Tag: the-bookshelf-reviewed

The Inmate – Reviewed

On By KaylieIn Three StarsLeave a comment

I gave this three out of five stars.

Freida McFadden brings us along as Brooke, a nurse practitioner, begins a new job at a maximum security men’s prison. Early on, we learn one of the inmates (serving a life sentence) is a man she helped put in prison when she was a teenager. He was also her first love… and the father of her child. As one of two nurse practitioners at this prison, Brooke must treat each and every patient, including Shane. Of course, Shane has no idea he has a biological son, and as soon as he sees Brooke, he begins trying to claim his innocence. As you would expect, Shane’s sad prison life, and claims he has been wrongfully imprisoned tug at Brooke’s heartstrings, and ultimately she ends up second guessing her judgement from a decade prior. Did Shane really murder her friends? Or was it the other survivor from that night..?

This book remains in Brooke’s perspective for the entirety, but alternates between present and past-tense. We read about Brooke’s life, both in and out of the prison, and we also read about the events that led to Shane’s incarceration. A little bit of Brooke’s love life is thrown into the mix too, and it gets just as messy as you’d expect.

As of late, I have become a Freida McFadden FAN, and I found this book just as easy to read as the first two Housemaid books (the third is TBD, but I can’t wait to let you know!!). It was suspenseful, and the short chapters and changing perspectives kept me engaged.

There was a time, though, for a good bit of the book (probably about 25 percent) just over halfway through, I was wondering why I was still reading. I really thought it was very obvious how this book was going to end. This feeling, ultimately, is what led to me giving this book three stars instead of four. But, I trust Freida, so I kept reading.

And man, am I glad I did! As with the other Freida books I’ve read, everything was a bit outrageous, and events, as they occurred in the book, were not what I would call realistic, but I did not see the ending coming! There were little details thrown in, and she tied them straight back to the rest of the book, as it seems she always does so well.

One thing I look for in a thriller/suspense novel, is the feeling of watching a movie in my mind. Even though I was feeling a bit drab through the middle, this was always something Freida’s writing achieved in this book.

I was kind of hoping for a different ending to this one, but I still enjoyed it. This was another one, where once I was almost finished, I couldn’t put it down.

The Seven Year Slip – Reviewed

On By KaylieIn Three Stars1 Comment

I gave this book three out of five stars. As a DISCLAIMER: I am not typically one for cute romance novels, so this certainly could sway my opinion.

This book follows Clementine, as she navigates her life in her new New York apartment, which was left to her by her late aunt. Of course, the apartment itself has a secret! Somehow, in some randomly determined fashion, it transports the occupants back seven years, to a time when a different person lived in the apartment. In this case, Ewan is who Clementine meets in her apartment. The book follows the story of Ewan and Clementine, both seven years in the past, and during present day.

This is the first book from Ashley Poston I have read, and I thought her writing style was very easy to follow. The storyline was cute enough, and really highlighted how people change over time, and the effects that small decisions can have on the big picture of your life. Even so, it was playful and cute.

I was super sucked into this book in the beginning, but my interest slipped slightly around halfway. I was still looking forward to finishing it, but I didn’t feel as though I couldn’t put it down.

I would recommend this book if you are looking for a cute, lighter read! It was an interesting idea for a love story!

The Five-Star Weekend – Reviewed

On By KaylieIn Four StarsLeave a comment

“The weekend was filled with so much drama someone could write a novel about it,” and that’s exactly what Elin Hilderbrand did.

I was really looking forward to reading this one, after hearing such great things about it. I certainly wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t blown away either.

Hollis Shaw is a recently widowed food blogger, who lives a fabulous life between Massachusetts and Nantucket. After her husband dies, she hosts what she calls a “five-star weekend,” with her best friend from five different eras of her life, at her glamorous house in Nantucket.

This book switches points of view (often) between each character in the book, which I thought gave the reader a very well-rounded view of what was happening, and it was nice to have insight into each character that the other characters didn’t have about each other. Each character has their own issues they are battling and are using the weekend as a getaway from, and the end of the book gives a resolution for almost all of them – another plus!

I think my only major gripe with this book was that there wasn’t enough physical character development from the beginning. The scenery, and each character’s aura were very well described and easy to imagine, but I found it difficult to actually picture each of the people in my mind to complete the picture.

I typically go for books that are fast paced and intriguing, and this one was more of a slow burn. When I had to put it down, I wasn’t bummed, and while I wasn’t reading it, I wasn’t dying to get back to it.

Overall, the book was good. A nice, leisurely read, and I really enjoyed Elin’s style of writing. This was my first Elin Hilderbrand novel, and I am definitely looking for recommendations for my next one!

I give this three out of five stars.