BOOK REVIEW : 'She's Come Undone' by Wally Lamb

I'm actually late getting this up; this was my October pick for the Friends-themed read-athon that I am participating in this year. (You can find the details on this blog post: 'The One Where Friends Meets Reality').

The theme for October was:

Monica: "Now, I need you to be careful and efficient. And remember, if I am harsh with you, it's only because you're doing it wrong." Read a book with a strong female lead.

I had no idea what book to pick, and I was down to just a few days left in October before I finally realized I'd better get started. I actually looked through the books I already had and ended up picking 'She's Come Undone' by Wally Lamb; I read it before, but it was a very long time ago (when Oprah raved about it for her book club).

It's really interesting how much my thoughts about the book have changed since then; I've been through quite a bit in the last 15 years!

First, the general synopsis. WARNING: I am going to post what *might* be considered a spoiler or two, but I don't believe they are. An incident happens in the first 25% of the book and the rest of the book is basically based around it. It's hard to even write what the book is about without saying it. So, if you don't want to read what may be considered a spoiler, then skip this post from here.

Also, I want to give a trigger warning about a few subject matters in the book: there are topics of domestic abuse, mental illness, rape, and eating disorders.

The protagonist is a young girl (in the beginning; at the end she's in her late 30's) named Dolores. She's an only-child, although her mom loses a baby boy during childbirth. This causes her mom to go into a deep depression and her parents' marriage is rocky. They get divorced and her dad leaves and starts a new family. This causes Dolores severe trauma because she had been very close with her dad and he all-but forgot about her when he left.

Her mom ends up going to a psychiatric hospital and Dolores goes to live with her grandmother. When her mom gets out of the hospital, she lives with them as well. At age 13, something horrific happens to Dolores: she is raped by someone she trusted.

From there, the book skips ahead to when she is finishing high school. After the rape, her mom felt really guilty about knowing the person who'd raped Dolores and desperately wanted to make Dolores feel better, so she showed her love with food--she bought Dolores all sorts of treats every day, hoping it would make her happy. Her weight gets up to 257 pounds after high school. Dolores blames herself for the rape and for another tragic event that happened the summer after high school; she then believes she deserves bad things to happen to her after that.

I'll stop here with the synopsis because then there really would be spoilers if I go on. When I first read this book, I LOVED it. I can't remember why I loved it so much, but it was one of my favorite books I'd ever read.

This time around, I still liked it but it didn't have the same effect as before.

Things I like about the book:

As unlikeable as Dolores is sometimes, I can't help but really like her. Considering all that she goes through, it's understandable why she does some of the things she does. I feel terrible for her! I wish I could have hugged her and told her that she did NOTHING to deserve being raped and that she's not the bad person she thinks she is.

I like that the timeline of the book spans a couple of decades rather than just a short time period in her life. Because of this, we get to see the "butterfly effect"...

The butterfly effect: we can see how one moment/choice/incident leads to enormous effects and consequences. I've always liked this philosophy when it has good effects. It's just really sad that Dolores's life was forever changed by terrible experiences; in her case, it started with her dad leaving and then by being raped at age 13. It makes you wonder how different she would be in so many ways if those things hadn't happened.

The topic of mental illness. The book takes place in the 1960's-80's (I believe Dolores was born around 1951-52, based on worldly things that were happening throughout) and mental illness was much more stigmatized than it is now (even now, there is a stigma, but back then, it was very hush-hush). Still, I liked that it was talked about.

Things I dislike about the book:

The biggest one is that Wally Lamb had NO CLUE about what "fat" means. Dolores is 257 pounds, but the way he describes her makes it sound like she should be in a circus freak show--for example, she can't fit into a Volkswagon; when she sits in a truck the entire truck slants under her weight; Lamb describes her "mounds of flesh" and "fat rolls" as if she is the size of a house. I was 253 pounds before I lost the weight, and yes--I was fat. But cars didn't sink under my weight and people didn't gawk at me like I was a zoo animal. I was treated badly, yes; called names, yes; but I still don't think it was anything like he described and Dolores was only 4 pounds heavier than me.

