears on the last night of their family vacation at a resort on the Caribbean island of Saint X. Several days later, Alison’s body is found in a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men – employees at the resort – are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men are soon released. The story turns into national tabloid news, a lurid mystery that will go unsolved. For Claire and her parents, there is only the return home to broken lives.

Years later, Claire is living and working in New York City when a brief but fateful encounter brings her together with Clive Richardson, one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. It is a moment that sets Claire on an obsessive pursuit of the truth – not only to find out what happened the night of Alison’s death but also to answer the elusive question: Who exactly was her sister? At seven, Claire had been barely old enough to know her: a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation.

As Claire doggedly shadows Clive, hoping to gain his trust, waiting for the slip that will reveal the truth, an unlikely attachment develops between them, two people whose lives were forever marked by the same tragedy.

As Claire dives deeper into her sister’s life and death, you really get to see just who Alison was. Claire gets access to some of her sister’s audio diaries and gets an unfiltered Alison. And as you get to see Alison through the lens of her sister, you see who Claire is deep down as well. And Clive. Oh, Clive. I’m certainly not going to tell you whether or not he was involved in Alison’s death, but as Claire gets to know him, you really feel for him. I thought this book was excellent. I was expecting just another thriller, but it’s so much more than that. I definitely recommend this one.

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The Book of Etta

Title: The Book of Etta

Author: Meg Elison

Genre: dystopian

The sequel to The Book of the Unnamed Midwife takes place 100 years after Unnamed, so there aren’t going to be a lot of spoilers for the first book. Just a reminder of the plot though: a fever strikes the world, mostly attacking women and children. The Unnamed Midwife keeps a diary of her travels through the country, living as a man to survive. Okay, so Etta is a raider, and like the UM, she travels as a man she calls Eddy. As Eddy, she feels much more like herself, which confuses her, and is very discouraged by others. As a woman, she is a gift to the world and is expected to be either a midwife or a mother. Etta/Eddy has no desire to be either.

From Goodreads: Etta comes from Nowhere, a village of survivors of the great plague that wiped away the world that was. In the world that is, women are scarce and childbearing is dangerous…yet desperately necessary for humankind’s future. Mothers and midwives are sacred, but Etta has a different calling. As a scavenger. Loyal to the village but living on her own terms, Etta roams the desolate territory beyond: salvaging useful relics of the ruined past and braving the threat of brutal slave traders, who are seeking women and girls to sell and subjugate.

I’m leaving off the end of the blurb because it’s a giant spoiler, which was a huge bummer to me. As Eddy roams the world, freeing women from slavers, she also trades with other cities and learns from them. I loved how Elison handled the switch between Etta and Eddy, who each have their own pronouns, sometimes going back and forth between them within the same sentence or paragraph. But that’s how Etta/Eddy feels. Very much like two people at once. I was glad to revisit the world that the Unnamed left us and see how things changed in the past century (hint: all is not perfect). I have one more book in this series, The Book of Flora, which I’m really curious about. Flora was a character in Etta, assuming it’s the same person. So I’m curious to see where Flora’s story picks up. Overall, these seem to be hidden gems of the dystopian world, but I’m really enjoying them and definitely recommend them to others.

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The One collection

Title/Author: Before Her/Jacqueline Woodson

Parable/Jess Walter

A Wedding Thing/Shea Serrano

Yes, And/Kristi Coulter

The Visitor/Dodai Stewart

Speed Grieving/Allison Ellis

Lila/Naima Coster

I’m really enjoying these Amazon originals short stories. However, this one was a little different. These were all non-fiction. I’m not normally one for love stories, but these weren’t your average boy meets girl tales. Some were girl meets girl. One of these was about a family pet, even. In any case, I did enjoy them all, but a couple were standouts to me.

From Goodreads: Before Her- Before Jacqueline Woodson met Juliet, before her own self-realization, there were decades of friends, lovers, and family who defined the woman she’d become. In this haunting story of memory and identity, Jacqueline shares the profound impact they had on bending the path of her life; how they informed the dreams of her future; and how each one—some lost, all loved—would bring her to Juliet, her one and only.

Parable- In this funny remembrance of an unusual triangle, Jess learns to accept what’s best for the one animal he has ever loved. After all, he gave his heart to the Australian shepherd mix he’d rescued. What alternative has he other than to give the restless girl her freedom? But in doing so, Jess discovers more about himself, the nature of affection and attachment, the inevitability of loss, and how much Millie means to so many.

A Wedding Thing- Two days before Shea and Larami Serrano were to be married, four months into her pregnancy with twin boys, she went into labor. Stuck in a hospital room, fearing the worst, and dismantling a year’s worth of preparations in a matter of hours—the couple decides that the show must go on. Told from Shea’s and Larami’s dual perspectives, this memoir shows the powerful bond that can arise from adversity, a sense of humor, and mutual trust.

