REVIEW A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James

 

I love me a good St. James novel especially when it's particularly close to Halloween because her books seem to combine just the right amount of dark and supernatural and mystery so I was very excited when I learned that she had a new book coming out. This novel is set in Fell, NY (the same town that The Sundown Motel was set in). Fairly early on in the book, you find out that three siblings - Dodie, Vail and Violet Esmie, have a brother named Ben that disappeared one day while they were playing hide and go seek and has not been found.  These acts happened 18 years earlier. The siblings have decided that it is finally time to return to the family home in Fell (which has remained empty since their parents' death) to find out what happened to Ben and why Violet is only called "Sister." Each of the siblings seems to have a special, natural power - Violet can see ghosts, Vail sees lights and Dodie is haunted by water that continuously drowns her. 

I genuinely enjoyed this book - it had the right amount of spookiness and terror and the pacing was very good.  The book is slow burn Gothic, which is exactly what I was looking for. However, there was simply too much going on such that St. James couldn't seem to tie it all up neatly for us. Don't get me wrong, it's really good, until the end, which was disappointing. The character that I enjoyed the most was Vail, followed closely by Violet. I could deal a little less with Dodie, who seemed like a stereotype on legs. This is definitely a good, solid read by this author, although perhaps not her best.  I look forward to her future novels.  

REVIEW: Self-Hep for Serial Killers by Asia MacKay

 This is actually the second book in the series, which began with A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage, although I somehow didn't know this at the time that I selected the book from the library.  The first book introduced readers to the marriage of Hazel and Fox, and this book continues with their story. It is split into five parts: Mindfulness, Self-Sacrifice, Boundaries, Resilience, and Positivity, all of which are meant to be ironic.  Each section opens with a quote by a famous mommy blogger that is intended to be inspirational - she's an influencer after all - and the second quote is from Hazel, which demonstrates the starkness of parenting. 

Foxand Hazel really are in no position to give parenting advice as they bring their four month old to dispose of a body. We learn quickly that Fox is experiencing performance anxiety because he recently botched a kill and is seeing a therapist. Hazel also doesn't feel like she fits in with the other moms at her school so she is going through something very similar emotionally. In the course of their killing and living their lives, they have somehow managed to draw the attention of a dangerous and lethal group to their doorstep so the couple needs to get their poop in a group and FAST as it's not just about surviving in suburbia but it's about fighting for their lives.

What I loved about this book is that it is a tongue in cheek, very witty and satirical look at serial killer teams. I found myself laughing out loud multiple times in this novel, much to the chagrin of my teenage daughter (as I would read in public and would embarrass her). It was a quick, easy and intriguing read, that kept my attention and was a really nice break from the serious stuff I had been reading (about a mass killing!). This novel is definitely worth the read.

REVIEW The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri

 

This book is certainly long but it didn't feel long to read at all.  It is an epic novel about three enigmatic sisters and a young man's relationship relative to them. It is specifically about the Mikkola sisters - Ina, Evelyn and Anastasia - and a young man named Jonas (the author perhaps) who has lived his life being completely obsessed and enthralled by them, living in their orbit but hoping eventually to live in their world. It spans decades of time - it starts at one year and then the time covered goes down. It also spans a multitude of places - Sweden, Tunisia and New York to name a few. 

I absolutely loved the characters and couldn't get enough of them. They were so real and the narrator (Jonas) was subtly placed as the observer.  It simply added to the story in a way that was not heavy handed and was absolutely subtle. What I additionally enjoyed was how it absolutely captured the messiness of marriage. One of the sisters visiting their mother as an adult was absolutely haunting and stays with me even now. 

Definitely worth the commitment!

REVIEW: Whistler by Ann Patchett

 Ann Patchett is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. I loved The Dutch House and Whistler is also a new favorite of mine.  In the nature of full disclosure, I love literary fiction about families and this is most assuredly what this novel is.  