That said, however, I do take into consideration that this took place in the 1960's-80's, when it was much less common to be that size, and definitely not as accepted.

In retrospect, I think that's the only real dislike that I have about the book.

Lamb did a good job writing about topics as they would have been looked at from that time period: domestic abuse (back then, it was considered a "private family matter" that people didn't get involved in; mental illness (it was rarely talked about and getting a diagnosis/help was nothing like it is today); bias and even hatred of homosexuality (not to say that the bias doesn't still exist now--it certainly does--but the language and acceptance and education about it is different now); and the "fat" bias (again, it still exists and is terrible, but it's more common and accepted to be overweight now).

I realize I probably make this book sound completely unappealing! Heavy topics, doom and gloom, etc. It's not all like that--I would like to write more, but that would spoil it.

I used to have it on my "Top 10 Best Books I've Ever Read" list; but I just removed it because I just don't feel the same about it. I like to do a giveaway with books that I really love, but I can't say that I really love this one anymore. It's good. I'm glad I read it (twice). But it's not one I would read again.

If you're interested (even after that terrible description! haha) you can find the book here (Amazon affiliate link).

Now, for this month, the Friends-themed topic is:

"The One with All the Thanksgivings" - Read a book centered around family.

I've actually already made my pick and I've started reading it! I chose 'Educated' by Tara Westover. (Amazon affiliate link)

It was on a list when I googled "books about family". After reading what it was about, I searched my library website for the ebook; that's when I realized I'd seen it a million times on the site but I always ignored it because of the cover! Because of the name and the cover, it just made me think that it was a self-help book about education or something. I never even read what it was about. But it is apparently a wildly popular book--it has over 57,000 reviews on Amazon. Here is the publisher's description:

"Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home."

I'm only a few chapters in, but I think I'm going to like it! It reads more like a novel than it does a memoir, and I like that. (I love memoirs, but I just haven't been in to them lately).

I've you've read 'She's Come Undone' I'm curious about your thoughts!

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BOOK REVIEW: 'One of Us Is Lying' by Karen M. McManus

For 2021, I committed to participating in a read-athon with a 'Friends' theme (the TV show). You can read more about it on this post. Each month, there is a different theme for choosing a book to read. June's theme is:

Rachel: "I wasn't supposed to put beef in the trifle!" - Read a book where there is a mistake or misunderstanding.

It's hard to choose a book with a theme if you haven't read it yet, so I chose my book based solely on the title and description. I picked 'One of Us Is Lying' by Karen M. McManus. (Amazon affiliate link)

Here is the publisher's description:

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

          On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

    Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

    Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

    Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

    Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

    And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. 

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

I love teen drama and I love murder mysteries, so this sounded like a good pick. And the title, 'One of Us Is Lying' indicated a mistake or misunderstanding, so it seemed appropriate for June's theme.

I enjoyed this book right away, although it took until I was about a quarter of the way through it to get REALLY invested in it. And when I finished, I immediately wanted to give it 5 stars--I LOVED how clever this story was! After some thought, I gave it 4 stars--I'm very stingy with 5 star reviews, and there were a few points that made me hesitate. Here are my likes and dislikes...

(NO SPOILERS)

Likes:

The entire story was very clever and took a LOT of planning on the author's part. You know from the beginning that someone dies in detention in a room with five other people in it. You know who winds up dead, so the mystery lies in whodunit.

I had a theory right away, but I it was so far-fetched that I spent most of the book trying to prove it wrong. In the end, it turned out to be correct! However, that did not take away from the enjoyment of the book AT ALL. I don't think it's a very obvious conclusion overall. And even if you guess it, to read later how it all ties up is mind-blowing.

I enjoyed this book just as much (if not more) for the teen drama as I did the mystery.

The characters were very likable. I liked all of them!

