Audrey posts her move from New York to DC on her social media account for her millions of followers to view, like, and comment on. After her move, she notices someone is commenting very specific things on her posts that only someone following her would know. She starts hearing things outside her apartment. Things escalate. Who is following her? Wait, doesn’t she want followers…?
Chapters alternate between Audrey, Cat, and Him. Audrey has the most chapters in the novel, and was certainly a naive and self-centered main character. Her best friend, Cat, is an attorney in DC and is socially opposite of Audrey. “Him” is the stalker.
Suspense throughout the story involves “Him”. Trying to unearth the identity of the stalker “Him” is the guiding light behind the tension of the novel.
There is a good twist in the end, but the questions and purpose buried beneath the conclusion spotlighted the main objective. It’s in the conclusion that the true essence of the novel is encapsulated, which made me really like it. Measuring accountability regarding social media is a subject of speculation that drives the novel home.
Kathleen Barber’s novel, Truth Be Told (formerly titled Are You Sleeping), is an Apple TV crime dramastarring starring Octavia Spencer, Lizzy Caplan and Aaron Paul.
In 1942, Natalya volunteers as a nurse for the German Red Cross and witnesses WWII on the Russian Front. After her time volunteering, she moves back home to Munich where she joins the White Rose resistance group with her close friends. After the group is caught, Natalya must keep resisting but does not know who she can trust.
The inspiration for the novel is the White Rose resistance group. The main character, Natalya, does not join the White Rose organization until the very end of chapter three (or 20% on a Kindle). Admittedly, I was hoping for more from the first half of the novel which is mostly about her involvement in White Rose. It really moved slowly and was passive. (Her involvement in the White Rose ended about around halfway into the story; so about 20-50% is her direct involvement in the White Rose.) On the other hand, several of the characters circulating during this time were real members of the White Rose group. A tribute to the true members of the White Rose resistance group was requited through the characters Alex Schmorell, Hans Scholl, and Sophie Scholl.
Her journey after the resistance group was most interesting. This is the second half of the novel and was much more exciting. This includes court drama, a prison sentence, POW camp, and more that leads up to the end of the war.
The narrator, Natalya, was hard to connect with. I liked her, I just wanted more depth from her. When reading WWII fiction there is a level of emotion to be expected, but Natalya’s character did not evoke those feelings for me because her narration was often listless.
Because of the great last half, I enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
Stadelheim Prison was widely known to execute its prisoners by guillotine. Main character, Natalya, experiences life in Stadelheim prison in the novel The Traitor.
Weiße Rose Pavement Memorial in Munich Germany. Bronze pamphlets in reverence to Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst. Visit the memorial here.
The Traitor is V.S. Alexander’s fourth novel.Visit author V.S. Alexander on Goodreads to view all of his books.
“By late morning, a mother and fathers faith that their child will turn up any moment has given way to terror.”
While on vacation on Saint X, the body of young Alison is found dead. Several years later living in New York, her younger sister Claire is determined to find out what really happened to her sister Alison that night on Saint X.
The first 36 pages are truly hard to get through because of the lush descriptions. These pages focus on what the island was like during the family’s vacation on Saint X, and it was a tedious 36 pages that felt like 360 pages. But, if you can get through that…it gets better and the story takes off, though it does still contain countless descriptions and stories within stories throughout the novel. I started to get into the night Alison was killed, and continued reading. I was invested regardless of the wordy paragraphs and side-stories. I had to know what happened to Alison, how all the stories being revealed were connected, and find out the truth.
“She was what all the dead are: whatever the living make them.”
The characters are what boosted this rating above a 3 star for me. If you decide to read this, I encourage you not to skim…though you might be tempted because of the extraneous elements. The insights and voices of the characters are worthwhile and perceptive. Most of the characters were not likable, yet their observations were penetrating, intuitive, and emotionally charged.
“Are the things out the van window poverty, or just people living their lives?”
Overall, I’m glad I stuck with it. I enjoyed the book and think the ending has a good thematic message. I read this with a group, and it created great discussion. I recommend reading this with a book club or buddy!
Saint X is Alexis Schaitkin’s debut novel. Visit her website to read more about her book.
“A legal is just someone who is unwanted in the same way everyone else is.”
Danny, a young adult in his twenties from Sri Lanka, has been living in Australia illegally for four years as a cleaner. Soon into the novel, one of the residents that he cleaned for is killed. Danny might have an idea of what could have happened, but he internally struggles with the responsibility of this knowledge since the decision to help with the murder case could get him deported. The novel takes place throughout this one day in Danny’s life.
“But whoever did it, and for whatever reason, one thing was almost certain. The killer was a citizen.”
The story pays homage to the thoughts and difficult decisions that immigrants, specifically illegals, make throughout the day. It highlights questions of accountability and examines the echelons of humanity. Danny’s flashbacks and encounters throughout the day also illuminate his own prejudice towards legal immigrants and citizens.
“Rich Asians and poor Asians don’t seem to talk to each other, and that’s how Australians make most of their money.”
The writing was disjointed and made it hard for me to read. I found myself rereading sentences often to make sure I read them correctly. Sometimes that made it hard to process different things that were occurring, which took away from the enjoyment. It is written in an unusual way and Danny was a peculiar character who had eccentric qualities.
“Now I wanted to become an expert cook—but more than that, I wanted to be an independent woman with the means to live life on my terms. Now was time for me.”
In Victorian England, young Bella takes a letter from a dying stranger in the street. She uses the dead stranger’s name, background, and letter of recommendation to obtain a job working as a cook for Queen Victorian in Buckingham Palace. But as events transpire, Bella realizes that she is not the only one with a secret.
The overall story is a very light historical fiction that slowly builds up to Queen Victoria’s stay at the Hotel Regina Excelsior on the Riviera in France. Once they arrive and acts of treason begin to unfold, the story begins to pick up a bit.
For the first 3/4 of the book, it’s basically about the main character, Bella, wondering if anyone will realize she is lying about who she is, helping choose dishes for the Queen, and trying to prove herself among a kitchen full of men. During this time, she is pulled this way and that by various men who are romantically interested in her, and she often thinks about what decision to make regarding their romantic interest in her.
“Did I really want to become a real chef? Even if the prospect of marriage was offered to me?”
Chapter 30 (82% on a kindle) a mystery develops involving a murder. Before this murder mystery occurs, it is mainly what I described above.
There is little historical context outside of the royal family, though I enjoyed reading the Historical Note at the end.
Rhys Bowen is an award winning author. Her novel In Farleigh Field won best historical novel Agatha Award winner.Watch the book trailer for In Farleigh Field below.
Her mystery series, A Royal Spyness Mystery, is popular. Click here to view the books in order.
Most of the story moves to a steady beat. Not fast-paced, just moderately balanced. But then the end just hits you, and the emotions pour.
The use of eminent domain has been enforced on their property, and Jo, a twenty-two year old paraplegic, narrates life in small town Eden, Montana after her older brother detonates a bomb in a nearby town that injures many in response to the land acquisition. Her brother, Samuel, was known for anti-government extremism, but now Jo is left to pick up the pieces since Samuel has gone into hiding.
“Samuel told me that after our mother’s death, the women of Prospect supplied him with food for weeks. No one has brought me anything now; apparently there is no casserole that says “Sorry your brother’s a terrorist.””
The description provided for this book might make it seem like it’s centered around terrorism, extreme politics, and eminent domain; but, it’s actually about how these actions affect the main character, Jo. It is character driven. Her narration brings these effects to light because of her brother. Throughout the story, the reader sees how Jo reacts to and questions her brothers poor choices. Her growth as a character is illuminated through her decisions the days following the bombing.
“…while I might not be my brother, and might not be responsible for what he has done, he is still my brother.”
I enjoyed Pastor Asa’s character. His struggle to find meaning in the bombing where his daughter was injured was tragic. Acumen involving religion and faith were tested through Asa’s character.
“I wonder what part of him that is a pastor is at war with the part of him that is a father.”
Some other things you might want to know: There are no chapters and no “Parts”. There are only page breaks. While Jo is the narrator, occasionally Samuel will briefly interlude as if speaking to Jo; Samuel’s thoughts are in italics. There are vivid descriptions of Montana, meaning at different parts in the story there are several paragraphs devoted to describing this setting. There is a considerable amount of dialogue centered around God and theology.
A tight-nit family along with a few friends go on their annual trip to a secluded cabin that has been passed down for generations. Along the way, they swerve to miss hitting a deer. This instant changes their lives forever and their camper falls below the guardrails on the side of a mountain into the snow. Finn, a sixteen year old, is immediately dead, but does not pass through to her next world. She continues to watch her family through survival, rescue, guilt, and grief.
The chapters are short and there are a total of 94 chapters. The first 14% (ch.1-5) of the story were the days leading up to their trip before the accident occurs. When the accident hit, it really picked up. I couldn’t read fast enough. There is a huge “omg” moment that happens while they are fighting for survival. I was astounded, angry, and my jaw dropped when this happened.
At 38 % the rescue takes place but not all survive. (Meaning only 14-38% or ch. 6-35 of the novel was their survival story, the rest is what happens after they get back home.) From this point on the family is drowning in blame, grief, and hate. Guilt radiates the life and relationships of those who survived and a secret is kept about that fateful night. This is the bulk and focus of the story; so for most of the story it is not very happy.
Paranormal aspect- The narrator is dead and narrates all of the story for the family/characters. She watches them while lingering in limbo. (They cannot see her, but she talks to them in their dreams.) Towards the end this narration style got repetitive.
There is some minor mundane stuff that happens like watching baseball games, rescuing kittens…to help them with their grief. There is cussing and sex, but not the sexy details. Overall, I enjoyed it though I would definitely classify this as a young adult novel.
The ending Author’s Note is a must read which explains the real story that inspired this fictional novel.
Author Suzanne RedFearn’s has written two other novels called Hush Little Baby and No Ordinary Life.
The above synopsis is provided by the publisher, and can be found here.
Overall, the synopsis is misleading. I did expect a romance based on it’s description, but I also expected other elements too due to the narrative about the two main characters, Vera and Edith, fleeing Budapest during WW2. (Really Vera is the main character and Edith is her best friend that supports her throughout the story…but in some chapters, Edith is barely seen.) Vera’s time during the war is expressed in flashbacks, and is limited throughout the novel. They are very short flashbacks. Most of the story revolves around Vera and Edith’s hunt to find love and make a home. In the second half, I started counting Vera’s flashbacks; she has three flashbacks after 50% of the novel. And these flashbacks sometimes have little significance; for example one is her shortly recounting the time she saw a ballet.
I am not sure what exactly the plot was supposed to be, but the story is set during 1946-1950 and centers around Vera who is a 19 year-old that has escaped Nazi-Germany with her friend Edith. It bounced around starting with one path but then would abandon the path it was on and begin another: from romance to grieving back to romance to culture/society back to romance to family back to romance, so the direction and where it was headed was obscure for me. I kept reading hoping the story would evolve, but there were no huge climatic plot elements. The characters were underdeveloped with little to no penetrating depth in the dialogue, and much of what happens to the girls is filled with happy coincidences.
If you like light romances set during WW2 with romanticized dialogue then you will enjoy this novel very much. The romance is very much stylized like an old fashioned cookie-cutter romance.
The other cover for the book that you might see depending on the region you live in.
More about this: There is a rich history for Budapest, especially during and after WW2. (Though it wasn’t strongly presented in this novel.) Below is a picture of “Shoes on the Danube”, a memorial to the Holocaust victims who were brought to the edge of the Danube river, told to remove their shoes, and then shot.