This novel focuses on the relationship between Daphne Fuller and Eddie Triplett, who are a daughter and stepfather with a love that transcends trauma, a divorce and a weird twist. They reunite after a span of 45 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in what is one of the most serendipitous moments that I can remember. The precipitating event was a car accident on a snowy road that left both Eddie and Daphne trapped inside and a divorce very shortly thereafter which Daphne believes is her fault (I mean, Eddie crashed the car with her inside and they could have died, so it's a reasonable assumption). We learn about Eddie and Daphne during dialogue between the characters that contain vague references and flashbacks to the actual accident.  I LOVED this - it was perfect in keeping me interested and wanting to know more, the pacing was on point and, as usual, Patchett's writing is just lovely.

I felt like the characters were very real and relatable characters.  They were well developed and I found myself often nodding along with them and their statements. The whole book also felt just very...KIND and it shown in how the characters interacted with each other. I loved the themes of love within families and how that can look differently to different people within different relationships or even within the same relationship.  It is also about second chances.

I cherished this lovely book and I hope that you will too.  

REVIEW: Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

 

This was  the first book by Kylie Lee Baker that I've ever read and I can't wait to read her other books. When I think of Gothic horror, I think of fever dream, death, unhappiness, hallucinations and all the things. This book had EVERYTHING. 

First and foremost - the setting. Absolutely spooky - it's a Japanese cottage in the middle of the woods - near an ocean or maybe not.  I wasn't ever entirely clear. And the characters?!  To die for (literally and figuratively). They were absolutely fascinating and I was drawn into them. They were beautifully written, as was the storytelling.  Ms. Baker uses a dual timeline narrative to tell the story, which was very effective in keeping my head spinning and me on my toes. However, when the two timelines finally collide, you better watch out!  

The themes that were explored also very much hit hard for me. The novel dives deeply into themes surrounding perception, regret, mistakes and the role that the land/property plays in holding onto the atrocities that are committed upon them. It points out the consequences of our choices and how the place bears witness, often holding onto it. The writing itself is beautiful. It's lucid, flowing and super easy to get lost in.  I found that chapters would go by before I remembered that I had to get ready for work. 

This is a novel that will warrant a second reading for me so that I can pretend to maybe understand more the novel and I look very much forward to her other novels. 

REVIEW American Fantasy by Emma Straub

 

In this novel, we follow Annie, who is a 50-something recent divorcee who is going on her first ever celebrity cruise featuring the bank Boy Talk (which reminded me of NKOTB). Her sister, Katherine, was the real superfan and Annie intended to go with her, but Katherine broke her leg so couldn't attend. Annie is, therefore, on her own. She's paired with a roommate named Maira, who is a veteran Boy Talk cruiser and helps Annie learn the ways of the cruise. The members of Boy Talk also play a role, and are seriously stock characters. Keith Fiore is the one that we get to know the best. 

I just couldn't get into this book.  I appreciated that Straub was exploring themes related to aging, fandom and life changes, but the whole thing felt very superficial, flat and rushed. I didn't feel like Annie had an arc at all and was kind of just there, exploring things without having any agency or learning anything. At all. Nothing big or cathartic happened in this book. At all. I kept expecting something to happen that would inspire change and introspection on the parts of the characters but there wasn't really anything like that. It wasn't even a romance.  

Skip this one.  Not worth your time. 

REVIEW: The Strength of the Few by James Islington

 

This novel is the second book in The Hierarchy Trilogy by James Islington and picks up where The Will of the Many left off. Vis is still reeling from what happened in the last book and the government is barely hanging on. The novel immediately splits into three separate narratives and introduces two new storylines populated by a completely new set of characters. The three storylines take place in three worlds that look completely different from each other but all starring Vis (in different situations of course). The first storyline is the one we read about in the first book, the second involves Vis waking up in a rural area that is very quiet and the third involves Vis waking up in a third world that literally burns his lungs as he breathes. Vis clearly is meant to explore different facets of his personality in each world and by the end, he is somewhat successful, I guess. 

I did not like this book as much as I liked the first one.  The fragmentation was disconcerting and not cohesive (although if that was the author's goal then it worked brilliantly). The pace and momentum were not as compelling as in the first novel so the narrative seemed to lag in parts. I attribute the lack of momentum to the choppiness of moving in between three distinct storylines - I wanted to learn more about the original Vis, instead of the one in the country or hell. And I didn't get that so I was majorly disappointed. I enjoy Islington's writing style, but even that seemed to get lost in the transitions between the three storylines. 

