Finished Reading // The Expats

Note: This post is part of a blog book club and is a post about my feelings and opinions in regards to this book. Read more about the blog book club and why I read this book here. This post was written after I read the book and therefor contains SPOILERS, so don't read this post if you aren't finished with the book!

Overall Thoughts

This book was lent to me by a friend. I told her about some of the Moriarty books I had read, and she thought I might like this one, too. She was right. It was different than Liane Moriarty's mysteries but similar too. I totally loved the espionage theme of this book, as well as that it was a more light-hearted mystery (versus a murder mystery which would be heavy). This book was nothing ground-breaking or amazing, but it was a quick, fun, easy read. I read lots of negative reviews of it online, but I enjoyed it. I think some reviewers take reviewing too seriously and also over analyze a book. I read for entertainment and this book fit the bill. That said, it was so quick and easy, I don't have a ton to say about it.

Opinion on Characters

I didn't have super strong opinions on the characters in this book one way or the other. I liked Kate. I didn't particularly relate to her a whole lot, but liked her nonetheless. Dexter was likable, too. I was sincerely hoping he wasn't a bad guy, so I was glad when it turns out he was not. Julia and Bill were in consequential to me. Julia was a little annoying. Bill seemed like a jerk. But I just did not care about them too much.

Rating the Book

To sum up my feelings about various aspects of this book, I offer the following ratings...

Scale 1 - 10 with 10 being the best

Plot/Story // 7
Pace // 7
Length // 8
Characters // 8
Ending // 8
Overall // 7.5

Would I recommend this book to a friend? Yes. One of the quicker, easier reads - would be perfect for a quick vacation read.

If you read The Expats too, 

I would love to hear your thoughts! Please share your opinion of the book in the comments below and let's get a little discussion going.

Next Up

And, watch for the next book announcement soon!

book club // The Expats

 Next up, I am reading The Expats, was was loaned and recommended to me by a friend. It sounded really good when I read the back cover. A little twist on my usual mystery and suspense preference.

According to amazon.com, you can expect:

In the cobblestoned streets of Luxembourg, Kate Moore's days are filled with playdates and coffee mornings, her weekends spent in Paris and skiing in the Alps. But Kate is also guarding a tremendous, life-defining secret—one that's become so unbearable that it begins to unravel her newly established expat life. She suspects that another American couple are not who they claim to be; her husband is acting suspiciously; and as she travels around Europe, she finds herself looking over her shoulder, increasingly terrified that her own past is catching up with her. As Kate begins to dig, to uncover the secrets of the people around her, she finds herself buried in layers of deceit so thick they threaten her family, her marriage, and her life. 

Stylish and sophisticated, fiercely intelligent, and expertly crafted, The Expats proves Chris Pavone to be a writer of tremendous talent.

I am about half-way through as I post this because I have zoomed right through it. So far it is a quick, fun read! Will you read it too?

P.S. Ignore the pink paint  on my leg in the photo above; it is from Raffa and my art class experience!

P.P.S. Read more about my blog book club here.

finished reading // The Hypnotist's Love Story

Note: This post is part of a blog book club and is a post about my feelings and opinions in regards to this book. Read more about the blog book club and why I read this book here. This post was written after I read the book and therefor contains SPOILERS, so don't read this post if you aren't finished with the book!

Overall Thoughts

This book was not at all what I expected. It was a whole different type of mystery than I usually get in to ... I was expecting a murder or something sinister. And, although the subject matter was creepy (major stalking doing serious stalking), Moriarty kept things quite light and even humorous. Things never felt dangerous or scary. That threw me because I was expecting true crime stalker mystery, and instead I got light hearted, rom com stalker mystery. Moriarty led me on like something BIG might happen at any moment, but it didn't. I felt a little cheated.

I enjoyed how the book was told from different viewpoints, which as this was the second of Moriarty's books I have read, I know see that this might be part of her thing.

Opinion on Characters

Ellen was likable. Sweet and relatable. I felt like, although I didn't find her to be super similar to me, I could really relate to her and pretty much never disagreed with her. If anything I just wanted her to stand up for herself a little more. I am not sure what I think about hypnotism, but the idea is certainly intriguing. One of those things I am also slightly apprehensive about, though. Kind of like characters in this book - what if I were to reveal something from my subconscious that I don't really want to know!?

Patrick was likable, too. Strong and handsome, and a good dad - attractive qualities. I liked him for Ellen. I worried very marginally about his lingering love for his dead first wife because, honestly, it was romantic that he loved her so much. I was a little concerned about him for a while, not sure how volatile he was ... did his stalker hold some dark, scary secret about him? Moriarty led me to believe she may. But, alas, no - Patrick was just a good guy.

