Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

This is certainly a cautionary tale. So many people put themselves and their families, including children, out there in our social media world, and many of them seem authentic. But that doesn't mean what they are presenting is authentic. I believe that people get so wrapped up in making "content" that they lose who they are and what is important in the real world. They try to hang on to a certain persona, and it's this persona that makes them successful financially. It's like going down a rabbit hole however.

Natalie Heller Mills presents herself as a tradwife to the world. Her family lives on a farm with chickens, dairy cows and horses. She bakes her own bread and follows a traditional role of a 1950s housewife. Her social media presence hits it big when one person (a male) mentions her in one of his own videos as someone who is doing everything right in this crazy world we live in. She gets thousands of followers immediately after this - which ultimately generates a nice monthly income for her and her growing family. The problem with this is that her and her husband are not living the life they present. They have help on the farm, two nannies to take care of their children (thankfully!), and eventually a producer to help Natalie with filming her content. Their marriage is deeply unhappy; Natalie doesn't even seem to like the children; and her husband, Caleb, is certainly opposed to work! But, to keep up appearances, they keep having children (and not necessarily in the way most married people do!) and they are funded for years by Caleb's wealthy (and politically-focused) father.

One day Natalie finds herself living on the same farm but without all the hidden luxury items, different children, and a not-gentle Caleb. She doesn't know why she is there and wonders if she if being filmed (think The Truman Show). She keeps wanting to go home. Her oldest child, Mary, who is only 10 or so, takes care of her, the younger children, and the house. It's crazy. The reader doesn't really know what's going on either - and I won't spoil it here. It's certainly an interesting and unique twist though!

Natalie is not a likeable woman. From beginning to end, she is not a nice person. We know this to be true because we can "hear" what she is actually thinking - and not just what she is saying out loud to others. Even though I didn't like Natalie, I thought the book was really well-written and the plot twist is clever.

Wendy's Rating: ****

This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum

I really loved this story. It's the author's debut novel. It's fast-paced, mysterious, troubling, and heartwarming. The key element that ties this story together is the best-friends relationship between Benny and Joy. They have never been romantically involved, but they love each other deeply. Benny suggests that they do a podcast together called This Story Might Save Your Life. They talk about a different survival story each week, but it's not scripted. They talk off-the-cuff and they are funny and weird and charming. The podcast is highly successful and they become well-known public figures. Everyone loves them.

Because Benny and Joy are simply friends, they each marry someone else. Benny marries Luna, an attorney. Joy marries Xander, who manages Benny and Joy's "business": their episode filming, touring schedule, advertising, etc. Eventually, Xander hires his sister, Mallory, to help with the work load. Xander also manages Joy's illness. Joy has severe narcolepsy. He is kind, supportive, caring, and really caters to her every need. He organizes her medications and makes sure she takes them, is accommodating when she needs to rest, and protects her from a stalker who calls themself Joy's "Number One Fan".

Unfortunately, some significant stressors enter their lives. One of the products they support on their podcast ends up being toxic and sends people to the hospital; Joy gets pregnant, which is tricky because of her narcolepsy; Benny & Luna's marriage starts to crumble; Joy's stalker ramps up the number of pictures of Joy (some very private) that they post on social media; and there is growing friction between Benny and Xander. Then things get worse!

One morning Benny shows up to film a podcast episode and Joy & Xander are gone. There is no sign of either one of them, but there is a broken window. The police are called. Benny ends up calling Luna because even though they are divorced, she is an attorney. Benny's sister, Sarah arrives to support Benny. Mallory is joined by her wife, Quinn. Benny is arrested for murder. It's a wild ride! I honestly had no idea where is was all going to end. As much as I loved this book, I struggled a bit with a small section of the ending. That's why I have to knock down my rating by 1/2 star. Maybe other readers won't be bothered by it at all though.

Wendy's Rating: ****1/2

The Crossing by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch #18. Harry was finally pushed out of the LAPD. It was only a matter of time. Retirement doesn't really set well with him however, especially since his daughter will be leaving for college soon. He is also single again. So, too much time on his hands. When Harry's half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller (the Lincoln Lawyer) contacts him and asks for a meeting, Harry goes but immediately shuts down Mickey's suggestion that Harry work as his investigator on a case. Harry wants nothing to do with the "defense" side of a court case. His entire career has been gathering evidence to put the guilty behind bars. He sees working for the defense as a betrayal of who he is and what he stands for. Mickey tries to convince Harry that his client is actually innocent of the crime, and that he needs Harry's help to find out what actually happened. Eventually, this gets Harry on board (begrudgingly).

