A religious-y haunted house / possession book set in some fictional town in Sicily? God this should have been spectacular. The cover is, at least. It just never really WENT THERE. So much meandering. Then I realized this author also wrote All Hallows, which I hated, but I will say that this one at least read less like a YA horror script to be workshopped in a high school creative writing class. The only scene that really got me didn’t even take place in the house!!
3 stars. Not the worst. I guess.
2. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
Angie Kim went to Stanford and Harvard and it shows in her writing. Not that it’s pretentious or highfalutin, but just SO SMART. The most unique “missing person” novel I’ve ever read. It’s fucking depressing but there were also some parts where I laughed out loud, genuinely. Mia is a frustrating protagonist, unlikable the majority of the time, but also fascinating and being in her mind is incredible (and exhausting. and confusing.).
4 stars.
3. The Sweetest Remedy by Jane Igharo
Connecting with new family. A romance. Nigeria. I kind of wanted more, especially the Nigeria parts because I wanted to feel like I was there, and I didn’t. It was fine! 3 stars.
4. Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson
An Icelandic thriller. It was OK but at some point, I stopped caring about what happened to some teenager in 1956, you know? March was a bad month for me to care about books, I think. 3 stars.
5. Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett
There is so much casual animal death in this book and the plot is beyond ridiculous but not in a “fun romp” kind of way. I think I actually hated this. 2 stars.
6. The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
Rachel Hawkins is hit or miss with me. This was a miss. I didn’t give a shit about a single person in this book. The intrigue wasn’t there for me. The cover is pretty though. 3 stars because it didn’t suck, maybe it was just me.
7. Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
Really FUCKING good, actually. I gave this a 4 on Goodreads, but dude. Let’s be real – this was a 5. The main character was such a hot mess, relatable, root-for-able. I cried for her. I laughed with her. I laughed AT her. I cringed at her. The writing was vibrant, real, snappy, hilarious. When I found out that the author is an essayist, comedian, AND screenwriter, it made a lot of sense. This was my style.
I’m just sorry that I put off reading it for as long as I did – it was on my Scribd (Everand?) shelves for a good while.
8. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
4 stars but possibly because I felt obligated? I think to my taste, it really was more of a 3 but I can certainly understand why this book (and author) is so very beloved. And BLEAK.
9. The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell
Another hit-or-miss author for me. This one was kind of a snooze. 5 star cover, 3 star story. Lisa’s writing itself is always nice, but her plots sometimes are just like WTF Lisa, come on.
10. Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson
2 stars. Fucking waste of time. Why is that every time I bring a book to Korea, it ends up being so terrible!? This was a joke of a horror book. I rolled my eyes through the whole thing. Way too long. No pay off. Dumb characters. If it wasn’t a library book, I’d have tossed it in the Han River JUST KIDDING I WOULD NEVER LITTER IN KOREA!!!!!!
*******
And that’s all of the mostly shitty books I read in March. We’re almost done with April here and I am still in a slump. I am craving a five star read. :( Maybe the new Emily Henry!?!?