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The Lost Apothecary

The Lost ApothecaryTitle: The Lost Apothecary
Author: Sarah Penner
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Format: Audio
Pages: 310
Length: 10h 29m
Narrator: Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony, Lauren Irwin
Reason Read: Book of the Month
Rating:

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed THE LOST APOTHECARY. I loved that the story was written in three POVs, two from the past and one from present day. I thought it was an interesting look at how we interpret past events vs what really happened.

I liked both the past story and the present day one, but I thought the past one was a bit more interesting. I thought the idea of an apothecary dispensing poisons to women that wanted to exact revenge on the men who betrayed them was a really fun concept. It made for an interesting mystery.

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The Boyfriend

The BoyfriendTitle: The Boyfriend
Author: Freida McFadden
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audio
Pages: 364
Length: 9h 13m
Narrator: Victoria Connolly, Robb Moreira
Reason Read: Book of the Month
Rating:

My Thoughts

THE BOYFRIEND is my first Freida McFadden book. While it wasn’t my favorite thriller, it kept me reading and the ending was way different than I was expecting. I’ll definitely give McFadden another go.

The two POVs and timelines were interesting. At first, I didn’t like them because of how McFadden seemed to be setting up one of them. (I mean who writes a book from the killer’s POV from the get-go, right?) Fortunately, I realized there had to be more to what seemed to be happening. I didn’t like the characters very much and I thought one of them was really stupid on more than one occasion. I’m glad I stuck with the story, though, because the twist was a lot of fun because it was so unexpected. For quite a bit of the story, I kept trying to figure out who the killer was. I did figure it out before the big reveal, but only just.

Someone Else’s Shoes

Someone Else’s ShoesTitle: Someone Else's Shoes
Author: Jojo Moyes
Genre: Contemporary
Format: Audio
Pages: 438
Length: 12h 21m
Narrator: Daisy Ridley
Reason Read: Book of the Month
Rating:

My Thoughts

SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES was a fun book to read. I enjoyed seeing how one little mixup could cause so much chaos in each of the women’s lives. I wondered how the story would resolve itself and I wasn’t disappointed. I did like one woman more than the other, but both women had their own difficulties and ways of dealing with their circumstances.

I liked the audiobook a lot and listening to Daisy Ridley’s narration. I’m glad I chose this book for my Book of the Month book when I did.

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My Friends

My FriendsTitle: My Friends
Author: Fredrik Backman
Genre: Literary Fiction
Format: Audio
Pages: 436
Length: 13h 7m
Narrator: Marin Ireland
Reason Read: Book Club, Book of the Month
Rating:

My Thoughts

I don’t know what it is about Fredrik Backman, but he has the ability to tell a story with so much feeling and depth without it being boring or seeming contrived. He writes characters, situations, and the feelings of both better than any other author I’ve read. I love his ability to tell his stories in parts.

MY FRIENDS was a beautiful story about growing up, found family, resilience, and finding the silver lining in really shitty circumstances. It deals with hard topics like bullying, immigration, abuse, sickness, and grief. Even though the story is sad, it’s interspersed with laughter and happiness, and ends with a feeling of hope. There are also a lot of farts (iykyk). This one kept me guessing until the end and I loved taking the journey with the characters.

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Sunrise On The Reaping

Sunrise On The ReapingTitle: Sunrise on the Reaping
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: Hunger Games #5
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Format: Audio
Pages: 382
Length: 12h 48m
Narrator: Jefferson White
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
My Thoughts

I’m so glad Collins has decided to write more books in Panem universe. I love deep diving into so many of the secondary characters from the original trilogy. I’ve been looking forward to SUNRISE ON THE REAPING since I heard about it and it did not disappoint.

I knew Haymitch had to have had a rough life, especially in and after the games. I just had no idea how awful it really was. Poor, Haymitch! Despite how gruesome his story was, it was a fantastic edition to the series. I really loved learning more about him. I also loved how Collins interspersed “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe throughout the book and especially during the last chapter. It added a lot of feeling and atmosphere to what happened to Haymitch and the other characters.

It was really fun to see all the character cameos from the original trilogy as well as a few from THE BALLAD ON SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES. The characters endeared the book to me more than anything else.

As of the end SUNRISE ON THE REAPING, I still want to know how Snow became president of Panem and what led to that happening between the tenth and 50th Hunger Games. I also still want to know why he and Tigris had a falling out. I also want to know how both Lucy Gray and Maude Ivory died because of something Clerk Carmine or Tam Amber said near the end of this story. I’d love to read Finnick’s story or what happened during the first quarter quell next. And, I think it would be fun to get Mags’, Beatty’s, and Johanna’s stories at some point as well.