The Girls in the Garden

Title: Girls in The Garden
Author: Lisa Jewell
Genre: mystery/thriller
Source: Library hardback
Rating: 4 out of 5 paws

A young mother moves into a picturesque terrace of houses in London.  In the center of the terrace is a beautiful garden that all the children have the freedom to play in, or whatever they wish to do.  It is the perfect place for secrets, whisperings, and gossip as well.  Grace is found in the garden on her birthday unconscious, which leads to many questions about the residents of this small community.




This is not the first Lisa Jewell book I have read, I've read several so far and each time I enjoy her work even more.  I am always left wanting to read more and be brought into her world deeper each time.  Lisa Jewell has the knack of delivering character driven stories that captivate and engross her readers.  She gets into the mindset of the characters and provides readers with everything they need to have an enjoyable reading experience.

Girls In The Garden is an expertly written novel filled with intrigue, suspense and keeps you guessing at every turn.  There are so many red herrings that you don't know who can be trusted and who to question.  It is a steady pace that keeps the story moving making you want to know what happens next, who's secret will be revealed next.  In the beginning of the book is a map of the garden, so readers get a good idea of where each of the homes are.

There are some things that are eluded to in this novel that might be a trigger for some readers, but Jewell presents it in a way that is tasteful and respectful.  Jewell gives readers a set of characters who are not perfect.  They are flawed in every way and I think that is one thing that makes her writing so wonderful.  It is easy to relate to the characters and picture them as yourself or even someone you know.

I loved this novel and plan on reading a lot more of Lisa's novels.  If you haven't tried her writing yet, this is a good one to begin with.

The Book of Speculation

Title:  The Book of Speculation
Author: Erika Swyler
Genre: Mystery, Family History
Source: Library Ebook
Rating: 4 out of 5 paws

Simon is a library with a love and appreciation for books. His parents have both passed on, his sister is off traveling the land in a circus, his home is slowly crumbling into the ocean, and he just lost his job due to budget cuts.  Out of nowhere Simon receives a book in the mail from a book seller.  The man who sent it to him, believed it would be of interest to his family history.  The book is a circus diary of sorts, a book written by the circus owner chronicling important events and dates.  Simon begins to notice a pattern.  On the same date, women who perform as mermaids or swimmers die, by drowning.  The same way his mother died, and all the women seem to be tied to his family.  He begins to worry about the safety of his sister as she comes to visit and the date slowly draws closer.  But the more Simon reads, the more he discovers about not only his family's past but also that of his neighbor.  Can Simon stop fate before it's too late?

I have sort of been drawn into circus books or books that relate to a circus, so when I saw this book at the library (or rather on the library list), I decided to give it a shot.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it, but also a little disappointed that more was not done with a certain aspect of the book.  But don't let me get ahead of myself.  The book overall was an interesting one to read.  I liked all the characters.  They each had their own interesting quirk and element to add to the story.  They all helped drive the story forward even if it is in a small way such as that of the book seller.

Simon, I found Simon to be an interesting character in that he got so wrapped up in the family history he didn't see anything else around him.  He began to alienate and hurt the people around them despite him thinking he was helping or protecting them.  He was a warm, lovable character but had so many faults to him, but that is what made me love him even more.  I loved how protective he got when Enola comes with a boyfriend, one covered in tentacle tattoos and can apparently create electricity. Throughout the book, the readers see many different sides to Simon that makes him a well rounded likable character.  Honestly I wanted more of Enola and her boyfriend in the book (I forget his name right now).  They floated around in the background and every so often would pop back up almost like a "hey remember me" kind of thing.  I wanted more of Enola's tarot reading skills and them correlating with the book aside from her tearing some out or hiding them when Simon came into the room.  Maybe a scene without Simon, where Enola is reading the cards and mutters "it's happening again" or something like that.  Something to tie her into the story a little more.

 enjoyed how the book went between the two story-lines but did it in a way that it was easy to follow.  The reader found out more information as Simon found it out, so it was exciting to read.  It left me excited to find out what would happen next and what happened to the circus characters as well as how they all related to Simon. I loved the incorporation of people drawn to water and knowing various techniques to holding their breath underwater for long periods of time.  As a kid I remember trying to see how long I could do that, and had contests with my brother.  How I longed to be a mermaid or Skelkie.  I got really excited when the legend of skelkies were alluded to, I was hoping this would be played up more, but it wasn't.  They are one of my favorite creatures of lore.

There is a lot of descriptions in this book that some may feel takes away from the story, but at times it adds to the story.  I say this because it helps build the picture.  It helps create the world that the author intends the reader to see.  She wants us to see her vision and goes the extra mile to do so.  The pacing is a little slow in the beginning but it does pick up after a while.  There were some things that were never really explained such as how Amos was able to appear like he disappeared (made me think of that part in Avengers Infinity War when Drax thinks he's moving so slow he's invisible).  Or why the women of the family mysteriously drowned when they could hold their breaths or were strong swimmers.  While I did enjoy reading the book and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, being left with a lot of unanswered questions left me feeling unsatisfied.

