Tag Archives: Aubrey W.

Review: How to Stop Time

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How to Stop Time
by Matt Haig
4 stars

“Sometimes things are a change for the better and the worse at the same time, like the internet. Or the electric keyboard. Or pre-chopped garlic. Or the theory of relativity.”

Tom Hazard is over 400 years old. He was born in 1581. He went through puberty very early and aged faster than most of the boys his age. Since puberty…not so much. Due to an unknown condition, Tom ages approximately 15 times slower than normal human beings. So even though he is 437, he looks about 41. He has sailed with Captain Cook, worked with Shakespeare, and had a cocktail with F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Parts of the book are almost depressing. With the ability to view humanity through the centuries, Tom becomes disillusioned with people making the same mistakes over and over again. Other parts were much more hopeful, as Tom finds things and people to enjoy throughout his centuries. There is a society that protects people like Tom. The society provides funds and new identities every 8 years to help them avoid detection…in exchange for the occasional favor.

 

Read-alikes

The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

 

Review: Ten

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Ten
by Gretchen McNeil
4 stars

Based loosely on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, YA novel Ten by Gretchen McNeil is like a slasher movie in print. I felt like I was in the middle of a 90s teen horror movie like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer. Meg and her best friend Minnie head off for a weekend of partying at their friend’s house on Henry Island. They soon find themselves without a way to communicate with the mainland and trapped on the island due to a storm…then people start dying in increasingly gruesome ways. The killer is obviously among them, but who is it?!

Ten is a fast-paced thriller with plenty of whodunit drama, best friend drama, and boy drama. It was a fun bit of escapism that kept me entertained!

 

Recommendations:

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

 

Review: Crazy Rich Asians

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Crazy Rich Asians
by Kevin Kwan
5 stars

Raised in America by her Chinese mother, Rachel Chu is an economics professor in NYC.  When her boyfriend invites her back to his native Singapore for a friend’s wedding, Rachel is excited to join him.  She is in for a shock when she finds out that he is from one of the richest families in Asia.  We see this crazy rich (seriously CRAZY amounts of money) world through Rachel’s eyes as she deals with cultural and social differences, as well as Nick’s disapproving relatives.

I read Crazy Rich Asians in a day during a recent vacation…and went to see the movie the next day.  I loved both of them.  It’s a fantastic bit of escapism.  The descriptions of the crazy rich lifestyles of some of the characters will have you rolling your eyes and the descriptions of the food will have you checking airline ticket prices!  (The movie is no different, I was starving by the time I left!)  I loved diving into this ridiculously opulent and melodramatic world!  Rachel’s friends try to guide here through the pitfalls and dangers of this unknown world, while Nick’s mother Eleanor schemes to split the couple up.

I am completely looking forward to the next book (and movie) to see what happens to the characters, especially Nick’s cousin Astrid who quickly became one of my favorites!

 

Recommendations:

What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan

The Garden Party by Grace Dane Mazur

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende

 

Review: Maybe in Another Life

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Maybe in Another Life
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4 stars

I highly recommend this book to fans of the 1998 movie Sliding Doors (if you like romantic dramas, you should definitely watch it!). Two different versions of your life branching out from one decision or moment. In Sliding Doors, the main character gets fired and runs for the subway. In one version of her life she makes the train and gets home in time to catch her boyfriend cheating on her, in another she misses it.

Maybe in Another Life is based on a similar concept. After a particularly nasty break-up, Hannah moves back to LA and goes to a party with her best friend. When she bumps into her high school boyfriend at the party, he offers her a ride home if she wants to stay, rather than leave with her friend. In one version of her life she leaves with her friend, in another she stays.

This book is a little more solidly in the ‘chick lit’ genre than I normally read, but I really liked the concept. One decision in Hannah’s life, to stay at the party or leave, effects every part of her life from then onward. While there is some romance, in bother versions of Hannah’s life, the main story was about Hannah figuring herself out and her relationship with her best friend, Gabby. I admit, at the end of the story I had strong opinions on which version of Hannah’s life I liked better!

Read-alikes

The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

The One That Got Away by Leigh Himes

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Review: We Were Liars

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We Were Liars
by E. Lockhart
4 stars

I read this book a while ago, but I have been thinking about it since it was included in a BookRiot list of “10 YA Books that Will Destroy You (And You’ll Love It)”…which, depending on your taste may or may not be a ringing endorsement. We Were Liars is the story of Cadence and her 3 friends/cousins. They all come from a wealthy family and spend their summers on an island near Cape Cod. During Cadence’s 15th summer, she is in an accident and the resulting head injury causes memory loss. 2 years later, she is preparing to head back to the island for the summer. However no one in her family is willing to talk about how she got hurt or what happened that summer.

I loved that Cadence was an unreliable narrator. Not even she knows what really happened. As a reader, you stumble along with her as she tries to put the pieces together as the story jumps between the past and the present. The family around her either doesn’t want to tell her anything, or they have been advised not to. It is beautifully written and the ending hit me like an emotional punch to the chest.

Fair warning – you might cry, I did.

Read-alikes

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout