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Reviews by Rebecca G. (havertown, pa)

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Next Time Will Be Our Turn
by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Hesrtbreaking (8/23/2025)

Lizzy thinks she's the black sheep of her family. Her Chinese-Indonesian family is loud, flashy outgoing. Lizzy is quiet and reserved; she also holds a very big secret. One New Years celebration her grandmother, Nainai walks in with another woman on her arm and gives her a …more

The Vanishing Place
by Zoë Rankin

Amazing (6/4/2025)

Wow, what a book. The story begins with Effie watching as her mother dies from childbirth. As her father becomes more and more distant Effie is left trying to raise her baby brother along with her other siblings. Fast forward to Effie living a life as an adult far away from …more

The Girls of Good Fortune: A Novel
by Kristina McMorris

A bit disappointing (4/15/2025)

I was eager to read this book, both because I enjoyed Sold on a Monday and because of the book blurb description of a tale of a woman, Celia, shanghaied. I was disappointed as the description doesn’t accurately portray what the book is about or maybe I just assumed it was …more

L.A. Women
by Ella Berman

Unlikeable LA Women (3/1/2025)

Lane and Gala have a love/hate relationship. Lane Warren, raised in an unhappy household, becomes the next literary sensation. She lives her best life, great husband, beautiful twin girls but she finds it impossible to escape her old life and impossible to accept love from …more

The Jackal's Mistress: A Novel
by Chris Bohjalian

Bohjalian at his best (2/5/2025)

I have a complicated relationship with Bohjalians books. To me, they are either very good like Hour of the Witch or meh, like the Princess of Las Vegas. So I went into this book with caution but with hope. I’m glad to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Kudos to Bohjalian for …more

The Pecan Children
by Quinn Connor

Unexpectedly good (5/3/2024)

My first reaction to this book was one of disappointment. It appeared to be just another family drama. Twin sisters not getting along, one moved to the big city, one stays on the farm. They resolve their differences plus rekindle romances with their first loves. Meh. But …more

A Great Country: A Novel
by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

A Great Country? (3/17/2024)

Ashok and Priya Shah leave their home in India, where the written caste system is oppressive and restrictive and move to America, the land of dreams and supposedly a great country. They work hard and after 20:years are able to move into a gated, elite community. All is well …more

The Funeral Cryer: A Novel
by Wenyan Lu

Disappointing (2/1/2024)

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I know nothing about the profession of Funeral Cryer and I was hoping to learn more. I was so disappointed. The entire book is the funeral cryer (the reader never learns her name) musing and whining about her job, her life, …more

The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton

A Historical Mystery (12/15/2023)

This is a book about a house. It’s a house that becomes the obsession and eventual demise of two men, one at the end of WWI and another at the start of WWII. It’s the scene of two, or is it three, murders involving the wives of these two men. It’s a house despised not only …more

Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung

Hope amid sorrow (11/2/2023)

It's difficult these days to comprehend what's happening to people especially children in Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine. Power struggles kill everyday people and there are places around the world that have dealt with oppression for centuries. The Daughters of Shandong …more

Trouble the Living: A Novel
by Francesca McDonnell Capossela

A fractured family (10/10/2023)

I tend not to read books with dysfunctional families as living with mine was hard enough. I was intrigued by this book though since living through war in Northern Ireland was far enough from my own experiences that I felt I could read it without bias. I’m so glad that I did. …more

Mercury Pictures Presents: A Novel
by Anthony Marra

Incredible (9/4/2023)

There have been so many books written about WWII that it’s difficult to find one that tells a new story or Carrie’s a new perspective. This book is the rare story; richly written and hard to describe. It’s the story of the influx of European emigres during the war many of …more

Devil Makes Three: A Novel
by Ben Fountain

Devil Makes Three (8/26/2023)

This book is a challenging read. It's an interesting story of survival in Haiti during a different time in the country's history. I learned so much about Haiti and the struggles of Haitians who continue to deal with corruption and dangerous politicians. Unfortunately the …more

Delicate Condition
by Danielle Valentine

Rosemarys Baby revisited (7/8/2023)

Not quite. But I loved the movie. I rooted so hard for Mia Farrow, hated her husband and her creepy neighbors. In the end, she was a mother and she wanted to take care of that little monster. I rooted for Anna the same. After all she'd been through I wanted her to have her …more

The Montevideo Brief: A Thomas Grey Novel
by J. H. Gelernter

Fun historical fiction (3/28/2023)

So after reading about the first twenty pages of this book I wasn't sure I wanted to go on. There's a lot of fluff in those pages and I was worried with such a short book that the fluff would take up a lot of the story. Happily, I didn't have to worry. The book is based on …more

The All-American: A Novel
by Joe Milan Jr.

Not for me (1/31/2023)

This book started out very slow for me. I’m not a fan of football and I found Bucky’s family to be incredibly unlikeable. I was hoping things would get better. Unfortunately, for me, not so much. I just could not connect with Bucky. I felt really sorry for his circumstances …more

The Mitford Affair: A Novel
by Marie Benedict

Women who could change the world (12/2/2022)

Marie Benedict never fails to find women live in the shadows of great men yet have the power to change or affect history. The Mitford sisters certainly fit this category and Ms. Benedict has recreated their stories in a way that is so fascinating. Diana and Unity, …more

The Last Russian Doll
by Kristen Loesch

Historical Fiction at its best (10/1/2022)

The Last Russian Doll is a beautifully written but very complicated book. At times it’s difficult to discern what is happening and I felt when finished that there was so much unresolved. As historical fiction, it is outstanding. A captivating story with well thought and …more

River Sing Me Home
by Eleanor Shearer

So powerful (9/6/2022)

Occasionally I read a book that stops my heart, takes my breath away and pulls at all the emotions I can possibly feel at one time. River Sing Me Home is that book. It's the heartbreaking story of slavery in the Caribbean, those that did the backbreaking work on the sugar …more

Shadows of Berlin: A Novel
by David R. Gillham

Powerful (3/29/2022)

My favorite genre, or perhaps, obsession used to be WWII fiction. I stopped reading them because I wasn’t finding anything new and I felt I was becoming somewhat immune to the graphics which seemed to be inevitable. Shadows of Berlin is an exception. It’s a powerful and …more

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket — Broken Country (Reese's Book Club)
by Clare Leslie Hall

A love triangle reveals deadly secrets in this thriller for fans of *The Paper Palace* and *Where the Crawdads Sing*.

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