The Placeholder by Lynda Wolters
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There are so many things that upset me about this book that I think the five-star reviews and I must have read different stories.

‘The Placeholder’ starts like a romance novel. The main character is going through a heartbreaking divorce and decides she needs to have lighter relationships for a while and enjoy herself. And then she proceeds to make decisions that make no sense. She proceeds to take one unsafe action after another and then when there are terrible consequences the reader is left to think that any woman who chooses to have lighter relationships deserves these dire consequences. This very serious triggering event happens pretty late into the story and while it’s handled a little bit, a more terrible thing happens to overshadow it.

The book takes a sharp turn from there onward and completely changes tone. Then it becomes about the main character’s legacy and her ability to be content with who she is. While her best friend sticks with her and is there through thick and thin, she also says things that are quite judgmental that doesn’t make sense in their relationship.

This book is not light. There are many trigger warnings and it’s hard to even classify it. While there was a sweet ending, I left it feeling disappointed and dejected.

with gratitude to edelweiss and mascot books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

View all my reviews

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I know there were conflicting opinions on Reid’s latest but I absolutely loved it. I loved being inside Soto’s mind. I loved her relationship with her father. I loved seeing her struggle and still choose to show up again and again and mostly I loved how much she grew and learned to release pieces of herself throughout the book. Loved it.

View all my reviews

Tiny by Kim Hooper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a fan of Kim Hooper and her writing. I love her sad, quiet and powerful stories. Her memorable, three-dimensional flawed and honest characters. I have been going back and reading her older books and they do not disappoint. I loved this sad but beautiful novel.

View all my reviews

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

The number of stories told by “unusual” or “quirky” women is increasing by the day. I don’t mind reading a few, but I mind when it’s the entire plot of a story. The main character here was interesting and had some deep thoughts but it was all trying to hard to be quirky imho.

View all my reviews

You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health by Ken Duckworth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I don’t like to give poor ratings to books. Let alone books on the subject of mental health. Each book is a lot of sweat and effort from the writer and I don’t want to discourage or criticize something that is so much work. I also believe we need more books in the world around the issue of mental health. I am grateful that organizations like NAMI exist and I am grateful that they provide resources for people who are struggling. We need these resources so badly.

And yet this book was really hard to read. I felt like it didn’t follow a clear organized flow of information or arc. There were bits and pieces of stories interspersed with bits and pieces of information, creating a very disjointed book.

Also while the book is a good resource for raising awareness of NAMI and its services, I felt that the organization was mentioned too often in ways that felt like an ad vs natural explanations of where the organization could be helpful. It felt awkward and disruptive to the flow of the book that was already struggling so much.

I am grateful that NAMI exists and I am grateful that we can talk about mental health more openly, I wish this particular book was easier to follow.

with gratitude to edelweiss and Ingram for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

View all my reviews