Saskia was annoying but not enough to get worked up about. She was also kind of likable too and if anything I was hoping she would move on for her own sake. She seemed capable of it.

All the other characters weren't of much consequence, and if anything, just didn't matter. Kind of going along with that feeling that something big could happen any moment ... the auxiliary characters were just fluff.

Rating the Book

To sum up my feelings about various aspects of this book, I offer the following ratings...

Scale 1 - 10 with 10 being the best

Plot/Story // 7
Pace // 6
Length // 8
Characters // 7
Ending // 7
Overall // 7

Would I recommend this book to a friend? Not necessarily. I have read many books that I like more and would recommend over this one.

If you read The Hypnotist's Love Story too, 

I would love to hear your thoughts! Please share your opinion of the book in the comments below and let's get a little discussion going.

Read Jenny's thoughts on the book...

You can read what Jenny thought about the book over on her blog.

Next Up

And, watch for the next book announcement soon!

book club // The Hypnotist's Love Story

Next book club pick coming at you! We enjoyed The Husband's Secret so much that we decided to go with another one of Liane Moriarty's books - The Hypnotist's Love Story.

According to amazon.com, it is about:

Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s optimistic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back. Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk.

Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, Actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her. 

Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has.

Will you read it with us? Catch up on the previous book club posts here. 

finished reading // The Husband's Secret

Note: This post is part of a blog book club and is a post about my feelings and opinions in regards to this book. Read more about the blog book club and why I read this book here. This post was written after I read the book and therefor contains SPOILERS, so don't read this post if you aren't finished with the book!

This book was different than I expected, and it was a really good read. It was a good mix of keeping me guessing, but also had an element that made it possible to make some speculation about what might come next. A mind boggling mystery can be fun, but one that you can grasp can make for a good read, too.

Overall Thoughts

This book was much more than a murder mystery. It was a book about relationships and even more specifically, about the nature and experience of relationships under strain. I found the murder mystery to be very intriguing, and the mystery of Jean Paul's letter to be even more intriguing.

I enjoyed how the book started with separate individuals, who upon first glance had no relation or shared experience. And then as the book progressed, we see how these characters' lives are inextricably linked. I really enjoyed that development.

Opinion on Characters

I appreciated Cecilia's efficiency; I admired her organizational skills, feisty management of her household, and fierce love of her daughters. I felt sympathy for her and the horrendous predicament Jean Paul's letter put her in. I agreed with her choices for the most part, and don't see how she could have done better with the information she was give. 

Jean Paul seemed so great. But, I cannot even wrap my head around the concept of a good person making such an incredibly horrible mistake. We all make mistakes, of that I am completely and personally aware. But the degree of JP's mistake is about as bad is it gets. I am not sure how I feel about him. I don't necessarily hate him, but I don't find any sympathy for him either. 

Rachel's pain was difficult to read about. My heart ached for her; first the loss of her daughter and then the impending loss of her grandson. I felt her assumptions about her daughter-in-law were a little harsh, so I was very pleased when, towards the end of the book their relationship had improved tremendously. I couldn't help but be annoyed at her for her somewhat blind animosity towards Connor, but then again I had the benefit of having a bigger picture that was hinting to me that he was not Janie's killer. I also couldn't help but be angry when she hit Penny. Granted Penny darted out in to the road, but Rachel played a big part (the biggest?) in the accident. Penny was truly an innocent, and Rachel's anger and grief over her own innocent daughter's murder does not negate her wrong. Ugh. This whole situation is so difficult.

Felicity and Will, well they disgusted me actually. Again, everyone makes mistakes, but their's honestly seems like an easy on to avoid. And their humble, apologetic confession to Tessa, well I found that to be rather self indulgent. I think if they really felt as bad as they would have Tess believe, then they would have both squelched their feelings. I don't know that Tess' affair with Connor was really appropriate, but honestly at that point I felt so bad for Tess, I didn't care.

Connor was not of much consequence to me. He seemed nice enough but he was neither really that good or bad.

Rating the Book

To sum up my feelings about various aspects of this book, I offer the following ratings...

Scale 1 - 10 with 10 being the best

Plot/Story // 10
Pace // 9
Length // 10
Characters // 9
Ending // 9
Overall // 9.5

Would I recommend this book to a friend? Yes. Specifically a good vacation/beach read. And, it appears I have given this book the highest marks yet out of the three we have read. I would definitely read another book by Liane Moriarty.

If you read The Husband's Secret too, 

I would love to hear your thoughts! Please share your opinion of the book in the comments below and let's get a little discussion going.