The storyline deals with important teen issues that are very prevalent today as well as the consequences of teens' behavior. This reminded me a lot of '13 Reasons Why'--although '13 Reasons Why' is about a girl's suicide and not a murder investigation, the girl describes how the actions of several others contributed to her making the choice to take her own life. In this book, we see how the actions of fellow students can contribute the death of their peer. In both cases, it's certainly not other kids' "fault" (unless they are the ones doing the killing), but it shows that we need to be nice to people and they hopefully won't make rash decisions.

I loved seeing the growth of the characters and they learn more about each other. When they wound up in detention together, they weren't friends or even acquaintances, really. Throughout the book, they get to know each other and you see their interactions change.

Dislikes:

There were two things that stood out to me from the very beginning: 

1) The cause of death was anaphylaxis due to ingestion of a tiny amount of peanut oil. I remembered learning in chemistry or some class in college that peanut oil is not an allergen for people who are allergic to peanuts because it's the peanut protein that is the allergen. As soon as I read that it was the peanut oil that caused the anaphylaxis, I was skeptical--even cynical. However, this is addressed later in the book--apparently, cold-pressed, expelled peanut oil IS unsafe for people with a peanut allergy. (Do your own research on this--I only know this from a quick Google search!) So, I was wrong to be skeptical of the peanut oil--I just wish it had been addressed right away.

2) The fact that the police immediately focused their murder investigation on the four students (not even looking at other ideas) was unrealistic to me. My first thought was that anybody at all could have put peanut oil in the cup that Simon drank from and left it near the sink--it didn't HAVE to be someone in the room. The investigators should have looked at ALL possibilities from the beginning instead of immediately jumping to the conclusion that it was one of the four students. (Even the teacher who was in the room with them wasn't considered a "person of interest".)

This isn't a "dislike" but it was a funny moment at the beginning of the book when I almost said, "Forget it! I can't read this!" When Simon was struggling to breath after ingesting the peanut oil, one of the kids rushed to him and then looked at one of the girls and said, "Do you have a pen?"

I've seen pretty much all medical drama shows on TV and there is ALWAYS at least one episode where an emergency tracheotomy is performed using a knife and a pen (and probably some sort of liquor to sterilize). I rolled my eyes, but the next paragraph stated the reaction from the girl--she immediately thought the same thing I did--was he going to perform a tracheotomy on this kid?!

She handed him a pen, and he said, "No, an Epi-Pen!" Hahahaha, I literally laughed out loud.

Anyway, I loved loved loved this book and I think it would make an amazing book club read or required lit for high school. It can spark a lot of discussion. It was also entertaining, and clever, and very well-written and thought out. Now I just need to talk my kids into reading it!

GIVEAWAY...

Because I loved this book so much, I'd love to give away a Kindle copy to one of you that is interested in reading it! (To read the Kindle copy, you just need a device that has the Kindle app. Although, you all know how I feel about my Kindle Paperwhite!)

To enter the giveaway, just fill out the Google form below and I pick a winner using Random.org. Deadline is June 23rd at 10:00 PM ET. I'll email you if you're a winner!

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My March Book Review: 'West With Giraffes' by Lynda Rutledge (and a giveaway!!)

I'm doing a Friends-themed read-athon for 2021, and each month there is a different "Friends-based" theme to choose a book. This month, the theme was "The One With the Chick and the Duck"--we were to choose a book that had an animal in it.

This was kind of tough for me, because the books I read typically don't have animals in them. I remembered that I had gotten a book recently from Amazon's First Reads about an elephant or giraffe or something. Amazon First Reads is where you can choose from a short list once a month to get a book for free. I read through the books for that month and just could't decide... honestly, NONE of them looked good to me. 

I eventually just chose the one called 'West With Giraffes', by Lynda Rutledge. I wasn't excited about reading it, but I wanted to stick with the theme.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I read the very first sentence of the prologue and I was hooked immediately. I loved the poetic, whimsical play with the words. (If you're not into that, don't worry--it's really only in the prologue.)

"Woodrow Wilson Nickel died in the year 2025, on a usual day, in the unusual way, at the rather unusual age of 105.

