I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I knew I'd get hooked as soon as I read the first line.

I found the perfect wife for my husband.

It turns out that Maddy has died, and she is now able to watch over her husband, Brady, and teenage daughter, Eve, who are grief-stricken after her sudden death and unexplained suicide. The point of view switches among each of the family members, and readers will watch each person deal with death in their own way.

The characters are all ones to root for. The different perspectives made me believe the author is quite empathetic. Eve is full of anger and guilt. Brady is starting to realize that he was an absent husband and father. Maddy is searching for a replacement wife and mother for her family. There's a little mystery in these pages, as well as an unpredictable and fitting ending.

Since Maddy's point of view is "from beyond" I worried about this being cheesy or too unbelievable. It wasn't. It'd be a great book for anyone needing a little help coping with their grief. This was a debut novel, and I'm excited to read more by this author in the future.

What did you think of this book? Add your comment below!

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Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dennis Lehane has written other books you’ve probably heard of (Mystic River; Shutter Island). Since We Fell is Lehan’es latest thriller. Rachel Childs has a mental breakdown which happens to go viral. The first half of the book readers will get to know Rachel and what her life had been like growing up. Various readers may find this part of the book slow; however, if you enjoy character development you’ll enjoy getting to know Rachel’s less than normal mom and absent dad.

When Rachel’s eventual husband comes into her life, readers will follow the story through her mental breakdown and descent into a chaotic life. The story builds slowly but it gains momentum as each page flips by. There were enough twists to keep me guessing through the last few pages.

I probably won’t remember specifics about this book a year from now, but it put me on the edge of my seat for a couple of days. When it’s difficult to put a book down, it must be because it’s a good one.


Tell me what you thought of this ending in the comments!

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This book found its way to my TBR list because of the concept. A boy, Archie Ferguson, is born but what happens in his life depends on which version of Ferguson's story is being read. This book follows what happens to four versions of Ferguson, an idea that was very intriguing for me.

I've never read any work by Paul Auster, and I enjoyed his writing from the beginning. His sentences are long but detailed, something that I both admire and found to be a drawback to this book. I loved the all-encompassing nature of this story. I generally want more, more, more about characters I like and this book delivered. However, the amount of reading time this book commanded was overwhelming, bordering on arrogance.

The one other part of the book I could have done without was the inclusion of all of the Vietnam era politics. This was by no means a main part of the book and very much of the times covered in this hefty novel, but it's not content that I enjoy as a reader. Some readers may, however, find this appealing.

Read this book for the great stories (and satisfying ending) but know that it is a long, dense time investment.

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The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The hosts of my favorite podcast, Literary Disco, read and discussed this book. They warned that this is a disturbing book, and they were right. They suggested that maybe no one should read it. And they were right. Near the end of the discussion it was mentioned that Ketchum's book was based on real life events. I figured if I read up on what happened I would quench my curiosity about the contents of this book.

Ultimately I did not listen to Julia, Tod, and Rider over at Literary Disco. The real life story is about the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens in 1965. A mother of three children was caring for Sylvia Likens and her sister when she, her children, and several children from the neighborhood began torturing Likens, eventually leading to her death. I learned that the murder happened a couple of blocks from the house I lived in as a child (though I arrived nearly 20 years after Likens' murder). I also learned that my grandmother knew one of the families involved when the murder took place. Curiosity won, and I could not say no to reading this book.

Many liberties were taken from the original story to the final book. Characters were changed; the location was changed; I believe some of the abuse was even changed. What did not change was how horrible the torture was in this book. (There's a brief chapter where the first person narrator cannot even tell specifics about the events that occurred due to the nature of the abuse.) Sensitive readers should not pick up this book. There were several times I put the book down because I was sick to my stomach.

I want to give this book five stars but the content was too horrible. Jack Ketchem's writing was convincing, kept the story moving, and may leave me with nightmares for the next couple of weeks. I'll look forward to reading more by him.

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