Read Jenny's thoughts on the book...

You can read what Jenny thought about the book over on her blog.

Next Up

And, watch for the next book announcement soon!

book club // The Husband's Secret

The first two books we've read as part of the blog book club I started with JL of PRETTYblog have really put us on a roll. Both Where'd You Go, Bernadette and The Girl on the Train were great reads! The next book we have chosen sounds like it will not disappoint. We are continuing with that mystery theme, although just as the mystery in Bernadette and The Girl on the Train differed, this one does too.

The synopsis on amazon.com says that The Husband's Secret is about:

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . . 

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

If you are reading along with us, go get your copy and begin! We have been taking anywhere from a month to a month and a half or so to read the books, so you can bet this one will be about the same. I am shooting to finish the first couple of weeks in June at the latest.

See the other book club posts here. 

finished reading // The Girl on the Train

Note: This post is part of a blog book club and is a post about my feelings and opinions in regards to this book. Read more about the blog book club and why I read this book here. This post was written after I read the book and therefor contains SPOILERS, so don't read this post if you aren't finished with the book!

This book took me a little longer than I would have thought to read ... not because I didn't enjoy it, but simply because over the past month and a half I didn't have as much time to read as I would like - my lack of posts here on andchloe are perfect evidence of 24 hours in a day not being enough to accomplish all that I want to (see my post from a couple days ago!).

Overall Thoughts

It was entertaining and intriguing. The mystery was a good one; certainly my style of true crime. The story was original, the twists kept me guessing, and the overall intrigue kept me wanting to read more.

Jumping back and forth between the female characters sometimes felt a little exhausting, as I would sometimes get impatient for more information about that particular character, but *boom*, end chapter, switch female.

Opinion on Characters

I liked Rachel, but I definitely became impatient with her self destructive behavior. I was routing for her but was frustrated that she struggled for so long. And, I certainly questioned a lot of her decisions. The author led us to believe that Rachel maybe had something to do with Megan's disappearance, and the reader certainly starts to wonder what she is capable of in this dark, self destructive place she is.

Megan was more of a mystery to me. I didn't find her relatable. I had a hard time liking her which let me to also be critical of her past. Even finding out the details of her murder didn't change how I felt about her. The tragedy in her past (the accidental drowning of her infant daughter) did not even soften my opinion of her. Her bad decisions started when she left home at a young age to go live with a boyfriend. Things went down hill from there and her behavior was selfish and, in my opinion, manipulative. 

Likewise, I never became an Anna fan. I disliked her, although not strongly. She didn't paint herself in a good light, and I didn't like her overall attitude. Of course, in the end, her rating went up in my book, at least a little.

The male characters were all of not much consequence to me. Most of them were not likable for obvious reasons, but my negative feelings of them were not strong and perhaps I felt more indifferent of them.

Rating the Book

To sum up my feelings about various aspects of this book, I offer the following ratings...

Scale 1 - 10 with 10 being the best

Plot/Story // 8
Pace // 8
Length // 9
Characters // 8
Ending // 9
Overall // 8

Would I recommend this book to a friend? Yes. Specifically a good vacation/beach read.

If you read The Girl on the Train too, 

I would love to hear your thoughts! Please share your opinion of the book in the comments below and let's get a little discussion going.

Read Jenny's thoughts on the book...

You can read what Jenny thought about the book over on her blog.

Next Up

And, watch for the next book announcement soon!

book club // the girl on the train

A book like Where'd You Go, Bernadette, which I enjoyed tremendously is always hard to follow. When you read a book you like so much, it can be difficult to move on to another one. I finished Bernadette much quicker than I ever thought possible, a testament to how good it was.

Well, I think I found a good one to follow ... The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, according to Amazon is:

"Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. 

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good? 

Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut."

- Amazon.com 

So what do you think? Will you read along?

finished reading // Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Note: This post is part of a blog book club and is a post about my feelings and opinions in regards to this book. Read more about the blog book club and why I read this book here. This post was written after I read the book and therefor contains SPOILERS, so don't read this post if you aren't finished with the book!

For being only my fourth book read over the past 20 months, Where'd You Go, Bernadette did not disappoint. It was a quick read, quicker than I expected; even with limited time to read I finished it in less than a week.

Overall Thoughts

It was entertaining and intriguing. The story caught my attention right away; I was hooked. The first part of the story, leading up to Bernadette's disappearance, is told through pieces of correspondence - email, notes, letters, and documents. The change in pace from a typical narrative made reading fun. I found the story leading up to Bernadette's disappearance to be fast-paced and it kept me wanting to read more and more. I couldn't tell what would necessarily would happen next or why and how Bernadette would go missing; and I liked that mystery surrounding the mystery.