A century and a nickel."

I will start by saying that the second I finished this book, I moved it into the Top 3 books I've ever read. THAT'S how good it is! I have to say, though, that no matter what I write on this post, it won't do justice to this book. You need to read it yourself!

Here is the description from the publisher:

"An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.

“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…”

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.

It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.

Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late."

The description kind of lost me because of the historical references--I'm NOT a history buff and I was afraid I'd be bored reading it. But I would call this book a historical adventure with several parts that will keep your heart racing.

The story is told by a man living his last days in a nursing home as he writes his story. It reminded me of The Green Mile (movie) where Tom Hanks' character is ridiculously old and he tells the whole story of The Green Mile to a woman at the nursing home where he lives.

The synopsis of the book sounded ordinary to me, and I can't say I was excited to read it. But I got caught up in it so quickly that I couldn't stop.

No spoilers here...

Woody Wilson is a 17-year old boy from the Texas Panhandle in the 1930's. His parents and baby sister died in the Dust Bowl and Woody makes his way to New York City to find his only known/living relative, Cuz. He has no money, no possessions, and no real direction for his life.

In 1938, there was a terrible hurricane that caused massive destruction to New York. Woody happens to be standing nearby when a cargo ship that had two giraffes aboard (who were bound for the San Diego Zoo), arrives at shore after disastrous damage to the ship. One of the giraffes is hurt and the cage is crushed around her. A man from the zoo shows up to drive the giraffes across the country to the zoo, and that's where the whole adventure begins.

Woody has heard all about "Californy" and his dream is to go there and start a new glamorous life. He plots to try to follow the giraffes to California, which proves more difficult than he hoped. But he doesn't give up.

I really wish the book had included a photo of the truck that the giraffes were driven in, but I found this one online. It's not at all what I pictured, but it's cool to see!

An actual photo of the truck that the giraffes were driven across the country on.

I'll stop here, because I don't want to give anything away. But this book is VERY adventurous and kept me on my toes the entire time.

---

My sister doesn't want to read it because she's worried about animal cruelty, so I'll write a little about that here. I can't stand reading about animal cruelty, but this book is overall a feel-good adventure story. These aren't major spoilers, but I'll write the couple of things that you may want to know if you're worried about animal cruelty... So I'll give a SPOILER WARNING HERE. 

If you want to skip over it, just skip to the horizontal line break.

I will start out by spoiling the ending (kind of) and saying that the animals arrive safely in San Diego. Other than the female hurting her leg in the hurricane, they are uninjured.

There is a part where a circus tries to steal the giraffes and the giraffes are panicking. The circus people aren't being gentle, and wrangle the female with a rope, but she is uninjured when all is said and done.

A couple of moments are flashbacks from Woody's childhood where his dad teaches him about animals and that they are "just animals" (basically worthless for anything that can't be beneficial to humans.

"I knew all about animals. Some you worked, some you milked, some you ate, some you shot, and that was that. You learned early not to make a pig a pal or your pa would soon be forcing you to thank Jesus for the blessing of eating everything but its squeal."

There is a part where they come across a gas station with a "zoo" in the middle of nowhere in the desert, and the man who owns it is cruel to his "attractions"--a bear, a rattlesnake, a tiger (?), and some rabbits. He grabs a rabbit and drops it onto the cage of the tiger, who eats it right away. 

Finally, the last thing I can think of is that Woody describes his last day at home in Texas, where his father forced him to put down his horse with a rifle. It's a little hard to read, but it's a memory of Woody's, rather than happening in real time, which makes it a little easier.

Overall, I don't think that the subject of animal cruelty is present enough in this book to keep anyone from reading it. It has a happy ending.

---

Okay, no more spoilers. I am not a history buff and reading about history bores me, but there are some interesting factual events in this book (like the Dust Bowl in Texas and the New England Hurricane). Forrest Gump is my very favorite movie, and the best part about it is how he manages to be in the center of all sorts of historical events. This book kind of reminded me of that.

This book is AMAZING and it's one of those books that you just can't forget. It really sticks with you. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone--from about 12 years old and up, whether you're an "animal person" or not, or interested in history or not. I especially think that teen boys would really like it. I'm going to try to convince my kids to read it--they don't like to take suggestions from their mom, because I'm so uncool ;)

I'm SO glad that I picked it out for my First Reads book. Because I loved this book so much, I bought a paperback copy to give to my dad, and I'd also like to buy a Kindle copy to give away to one of you! (It can be read with the Kindle app on any device.)

To enter the giveaway, just fill out this form below. And if you end up buying a copy, I'd be grateful if you used this link (it's an Amazon affiliate link, which just means that I may get a small commission for linking to it--but it doesn't cost you any more).

I will draw a winner for the giveaway on March 19th at 9:00 AM ET and notify the winner by email. 

ETA: Ugh, this form wasn't working because I forgot to change the permissions last night. But I just updated it and it's working now! Sorry.

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My February Book Review: 'In An Instant' by Suzanne Redfearn (no spoilers)

For the year-long 'Friends'-themed read-athon, February's prompt was to choose a book from your "backlist". I have a LOT of unread books on my Kindle (mostly Amazon First Read books that I get for free each month). When I get to choose one each month, I pick the one that sounds most interesting to me, but then I forget about it. So, I decided to pick one of those from a year ago.

I chose a book called 'In An Instant' by Suzanne Redfearn (Amazon affiliate link). I literally knew nothing about it when I started reading, which actually makes it more interesting to me. When I read reviews, even ones that don't contain spoilers, it tends to sway my opinion of the book before I've even read a single page, and I don't like that. (Yes, this is ironic, considering I'm writing a review. However, I don't have a super strong opinion of this book.)

As always, I will not have any real spoilers in this post.

Here is the description from the editor:

"A deeply moving story of carrying on even when it seems impossible.

Life is over in an instant for sixteen-year-old Finn Miller when a devastating car accident tumbles her and ten others over the side of a mountain. Suspended between worlds, she watches helplessly as those she loves struggle to survive.

Impossible choices are made, decisions that leave the survivors tormented with grief and regret. Unable to let go, Finn keeps vigil as they struggle to reclaim their shattered lives. Jack, her father, who seeks vengeance against the one person he can blame other than himself; her best friend, Mo, who bravely searches for the truth as the story of their survival is rewritten; her sister Chloe, who knows Finn lingers and yearns to join her; and her mother, Ann, who saved them all but is haunted by her decisions. Finn needs to move on, but how can she with her family still in pieces?

Heartrending yet ultimately redemptive, In an Instant is a story about the power of love, the meaning of family, and carrying on…even when it seems impossible."

The story is told from the point-of-view of Finn, a 16-year old girl who dies in an auto accident at the beginning of the book. She is in the car with her parents, her brother, one of her two sisters, their dog, her best friend, a close neighbor/friend-couple and their daughter, and a young male hitchhiker they picked up while driving. The camper goes over a cliff and winds up in a very remote area. It happens to be freezing cold and snowing, and none of the family is prepared for that type of weather.

The story is full of scruples--situations where characters are torn between making decisions that will have major consequences--good or bad. I was sad, surprised, angry, proud, and upset with some of the decisions that were made. Of course, I've not been in their situation, so I can't say what I would do when facing the moral dilemmas they did.

"More was revealed in that single tragic night than was revealed in a lifetime." - This quote stuck out to me because it is so very true. From Finn's perspective, the decisions each character made when faced with a challenge showed more about them than anything she'd ever known about them. Because she was dead, she could see everything that happened, while the rest of the family only saw bits and pieces.

Something else I highlighted: "...regret is the most difficult emotion to live with, but in order to have regret, you need to have a conscience: an interesting paradox that allows the worst of us to suffer the least in the aftermath of wrongdoing."