Having said that I'm hoping that the last book in the trilogy will be better.  I'm committed to finishing out this series, and if you are and haven't read this book yet, please make sure your expectations are in the right place. I don't know that I would have finished this book if I didn't want to finish what I started. 

REVIEW American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed by Isaac Fitzgerald

 

This book has been all over the place and seemed interesting, so I grabbed it. I hadn't read Fitzgerald's earlier book, Dirtbag, Massachusetts (although it's on hold for me at the library!). Fitzgerald is obsessed with Johnny Appleseed (whose legal name was John Chapman) and I guess this makes sense since both hail from Leominster, MA. In the process of searching for an American hero, Fitzgerald found himself.

Fitzgerald, I think, was naturally drawn to this hero.  His parents were hikers and storytellers (the best kind of parents I think) and Fitzgerald was also, I suspect, drawn to the roaming of Appleseed given that Fitzgerald himself was unhoused for quite some time. Life was complicated by his mother's mental illness, and his parents' stormy relationship. That being said, I loved this writer's search for himself in his search for the true story of a legend.  He didn't actually WALK it though, buying a better of a car to make it through and catching a ride home when he was in Massachusetts, having been unable to hack the weather. 

The book often digressed, which I enjoyed, but if that would annoy you, I would stay away. I love digressions because I think they show insight into people, but most people don't understandably. I loved reading about the history of the areas, the time periods and the things that Fitzgerald encountered but my absolute FAVORITE parts were the parts where Fitzgerald described meeting and interacting with some good, solid and authentic people along the way. In these interactions, it becomes quickly clear that he's learning about himself and that is beautiful. I enjoyed seeing and experiencing Fitzgerald be pushed beyond his comfort zone. Fitzgerald also has a sense of humor that makes you snort or chuckle so loudly that the people around you look, openly, at you in a funny manner (not even the side eye!!). 

This book is one for the ages and I can't wait to read his first as well as see what he's got coming. 

REVIEW: Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe by Gail Crowther

 

Who knew that Marilyn had approximately 400 books in her personal library that she religiously moved with her to home after home? I certainly didn't know that the perhaps most famous icon of our time was such an avid reader.  And her association with writers certainly didn't stop with the written word - not only did she marry Arthur Miller, but through him and independently she met and interacted with numerous other writers of her time. Gail Crowther in this book delves deeply into Marilyn's personal collection and her impressive program to educate and cultivate her mind after dropping out of high school. She was hungry for knowledge and stopped at nothing to read and she read everything that she could get her hands on. 

Dr. Crowther did an immaculate, well researched deep dive into this topic.  She clearly thoroughly researched her subject and, apparently, had the support of the estate in researching and writing this book.  It contains not only information about her books, but tidbits about her life in the hopes of illuminating readers about who Marilyn was beyond the image that the studios forced her to portray.  Marilyn Monroe was clearly highly intelligent, intellectually curious and, sadly, particularly troubled.  The book itself is a fast and interesting read - it took me 2 to 3 days to read and moved quickly.  

I LOVE reading about and learning about what people read because I believe it offers us insight into them and their personality, interests and values. This book gave me insight into the person behind the facade, making the book a well worth read.  

REVIEW The Children by Melissa Albert

 

This book has been all over the place recently and for good reason. In this novel, we follow Guinevere Sharpe, whose mother, Edith, is the author of a hit children's series of books known as the Ninth City series. This series of books has brought so much inspiration and joy to other children but Guin and her brother Ennis have different memories of the time period in which Edith was writing these books. Guin is preparing to release a memoir, however, that portrays her childhood as bohemian and blissful, filled with love an laughter.  This release occurs during a period when Guin is estranged from Ennis and her parents are long dead, having died in a fire that destroyed their home in Vermont (the same home that the Ninth City Series was written in). At the same time that Guin's memoir is being released, Ennis, a renowned artist, has released his new immersive art show entitled simply "Mother." This has caused Guin to begin her journey towards her past and reconnecting with her brother. 

