I’m back with two short reviews for you today. Sometimes I can review a book, but not as thoroughly as some of my other reviews. Sometimes I don’t make notes while reading and that results in a really poor review. Lastly, sometimes a book is so well reviewed I have little to contribute to the conversation. Either way, here are two books I’ve read recently.
The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding, Lydia Kang (I know, I know, another Kang book đź¤)
Historical Mystery
Goodreads, Amazon, Bookshop, B&N
My Thoughts: 3-star
Once again, Kang takes us back to New York in the early 1900s, amidst the second world war. Women in the states are working in jobs they never dreamed possible. The US is covertly working on the atom bomb, and rationing is affecting people.
I’ve been working through all of Kang’s works, and this one is my least favorite. It came with a lot of secrets that felt entirely unnecessary. I wasn’t a fan of Ruby because of all the lying and manipulation. Her reasoning didn’t justify any of her lies or behavior.
I have mixed feelings about this one. But some books just aren’t for everyone, and I still have more of Kang’s works to read.
Read this review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
About the Book
Brooklyn, 1942. War rages overseas as brother and sister Will and Maggie Scripps contribute to the war effort stateside. Ambitious Will secretly scouts for the Manhattan Project while grief-stricken Maggie works at the Navy Yard, writing letters to her dead mother between shifts.
But the siblings’ quiet lives change when they discover a beautiful woman hiding under their back stairs. This stranger harbors an obsession with poisons, an affection for fine things, and a singular talent for killing small creatures. As she draws Will and Maggie deeper into her mysterious past, they both begin to suspect she’s quite dangerous—all while falling helplessly under her spell.
With whispers of spies in dark corners and the world’s first atomic bomb in the works, the visitor’s sudden presence in Maggie’s and Will’s lives raises questions about who she is and what she wants. Is this mysterious woman someone they can trust—or a threat to everything they hold dear?
Comfort Me With Apples, Catherynne M. Valente
Novella/Fantasy/Thriller
Goodreads, Amazon, Bookshop, B&N
My Thoughts: 4-star
This is a vividly imaginative book. Valente has you questioning things from the start because no community can be this perfect, can it? At first, I was getting a Stepford Wives sort of feeling, and then the author (probably) started laughing at my naivete.
I figured out some things early on, but that didn’t deter my enjoyment in the slightest. Comfort Me With Apples is a quick, easy read that’s quirky and bizarre. It might not be for every reader because of the directions it takes, but I think it was a super fun, addicting read.
Read and like this review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
About the Book
Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.
It’s just that he’s away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.
But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband’s face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can’t quite meet her gaze…
Rae's Reading Lounge 