Was this a murder mystery? A character study? A meta exploration on being a writer? Honestly, I'm not sure. All I know is, I couldn't get into it no matter how hard I tried.

On the surface, this appears to be everything I'd enjoy. Four strangers are sharing the same table at the library when a scream rends the air. A woman has been murdered. The scream bonds the four strangers and they become fast friends. But as sinister events continue to dog them and they're unable to shake the shadow of the murder, it's clear one of them is hiding secrets. But which one is it?

Ah, a murder mystery with only a limited number of suspects. I can totally get on board with that. But it quickly becomes obvious that four people, one of whom is the first-person narrator, is too few suspects to sustain a full-length novel. There are only so many possibilities and—unless it was an alien or supernatural interloper who did it, but alas, no— it's hard to feel even a blip of surprise when it's all revealed in the end.

Because the mystery itself moves along quite slowly, we spend a lot of time and focus on the characters. But they're bland at best and unlikable at worst, lacking that all-important appeal that makes character studies come alive. And their actions don't really make sense, often bordering on inappropriate and mostly annoying the heck out of me.

This has the format of a story within a story, which I usually love. But it didn't work here. The outer story, with Hannah authoring the murder mystery, doesn't mesh with the actual inner story itself, and her correspondences with Leo are by far the weakest parts of the whole thing. Every time we get to Leo's letters, which is at the end of every single chapter, I dreaded reading it. Not only was it obnoxious and irrelevant, but it took away from the little forward momentum of an already slow story.

And on top of all that, I didn't really understand the very end. I thought everything had wrapped up, but the last page made it seem like there should've been more. Except I'd definitely reached the end, and what an unsatisfying one it was.

I'm just so confused by my reading experience. So many other readers loved this and found it thrilling and twisty. But I thought it was as dull as a murder mystery can be, with hardly any surprises or twists or even clues. Though it was only 250 pages, I crawled through it for weeks and ended up in the dreaded slump.

Readaroo Rating: 2 stars

My heartfelt thanks for the copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.

I acted like a totally irrational, absurd, deranged person.

Yes, Sadie, you really did.

Miscommunication (a.k.a. no communication) isn't my favorite trope in any genre, but it particularly grates on my nerves in romances. Pretty much nothing irritates me more than reading about conflict that comes entirely from things unsaid. So it's no surprise that I didn't love this story nearly as much as Ali Hazelwood's other ones.

Add to that my inability to see myself in Sadie, who blabs work confidential information, jumps to conclusions, and thinks the worst in others, and this was a rather eye-rolling experience. The entire time, I felt so bad for Erik, who deserves so much better.

I do realize without all the miscommunication and misunderstanding, there wouldn't be a story at all. But what can I say—a girl wants what a girl wants. And this just wasn't the story for me.

Still, Ali Hazelwood always delivers a fun read, and the fact that this was a short novella made it a tolerable if not entirely enjoyable read for me.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

I can always count on Liu Cixin to write a story full of elements I've never seen before and to put it together in an interesting and thought-provoking way.

In The Cretaceous Past, intelligence has been bestowed upon the dinosaurs and the ants. These two species start off on disparate paths, but when a chance encounter shows them the benefit of mutual cooperation, their paths slowly converge. This symbiotic relationship is fruitful and leads to advancements and improvements for them both. But how long can their cooperation last and what happens when it comes to an end?

This is an allegory, so don't let the fact that it's about animals throw you off. Liu is using this story to explore and comment on the social, political, religious, and environmental issues of our time. Though his original writing is in Chinese and this is a translation, the topics in here feel relevant and timely, even if we're from different cultures.

His writing always reads like a feast for the mind. They make me think of a giant thought exercise, where he takes his reader along on a journey of what-ifs. Who is to say that humans are the only intelligent beings to ever grace the earth? What if dinosaurs and ants not only roamed here, but also possessed intelligence and ingenuity? How might our history have shaken out then?

It follows that Liu's writing style very much matches his narrative content. His writing at times feels more like nonfiction than fiction. He is essentially presenting an alternative history, and that's how readers should approach it. This isn't character-driven at all. Rather, it's a historical text, just of a history that may not have come to pass.

I first came across Liu with his magnum opus, The Three-Body Problem trilogy, which is among the best science fiction I have ever read. And while this novella doesn't reach that level of brilliance, it's still a riveting read from beginning to end.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

Equal parts disturbing and riveting, My Dark Vanessa demanded my whole attention from the very first page. It's an undeniably important story that deserves to be told. But I come out of it reeling because it wasn't quite the story I thought I would be reading.

A troubled and lonely fifteen-year-old girl is singled out by her forty-two-year-old English teacher for special attention. He grooms her and manipulates her into being emotionally entangled with him. After a while, their relationship turns physical and sexual and clearly abusive.

Obviously, this is a graphic story and comes with all the trigger warnings you'd expect from something like this. Reading it was hard, and it was even more so to see firsthand how all the adults in Vanessa's life failed her, not just her abuser. There were so many signs that things were going wrong, yet her parents, her school, her other teachers, they all turned a blind eye so as not to cause trouble. As a result, they enabled and normalized the abuse and made Vanessa feel like she had no one to turn to.