What I love about these books is the way the stories unfold. In this case, Harry has no idea what is happening "behind the scenes" of this particular event (the brutal murder of a woman in her bed) - and has no idea that it's connected to a few other events, which seem random. I love how Harry processes information and takes one step at a time to try to find an answer to any question he has, or an explanation for his gut feelings about a person or situation. He may not want to work for the defense, but he certainly wants to discover the truth.

Harry is waiting for his renewed PI license and I am excited for him to be working on his own - without the constraints of the police department! Even I am tired of the politics tied to working for the LAPD. Ha! Time for Harry to cut his ties. One person I really like though is his last partner, Lucy Soto. She is already taking risks when it comes to her actions to help Harry, but I really like her for it! I think they make a great team. I hope she continues to be a presence in his life.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I love books and movies about ice skating - and I watched every minute of the ice skating events in the Winter Olympics earlier this year. I had a difficult time adjusting to what I thought the book was going to be like vs what it actually was. The blurb on the inside cover made it seem like the story was about a young couple, with tragic childhoods, coming together to take the ice dancing world by storm with their best-friend relationship, unique style, and passion for skating (and each other) propelling them to the Olympics. Not exactly. I wish it had been that.

First of all, most of the relationships in the book were toxic on some level, especially the two main characters, Katarina & Heath. Katarina is consumed by winning at any cost. She doesn't really seem to care about who she hurts along the way. It doesn't even seem like Heath wants to skate. He is only skating because he loves (and is highly dependent on) Katarina. So how do these two make it to the Olympics?? Well, it's a long, hard story, that's for sure. I don't mind reading about a few bumps along the road to success, or relationship issues because of decisions made by one or both people, but most of the people in this book were untrustworthy at best, and icky at worst. I get that these competitive athletes/coaches/trainers have to be self-absorbed to make it to the top. But the entire story hopped from one toxic environment to another; one toxic person to another; one accident and/or distraction to another. The negative energy was never-ending! I kept waiting for something - anything - positive to happen!

I was expecting something "tragic" to tear Katarina & Heath apart - or deeply affect their relationship - but honestly, their entire relationship was unhealthy. They were selfish, needy, demanding, controlling, and sometimes downright cruel to each other. This was more of a Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding story (cruel actions to take a competitor down), when I was expecting a story about two broken people coming together because they both loved skating and each other more than anything. If you can look beyond the toxicity - or enjoy reading about that kind of thing - the writing style is engaging. I kept reading to see how it would all turn out, so I was invested in the story. 

Wendy's Rating: ***1/2

A World of Hurt by Mindy Mejia

This book picks up where the first one, To Catch A Storm, left off. Max Summerlin brought down the majority of a drug trafficking ring, but not everyone involved. They have the drugs, but not the money. They don't know who paid the money for the drugs either. What they do know is that the buyer didn't get his product. When the DEA asks Max to join the task force to finish the job, Max is ready to go. When he agrees, he doesn't realize that his job will be to keep an eye on Kara Johnson, the girlfriend of his best friend's (Jonah's) deceased niece. Kara worked for Sam, the "drug lord". When Kara met Celina (Jonah's niece) and fell in love with her, Celina convinced her to make a positive change in her life by going undercover to help take Sam and his drug operation down. Sam ended up murdering Celina.

Max deals with chronic pain (from being shot twice) and an unhappy wife. Kara is still grieving Celina's loss, chronic guilt, and the inability to feel physical pain. They are quite the duo. Their partnership initially doesn't go that well. Kara is always running off and doing her thing. They don't trust each other. Actually, Kara doesn't trust anyone. While working with the DEA task force, Kara lives with Phyllis, who used to run the thrift store (and money-laundering operation) for Sam. When Phyllis retired from the job, Kara had taken over. (By-the-way, Kara only agrees to work with the task force because the other option was to be sent to prison.) Phyllis is pretty much a crabby old woman with a poisonous garden, but she lets Kara rent a room.

There is a lot of action that involves a lot of different people. Sometimes it's difficult to keep everyone straight. There are still people connected to Sam running around; there is the DEA team; there is the police department. Everyone seems to have their own agenda. Max and Kara keep getting injured. Kara goes to her "private doctor" whenever she needs advance medical care (like to set a broken leg). This doctor is a veterinarian who lives out in the boondocks. She is not very personable, but Kara is taken with her. The feeling is mutual.

