Lupita G

This isn't your typical rom-com book, because there's SO MUCH MORE than what has been published lately. Sylvie is a psychic-medium with a huge following, yet she has some secrets of her own. Thomas is an L.A. journalist writing about "grief vampires" - what he calls people like Sylvie - who firmly beliefs that she's a charlatan.

But while they are complete opposites, they have more things in common than they realize. The story keeps you turning the pages; the characters are realistic, and there are very funny moments, especially with their pets.

Highly recommend this one for book clubs, or for anyone who needs a "light read" but with substance.

This was an enjoyable, "high-brow" novel, set in Oxford University; Tessa Templeton is the PhD student, and Chris Eccles is the professor, and her mentor.

Tessa is a brilliant Classicist from the United States, and is on the brink of finishing her studies at Oxford, and is applying to universities for professorships, but finds it strange when she never receives an answer. Then, all of a sudden she receives a strange letter telling her that Chris -- her PhD advisor and mentor -- has been sabotaging her academic career by making sure she stays at Oxford as a professor, and realizes Chris's true intentions.

The story is told through Tessa's and Chris's point of views, therefore the reader will notice the psychopathic machinations (and reasons) of Chris's sabotage. While all this is happening, Tessa discovers the writings of an obscure ancient Roman poet that could not only salvage her career, but put her on the map, if only she could get away from Chris Eccles.

Between the suspense of Chris's sabotage, and the mystery of the obscure Roman poet, the books takes us from Oxford to the coastline of Italy, and it all comes to an exciting finish. Recommended for those that are fans of literary thrillers, such as "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz-Zafon, and A.S. Byatt's "Possession".

This debut novel started out strong, with Chloe Sevre - a Freshman student at a Washington, D.C. college. What makes her stand out is that she's a psychopath, and is part of a psychological program to study people with psychopathic tendencies. For her participation she gets a full-ride scholarship at the university. But her main reason to being there is to avenge her rape against Will - an upperclassman and typical frat boy.

Chloe's plans to avenge Will come to a halt when students in her program drop dead, and there's a serial killer on the lose. So, she starts to spy on who could be the killer, and she starts working with two fellow students, one of them is Andre, who is also part of the program, but who isn't a psychopath, just pretending to be one in order to get the scholarship. Andre is a big true crime fan, so he joins Chloe in solving the murders.

Although the premise had a lot of promise, the book fell flat midway, then picked up a bit towards the end when the murders are solved. The chronology of the days was a bit confusing, and the length of the book was longer than it should be, but it was an enjoyable read with many interesting plot points, and it gives you a fascinating look into how the mind of a psychopath works.

I give this three stars, rounding up to three and a half. This will come out in September 2021, and I thank BookBrowse for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Read this book for my book club, and I know it's a great title for book discussions. Such a short book, but it does pack a punch, and the characters are so real, and sometimes you get angry with them, and sometimes you become sad with them. Definitely not a light read, but an important book as it delves into sensitive issues in current Indian society.