REVIEW: The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker

Title: The Strange Case of Jane O.
Author: Karen Thompson Walker
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: February 2025
Genre: Mystery / Women’s Fiction
Buy the Book: Audible | BN | Audible

Description: A year after her child is born, Jane suffers a series of strange episodes: amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations, and an inexplicable sense of dread. Three days after her first visit to a psychiatrist, Jane suddenly goes missing. A day later she is found unconscious in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, in the midst of what seems to be an episode of dissociative fugue; when she comes to, she has no memory of what has happened to her.

Are Jane’s strange experiences the result of being overwhelmed by motherhood, or are they manifestations of a long-buried trauma from her past? Why is she having visions of a young man who died twenty years ago and who warns her of a disaster ahead? Jane’s symptoms lead her psychiatrist ever deeper into the farthest reaches of her mind and cause him to question everything he thinks he knows about so-called reality—including events in his own life.

My Thoughts: In a nutshell, I enjoyed this book but I’m not really sure what to make of it or how to feel upon finishing. Was Jane having a post-partum psychotic break? Was she faking it for attention? Was the dissociative fugue legitimate or is she suffering from some other mental illness? Could it be possible that Jane is living her life while experiencing events in an alternate reality or multiverse? Anything is possible, I suppose, but wrapping one’s mind around the last option seems too bizarre to entertain. Honestly, I can’t think of another logical explanation nor can anyone else in the story either.

I found the premise of the story intriguing, though it lacks anything concrete to establish the reasons for the events and the ending left me with more questions than answers. I also liked both Jane and Dr. Byrd and found their separate perspectives interesting. I truly believed Dr. Byrd wanted to help Jane but I don’t think he could, especially without understanding the cause of Jane’s fugue. What really surprised me about this book is how easily I found myself being pulled into Jane’s perspective as factual without considering that her perception is likely skewed by her condition. The bigger question, however, is could both Jane’s and Dr. Byrd’s perceptions be true?

My Final Verdict: Readers who enjoy stories that do not offer any solid solutions and instead provide murky conclusions may find this book enjoyable.

REVIEW: The Dream Keeper's Daughter by Emily Colin

Title: The Dream Keeper’s Daughter
Author: Emily Colin
Narrator: Roger Wayne, Emily Woo Zeller
Publisher: Random House Publishing – Ballantine Books
Publication Date: July 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: An archaeologist discovers her presumed-missing boyfriend is trapped more than a hundred years in the past—a love story that transcends time and place, from the author of the New York Times bestseller The Memory Thief.

Eight years after the unsolved disappearance of her boyfriend Max Adair, archaeologist Isabel Griffin has managed to move on and rebuild her life with her young daughter, Finn, her last tie to Max. But after a series of strange incidents, Isabel begins to wonder if Max might still be alive somewhere, trying to communicate with her. She has no idea that the where isn’t the problem—it’s the when. Max has slipped through time and place, landing on his ancestral family plantation in 1816 Barbados, on the eve of a historic slave uprising. As Isabel searches for answers, Max must figure out not only how to survive the violence to come, but how to get back to his own century, the woman he loves, and the daughter he has only ever met in his dreams.

My Thoughts: Shortly after learning his girlfriend is pregnant, Max disappears from Isabel’s life without any warning or explanation. Is he dead? Did he get scared about impending fatherhood and take off? Isabel is used to being abandoned because her mother did the same thing six years prior.

Now, eight years later, having raised a daughter practically on her own, working on her relationship with her father and the prospect of a new romance on the horizon, Isabel is on an archaeological dig in Barbados when she gets a phone call…from Max. At least the caller ID says it’s Max, but when she tries to call him back, as she has done many times over the years, the phone number has been disconnected and is no longer in service. Strangely enough, Isabel’s daughter, Finn, is claiming to have seen her father and has talked to him.

After following what appears to be the ghost of his ancestor into the woods behind his home, Max finds himself in Barbados in the year 1816 mere days before a slave rebellion breaks out. Max is appalled at the treatment he witnesses the slaves receiving and has enough knowledge of this crucial event to want to try to stop it, but he risks drawing the wrong kind of attention from both the slaves and the plantation owners.

I really enjoyed the historical background of the Bussa Rebellion as a backdrop for this story and felt a lot of anxiety for Max and the characters on both sides of the rebellion. I was also in high anticipation of whether Max would make it home and if so, what kind of reception he would receive.

I paired the reading of this book with the audiobook format narrated by Roger Wayne and Emily Woo Zeller. I found their performances to be realistic, portraying the character’s personalities accurately. The characters were believable and their actions were appropriate for the situations they were in. I liked all of the characters, but especially Max’s daughter, Finn. I also liked how the author illustrates the time paradigm in this story. When Max first left, Isabel was pregnant and now Finn is eight, but for Max, he has only been gone several weeks.

My Final Verdict: Overall, this was a very good story with a moderate pace that is told in both Isabel and Max’s points of view. There were some unexpected twists in the story that I didn’t anticipate that left me unsettled and though it didn’t alter my enjoyment of the story, I would very much enjoy seeing a sequel to see how Max, Isabel and Finn move forward.

I recommend this book to readers who like time travel, real historical events woven into the story and romance.

