Book Review: The Assistants, Camille Perri

Title: The Assistants, Camille Perri

Print Length: 283 pages

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Publication Date: May 3, 2016

Rating: 4/5 Stars

S Y N O P S I S

What do you do when you're drowning in student loan debt, working your a$$ off for a communications billionaire whose lunch expenses account for the sum of your annual salary?
You redistribute his wealth, obviously.

Tina Fontana has an NYU degree, a job as the personal assistant to Titan Corporation's CEO billionaire Robert Barlow, measly apartment that she can barley afford and is drowning in student loan debt. Obviously she's living the American dream. But when an accounting error produces a check in an amount that would pay off her student loan debt in full - she is faced with the moral dilemma of a lifetime; pay off her student loans and start living her life, or do the right thing and return the check?

So what does she do? She cashes it.

M Y  T A K E

Ya'll - this book is fun! For anyone out there who went to college with dreams of financial and social success only to find that not all college degrees equal champagne brunches and summers yachting through the south of France - this is for you! Robin Hood meets The Devil Wears Prada in this hilarious novel about a rag tag group of women who "redistribute" their boss's wealth in order to make the world of the average working class female just a little bit better.

I loved this novel - it was quick, sharp and chock full of pop culture references. What's not to love? Camille Perri's debut novel is hilarious. I thought her characters were well developed and her writing light and fun. In my opinion, it's everything that I would want in a beach read. If you're a fan of chicklit or just looking for a fun book after you've slogged your way through The Vegetarian then this one's for you.

A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Camille Perri is the author of The Assistants. She has worked as a books editor for Cosmopolitan and Esquire. She has also been a ghostwriter of young-adult novels and a reference librarian. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from New York University and a master of library science degree from Queens College. Perri wrote the first draft of The Assistants while working as the assistant to the editor-in-chief of Esquire.

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Book Review: Don't You Cry, Mary Kubica

Title: Don't You Cry, Mary Kubica

Print Length: 320 pages

Publisher: MIRA

Publication Date: May 17, 2016

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

S Y N O P S I S

Quinn's roommate Esther is missing. Rudely roused from sleep on a Sunday morning by her roommate's errant alarm clock - Quinn stumbles into Esther's room to find that she's not there. Window flung wide open and cold air striking her into wakefulness she thinks perhaps Esther just left the window open and forgot her alarm. But when Sunday turns to Monday and still Esther hasn't returned she begins to worry - where has Esther gone? Is she coming back?

Miles away from Chicago in a small depressed Michigan town, Alex Gallo is at the diner where he works as a dishwasher when he encounters a mysterious young woman. Drawn by her good looks and mysterious origin he attempts to befriend the nameless girl - whom he affectionately dubs Pearl.

While Quinn attempts to locate her roommate she begins to wonder how well she knew the girl she was living with and Alex, miles away, finds himself befriending a stranger who may be more dangerous than he can imagine.

M Y  T A K E

In her latest novel, Don't You Cry, Mary Kubica showcases exactly the type of storyteller she is. Methodical and detailed, Kubica creates dynamic characters and intricate storylines that keep the reader engaged and engrossed throughout. Truly a page turner, Don't you Cry will keep you guessing all the way to its conclusion.

I'm typically critical of the suspense/psychological thriller genre (it's not my favorite) but Mary Kubica is my go to author when I need a good mystery (The Good Girl was one of my favorites last year - that ending?! #OMG #didntseethatcoming). Like her other novels, there is varying point of view which serves to enhance the storyline and give life to the details that are critical to the plot. I like this type of narrative and really found myself drawn to Alex's experience as he befriends the new girl in town, trying to figure her out. Kubica's characters are usually relatable - and the characters in this book are no exception. Quinn is flawed and insecure with herself, Alex is frustrated with his small town life and bleak opportunities. I imagine that there are many readers who could identify with both narrators. My one criticism is that the ending of the book felt a little rushed to me. There was a lot of plot build up throughout the beginning and middle of the book - so much that as I neared the end I was wondering if the story could actually be wrapped up in forty pages. So while the ending did answer my questions - I wish there had been a little more "umph" to it.

Overall I found the book to be well written and suitable for any type of reader. I enjoyed it and believe that other fans of Mary Kubica will enjoy this as well as her other novels.
It's a fast paced, fun read for anyone's summer book list.



A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Mary Kubica is the New York Times bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL and PRETTY BABY. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter. Her third novel, DON'T YOU CRY, was released in May of 2016.

Visit Mary at http://www.marykubica.com/



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Book Review: The Girls by Emma Cline

Title: The Girls, Emma Cline
Hardcover: 368 pages

Publisher: Random House

Rating: 4/5 Stars

S Y N O P S I S

It's the summer of '69 and Evie Boyd is bored and disenchanted with her life, family and friends. But then she sees them - the girls. A chance meeting with the carefree group of girls whose shabby dress and aura of reckless abandon draws her in to their unconventional lifestyle. Soon Evie finds herself at "The Ranch," a downtrodden plot of land hidden in the California hills whose inhabitants are as dingy and wild as the place they live, all following a charismatic and manipulative leader, Russell. As Evie forms a friendship with Suzanne, an enigmatic and sensuous older girl, she becomes more and more involved in a world that soon will be swallowed by the unthinkable actions of its inhabitants and the man they follow.

