"Eve has a good life. She gets up each day, gets a kiss from her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except…
Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal involving a student-teacher affair, with one student, Addie, at its center. But Eve knows there is far more to these ugly rumors than meets the eye.
Addie can't be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that's what everyone says.
But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet."
This was my favorite read of the month. It had me hooked right from the beginning and OH MY WORD the ending I did not see coming. I wasn't rooting for any of the characters which typically kills a book for me, but somehow this worked. It was twisty and while it was a bit sappy with the poetry and affairs it was such a fun read.
"It's hard to find an employer who doesn't ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want. It's almost perfect. But I still haven't met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I'm sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I'm doing laundry. And one day I can't help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything....
That's when I make a promise. After all, I've done this before. I can protect Mrs. Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe. Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It's simply a question of how far I'm willing to go...."
So I've been on a Freida McFadden kick and this one didn't disappoint. The Teacher was my favorite, and The Housemaid my second favorite which puts this one in third but it was still a great read. The story kept me guessing and was a quick listen. My only complaint was the audible narration (I forgot to mention this in my review of the first book)... I found Millie's accent to be a bit much for me (that sounds so snotty - hahaha) so I wish I'd read and not listened but still highly recommend!
"Magnolia and BJ are reeling from a devastating loss as they try to plan what’s been dubbed “the wedding of the century”. As family tensions mount and their respective pasts begin catching up to them, they finally have to look the truth in the eye: Can they learn to trust and be with one another again, or will they die trying?"
It pains me to say this but I didn't love this one. Sigh. I was on SUCH a Magnolia Parks/Daisy Haites kick last summer and was so looking forward to this one but it felt long, drawn out, repetitive, and just way too angsty to me. I'm still glad I read it as it provided some "closure" with BJ and Magnolia but I think it could have been 1/3 as long and still done the job. I also found the character's kind of privileged personalities a bit endearing in the first books but was for sure over some of the "snobbiness" in this book. I also think that I fell SO in love with Daisy and Julian in the fourth book that Magnolia and BJ just couldn't compete. All that to say, if you read the first four books you have to read this one but prepare yourself for a long and arduous journey ;) hahaha
"The Seven Year Slip is a romance novel with a side of magical realism. After losing her aunt, Clementine moves into the apartment she inherited and realizes that she is not alone. In fact, there is a man staying at the apartment for the summer as her aunt arranged… seven years ago"
I'm really not opposed to an "unrealistic" twist in a book (I mean - Remarkably Bright Creatures involved a talking octopus and I still think about that book often and it's one of my favorite reads ever and I LOVED The Invisible Life of Addie Larue), but for whatever reason the "time traveling apartment" in this one just didn't do it for me. It was a cute concept and I know lots of people loved the book but for whatever reason it was just not my favorite. The characters were endearing, the story was charming - but I couldn't get over the time-traveling apartment. hahaha
"Four new mothers…one exclusive playgroup…two murders.
She sees them at her son’s new playgroup: the other mothers. A group of sleek, sophisticated women who live in a neighborhood of tree-lined avenues and stunning houses. The sort of mothers Tash would like to be. When the mothers welcome her into their circle, she discovers the kind of life she has always dreamt of—their elegant London townhouses a far cry from her cramped basement flat and endless bills. She is quickly swept up into their wealthy world via coffees, cocktails, and playdates.
But when another young woman is found dead, it’s clear there’s much more to the tight-knit community than meets the eye. The more Tash investigates, the more she’s led uncomfortably close to the other mothers. Are these women really her friends? Or is there another, more dangerous reason why she has been so quickly accepted into their exclusive world? Who, exactly, is investigating who?"
I always love a book that seems to pull the curtain back on people's "shiny" lives and this book did just that. There were A LOT of characters and the plot seemed a bit "messy" at times but overall it was a fun read and I enjoyed it.
I need to read all of these!!!
ReplyDeleteI just read my first McFadden book this week; The Housemaid and I read the whole thing in one day because I just didn't want to put it down! These all sound so good.
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