Robyn H. (byrd1956) reviewed on 12/9/2024 + 45 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Although I've never read the first book in this trilogy, I think the second and this one can be read as a stand-alone. I would still read The Housemaid, even after the other two. The Housemaid is Watching sucked me in and both my husband and I kept speculating about what was going on âbehind the scenes'. We were surprised in the end.

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Thomas F. (hardtack) - , reviewed on 12/16/2024 + 2740 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I'll keep this review simple. Lawrence Block writes page turners.

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Melissa B. (dragoneyes) - , reviewed on 12/30/2024 + 852 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

A gritty, beautiful story that surrounds a son whose father is a drug dealer and his mother a drug user. It is a heartbreaking tale that brings you closer to the main character. I did enjoy most of the book but at times it became overly descriptive and I found myself skimming pages. The ending was crazy and not what I had expected. Look forward to reading more by this author.

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Cheryl (boomerbooklover) - reviewed on 12/27/2024 + 443 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Interesting biography of the Churchill family, including personal tidbits not usually found in histories. For example, Winston's father died of syphilis, after which his mother remarried twice, both times to men younger than Winston. Winston and his brother were rare in the family as men who married once, remained faithful to their wives, and raised families. Other family members were eccentric, to say the least. A good read; more interesting than I expected.

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Marcia C. reviewed on 12/9/2024 + 674 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

A very, very clever thriller that keeps you guessing right till the end. The cons pulled by the main character and *on* her were fascinating and intricate. A great read with a lot of psychological twists and almost no violence.

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Laura P. (hemmputnam) reviewed on 11/26/2024 + 1162 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I think it's important to note that this book was originally published in 1944. I'm thrilled to see that it has been rereleased, but today's reader should be warned that it's not exactly a contemporary view of nursing school and hospital work. I grew up reading my mom's books from this series and fully enjoyed the trip down memory lane this story provided.

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Valerie S. (VolunteerVal) - reviewed on 11/22/2024 + 662 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I'm very new to time travel novels. The three I previously loved (Come Back to Me and Never Leave Me by Jody Hedlund and For a Lifetime by Gabrielle Meyer) included significant events and big, bold drama.

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young is different; quieter, a character study of relationships including marriage, motherhood, and matriarchal lineage. And I loved every page.

Set in North Carolina, this story includes magical realism, romance, mystery, nostalgia, secrets, sacrifice, family tradition, and a red door. The emotions were completely genuine which made the actions feel believable as well. As a reader who doesn't enjoy fantasy or scifi stories, I was pleasantly shocked by how much I loved this novel.

This was my first book by this author. I have no interest in her YA fantasy backlist, but I'm looking forward to reading her next book, A Sea of Unspoken Things, very soon.

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Linda Y. (LindaKay) reviewed on 11/20/2024 + 6 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Clean cut mystery story line with interesting facts about the postal service added. I read all 3 books in the series and wished there were more. Taken place in a small town with a murder of one of the residents and the newly arrived postmaster gets involved in solving the murder. Feel comfortable having my teenage granddaughter reading it.

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Nada A. reviewed on 11/17/2024 + 1406 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman is a love story with a bit of historical fiction, magical realism, and a mafia involvement. The story moves back and forth between Augusta as a teenager and Augusta turning 80. The story of the past is one of healing and of heartbreak. The story of the present is a feel-good love story. This book does not have the strength of The Matchmaker's Secret or The Two Family House, but a sweet story nevertheless.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2024/11/the-love-elixir-of-augusta-stern.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

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Rachel G. (roach808) - reviewed on 11/27/2024 + 178 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Though this was written in 2007, there was a lot that really rang true for me still today as we just passed the 2024 Presidential Election.

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jjares reviewed on 1/10/2025 + 3446 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I've been stretching my comfort zone to include a different time period from my usual reading. This book takes place in the early Middle Ages. I enjoy history but don't know much about the Danes and their activities with the Irish and Welsh during this time frame. At the end of the book, the author explains that much of this book is factual.

It took me about one hundred pages to get into this book. I'd read all the Brother Cadfael series years ago and thought these would be similar. Both occurred in the Middle Ages but are different otherwise. In this book, Gareth and Gwen have a history together but haven't seen each other for years. Gareth wanted to marry Gwen, but her father would disagree because Gareth had nothing at that point. Now, Gareth is a knight and has some property.

The couple meets again on their way to celebrate the marriage of Elen and King Anarawd of Deheubarth. The king is killed, and the Welsh kingdom is embroiled in finding the murderer.

I won't be reading any more of this series because it traveled at the speed of water melting on a snowy day. Neither Gareth nor Gwen were all that interesting. Score = G.

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Gordon S. (literal-giraffe) reviewed on 11/26/2024 + 4 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

A lurid road trip through an apocalyptic Wisconsin that weaponizes lust and plagues our protagonist with the guilt and shame of her extremist faith. It's simultaneously a scathing condemnation of religious extremism and a nuanced exploration of her guilt and shame through a defiant sexual awakening that fills these pages with effectively pitch-black satire.