Thank you to the publisher, Random House Publishing – Ballantine Books, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.

REVIEW: The Difference Between You & Me by Celia Hayes

Title: The Difference Between You & Me
Author: Celia Hayes
Publisher: Aria
Publication Date: March 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | Audible

Description: Can stepping out of your comfort zone lead you to ultimate happiness?

Trudy Watts has everything she's ever dreamed of: a job that she loves, a successful boyfriend and an ultra-modern apartment in one of the most fashionable parts of London. With a long-awaited promotion due to come her way and her wedding just around the corner, Trudy's life is just perfect...

That is until catastrophe strikes and her life is turned upside down. She's transferred to Turriff, a remote Scottish town to manage a small, struggling bank branch.

Her arrival is traumatic and she wishes she was anywhere but here... Until she sees him – Ethan, the charming pub landlord, who seems to enjoy nothing more than to tease her. And it's right there, in that pub, that her life will suddenly change...

My Thoughts: Upon meeting Trudy initially, she comes across as someone who is hard to get to know; she has her guard up and appears to be standoffish. After getting to know her, I learned that she is someone who is very career driven and has to work very hard to get to where she is at.

After her wedding plans go up in smoke and a night of drowning her sorrows in a bottle, she learns that she drunkenly applied for a temporary position in the bank at a branch in a very remote village in Scotland. The kind of village where shopping malls, movie theaters and a decent Wi-Fi signal are hard to find. Coming from London, it is a huge culture shock of sorts for Trudy. Along with this, her temporary position requires her to determine if this branch has any viability and is worth keeping or if it should be sold, which would mean a loss of employment for those working there. It would be a massive understatement to say that her arrival is not met with enthusiasm.

On the flip side, Ethan was very likable and easy to relate to immediately. Though he and Trudy butt heads and clash at every turn, he seems to enjoy it and often seeks her out, much to Trudy’s irritation. Trudy’s assignment is for six months and she seems to spend most of her time anxious for her return to London but I really loved how the more resistant she is, the more the town and the people in it grew on her.

I really enjoyed this story, especially when Trudy starts making a real effort to not only get to know the people she works with and other villagers but also coming up with ways to save the bank branch. The atmosphere of the village was quaint and though Trudy feels like a fish out of water, the charm is hard to ignore.

My Final Verdict: Overall, this was a very enjoyable story that I highly recommend to readers who enjoy contemporary romances and women’s fiction. I also recommend this story to readers who enjoy remote locations and the slower pace of small communities.

Thank you to the publisher, Aria, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.

REVIEW: The One by John Marrs

Title: The One
Author: John Marrs
Narrator: Clare Corbett, Vicki Hall, Simon Bubb, Jot Davies, Sophie Aldred
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Publication Date: May 2017
Genre: Thriller
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: How far would you go to find The One?

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner the one you are genetically made for.

That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.

Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…

A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.

My Thoughts: Prior to starting this novel, I had heard a lot of praise for this book and for the author so I had very high expectations going in. This book and the author lived up to everything I had heard. I loved the concept that there is someone for everyone out there; someone who is your genetic match, your other half. I loved that upon meeting this individual, most people will feel an immediate connection even if the identity of their match comes as a shock or a surprise.

This story follows the lives of five individuals and how their lives are impacted upon taking the test. Ellie, Nick, Mandy, Jade and Christopher are all about to find out what happens when they get the very best or the very worst news of their lives. Tagging along with each character as they explore this alternate avenue of finding the one kept me on pins and needles.

Normally, a story with this many central characters would be an undertaking to keep straight but the author’s writing style flows seamlessly between the characters. The chapters are very short and alternate and rotate through each character’s point of view. This made the story easy to follow and easy to keep track of who is who.

I paired the reading of this book with the audio format. The narration was performed by five narrators, Clare Corbett, Vicki Hall, Simon Bubb, Jot Davies and Sophie Aldred, which I thought was brilliant. Each narrator performed one of the central characters so hearing their point of view in a different voice was quite enjoyable. Each narrator brought a different emotion and personality to their performance so the characters felt solid without feeling like cardboard. Additionally, each character’s personal experience and situation were vastly different so I didn’t feel like I had to pick a favorite. This helped me connect with all five characters, keeping me engaged in their lives and very curious and in high anticipation how it would all play out.

This story was simply amazing. There are so many twisty bits and jaw dropping moments with all of the characters. Just when I got my bearings settled after one bomb, the next chapter and character throws another in my lap. This story left me feeling breathless, shocked, surprised, scared, amused and sad. This story also teaches that relationships are never easy and there is no guarantee of a happy ever after in life, DNA match or not.

My Final Verdict: After reading this book, all I want to do is pick up another one by this author. I wonder if this is how drug addicts feel after the best high of their lives and needing another fix. I want to read everything this author has written, including his shopping list. Fortunately, he has an extensive backlist for me to dive into.

I highly recommend this book to readers who love stories that twist them around like they are on a roller coaster and unable to catch their breath. I highly recommend this book to readers who love stories that have characters who are easy to connect with but will surprise you. Lastly, I highly recommend this book to readers who love stories that will shock them, surprise them, and leave them wanting more.

Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Random House UK, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.