It’s time for a very belated but also very long by my standards March reading recap!
Stars in an Italian Sky by Jill Santopolo
I was super excited about a new book by Jill Santopolo. The Light We Lost and More than Words are two of my all-time favorite books. I am sad to say that this one fell a bit flat for me.
This dual-timeline love story takes place both in post-WWII Italy and in 2017 New York. In the 1940s timeline, a budding romance begins between a seamstress and the son of a count. Despite their deep connection, their political and economic differences pose some threats to their relationship.
In the New York timeline, Cassandra and Luca are newly engaged and navigating planning their wedding. Luca invites Cassandra’s grandma to pose for a painting with his grandfather, and the past and present collide.
Something about this book felt slow and lacked the emotion and spark that made me fall in love with the author’s other books. I was waiting for some big sweeping emotions to hit me, but it just never happened. I’m also meh on historical fiction so that probably didn’t help. The ending did pick up a bit, but all-in-all I didn’t love this one like I wanted to.
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars ★
📚
Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
Comes out on April 18
Every once in a while I’ll read a book that absolutely consumes me. This was one of those books for me.
Adelaide, a 26-year-old American grad school student living in London, loves fiercely. Rory, a handsome, charming, Englishmen she starts dating, is the opposite. We meet Adelaide when she is at her absolute rock bottom. The book shows us what played out to get her there and her complicated relationship with Rory.
I found this book to be eerily relatable and I think many others will feel the same way. There were moments that I swear were pulled from the journals I kept as a teen and in my early 20s. This book is raw. Devastating. And heartbreaking at times. But also so honest. For me, it ripped my heart apart, but then pieced it back together by the end.
All of this to say: I loved this book. So much. It’s definitely my favorite book I’ve read so far this year. If you loved Normal People or Ghosts, I think you’ll really love this one too.
My Rating: 5/5 Stars ★
📚
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Comes out August 8
Sometimes after I read a book I absolutely love, I need to pivot to a book that’s nothing like the one I loved. So, I pivoted to a thriller after Adelaide. And I’m so happy I did because this was an excellent one.
Two strangers meet on their 45th birthday. Alix is a podcaster with a seemingly perfect life. Josie is less than thrilled with how her life has turned out. Josie takes an interest in Alix and approaches her with the idea for a podcast: Josie wants to talk about her disturbing past. But turns out what’s happening in the present is also concerning to Alix and the safety of her family.
I was totally sucked into this book from the start and couldn’t stop reading until I knew what had happened. It’s the epitome of a gripping thriller. It reminded me of Girl on the Train with a potentially unreliable narrator and lots of unexpected twists and turns. I am a total weenie when it comes to thrillers and was getting worried that this one was heading somewhere terrifying. In the end, it was just the right amount of thrilling without being too scary for me… but know that there are some disturbing storylines.
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars ★
📚
Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids by Meghan Daum
It’s no secret that I probably don’t want to have kids. Hearing other people’s perspectives has been a helpful part of this journey and I was intrigued to learn about this book of essays on the topic. With sixteen different voices, I appreciated that there were many different views on the topic. Some of the essays I could deeply relate to, so much so one passage stopped me in my track and I immediately made a Reel in response to it. Other essays I felt no connection to, but I appreciated hearing the point of view.
I’m not a huge fan of reading non-fiction in general, this book or otherwise 😂 but I deeply appreciated this book and that it exists. If you’re in a similar boat to me on the topic of not wanting kids, I think you’ll find a sense of support in at least one of these essays.
Side note: This book is the first one I’ve ever “read with my ears” as an audiobook! I’ve been wanting to consume more non-fiction books… but am terrible about actually reading them. I crave a plot and story! I borrowed it from my library through the Libby app.
📚
Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman
Comes out May 30
I feel like this book was written *for* me: It’s a celebrity romance, a love letter to musical theater, has a Jewish main character, has a sleepaway camp storyline, AND it’s by the author of one of my favorite books Funny You Should Ask. All this to say, I loved this book.
Kathleen is a former pop star. She’s been out of the public eye ever since her *very* public breakup with a member of the popular boy band, Crush Zone. It came out that she was cheating on him with another member of CrushZone, Cal.
She’s now preparing for her big comeback as the lead in a new musical written by her best friend… but turns out Cal is involved in the project. The book goes back and forth between Kathleen’s past with Cal and the present as she prepares to return to the public eye in the role of a lifetime.
The musical theater and camp aspects of this book are SO perfect. I was *shook* by some of the obscure theater references that I was very much the target audience for. I did find myself a bit more invested in Kathleen’s career and personal growth than in the actual love story… but that could just be me. As far as romance tropes it’s a second chance romance with a bit of an friends to lovers to enemies to lovers twist.
I do think I liked Funny You Should Ask a bit more (my review here). Something about the main character in that one really hit me in my gut. I’m also a bit more partial to a romance with a celebrity dating a normal person rather than two celebrities.
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars ★
📚
Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino
I was a bit iffy on this one at first, but I ended up really enjoying where it went.
Everyone is talking about this book by this mystery author J. Colby. When Emiline starts reading the book, she realizes it’s literally about her and her best friend from childhood, Jase. Reading the book reconnects her with her troubling childhood and this long-lost friend.
My main issue with this book is that *so* much of it was the “book within a book” as we get to read the famous book by J. Colby. You kind of have to suspend your disbelief that what you’re reading could be a book that there’s SO much buzz about as it’s nothing that special. I found the present timeline to be more interesting than some elements of the book.
When the book within a book starts to pick up things got a lot more interesting for me, and in the end I’m a sucker for a second-chance romance. I would definitely recommend this book for Colleen Hoover fans.
My Rating: 4/5 Stars ★
📚
How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder
Another celebrity romance? YES.
This one is a cute take on the fake dating trope. Two actors pretending to date as a PR stunt for both of them to gain some traction with the media. Of course, they end up falling in love with each other for real, making the fake aspect of their dating messy.
There’s been this really awesome shift that romance books are starting to tackle some real mental health issues, and I think this book does a good job of it. The characters are just the right amount of complicated but loveable and I appreciate that the female lead wasn’t helpless or pathetic in any way.
I read a lot of romance and this one took some really unexpected directions. I liked that it wasn’t super predictable and it was a fresh twist on the fake dating trope. It’s not the most earth-shattering book you’ll ever read but has a great combo of interesting characters, Hollywood drama, and some steam. It was the perfect vacation read.
My Rating: 4/5 Stars ★