All The Missing Girls

Title: All The Missing Girls
Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: Thriller
Source: Paperback
Rating: 4 out of 5 paws


Nic hasn't been home in ten years.  Ten years since she left everything behind.  Ten years since her best friend Corrine disappeared.  But when Nic returns home to help with family ties, the past is dug up and another girl has gone missing.  The past comes back to life as a town relives the ordeal from ten years ago to find a connection.  Nic and her family struggle to stay out of the investigation, but every turn leads them right back into it.  Right back to where they were ten years ago.  All eyes are pointed at Nic and her high school boyfriend. Can they figure out what happened to Corinne and Annaleise.  Too many things are a coincidence, too much familiarity.  Will it all end?

The cover is gorgeous and is what originally grew me to the story.  I couldn't take my eyes off it whenever I seen it in the book stores.  Everything about the story hinges on one night ten years at a local fair.  Nic is encouraged by her best friend to climb over a Ferris Wheel and jump down to her boyfriend.  Once on solid ground her brother hits her and everything else spreads into chaos.  Corinne disappears and everyone becomes a suspect.  Afterwards Nic leaves town only to return to help with her ailing father.  The night she arrives, everything is opened all over again.  Another girl has gone missing and no one knows what happened to her.  The last person to talk to her, and the prime suspect is her boyfriend, who happens to be Nic's high school sweetheart.  And everyone's alibi from ten years ago. How crazy is that!!

It took me a few chapters to get into the story, and when I did, it took a few more to get used to the backwards telling of the story.  It starts the night Nic arrives then jumps to 2 weeks since Annaleise goes missing.  At this point it begins to backtrack back to the beginning filling in small details at a time until we get to that fateful night and find out exactly what had happened to the girl.  I found it an interesting way to tell the story, and it is explained a little bit as to why it was done this way.  But it is confusing and difficult to get used to.  It may even turn a few people away from the story.  Hopefully it doesn't because it is a good story.

The characters were interesting enough, and seemed typical of your small town people, where everyone knows everyone's business.  Nothing is private and rumors fly faster than Superman.  At times I found Nic to be reckless in running through the woods at night following shadows, not knowing what was out there. I liked that everyone seemed to have a little something to hide, past and present.  Something they didn't tell others, something that made up the skeletons in the closet. I loved the mystery of the monster in the woods and allows the reader to come up with their own ideas of what the monster in the woods could represent.  The looming past, teenagers having a good time, neighbors spying on each other, one's own fears. It could have been anything and I loved that feel added into the book.

I also like the mystery of the caverns.  They loomed in the background, a dangerous place to be, yet so innocent in being barred.  I kind of wish more was done with the caverns, they seemed to be the perfect thing to add a little more mystery, such as the police finding the lock broken or like signs that someone lived there (maybe a homeless person or something) or was camping leading suspicion to one of the girls hiding in the caves.  I just feels like more could have been done with the caverns, or else why mention them other than to say it was a place some one died or things get lost (perfect to add a different twist to the ending).

I did get lost in it and finished it in about 6 hours or so, I feel I may have even ignored the boyfriend a little bit because I was so lost in the story.  I couldn't go to bed until I found out what happened next.  Miranda flawlessly executed her story-telling skills in this novel, and makes me want to read more from her.  I happily recommend this book to people who like thrillers and suspense novels, but be ware, there storytelling is unique and out of the norm: Beginning, end, middle, beginning, end of sorts.

Portrait of Stella

Portrait of Stella:  Susan Wuthrich

Media: Ebook

Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Portrait of Stella is a novel about a young woman who discovers what she thought of her origin of birth and family history were not correct.  While trying to get a passport for work Jemima discovers she is not a British citizen.  This leaves her completely befuddled and she begins a journey to discover not only who she truly is, but also the history of her mother and father.  With each new answers comes a new question.  She realizes she knew very little of the woman that was her mother and even less about her father.  As she learns her mother's secrets she embarks on a journey which takes her to Australia and South Africa. She quickly learns of the hardships her family endured and in turn faces some of those hardships herself. The answers she seeks throw her world upside down, more so than it already has become.  Along the way, she makes numerous ties in different cities and builds relationships with new friends who will stay into the future and some who do not.  Portrait of Stella is a whirlwind tale of deep family history and finally discovering one’s own heritage.

From the beginning of the book until the end, this story holds the reader captive.  It pulls readers in quickly by tugging at heartstrings quickly.  It builds up the excitement and desire to know what happened to Jemima’s parents, and why her birth certificate was forged.  Never does one think it would become the tale that it does.  It ranges on so many different topics, but does so in a way that it does not seem like too much information.  Just when one thinks they have it figured out something new is revealed which changes the whole course of the story.  The telling of the story through the eyes of different characters was a wonderful element.  It added a depth to the story which might not otherwise be present.  The author develops characters that readers can relate to.  The character of Jemima is astounding, although some of her actions do seem out of character for what readers know of her.  The other characters compel the reader to continue and learn more about them.  

Susan Wuthrich does a phenomenal job at bringing all the elements of the story together.  She brings out various different emotions from happiness to sadness and pain.  It is easily one of those books that can be finished in a night.