neighbors – Derby Public Library's Blog

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Shippers

The Shippers by Katherine Center

First line: Mrs. Richmond’s wedding gown was itchy, for one thing.

Summary: After leaving her groom at the altar, JoJo Burton has decided she is going to finally break her cursed love life. With the help of her sister and her former childhood best friend, Cooper, she is determined to catch the eye of her teenage crush. Luckily, he happens to be attending her sister’s wedding cruise. However, with her sister busy with wedding details most of the scheming falls to her best friend. As they spend time together, she remembers all the things leading up to their falling out years before. JoJo hopes that this time together will help her and Cooper’s friendship but with each passing day, there seems to be something more between them. Will she need to abandon her plan or is she willing to lose Cooper forever?

My Thoughts: Again, such a wonderful summer read from Katherine Center. I had so much fun with this one. It took me back to the days when I spent summers outside with the neighbor kids until the sun went down. It was funny, charming and heartwarming.

The book begins on JoJo’s wedding day. She is stuck in a horribly itchy wedding gown belonging to her future mother in law. It seems like a sign and then her childhood best friend, Cooper, shows up to save the day! What a wonderful start to a rom-com, then add to it a cruise ship, former crush, a plan to seduce said former crush and a lot of miscommunication.

As readers, we watch her make mistakes when it seems so obvious to us what she should choose. However, while feeling exasperated with her choices I laughed along at the ridiculousness of it. In the end, everything always works out but the middle full of messiness kept me reading until the end. While sitting by the pool or enjoying a summer getaway this should be in your reading pile. It will make you laugh and remember your childhood summers spent with all your neighborhood friends.

What’s Ashley Reading?: Middle of the Night

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

First line: Morning sunlight seeps into the tent like a water leak, dripping onto the boy in a muted glow.

Summary: Ethan Marsh has spent the last thirty years wondering what happened to his best friend. One summer night while the boys were camping in Ethan’s backyard his best friend Billy disappeared without a trace. He has been plagued with an ongoing nightmare about that night but no memories of what happened to Billy. However, upon moving back to his childhood home it appears that someone or something is trying to get Ethan to remember that long ago night. As Ethan digs deeper into his past he finds secrets that were buried years ago by those around him who he trusted most.

My Thoughts: Well this was a surprise! The main character is a man. Never has Sager written a male main character. But even with this diversion from his norm the book did not disappoint. With every new chapter there were more twists added to the plot. No one was safe from suspicion in the disappearance of Billy.

Sporadically throughout the story we get pieces of different characters and their remembrances of the day everything changed in this idyllic neighborhood. Even when you think you have it figured out then another theory is brought forward. This may be a difficult one for any reader to deduce before the end.

Similar to Sager’s previous novel, The Only One Left, there is a big old house with mysterious characters residing there. Little is known about what happens at the institute. It is the perfect backdrop for this otherwise perfect little community.

As I finished this book I may have given myself a headache from the tension of the story. I found it very hard to put this book down. It is easy to say just one more chapter while reading any of Sager’s books but this one in particular. Each chapter will give the reader just a little bit more about what really happened thirty years before.

What’s Ashley Reading?: Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

First line: The game was Roux’s idea.

Summary: Amy Whey has spent years rebuilding her life after a tragic accident in her teens. She has husband, baby son and a step-daughter who she adores. Everything is going Amy’s way until Roux comes over for book club. In an attempt to unsettle Amy, Roux suggests playing Never Have I Ever, but with a twist. As the game progresses, Amy realizes that Roux knows her darkest secret. The one she has not even told her husband.

Roux tells Amy that if she doesn’t pay her the money she is asking for, she will go to the police and tell them about Amy’s past. In order to save the life she has built, Amy will dig back into her past to figure out how to outwit Roux.

My Thoughts: This book was twisted. There were so many different ways I thought the story would go but then the author took the reader on a completely different path. I literally gasped several times when a new twist was revealed. I really enjoyed the book but all the main characters were not great people. Amy was the best of the bunch but as you learn more about her and what she has done and what is happening in her head, I liked her less and less. Roux is the character that you love to hate. She is the opposite of Amy. She is not ashamed of who she is.

But the ending was nuts! I was really shocked by the ending. I don’t want to spoil anything but I never, ever would have guessed that ending.

FYI: Sexual content, language and death.

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Hidden

The Hidden by Melanie Golding

First line: Leonie presses her palm to the outside of the shop window.

Summary: Ruby has spent many nights watching her neighbor do yoga. She is startled when she notices his previously unknown family. After a chance encounter with her neighbor she is invited into his world. Even though she is drawn to Gregor she feels that she cannot interfere with his family. But as she gets to know Gregor, Constance and their daughter, Leonie, she finds out that the Gregor she knows is not the same as the one seen by his family. With each encounter, Ruby becomes more convinced that Constance and Leonie need to leave and she plans to help them.

My Thoughts: Melanie Golding does a great job again by merging a thriller with mythical events. In the story, Ruby believes that Constance has some mental issues when she talks of her life in the sea. How does this woman believe that she was once a seal?! And as a reader I kept wondering if I believed her or not too. It seems outlandish but also Constance really believes it to be true.

The story is told during different time hops. We see Ruby’s sister dealing with the near death of man in his bathtub, Ruby meeting Gregor and memories of a man who has done some dastardly deeds. As a reader you know that it is all leading to one point but how it’s going to get there is the fun of it. When everything comes together it was shocking. There are many little things from Gregor’s past that make the story thrilling. I could not wait to get to the end as I was reading. It was an elaborate cat and mouse game until the very end! And I was not disappointed.

FYI: Thriller with a mystical twist.

*This can be found on Hoopla in eBook and eAudiobook form.

Book Review: The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

First line: Her husband’s almost home.

Summary: Dr. Anna Fox, is a psychologist who lives alone and has not been outside her home in ten months. She spends her days online, drinking LOTS of wine, taking a wide variety of medications and spying on her neighbors. When a new family moves in next-door, she becomes engrossed in their lives but then she sees something one night but no one believes her. Did it really happen?

Highlights: Short chapters are one of my favorite things. The story moves very quickly. Little tidbits are mixed in enlightening the reader about Anna’s background and what made her a recluse. I love that she gives names and narrates the lives of her neighbor. In addition, Anna is a huge movie buff but mainly black and white movies. She quotes lines from old Hitchcock classics. The book gives the feel of Rear Window. I was home sick in bed while reading this one and the cabin fever was starting to set in. It felt like the perfect book for a sick day. While reading you question everything you read. Is Anna a reliable narrator? Can I trust her version of events? I kept coming up with more twisted and complicated scenarios. The book is very hard to put down. Since finishing, I have found a list of the movies mentioned throughout the plot. Now I have a pile of DVDs to watch!

Lowlights: I was able to decipher several of the plot twists since I have started reading much more in this genre. Even with this, I still found the ending satisfying and fun.

FYI: Pair with an old Jimmy Stewart movie!