M Y  T A K E

The Girls was an engrossing novel from start to finish. Superb writing and provocative subject matter are the driving force in this coming of age tale about Evie and her misguided judgement during a critical time in her adolescence. Cline does an outstanding job developing her characters, making them believable and relatable in the most disturbing way. Evie's loneliness, insecurity, desire to be loved and wanted are all so well detailed, I felt I knew her. And I pitied her. I appreciated the intuition she displayed - but was disappointed in her apathy and ignorance of the people and situations that surrounded her. The girls were engaging and interesting, especially the character of Suzanne who was mysterious, dangerous and motherly. Traits that made her a complex character that I never felt I could trust but was bewitching all the same. And equally well developed was Russell, whose charismatic and manipulative nature made him the perfect maniacal leader.

Emma Cline's debut novel is dazzling, disturbing and heart wrenching at the same time. The content is gritty and dark, her prose at times causing small knots to form in my stomach. But the novel is so well developed and well written not to grant it four stars. Her attention to detail and imagery is bar none and executed in such a way that its grittiness was hard to shake, the desert dust cloying to my being. The ability to produce such vivid imagery and depth in characters is what Cline does so well, and that what made the novel work for me. I was enraptured to the end.

A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Emma Cline is from California. Her fiction has appeared in Tin House and The Paris Review, and she was the winner of the 2014 Paris Review Plimpton Prize.                
Visit her website: http://www.emmacline.com





S I M I L A R  N O V E L S  &  R E C O M M E N D A T I O N

I believe The Girls could be compared to the likes of Janet Fitch's White Oleander and Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides. Both are outstanding coming of age novels with a way of twisting your gut into knots, if you enjoyed either - this is for you. Fans of Gillian Flynn and the psychological thriller/suspense genre will also appreciate this novel.

An advanced copy of The Girls was provided to me for an honest review by NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Girls is available for purchase on June 14, 2016.
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SRC2016 Blog Tour: Book Review: Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford

I'm participating in #SRC2016 #bestsummerever presented by Book Sparks

Book Sparks Summer Reading Challenge - Learn about it Here

Title: Everybody Rise, Stephanie Clifford

Paperback: 400 pages

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Rating: 2/5 Stars

S Y N O P S I S

Evelyn Beegan is a twenty six year old college graduate who is just trying to do her job. Born to a scheming social climbing mother and her lawyer husband, she's been exposed to upper crust society for the majority of her life. Elite prep schools and Liberal Arts Colleges have been mainstays throughout her adolescent years and early twenties. Despite her privileged upbringing and exposure to wealthy families and their quixotic ways she has always felt an outsider, never quite able to keep up with the wealth or social lives of her peers. But when she is hired as a membership coordinator for People Like Us, a social networking website geared exclusively toward members whose wealth and elite social status earn them an invitation she finds herself in the midst of their world. For the sake of her job, Evelyn begins attending Southhampton parties, Debutante Balls and Adirondack Camps - striving to fit in with the people she desperately seeks to sign up for her website. While initially motivated by her job, she quickly finds that the fast paced, money driven world of the social elite is intoxicating and thrilling - and she'll go to any length to keep up.

M Y  T A K E

Part cautionary tale, part satire, Everybody Rise is an attempt at a modern day Fitzgerald novel without the charm or wit. I found no fault with Clifford's writing and from a technical standpoint her novel is very good. However, I found the characters to be vapid and underdeveloped and the plot weak and anticlimactic which lead to a two star rating from me. Had the character development and plot been there - I could have enjoyed this novel more.

The themes in this novel are nothing new and Clifford doesn't offer a new or refreshing spin on them. Set in Manhattan's Upper East Side - we see a struggling girl who makes one right connection - begins to lie about her family and history to maintain said connection and ultimately finds that her friendship with the people she's trying to desperately to fit in with is wholly dependent on financial clout. Unable to keep up the façade she's built - the narrator essentially crashes and burns in grand style. This reminded me of something akin to Gossip Girl but without the engrossing and much better developed characters (as un-relatable as they were) and fast paced storylines. It would have been nice to see something different from a story that I feel we're all familiar with. On the positive side - there are some humorous exchanges between characters and the book is well written. Because of this, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another book by this author - I think she shows promise.

A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Stephanie Clifford is a Loeb-award winning reporter at the New York Times, where she currently covers Brooklyn courts. She joined the Times in 2008 from Inc. magazine, where she was a senior writer. Stephanie grew up in Seattle and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, son and two cats. EVERYBODY RISE is her first book. Visit her website at http://www.stephanieclifford.net.