April Reads and Reviews

We're already through another month of reading, and it's crazy to me to put these reviews together and see how much I'm reading. I'm already through 30 books so far, which is more than what I usually read in an entire year! I think that joining a book club and also reading instead of watching TV to relax has made a huge difference and I love it. 

Here are the books I read in April-

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

This was my book club's first April book and it was so fun to read! I think it would be better to read in the winter because it's set in a very snowy and chilly location. I loved all of the twists and turns and was shocked by some of the revelations. There were a few pieces that didn't really make sense but it led to a great discussion and everyone really enjoyed this one.

My Rating - 4/5

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. After all, her father was never around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before her daughter was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close but working constantly to stay afloat is hard...and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get ‘to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.

This was SUCH a fun story to read. The plot was interesting and sort of sciencey and nerdy but didn't go over the top. The characters were fantastic together and I loved how their relationship developed. The only part I didn't like and skimmed through was about Jess's mom- it seemed unnecessary and didn't add anything to the story. Would love if this got turned into a movie!

My Rating - 5/5

Why Not Me? By Mindy Kaling

From the author of the beloved New York Times bestselling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and the creator and star of The Mindy Project comes a collection of essays that are as hilarious and insightful as they are deeply personal.

I also read Mindy's other book, and this felt basically the same to me. It was definitely funny at times but I didn't really get anything extra out of this one and would have skipped it. But- it was short and a quick/easy read!

My Rating - 3/5

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

THEN

She was fifteen, her mother's golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.

NOW

It’s been ten years since Ellie disappeared, but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter.

And then one day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a café and sweeps Laurel off her feet. Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter. Poppy is precocious and pretty - and meeting her completely takes Laurel's breath away.

Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age. And now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.

This was the other book club pick for the month. Everyone (including me) had pretty bad reviews of this book. It was an interesting format because you pretty much figure out what happened from the start, then have a few random twists. There were so many holes in the story for me and the characters just seemed weird that it ruined the book for me! Plus- I wasn't a fan of the ending.

My Rating - 3/5

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Note- this won Goodreads 2021 Best Horror!

In horror movies, the final girl is the one who's left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she's not alone. For more than a decade she's been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette's worst fears are realized--someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.

This is a book that I never would have picked up if I wasn't working on all of the Goodreads winners, and it ended up being a much better book than I expected! It wasn't really scary at all, mostly just intense and like a cat-and-mouse. There was a lot of suspense throughout the book which kept it interesting- especially in the second half. The only thing that I didn't like was how many characters there were, which each had corresponding tragedies and killers that we had to keep track of. I kept getting confused about who was who, but otherwise this was really enjoyable and fun to read.

My Rating - 3.5/5

Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Malloy

Newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter are head over heels, and excited to say good-bye to New York and start a life together in Sam's sleepy hometown in upstate New York. Or, it turns out, a life where Annie spends most of her time alone while Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his downstairs office, tending to the egos of his (mostly female) clientele.

Little does Sam know that through a vent in his ceiling, every word of his sessions can be heard from the room upstairs. The pharmacist's wife, contemplating a divorce. The well-known painter whose boyfriend doesn’t satisfy her in bed. Who could resist listening? Everything is fine until the French girl in the green mini Cooper shows up, and Sam decides to go to work and not come home, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie's happily ever after.

This book was amazing!! Probably my favorite thriller that I've read this year...for about 90% of the book. The ending was so abrupt that it almost seemed like the last 50 pages got lost and they tried to wrap it up in about 2 pages. It was so disappointing after building up so much suspense and having so many incredible twists. This is a book I want to read again for a second time just because of the things we learn throughout the book. So good!

My Rating - 4.5/5

Audiobooks

This month I listened to two audio books, and they both happened to be romance and part of a series. The first was The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory. I've read a few others in this series and was just meh about them, but this was definitely my favorite. Still not my favorite book, but it was fun to listen to. My second audiobook was Isn't It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams. I haven't read any others in this series but want to read them, because it was such a fun book! It's centered on a group of guys who read romance novels to try to figure women out, and they're all hilarious. I liked the characters and drama in this book, and it wasn't too over the top. A few parts were kind of cringey and cheesy (pun intended if you read the book) but it was cute!

What did you read this month?

Do you like listening to audiobooks?