That's is super powerful! When reading the book, we realize that the "worst" people (i.e. people without a conscience) suffer the least after a tragedy in which they have to make life or death decisions that affect other people. The people with a conscience may make good or bad choices, but they live with them and either feel good about them or regret them (the latter causing a lifetime of suffering).

Overall, I really liked the story. I only gave it three stars on Goodreads, however. (Let it be known that I am VERY stingy about how many stars I give!). The reason for the three stars is because the book didn't make me feel like I just couldn't stop reading. There wasn't a "whodunit" or something that I just had to find out. I wouldn't call it a "page turner". It did, however, keep me interested enough to choose the book over television or something else at night.

It was a very good story and the author notes in the end of the book that she got the idea for it based on a real experience that happened to her and her brother. It's sad to read!

Despite the three-star rating I gave it, I definitely recommend reading it. It makes you question your own scruples and wonder what you would do in a situation such as this. A good, thought-provoking read!

Here is the link to the book on Amazon (affiliate link):
Here is the link to the book on Goodreads

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The One Where 'Friends' Meets Reality!

Yesterday, someone tagged me on Instagram in a post about a read-athon for 2021--with a Friends theme! ('Friends' being the TV show, of course--if you're not aware, Jerry and I are a little obsessed with it. I write this with Chick and Duck on my lap while Phoebe is curled up on my legs. It's hard to type with cats all over the place! Haha)

The Instagram account that is hosting the read-athon is @where.fiction.meets.reality. Each month, there is a prompt to choose a book based on an episode of Friends. When I looked over the list, I was glad to see that it could be interpreted very loosely--I usually don't do book lists or clubs because I'm so picky about what I read. When you're a slow reader like I am, every page needs to be interesting!

Since I'd already had a goal in the back of my mind to read one book a month, seeing this list made me excited to do it. And since there are only 11 days left in January, I knew I'd better pick a themed book right away so I'd have time to finish before the end of the month.

January's prompt is:
"The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate" : Read the 1st book in a series.

Since I don't have a full month to read this book, I decided to look for a Young Adult book, which tend to go faster. And I love YA books! The Hunger Games trilogy got me interested in other apocalyptic/dystopian books, but for the past few years, I've been reading mostly psychological thrillers.

I turned to Amazon's list of "Best Sellers in Teens and Young Adult Dystopian ebooks". Pretty specific, right? Some of the lists are even more specific than that!

I ultimately chose selected 'The Selection' by Kiera Cass (Amazon affiliate link). It's #2 on that Amazon list and I've had it on my Goodreads "Want To Read" list for a long time after a friend told me about it. It's book one of five, so hopefully I'll like it and will want to read the rest (in addition to the books for the 'Friends' read-athon).

To finish it in 10 days, I decided that I'd aim for 10% of the book per day (with the Kindle Paperwhite (Amazon affiliate link), it shows you the percentage of the book you've read). I started it this morning after my walk and I have NOT been able to put it down! Right now, I'm kind of hurrying through this post so that I can continue reading it.

This book is exactly what I needed. A book that keeps me excited to read and choose reading over watching TV or something else before bed (or, in this case, all day long.)

Here is the description of the book from the publisher on Amazon:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape a rigid caste system, live in a palace, and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her, and competing for a crown she doesn’t want.

Then America meets Prince Maxon—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

The description doesn't sound very enticing and there isn't much detail at all. It sounds very "fluffy". The only reason I'd had it on my list is because my friend was so insistent that I read it. So far, it reminds of something like the love child of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. Hopefully the rest of the book will pan out to be as good as what I've read up to now.

Anyway, I'm excited about this Friends read-athon! I'll share my picks each month and then do a quick review of the books when I'm done. (I'm not good a reviewing books, so I basically just write--"Holy cow, read this!!" or "Eh, it was okay." But I'll try.)

If any of you want to join in on the Friends read-athon, you can find the Instagram account here: @where.fiction.meets.reality and the post regarding the details here. Below is a screenshot from Instagram.

(Just to make it clear, I am not the one hosting this... I'm just participating!)

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