Yes, And- When Kristi Coulter’s husband proposed, she didn’t admit her fears. When they exchanged vows, she didn’t reveal that she was terrified that marriage would ruin her life. During fifteen years of genuinely happy marriage, she never said a word about another man in her life. Then she comes clean—about all of it—and discovers a new world.

The Visitor- One cold, lonely night, Manhattan writer Dodai Stewart meets a charming stranger on an internet dating site. He’s sexy. He’s smart. He’s funny. There’s an instant spark. And one unavoidable catch: adorable Marco lives in San Francisco. So how far is Dodai willing to go, and how much will she sacrifice, to find that elusive One she’s heard so much about? Cross-country travel, emotional outbursts of love, and time will inevitably tell.

Speed Grieving- When Allison Ellis’s husband died of an unexpected heart attack, there was no playbook for a thirty-three-year-old widow with a breastfeeding infant. In her grief, she devised a practical strategy: find a new husband within twelve months. What transpired was a year of mourning, manic dating, and breaking hearts across Seattle on a deadline mission to heal her own.

Lila- When Naima Coster met Lila, they were girls of color in a predominantly white private school in Manhattan. As adolescents they found each other and needed each other. As each comes of age, and new bonds pull them apart, the friendship splinters. What happens when Naima and Lila turn to one another again—this time as women? And what will it take to recapture the connection that once meant the world to them?

Parable, about the family dog, was my favorite. It was hilarious. And, oddly enough, our family got a dog yesterday. This particular dog isn’t very loyal and keeps running away from home. Ends up loving the neighbor more, who also loves it. So the two families share her a lot. I also enjoyed A Wedding Thing because when you’re pregnant, babies have other plans! Thankfully all turned out well for the babies, but the wedding ended up differently than expected. This series has something for everyone, really. Love isn’t just about marital love. Love between friends, lovers, parents, pets, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed each unique story.

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The Chestnut Man

Title: The Chestnut Man

Author: Soren Sveistrup

Genre: thriller

My go-to Netflix shows are Nordic police procedural. I cannot get enough of these. They are so well-written, and the characters are so much better than in American police procedurals. They frequently feature female leads, which is awesome, and aren’t bogged down by tropes or an overwhelming amount of red herrings. So when I can find a book that’s similar, I’m really excited. And this book was a perfect match.

From Goodreads: The heart-pounding debut from the creator of the hit Scandinavian television show The Killing. If you find one, he’s already found you. A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen.

His calling card is a “chestnut man”—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene. Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery—a fingerprint belonging to a young girl, a government minister’s daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago.

A tragic coincidence—or something more twisted? To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the Chestnut Man’s gruesome clues. Because it’s clear that the madman is on a mission that is far from over. And no one is safe.

I thought this book was great. I was left guessing until the end, but once the identity of The Chestnut Man was revealed, it all made sense. There weren’t a lot of dumb red herrings, but just good old fashioned police work following various leads. The main detective is a woman, so of course you know she’s awesome. The story was creative, the characters were solid, and the book overall kept me hooked. Definitely one of the better thrillers I’ve read in awhile.

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Blanche Cleans Up

Title: Blanche Cleans Up

Author: Barbara Neely

Genre: mystery, Black literature

This book is the third in the “Blanche White” series. I haven’t read the first two, but I had no trouble following the story. I picked this book at random off my shelf and am so glad I did. What a fun story, and Blanche is just a great character. She’s strong and funny, full of love and sass. She has no qualms about eavesdropping and speaking her mind. You can’t help but cheer for her.

From Goodreads: Blanche White is a very black, middle-aged woman who cleans white people’s houses for a living. Tart-tongued and shrewd, with a keen nose for trouble, she’s also a queen-sized snoop – who sees at a glance what people are really up to – especially if it’s criminal. It’s been three years since she had to grab the kids and scurry out of Farleigh, North Carolina. Now they’ve all settled into life in the Roxbury section of Boston, and Blanche herself is feeling like she may finally be free to enjoy life – at least a little. But before Blanche can say, Breakfast is ready, she gets suckered into standing in as cook-housekeeper to one Allister Brindle, a Boston Brahmin politician, and his do-gooder wife. Blanche is quickly enmeshed in a festering canker of a scandal that moves from the Brindles’ house (a.k.a. Prozac House) to her own black community as she tries to figure out the truth behind the swimming-pool death of a young black man who knew a little too much…

What I loved about this book was that it deals with so many different topics in excellent ways. Neely doesn’t shy away from current events (even though this was published in 1998) like LGBTQ acceptance, especially within the Black community, teenage pregnancy, environmental issues, etc. Sadly, 20+ years later and not much has changed. This book could have been written a year ago and the same themes would have been present. Blanche is such a great character, and it’s not as if she’s an amateur detective. She just gets caught up in a terrible situation with people she cares about who she wants to help. She would much rather mind her own business (but still be in on the gossip) without putting her life on the line. If you want a funny, well-written heroine, this book is a great one. Maybe start at the first book, but it’s definitely not mandatory.