I found the book to slow down a little for me once Bee and Elgin embarked for Antarctica. Although it was not a large portion of the book, I found it to drag on. I fully supported (and shared, as a reader does) Bee's anger at Elgin, but didn't need repeated descriptions and examples of that anger. Furthermore, the mystery of where Bernadette was and what happened to her was, surprising, less exciting for me. The exciting mystery for me was why and how she went missing in the first place. In summation, approximately the first half of the book was thrilling for me and the second half was entertaining, although less so than the first half and was more of a perfunctory requirement to finish out the book and get the last bits of the story.

Opinion on Characters

Some of the characters were relatable and likable; I instantly liked Bernadette and Bee. At first, I also liked Elgin. Others I took a disliking too, whether immediately (Soo-Lin) or eventually (Elgin). Some characters, surprisingly and refreshingly went from bad to good (Audrey) - a twist in and of itself that I was not expecting. All the characters were interesting and elicited an emotional reaction.

I agreed with Bernadette's actions and words at every turn. I sympathized for her and wanted her to be happy. I didn't see her colossal mistake coming - finding out Manjula was really identity-stealing Russian mafia came out of no where and left me feeling especially bad for Bernadette.

I was frustrated at how quickly Elgin began doubting Bernadette. As a reader, at least, it seemed quick. Although if you think of it as decades of a relationship, it would be a much more gradual process than the paper trail could portray. The pain and hurt that can occur in a relationship was not captured with such minimal coverage of the various ups and downs Bernadette and Elgin's relationship experienced. I do not believe it should not have been covered in more detail, but my point is that it left the reader feeling like Elgin turned Judas quickly.

I took an immediate dislike to Soo-Lin and that continued through out the book ... her whole victim support group thing sounded like a joke, as it was supposed to ... although towards the end I did start to feel bad for her. Her relationship with Elgin was an unfortunate result of her infatuation, but also his obliviousness to that infatuation. Without paying attention to the fact that he was doing do, he led Soo-Lin on and they fed off of each other when assessing Bernadette's mental health.

Audrey's turn-around was such a welcome surprise. I wanted to punch her in the face and I was so pleasantly surprised when she took responsibility for herself and her actions and got her shit together. It was wholly redeeming.

Rating the Book

To sum up my feelings about various aspects of this book, I offer the following ratings...

Scale 1 - 10 with 10 being the best

Plot/Story // 9
Pace // 8
Length // 9
Characters // 9
Ending // 7
Overall // 8.5

Would I recommend this book to a friend? I sure would!

If you read Where'd You Go, Bernadette too, 

I would love to hear your thoughts! Please share your opinion of the book in the comments below and let's get a little discussion going.

Read Jenny's thoughts on the book...

You can read what Jenny thought about the book over on her blog.

Next Up

And, watch for the next book announcement in the next day or so!

bookin' it // where'd you go, Bernadette

I love books and I love reading. Did you know that about me? Thinking about it, I feel like that is something that may not have been at all apparent here on andchloe. That is surprising, because when I say I love reading, I mean I LOVE reading. It is one of my favorite things to do. I specific love reading novels. I have loved reading since I learned how to read. Before Raffa, I was an avid reader, reading about a book a month, if not more. Since Raffa .... oh, that's a whole other story. I think I have read maybe three books since I had Raffa in May 2013. That's so sad, considering how much I love reading. I have not missed it, per say, as I have had plenty to fill my time. Certainly if I had more free time the past 20 months, I would have read more.

When I came across Where'd You Go, Bernadette somewhere in my Instagram feed, I was instantly intrigued when I read the synopsis. So, intrigued in fact that I decided to make it the fourth book I have read since becoming a mama.

My good friend, Jenny, was looking for a good book too; or so she happened to mention in an email exchange right after New Year's. I suggested Bernadette to her; she was hooked to. Upon further email discussion, she talked about a book club across the miles (she is in Bayfield, I am in Denver) and maybe even tying it in to her blog. With all that, a remote book club has been born ... members consisting of myself, Jenny, and our friend Emily ... and hopefully you. That's right, the schtick is that I am going to sincerely try to read a book a month and I want to discuss the books here on the blog. Jenny will be doing the same over on her blog. And, I hope when a title interests you, you will join in, read, and participate in the discussion in the comments.

I started Bernadette last week. I was hooked after just a few pages in. A month from now, I will finish up the book and post a discussion about it (shooting for Feb. 16ish - I say "ish" because I am getting a slower start than I had hoped!).