But for me, it was her later life that was even harder to read. The author did not shy away from exploring the long-term affects of abuse. Vanessa reaches adulthood, and yet, she couldn't get away. She keeps going back for more, even though her abuser tries to cut off ties with her. He starts off as the aggressor, but their roles slowly become muddled. She obsesses over him, stalks him, reels him back in to their unhealthy relationship even though he tries to get out. When he doesn't give her the attention she craves, she tries to recreate their relationship with someone else.

To say Vanessa is the unwitting recipient through it all is to take the easy way out. And the author doesn't do that. Instead, she paints a complex, morally fraught, thought-provoking picture of abuse in all of its forms and consequences. Of course Vanessa starts out as a child and is initially the victim of her circumstances. But what about when she's in her twenties, or thirties? Can she ever truly move on, or has the abuse she endured robbed her of her agency and her ability to accept help and heal? There are no easy answers here, only uncomfortable questions.

This was such a distressing and unsettling read, and it left me torn up inside. It starts from a place that I was expecting and veers into a direction that was even darker and more complex than at first glance. Yet, through it all, I couldn't look away. It's definitely one of those memorable reads that will stay with me for a long time.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

There's something about this series that is just so darn satisfying, and this latest installment delivers again.

Our intrepid Harriet Gordon, in between her duties at her brother's school and working as a typist with the police, has joined the local drama club for a little bit of fun. But even among this gathering of folks with similar interests, there is tension and secrets simmering beneath the surface. When murder comes calling, it's up to Inspector Curran, with the help of Harriet, to figure out what's really going on, before any more innocent lives are cut short.

This was such an entertaining murder mystery. There's a good amount of things going on, so it never feels slow. With plenty of clues and red herrings to suss out and mull over, this was a mystery I could really sink my teeth into. And once it got going, I couldn't put it down and pretty much read it in one go.

But to say the mystery was my favorite part of the story would be to sell it short. There's so much to love here. The characters really come alive, in particular Curran and Harriet. We're learning more and more about them, and in this installment, we come to understand Curran's personal history and his demons. It makes me appreciate his character even more. And Harriet remains strong and undaunted, no matter what comes her way.

You can tell Alison Stuart did so much research into colonial Singapore as part of her writing process, and it really shows. Like any historical fiction worth its salt, the setting feels authentic and atmospheric. Every time I read it, I'm transported to this time and place with its lush humidity and oppressive heat. Our visit to Singapore a few years ago was such a memorable one, and reading this series makes me long to visit this wonderful place again.

The mark of a good book is that I don't want it to end. When I reach that last page, I feel a sense of loss, as if I'm saying goodbye to a dear friend who I won't see for awhile. And so it is with this book. I hope Stuart won't keep us waiting too long for the next installment because I'm already salivating to get my hands on it.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

DNF - And another one bites the dust.

I've been trying to get into this book, on and off, for weeks now, and it's not working. By all accounts, everyone loves it and finds it riveting. Then I come along, and of course, I'm an outlier.

There's something about the combination of the writing and the story that just doesn't grab me. The writing style feels formulaic, with lots of mundane dialogue and descriptions, all to give atmosphere, but I don't feel it. Instead, it comes across as very predictable and fluffed up to me. I always prefer writing to be content-dense, but this is very much the opposite.

The story itself is rather bland. It's supposed to be a ghost story, yet I don't feel any chills or creepy vibes. In fact, I fell asleep twice reading it so far, which is my bar for moving on.

So there you go. I've given Simone St. James two tries so far. I read The Sun Down Motel all the way through and felt very much humdrum about it too. So I'm going to chalk this up to the author not being for me and part ways.

Readaroo Rating: 2 stars (DNF)

Honestly, this was just okay. It's clear I've missed what everyone else loves about it. And that's mostly due to the fact that I'm not sure I understood half of it.

This is a much-loved book, so before you come at me with pitchforks and tell me how I just don't get it, I know. That's what I'm trying to say here.

The writing style is flowery and dreamlike, focusing more on imagery and descriptions than on being clear. The same can be said about the worldbuilding, as if it had all happened elsewhere and we're just dropped in the middle of the narrative. It almost reads as if this is the companion book to an already established universe rather than the first novella of a series in its own right.

There are a lot of characters in here, especially when you consider how short this story is. But we don't really get to know any of them. The narrative always feels like it's coming from a distance, looking in rather than being inside the story. So even after having read it, I don't get a sense of who the characters truly are.

The unfolding of the narrative is rather disjointed, with lots of jumping around. It feels more like a series of separate little vignettes rather than a coherent whole that builds up to something. Lots of points are brought up, then never really explained. Even the ending, which is my favorite part, didn't really emerge from what was there before so much as it came out of nowhere.

All this contributes to a feeling of vague confusion that followed me throughout the whole story. I know many readers don't mind or even enjoy that narrative style, but it isn't for me. I only enjoy ambiguity when it's plot-based, so that it drives the story along and will be explained by the end. I don't like ambiguity when it's due to the writing style, because then it doesn't add anything and can be easily fixed by being just a little bit more clear.

I settled on 3 stars in the end because it's a novella and I don't feel like I wasted my time giving it a try. The ending was satisfying and at least added some clarity, though I wish the rest of it actually built up to it. But I'll be honest, if this was a full-length novel, I probably would've given it only 2 stars.

Obviously, I had high expectations going in, and in hindsight, they were too high. I had heard nothing but great things about both this novella and the author. But this is simply a case of mismatch between what I enjoy and what this story is. Many other readers loved it, so don't let me dissuade you from giving it a try.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars