Review: The Scoop: A Novel

The Scoop: A Novel by Erin Van Der Meer
My rating: 1 of 5 stars




First-person singular, ego-driven, repetitive, narcissistic, disappointing.


Frankie has lost her prestigious job at Marie Claire (and never lets us forget it). When her money starts running out, and she has exhausted all other leads, she takes a job with The Scoop. The Scoop is a sleaze gossip site/newspaper. The reason she did so is that her boss promised her (sort of) that she would be promoted to a better, more prestigious job in a few months.

Her friends, well, what can I say about them except that they hate the job she has taken and never let her forget it. One friend even managed to stab her in the back. Very low blow.

Eventually, Frankie finds herself rolling around in the sty with all the other pigs (voluntarily) and nearly ends someone's life.

I truly got tired of the misogynistic White man trope. That anyone with power is going to poop on the "little people". If you think about it, there are plenty of women in that top-tier category, and I would have to assume they are painted by the same brush.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Grand Central Publishing, the author, and NetGalley.


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Summary: "A piercing satire about a journalist working the night shift at a tabloid and the explosive consequences of her “harmless” clickbait.

 
Washed-up New York journalist Frankie Miller is getting desperate. Since the twenty-nine-year-old lost her dream job at a glossy magazine three months ago, her days have been filled with overdue bills, cereal for dinner, and a flood of rejection emails (not to mention her ex has a new girlfriend). So when she’s offered a job at The Scoop, a notorious tabloid website run by tyrannical editor-in-chief David Brown, she can’t exactly afford to say no—even if it means swallowing her pride for clicks. Besides, for Frankie, it’s just a paycheck, a temporary detour. It’s not forever.
 
But the deeper she’s pulled into the breakneck world of tabloid journalism, the blurrier the line between ambition and morality becomes—until she crosses it. When her reporting humiliates a beloved pop star and dredges up grief over her late mother, Frankie sets off a chain reaction that spirals beyond her control. In an industry where reputation is currency and outrage sells, how far is Frankie willing to go—and how much is she willing to lose—to win at this ruthless game?
 
Sharp, witty, and unflinchingly bold, The Scoop is a searing exploration of ambition, exploitation, and the human toll of the 24/7 news cycle."

Review: Hope Rises

Hope Rises by David Baldacci
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hope Falls Flat.

The antagonist was so evil and so blatant about it that all I could think of was the character DR.Evil from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. I kept giggling every time I saw Victoria Steers name. The plan for them to break her Mother out of 'jail' was so convoluted that it also had me giggling.

I just don't think I'm the right audience for this novel. What is really too bad is that David Baldacci used to be one of the authors that I would automatically buy. No more.

*ARC supplied by the publisher, the author and NetGalley.


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Summary - "Walter Nash began a journey down a dark path of seemingly no return, and now he finds himself questioning everything that got him there in this thrilling sequel to Nash Falls from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci.

Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him. He has nothing left to lose and with long, rigorous training under his belt the gentle and sensitive Nash has transformed into something he never thought he’d be: a physically imposing man with lethal skills. And now he has only goal left in life: taking down Victoria Steers.

In order to succeed, he’s going to need to cross enemy lines and work the job from the inside. But Steers is shrewd and only brings those with her complete trust into her inner circle. Nash must rely on every ounce of his hard-earned skills in order to prove himself an ally to Steers if he’s ever going to get close enough to decimate her criminal empire.

Yet, despite hating the woman for destroying his life, Nash finds himself oddly drawn to Steers in ways that he never could’ve imagined. And what he ultimately discovers will turn all he believed upside down, forcing Nash to do something truly unfathomable.

So, will the truth set Nash free?"

Review: Mad Mabel

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars

This was a very unique book in that it was sad, funny, grim, weep-inducing, amusing, frustrating and giggle-worthy.

This is going to be a perfect beach read and an excellent book club choice. There is much to discuss with this novel.

Set in Australia, this book is written with two different time lines called--Now and Then.

Mad Mabel is called such because she was supposed to have committed murder; according to gossip, it may have been multiple murders, but who knows when it is just gossip...or is it?

Mabel finally decides to tell her story to two young people who have a TikTok channel and have been researching Mabel (who now calls herself Elsie). She opens up to them, and the whole story comes out. Meanwhile, there is a death in her neighborhood, and her 'Mad Mabel' name comes forth, and all hell breaks loose.

There are side-characters that are having issues, and Mabel steps up to the plate, no matter how cranky and grumpy she is about it.

I have to admit I did find myself doing a little weeping during the last several chapters, but overall I loved this book.

*ARC Supplied by the publisher St. Martin's Press, the author, and NetGalley.


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SUMMARY: "There are two kinds of people no one ever expects to be murderers: little girls and old ladies.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old. She's lived on her idyllic street for sixty years—longer than anyone else. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else's business, few would suspect that Elsie has a past she's worked exceedingly hard at concealing—because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, once a little girl and now an old lady, has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end."

Review: Elizabeth and Marilyn: A Novel

Elizabeth and Marilyn: A Novel by Julie Owen Moylan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

They both wanted what they cannot have.

This book deals with Marilyn and Elizabeth as women and not idols. However, what the synopsis tells you is NOT what you get. They both want what they cannot have.

I really wanted to love this novel, but did not, as a matter of fact, I did not, because it was just so slow and really had nothing to do with Elizabeth and Marilyn having any sort of relationship (it is fiction after all). 

It was interesting to find out more about their private lives.  

*ARC supplied by the publisher Ballantine Books, the author, and NetGalley.

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SUMMARY: "What really happened when Queen Elizabeth II met Marilyn Monroe? This stunning historical novel imagines the summer that bonded the world's two most famous women, both thirty years old and chafing against the façade of global celebrity.

On a cool early-autumn evening in 1956, a glittering array of stars turns out in London for a Royal Film Premier, where they will be presented to Queen Elizabeth II—an elegant young mother and wife, gracious and self-sacrificing, who has embraced her patriotic duty despite never expecting to take the throne so soon. Cameras flash, and a crowd surges forward as a limousine pulls up. Out steps a vision in dazzling the greatest star of the era, Marilyn Monroe. She's a global sensation and money-making machine for Hollywood, with curves that drive men wild and a smile that lets women know she’s in on the joke.

Finally, the two most famous women in the world will come face-to-face in public for the first time. And the world is watching—unaware that Elizabeth and Marilyn have already had an accidental encounter that has changed their lives.

Inspired by the months in the summer of 1956 when Elizabeth and Marilyn lived as neighbors in nearby Windsor, British author Julie Owen Moylan imagines a meeting the two might have had in their shared  garden. Born within weeks of each other, Lilibet and Norma-Jean would seem to have only their age in common. Yet beneath the glamorous costumes and jewels, both women are fighting  to hold on to the men they love while trying to do their work in a man's world, battling demons their adoring public could only guess at. Until now..."

Review: A Deadly Inheritance

A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Secrets and more secrets. Twisty-turny and very suspense-filled. Mysteries within mysteries.

Below are just some of the questions and some minor problems  I had while reading this very twisty novel. And they all will be explained as you read this exciting new novel.

Abrupt beginning of the book and very difficult to believe. Send someone to help when she is going to be taken by DCYS, then spring it on her that she is heir to a huge corporation with billions.

 coming her way?

Why won't grandparents meet her or have her come to Europe? Give her some explanations. More believable than having Cecelia tell her.

Jayden and Natalie -have we seen the last of them, and if so, why were they important?

Who really wants to see her dead?  Do they really want to see her dead?

A three-way? Yahoo!!! (not sexually explicit, sorry! This is a 'young' adult novel after all!LOL! 

These are just some of the questions I had while reading this novel. And they all will be explained as you read this exciting new novel.

Janus society??? Murder?

What a book!

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SUMMARY: "After discovering she's an heiress to a billion-dollar corporation, seventeen-year-old Liliana finds herself at a new boarding school where she must navigate secret societies and a deadly competition. Not to mention two handsome boys.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price meets The Inheritance Games series in this new YA thriller from bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westwood Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westwood Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox's own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance."

Review: Queen of Shadow

Queen of Shadow by P.C. Cast
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Trigger Warning-Rape

2.5 Stars


I wasn't enthralled with this book as some readers were. I found it to be a difficult read. It was a long, drawn-out novel, made confusing by the different pantheons. If it weren't for the Wikipedia built into my Kindle, I would never have finished this book. Adding to the confusion about the pantheons were the names and types of the Gods and Goddesses. We had Valhalla, the Summerlands, Celtic mythology, Irish mythology and Norse mythology.

Some of this book brought to mind certain scenes and the world of the Anne Bishop Black Jewels trilogy, but much slower. There is some romance, but nothing to send my heart fluttering.

*ARC supplied by the publisher William Morrow, the author, and NetGalley.

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SUMMARY: "Step into the mystical world of the Isle of Skye in 200 BCE, where legends come to life and the Queen of Shadow holds court. But Scáthach is no ordinary queen. Daughter of the Underworld goddess Bēfionn, golden-haired Scáthach is gifted with the Sight, able to glimpse all the possibilities of the future and pass between the world of men and the world of gods.

Scáthach dedicates her life to training the fiercest warriors from across the land in her fortress at Lethra. But then a newcomer arrives in Lethra and upends everything about Scáthach's existence. He is Cuchulainn, the hero of Ulster, son of the Irish God Lugh. Known for his strength and bouts of berserker rage, Cuchulainn wants Scáthach to help him hone his skills and find redemption for his violent past. The Queen of Shadow reluctantly agrees to take him in, ignoring their growing attraction, and what it might mean for her destiny.

Meanwhile, Scáthach's jealous half-sister Aife threatens Scáthach’s claim to the kingdom she loves and challenges Scáthach for Cuchulainn’s loyalty. Caught in a snare of duty and desire as she navigates the perils of leadership, Scáthach discovers that her destiny may lie in the Underworld, where she can forge a future for herself and Cuchulainn by tricking death itself....

Review: The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman's Legacy

The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman's Legacy by Kim Michele Richardson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an excellent conclusion to this trio of books. We end with more information about Cussy and her time in prison. We also get a look at what Louisville, KY, was like during that era when Cussy is granted a weeklong furlough from prison.

The descriptions of Cussy's despair, her anxiety at not knowing what is happening to her husband, who is also in prison (the men's prison having a severe outbreak of Polio), her joy at bringing her learning library into the women's AND the men's libraries are wonderful indeed.

I highly recommend this novel for those who love to learn about history in a gentler way.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark, the author, and Net Galley -ATTL.Edelweiss.

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SUMMARY: "In this standalone and companion novel to the The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series, our heroine for the ages, legendary book woman, Cussy Lovett, returns home. A powerful testament of strength, survival, and the magic of the printed word, The Mountains We Call Home is wrapped into a vivid portrait of Kentucky examining incarceration and criminalization, exploring the effects on the poor and powerless, and tracing the societal consequences of fractured family bonds, along with nostalgic glimpses of a bustling, multifaceted Louisville, and heartwarming portraits of reading efforts in every facet of life. 

Meticulously researched and richly detailed with a new cast of absorbing and complex characters, this beautifully rendered, authentic Kentucky tale is gritty and heartbreaking and infused with hope, spirit, and courage known only to those with no way out."