Eventually, it seems like all parties have the same goal: follow the money. They do not necessarily work together on it though. This means more threats and more deaths, but still, no one knows who the original buyer of the drugs was. They find out in the end though! I won't spoil it here. ;)

One thing I really loved is that since this was set in 2020, the author incorporated the Covid-19 pandemic - and all that it entailed - into the story. This is as is should be. I recently read another book set in 2020 and the pandemic wasn't even mentioned. It bothered me the entire time! Something as huge as a worldwide pandemic should always be included if you are going to write a story set in 2020-2021.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch #17. Harry has a new partner. Her name is Lucia Soto and she is a 28-year old Mexican American who speaks Spanish and English. She has been on the police force for under five years, but the department decided to make some changes in assigning partners by putting together an experienced detective with a newbie. So Harry was assigned to Lucia "Lucy" Soto. She is my favorite partner of Harry's by far! She is intelligent and works as hard as Harry does. Finally, Harry doesn't have to do everything to keep the momentum going on their assigned cases. Harry is still working in the Open-Unsolved Unit. He only has one year left on his DROP contract, so his time is running out. His daughter, Maddie, is now 17 years old.

Harry and Lucy are assigned a unique case because the cold-case victim just died, ten years after the original event. Orlando Merced was a member of a mariachi band that was waiting for a job in a plaza when a seemingly random gunshot from across the plaza hit him, permanently paralyzing him. The bullet was still lodged near his spine at his death because it could not be surgically removed at the time of the shooting. Now that Merced was dead, the bullet could be removed. It was Harry's job to determine who the shooter was, hopefully by tracking down the gun used, now that they had access to the bullet.

As with everything that Harry has his hands in, nothing is as simply as it seems and everything is attached to a political figure. In addition to this, Lucy is investigating a unsolved case on the side (very Harry-like), which Harry discovers by accident. He agrees to help her. This case involves a fire that was set in the unlicensed daycare that Lucy had attended as a young child. Lucy survived the fire, but her friends and caregivers at the daycare did not. It was never determined how the fire started - or who may have started it. Harry figures out a way to get access to the case notes of the daycare fire by linking it to their current case. Only Harry.

Harry does what he needs to do to solve both cases, but he puts his job (and by association, Lucy's job) at risk. This book ends differently than I expected for sure! I am wondering what's next for Harry Bosch. The author usually jumps a number of years between books and with Harry only having one year left on his contract, I am anxious to see what's in store for Harry in the next book.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

This is book three of the Shatter Me trilogy. I absolutely loved it. Juliette has just been shot by Anderson, saved by Warner, and brought back to base by Warner. No one knows she is alive. Warner tells her that everyone from Omega Point is dead. They lost the battle and Anderson destroyed Omega Point. Obviously, Juliette is devastated. She wants Warner to show her so she can see it for herself. He agrees to take her to Omega Point after making a plan.

It wouldn't be much of a book if everyone associated with Omega Point had actually died of course. The main characters are still living and Juliette runs into Kenji when she's at Omega Point. Kenji's special power (being invisible) is incredibly helpful throughout these three books, by-the-way! Anyway, the survivors of Omega Point have re-assembled themselves back at Adam & James' initial home. Needless to say, it does NOT go over well when Juliette & Warner visit the old gang. We definitely see a different side to Adam. Adam detests Warner and shows his spitefulness with every word and every action. He is quite difficult to like - and it gets easier and easier to intensely dislike!

Because of his love for Juliette, Warner is willing to provide shelter for the survivors at his own base (so they have shelter and food), but this suggestion isn't well-received initially. It takes a lot of persuasion by Juliette (and honestly Kenji) for most of the survivors to agree to move to base, leaving behind Adam & James. My fondness for Kenji has grown exponentially since the beginning of this trilogy. He becomes Juliette's best friend and it's his loyalty to her that helps Juliette present Warner to the group as someone different than they all believed him to be. Everyone needs a best friend like that.

This is finally the part of the story when Juliette steps up to be the person she needs to be in order to take down The Reestablishment. She is the only one who can truly lead them to victory and take down Anderson. Warner gets her to understand that she needs to be strong physically as well and he starts training her in other ways. She has a lot better understanding of her own powers, as well as Adam's and Warner's - still the only two people that can touch her bare skin.

This story has an incredibly satisfying ending. The book is fast-paced and I read it in one day. There was no way I was putting it down!

Wendy's Rating: *****