Malini L

While Julianne Hough's celebrity status wouldn't normally draw me in, the captivating first chapter hooked me. The vivid description of Lexi's on-stage drowning was a powerful opening, with her multi-sensory experience. However, the subsequent experiences of Lexi's energetic abilities were one-dimensional and became repetitive. I also felt some of the side characters were cartoonish and inconsistent.

Despite never being interested in astrology or energy healing, I found the introductory aspects intriguing, and appreciated the leveled approach to religious themes. The book's strength lies in Lexi's personal growth journey within herself and relationships with her friends and family, and I enjoyed that central part of the story.

I really wanted to love this book, as I usually enjoy books with strong female characters navigating familial relationships - and I'm a nature lover to boot. But I found the stories boring and there were too many side characters for a short book. I never felt connected to the main character Henrietta, and even though she was part of each story, I did not feel that I knew or understood her. However, the author has an incredible talent for truly beautiful writing.

I was very excited to read this book, after being a frequent flier and working in the flight industry for many years. I enjoyed all the tales about the passengers and fellow flight attendants, and learning about the flight attendant interview and training processes back in the 70s. I could see how each flight the author worked helped her mature and grow.

I wish she would have gone into more detail in some of the stories. This book felt more like a string of summarized anecdotes and less of a deep personal memoir.

The book was also fairly repetitive, not something I'd expect from a seasoned author. It could be condensed into a wonderful magazine feature.

The Fields is a well-paced crime novel that pulled me in from the first page. The main character was well developed, however, there were too many other characters to keep track of. This book, while a page-turner, is densely packed and not a quick read. It covers a number of topics - Big Ag, violence, politics, family, drugs, past stories, and may be better suited as a Netflix series. I felt the final revelation was a bit far-fetched, but as this dipped into the horror genre perhaps it fitted. A few storylines were left unresolved and I am hoping to see those explained in the next book of the series.