REVIEW: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Title: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Author: Judy Blume
Narrator: Laura Hamilton
Publisher: Listening Library
Publication Date: January 2010
Genre: Teen / Young Adult
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Margaret Simon, almost 12, has just moved from New York City to the suburbs, and she’s anxious to fit in with her new friends. When she’s asked to join a secret club, she jumps at the chance. But when the girls start talking about boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret starts to wonder if she’s normal. There are some things about growing up that are hard for her to talk about, even with her friends.

Lucky for Margaret, she’s got someone else to confide in...someone who always listens.

My Thoughts: Though this book has been around for a very long time, originally published in 1970, it never crossed my mind to pick it up until I heard about the movie coming out. I'm still on the fence about whether or not I will watch the movie, but enjoyed this book, a coming-of-age story about a girl who has meaningful conversations with God about getting her period, growing breasts, liking boys and whether she should be Jewish or Christian.

I liked Margaret and thought she was pretty typical of most girls her age, though it was never my experience to brag to my friends about who got their period or, more importantly, who got it first. Additionally, it was never an occasion that was celebrated, at least not with my parents.

I listened to the unabridged audio format that was a fast listen at just over 3 hours in length. Laura Hamilton’s performance was very good and breathed life into all of the characters, giving me a better understanding of them and their personalities.

My Final Verdict: This book’s target audience is for children ages 9-12, but I may not have understood the references had I read this then. Judy Blume is a talented author with an excellent insight and voice that will appeal to readers of all ages.

REVIEW: The Empty Nest by Sue Watson

Title: The Empty Nest
Author: Sue Watson
Narrator: Jasmine Blackborow
Publisher: Hachette UK - Bookouture
Publication Date: November 2019
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: "Sometimes we can’t see what’s right in front of us, Kat. Everyone has secrets, even the people we love, the people we live with...."

Kat remembers the days when her only daughter Amy wouldn't leave her side. Amy was the baby who cried when you walked out of the room, the toddler who was too shy to speak to strangers, the small child who clung to Kat's legs in the school playground.

But now Amy is grown up, and Amy is gone - to university in a town several hours away. Kat's house - which once felt too full, too noisy, too busy - is deathly quiet, and Kat awaits the daily phone call to tell her that her beloved daughter is thriving and happy.

But one day Amy doesn’t call. Kat’s husband and friends think she is being paranoid - surely Amy is just out, having fun with her friends. But Kat knows right away that something is very wrong. Her daughter would never forget to call. She would never just disappear.... After all, Amy has nothing to run from. Or does she?

A gripping and suspenseful psychological thriller with more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. Fans of The Wife Between Us, The Girl Before, and Gone Girl will be gripped by this story about a mother’s obsessive love for her child.

My Thoughts: I am so conflicted with this book. Sue Watson is one of my go-to authors when I crave the twisty and suspenseful, but this one just didn’t pull me in gripping the edge of my seat in high anticipation like she has with her other stories. The story was good, it definitely wasn’t that, so the only thing that I can conclude is the audio narrator really had me annoyed and irritated at Kat for most of the book. I just couldn’t connect with her, though I felt tremendous empathy for the fear and anxiety she is feeling. It was just so over the top and like a lot of the other characters in the book, I wanted to tell her to chill the eff out.

Obviously, it turns out that Kat was right to worry, but she was in near hysterics and panic mode practically from the moment the book started. Yes, I get it. You and your daughter have a special relationship. You’re extremely close. What I couldn’t help wondering, like a lot of people, is maybe Amy needed a breather from her helicopter mom, always hovering overhead, breathing down her neck. She’s away at university in Wales and for the first time in her life living on her own so maybe the girl just wants to embrace that freedom for a hot minute without her mother smothering her. Five minutes after Amy is supposed to walk through the door for a weekend home, her mother is obsessively checking her phone, scrolling through Amy’s Instagram, calling the friends.

Five minutes turns into 24 hours turns into 48 hours turns into 8 days and the police are involved. Facebook pages have been created for people to post information about her and then things start to turn quite ugly. Amy’s roommates tell the police that they saw Amy with an old guy the night before she was supposed to go home for the weekend. Then the roommate tells the police that the man is Richard, Amy’s stepfather. Shut The Front Door! Why was Richard in Amy’s flat? Why didn’t Kat know about it?

I’m all in now, let me tell you. Still not enough information to determine if Amy was taken or if she left on her own and who she left with remains a mystery until nearly the end. In typical and brilliant Sue Watson fashion, she rips the rug right out from under me and I’m completely blown away.

Thumbs up must also go to Jasmine Blackborow for her superb narration performance. In addition to making Kat sound as neurotic as humanly possible, she breathes life into the other characters so magnificently that when the final twists come, the reader is so trusting of the people around, just like Kat, that I could hardly believe what was happening!

My Final Verdict: Readers who like a very slow burning story and don’t mind characters that get on your nerves in the beginning will adore this story. It wasn’t my favorite, but once things started to heat up beyond Kat’s hysterics, I couldn’t pull myself away.

REVIEW: Making Your Mind Up by Jill Mansell

Title: Making Your Mind Up
Author: Jill Mansell
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: May 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Love is a complicated thing...

Lottie Carlyle is happy enough. Living in a beautiful cottage with her two adorable-sometimes-kids in an idyllic village, on good terms with her ex-husband, and with friends all around, everything is going just fine. But when she meets her new boss, her peaceful world is thrown into delightful, exciting, and frustrating chaos. Tyler is perfect for Lottie, but her kids do not agree. To make matters worse, the handsome and mysterious Seb appears on the scene, intriguing-and distracting-Lottie and charming her children, making it more and more difficult for her to make up her mind...

