The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the story of two best friends while in college. An affair, a boyfriend who is hard to nail down, an infatuation, books and more books. I loved all of the characters in this story. Even though they are all flawed, I loved their incomplete selves. I loved their friendship. I had so much empathy for them and kept rooting for them again and again.

with gratitude to netgalley and Knopf for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Korean Grammar for Beginners Textbook + Workbook Included: Supercharge Your Korean With Essential Lessons and Exercises by Fluent in Korean
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ve been trying to learn Korean for a few months. I have been doing Duolingo and have bought a few textbooks to help me with grammar. This book is one of the better ones but it’s still challenging to navigate on your own if you’re completely new like I am.

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The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This might be one of my favorite books of this year. I don’t even remember where I heard about this book but it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s about a man looking for his father that he never knew. In the process, he unravels years of lies. And then the story gets told again and again from each character’s POV and more and more of the holes get filled in. It’s absolutely fantastic. Cannot recommend it enough.

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Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved Kim’s previous novel and I was looking forward to reading her second one and it did not disappoint.

This story starts with a tragedy: the dad is missing. Then it starts compounding: the brother with the genetic condition that renders him mute might be the suspect. And then things start unraveling. Secrets upon secrets are found. The family is trying to hold themselves and each other together as they mourn the dad that went missing, the dad they thought they knew.

Even though there’s a mystery at the root of this story, it’s a character-driven story. We get to know the family, we get to experience their pain, their shock, and their sorrow as it unravels. It’s a quiet story. It reminds you that we don’t know anyone, even the people we know best.

I loved every minute I spent with this story.

with gratitude to netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

TJ Klune’s stories have so much heart mixed in with just the right amount of humor. They manage to be both light and profound which is hard balance to get right. The characters are always strange and unique which I find to be helpful because it makes it easier to relate to them in different ways and to see yourself in each of them.

This story of a group of eccentric ‘family members’ to rescue the person who ‘created’ them. This is a story about redemption, about found family, about humanity and cruelty, but at its heart, it’s a story about love.

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Excavations: A Novel by Hannah Michell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While parts of this book were harder to read due to awkward pacing and phrasing, I really enjoyed reading this story about a woman whose husband doesn’t come home from an explosion in the building where he works. So she tries to figure out what happened and starts unraveling a giant web of secrets. Very interesting story and based on a real-life unfortunate event. It’s a quiet and yet gripping book.

with gratitude to netgalley and Random House for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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