This is a dark, dark book, with a likable cast of characters, a very good dog, and a brilliantly realized, thematically powerhouse final act that razes all expectations with the wrath of a cruel and punishing God. I may not necessarily agree with all of Leede's ideas, but I was impressed, shocked, and utterly destroyed by the way she brings them to life.

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Fred G. (fr3edy) reviewed on 12/29/2024 + 4 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Worth reading in anticipation of the new Trump regime. The new powers grea Ted by scotus to executive branch increases the risks outlined in this well researched work severafold

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Lenka S. reviewed on 1/3/2025 + 834 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I feel cheated by the publisher notes and the hyper buzz surrounding this book. This was nothing more than a 300 page pity party that I would have declined attending had I known what I was getting myself into. The author is just a super spoiled whiney ungrateful hypocritical brat throwing endless strings of temper-tantrums. She is a "Karen" in (and out of) a hospital gown. While openly admitting flirting with the unsuspecting doctor trying to help her. She is more vain then Greek God Narcissus, (self described as more beautiful hen Roman goddess). While slamming her early physicians for missing the correct diagnosis, she fails to give proper credence to her failure to discuss all her symptoms, and follow up when new issues rise. Kinda hard to diagnose without a complete picture being drawn, which only she had the information and could do. It sounds to me that her physicians, while not perfect, were able to move toward a diagnosis as she shared more of her real symptoms. From my viewpoint, they seemed to realize when they were in over their heads and referred her to appropriate specialists: hard to fault them for that. No Doctor is infallible, but the majority does the best they can. Im not saying all Dr are perfect in most cases, as in her own, they seem to have done all the correct steps to identify and correct her problems. Her doctor's office tantrum told us volumes about her character. Her chart identifying her as "emotional fragile, noncompliaient" is very short form of the harpy from hell attitude lets loose where ever she goes. Shrieking at your cardiologist at first meeting that u will absolutely not take the only drug that he has to save your life because it will (maybe) make you fat, turn your neck thick and make your face heart shaped. And that the Dr shout take it and become a fatso him self! ... is not the best way to communicate with anyone, much less with a specialist that is trying to keep you from DEATH.

It's so much easier to point fingers and absolve yourself of any personal responsibility for your own life. She is ungrateful to the whole establishment for saving her. She wants everyone to pat her on the back at congratulate her for believing in her victimhood status. Not as a patient w transplant. But as a person whose life was ruined by the gift of another persons death. Not once has she considered that someone had to die so she can live. She resents that, and every Dr that had pushed this hell on her. She wants her before life back. Which is not possible. So she rages against her husband, Dr and everyone. Resentful bitter on top of all her other unpleasant Karen attributes. So she starts emotional and self harm black mail, I will stop medicating and kill this heart, and then you people will appreciate how hard my life is then. WOW

Hopefully the one lesson readers of this worthless book will come away with is the need to self educate and learn everything you possibly can while maneuvering through the quagmire of the healthcare system. Because it is a maze and not everyone is privileged enough to afford all that she has. Getting transplant and all this extra stuff cost a lot of $$. And dont get me started on Chemo. And if you assume I am being unfair and judging the author from a position of good health, be assured that isn't the case. I have multitude of serious issues. Close family have or died of cancer. Illness and death is ever more prevalent and the author wrongly assumes that she is alone and that her suffering is unique. But what Karens like her accomplish is that Dr get burnt out syndrome and they leave the profession, because they are tired of being treated like shit and on top dealing with hospital paperwork and insurance nonsense.

Lastly I want to say shame on Mehmet Oz, MD...the latest to attach himself to Oprah like lost baby...for tagging this book as "spectacular". His credibility is now in the toilet as far as I'm concerned. Its 500min of listening to a self entitled brat I wish I could get back.

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Donna C. (g-ma) reviewed on 12/11/2024 + 3165 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I wouldn't exactly say this is in the Christian genre

This will go in my top 20 for the year, it's a very different story from anything I've read so far and that is unique nowadays

This showed up on my home page where it shows books that are listed and I took a chance for something different, boy am I glad I did, it is very good writing all the way through

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Valerie S. (VolunteerVal) - reviewed on 1/7/2025 + 662 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy is a powerful memoir by Tia Levings, and its cover and title are so poignant. As the subtitle states, it documents her immersion into, life within, and exit from Christian patriarchy. The depth of physical, mental, and emotional abuse she endured is horrifying, but her inner drive to protect herself and her children is inspiring.

Raised in a conservative Christian family, her husband showed abusive and controlling behavior before marriage, but Tia attributed it to God's will for her life. As he solely made radical decisions for their growing family in the pursuit of more and more fundamental religious beliefs, she strove to be a "better" (more compliant) wife to minimize his explosive behavior. But deep down, she knew these repressive beliefs weren't right, and she slowly and secretly gained her own agency through connections with people outside their extremely conservative circles.

I admire Tia's bravery in telling her story, so others can understand her emotional and psychological journey. As a church nerd, I really appreciated her tracing the denominations of religion her family experienced.

It hurts my soul to read about painful experiences at the hands of people who weaponize religion. It's so good Tia and her family escaped, my heart aches for the women and children who continue to be immersed in abuse under the guise of the church.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for access to the audiobook narrated by Ms. Levings.

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