“Other people, she thought. They were everywhere. And you never knew which ones where dangerous.” -C.J. Tudor, The Other People
In 2016, Gabe is driving home when he sees the face of his daughter from the back window of an unknown car in front of him. Thinking he must be mistaken, he pulls over to phone home. Answering his phone call though is not his wife nor his daughter, but the police who tell him it’s about his wife and daughter who are missing. After this first introduction chapter, the novel then fast forwards to 2019 where Gabe is still searching for his daughter who he believes to still be alive, though the police have dismissed his statement of seeing his daughter in the car in front of him. Gabe relentlessly pursues and uncovers piecing to his daughters mystery that were left untold. But, it seems even those closest with him have not been honest. Who can Gabe trust? And, what is Gabe hiding about his own past?
The chapters are short and writing style is absorbing. It’s a quick and easy read (under 300 pages). The chapters alternate between 3 characters, and are woven together towards the end as the mystery unravels.
I found myself suspending belief shortly into the story. But towards the middle and afterwards, I found so much unrealistic. I don’t mind suspending belief to help carry a story here or there, but the main story itself seemed too over the top. The reality was not there. There is a small paranormal aspect that did not fit in well with the rest, and I did not understand what it had to do with the movement of the story or the finality of the plot.
Overall thoughts: I liked it okay. It was a good-ish read. It’s nothing that had me thinking long about it after I was done, no big jaw-dropping moments, and probably nothing I will recommend as an omg you will not believe this thriller. It was fast paced, but not thrilling for me. It’s a good read for vacation or by the pool.
Thank you to Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
“I started this project with the full awareness that the extremist partisans on either side of the Saudi-Iran divide would find fault with everything I wrote- or perhaps they would pick apart the sections that depict them and applaud passages about their nemeses. I did not write this book for them. I wrote it for peers and colleagues and a wider audience of readers who want to understand why events in the Middle East continue to reverberate around the world. I wrote it for those who believe the Arab and Muslim words are more than the unceasing headlines about terrorism, ISIS, or the IRGC. Perhaps above all I wrote it for those of my generation and younger in the region who are still asking, “What happened to us?” and who wonder why their parents didn’t, or couldn’t, do anything to stop the unraveling.” -Kim Ghattas, Black Wave
The cultural and political changes in the Middle East were brought to life and breathed into each page beginning with the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The claim for the book is that the pivotal year of 1979 generated much of the conflict that is seen currently; so, we must understand 1979 at every angle in order to comprehend the Middle East of today. Because 1979 is the foundation for shaping the premise of the book, Part 1 which is 4 chapters (or 23 % on a Kindle) heavily centers around the 1979 Revolution.
The thesis is extremely well supported with exceptional research throughout each chapter reaching up to the year 2019. The reader sees the geopolitics in each region surrounding events that eventually lead to world developments such as the Iran hostage crisis, the emergence of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the 9/11 attacks in the U.S., and the growth of ISIS. We often always ask, “Why?” and this book attempts to explain the why. *This is an intense book because it is eclipsed with several assassinations, insurmountable deaths, and extreme suffering.* (There was not a lot about the Kurds. There was not much about Yemen until the end.)
There were quite a few names in the beginning that I was unfamiliar with. All of those involved and mentioned were important, but it took some adjusting on my part to remember who was who. Because of that, I would recommend reading this on a Kindle.
Key figures (not limited to) : Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Musa al-Sadr, Juhayman al-Otaybi, Ruhollah Khomeini, Zia-ul-Haq, Saddam Hussein, Bin Baz, Osama Bin Laden, George H.W. Bush, Sadegh Khalkhali, Jamal Khashoggi, Qassem Suleimani, Mohammed Morsi, Nuri al-Maliki, Rafiq Hariri, Hafez al-Assad, Hassan Nasrallah, Crown Prince Abdallah, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Moqtada al-Sadr, Mansour al-Mansour, Nasr Abu Zeid, Salman al-Audah, King Fahd, Safar al-Hawali, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy. Opinions are my own.
