Happy December 30th! One of my goals before 2019 ended was to begin my series of book reviews on She’s Gussied Up. My goal is to read 3-4 books and then share a quick recap along with my thoughts and recommendations for each book. My favorite books lately have been psycho-thrillers, but I don’t limit myself to genres and like just about anything! First up are: Where the Crawdads Sing, The Woman in the Window and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
Let me start off by saying that it has been several weeks since I have finished this book and I already feel the desire to re-read it. It was that good! The main character, Kya Clark lives on her own in the marshes of North Carolina. She is an outcast known as the, “Marsh Girl” who learns how survive on her own when almost everyone in her life has failed or forgotten her. Author Delia Owens is obviously familiar with the wildlife of the setting and describes the marshes in a way that you can picture what Kya is seeing and feeling. The storyline parallels with a murder mystery that all comes together in the end revealing Kya’s fate. I ended up falling in love with everything that encompassed Kya’s character and found myself taking my time reading so I could enjoy every page. I could not recommend this book more!
The Woman in the Window: A Novel, by A.J. Finn
This book is a psycho-thriller, told from the perspective of the main character, Ana. Ana is a middle-aged woman who has not left her house in months, as she suffers from agoraphobia. She stays in her home watching classic films, spying on her neighbors and drinking too much red wine. The author introduces mystery throughout several parts in the book. First, what happened to Ana that caused her to be so fearful of the outdoors. Second, Ana witnesses a terrible crime take place in the house across the park. As Ana is telling the story from her perspective, it allows the reader to predict what is real vs. an illusion. The book had several twists I didn’t expect all the way up to the end. I could definitely see this one being a great suspense movie!
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine: A Novel, by Gail Honeyman
If you are a fan of Reese Witherspoon’s book recommendations, you have probably heard of this book. I had purchased it awhile ago and finally had the opportunity to read it. Up until half way through the book, I was hesitant to recommend this one as I thought it started off very slow and the writing by the author was highly detailed. The main character, Eleanor is a quirky woman who lacks the understanding of social cues and how to “fit in”. As the story continues, we learn more about Eleanor’s past and how that’s contributed to her present self. While it is a very sad story with child abuse and mental illness (warning!) mentioned, I found that I completely adored her character and had to find out what happened to her in the end. If you don’t mind a slower read, I would recommend this one to you. Perhaps just don’t read it after a fast paced psycho thriller like I did.
If you’ve also read these books, let me know your thoughts below! Now I am off looking for my next novel…