My Thoughts: Quite an enjoyable story, rich in detail and so character driven, I honestly had a challenging time who I wanted to see more of. Though Lottie and Tyler are major characters, there were also several that I felt a deep connection with. Cressida, Freddie, Mario, Amber, Jojo as well as Lottie’s children, Ruby and Nat who were quite bratty for two thirds of the book. Usually books with this many characters all with different storylines can be a challenge to follow and keep everything straight, but Ms. Mansell does it so seamlessly without dragging the reader out of the story.

As the reader gets to know Lottie, Cressida and Amber and how they are all connected, I loved how each of them are in a place in their lives where they need to make up their minds. Lottie needs to make up her mind about Tyler. Will she allow her children to dictate her love life? They like Seb, but he’s really just an overgrown kid himself. Will he be there when life throws hurdles in their path?

Cressida lives a solitary existence making greeting cards and spends lots of time with Jojo, who is her ex-husband’s daughter. I found this relationship surprising and a little disturbing, but I quickly warmed up to these two and realized how well they got along and felt bad that Cressida’s husband left her for not giving him a child but relies on her to take care of the child he has with his next wife. Wouldn’t have minded seeing that guy get run over by a bus. Cressida meets Tom and his son Donny and may have a chance at romance but will need to make up her mind about Jojo and her role in Jojo’s life.

Amber is dating Lottie’s ex-husband, Mario. She gets along wonderfully with Ruby and Nat (don’t get me started about how unfair these kids are towards Tyler dating Lottie) but she has trust issues with Mario and begins to wonder if his bad boy persona is just that or if he really is a liar and cheater. Amber needs to make up her mind about whether she needs to find someone who she can fully trust and will make her happy or if she should stay with Mario.

In addition to all of this going on, Lottie’s boss, Freddie wants Lottie’s help tracking down people from his past that he needs to make amends with, as he has already made up his mind about his life and the direction it will go.

My Final Verdict: A story with so much to unpack but leaves me caring so much about what happens to them is a book not to be missed. This book made me smile and cry. There were some laugh aloud moments and some moments of righteous indignation and irritation. What more could a reader ask for? Fans of romance and fiction will find something in this story that will tug on their heartstrings. You just need to make your mind up but save yourself the trouble of indecision and just go for it.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Making Your Mind Up from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea

Title: Those Empty Eyes
Author: Charlie Donlea
Narrator: Vivienne Leheny
Publisher: RB Media, Recorded Books
Publication Date: March 2023
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: You know her name.

You know her face.

You know those eyes…

Ten years after she was exonerated for the slaughter of her family, the girl the tabloids called “Empty Eyes” is the only one looking for the truth in this propulsive thriller from #1 internationally bestselling author Charlie Donlea.

Alex Armstrong has changed everything about herself—her name, her appearance, her backstory. She’s no longer the terrified teenager a rapt audience saw on television, emerging in handcuffs from the quiet suburban home the night her family was massacred. That girl, Alexandra Quinlan, nicknamed Empty Eyes by the media, was accused of the killings, fought to clear her name, and later took the stand during her highly publicized defamation lawsuit that captured the attention of the nation.

It’s been ten years since, and Alex hasn’t stopped searching for answers about the night her family was killed, even as she continues to hide her real identity from true crime fanatics and grasping reporters still desperate to locate her. As a legal investigator, she works tirelessly to secure justice for others, too. People like Matthew Claymore, who’s under suspicion in the disappearance of his girlfriend, a student journalist named Laura McAllister.

Laura was about to break a major story about rape and cover-ups on her college campus. Alex believes Matthew is innocent, and unearths stunning revelations about the university’s faculty, fraternity members, and powerful parents willing to do anything to protect their children.

Most shocking of all—as Alex digs into Laura’s disappearance, she realizes there are unexpected connections to the murder of her own family. For as different as the crimes may seem, they each hinge on one sinister truth: no one is quite who they seem to be . . .

My Thoughts: Based on the description of Those Empty Eyes by new to me author Charlie Donlea, I anticipated a thrilling and twisty ride of suspense and mystery. Unfortunately, this book failed to deliver. Instead, I was given a very choppy story, disjointed writing and excessively repetitive details (how many times does the reader need to be told that hiding behind the grandfather clock saved Alex’s life?) Honestly, I got it the first time! If that wasn’t bad enough, the author adds insult to injury by giving me an ending that provided absolutely zero closure with a whopper of a cliffhanger! Is Alex going to be privy to the nuclear explosion you just dropped in my lap? Will there be a sequel or will Alex live out the rest of her life never knowing the whole bloody truth of what really happened to her family and who was involved?

Come on dude, you can’t end a book like that, with some out of left field twist without any follow-up or resolution after everything Alex has gone through with losing her family, being accused of the crime, being stalked and harassed by paparazzi to eventually learning the truth and rebuilding her life.

So, what did I like? I liked the cover and the narration of the audio by Vivienne Leheny. This was also my first audiobook narrated by Ms. Leheny and I found her performance to be realistic and the characters authentic. She employed the right amount of emotion of verbal tension to make their actions more believable.

My Final Verdict: I would have liked this book so much more had there been logical resolutions that fit the plot instead of twists that seemed to be thrown in as an afterthought. Fans of suspense, mystery and thriller novels will find much better options elsewhere.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Those Empty Eyes from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.