This book got under my skin.  It was beautifully written and included a world that was seemingly peaceful and beautiful, but really was inhabited by dark magic and ghosts. The family was most assuredly a toxic and dysfunctional one, with passive aggressive snarking, probable alcohol abuse, dishonesty and infidelity, as well as neglect of the children. There were ghosts and supernatural occurrences and accidents that caused deaths. I simply couldn't put this book down and looked forward to each new reveal, wondering what would be around the next corner.

This tale about grief and family is one that I will never forget.  Read this one immediately.

REVIEW Ours is a Tale of Murder by Nora Murphy

 

I picked up this book after reading a memoir - I wanted something quick, fresh and intriguing and I wasn't disappointed.  This novel takes place in a quiet suburban town in Maryland. It's a town that feels familiar with all of us, but there's an undercurrent of tension that raises the hair on the back of your neck but you're not sure why. In one home is Klara and Troy.  There's something off about Troy and Klara never wanted the white picket fence that she has.  Mary lives across the street and is preparing her home to be sold as she can't stand to live in the home that has bad memories of her son and mistakes. Henry lives with his parents and watches people way too closely for comfort.

What I really enjoyed was the unique way that Murphy structures her novel. I didn't expect it to circle back on itself the way that it did but I ended up really loving it. The novel explores relationships, it's true, but specifically it focuses on mothers and motherhood. It asks the question: what influence do mothers have on the people that their boys eventually become? Can they truly change or significantly influence them? The mothers in this novel are constantly present, some would say overbearing or enabling, while the fathers are absent either physically or emotionally. The pacing of the novel is brilliant and is best described as a slow burn.  It is anything but boring, however. I also really enjoyed how things eventually came together - it was a satisfying conclusion. 

Definitely worth the read. 

REVIEW Truce Crime, a Memoir by Patricia Cornwell

 

Patricia Cornwell is best known, perhaps, for her mystery series featuring Kay Scarpetta, a gritty, forensic medical examiner who also solves crimes. This is a candid and forthright memoir about the author of those novels, starting with her seemingly Southern Gothic childhood and moving through childhood, college and her eventual success as an author.

I was very surprised about how much trauma she had suffered.  Her childhood involved trauma related to, among other things, her parents' acrimonious divorce (including a kidnapping by her father), sexual abuse at the hands of a local police officer and her mother's mental health.  In her adolescence, she suffered from depression and a severe eating disorder.  In detailing these events, Cornwell's prose is sparse and unsentimental. Her sentences seemed particularly short and detached (although I imagine it was because she was writing about and consciously bringing up some awful, awful things). Cornwell was tremendously and remarkably resilient and had a big supporter in, of all people, Ruth Graham (the wife of evangelist Billy Graham). 

Cornwell details her writing process, which involves a tremendous about of hands on research (such as going to a morgue or learning how to shoot a particular gun).  I enjoyed gaining insight into this author, but the writing and detail were no where like Margaret Atwood's memoir, Book of Lives.  

REVIEW This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman

 

I had listened to Isola, which was also by this author, and when I read the description of this novel, I thought I would give it a try.  I'm always drawn to stories about families and relationships and this book falls squarely in that genre.

This is the story of an extended Jewish-American family, headed by three matriarchs that are sisters.  The book begins with the death of the youngest of the three sisters. The remaining two sisters become split not only by her death but also by a feud about, of all things, a cake (hence the cover) and which threatens to extend until the both of them die. Goodman tells the story from different viewpoints as each chapter focuses on a member of the extended family as they are navigating their own personal dramas. The power in this novel is in the small moments - the conversations between the characters, the setup - as opposed to the overarching novel (which I guess is what makes it literary fiction). She did a magnificent job of getting us into the weeds in their relationships and made her characters believable, although not always likeable. 

I DID, however, find myself often trying to remember who was who and what their intricate relationships were.  It was often confusing and disjointed in transitions, but once I got a page or so into each chapter it quickly smoothed out.  There were so many characters it was almost too hard to keep track. In spite of this, Goodman does a masterful job in capturing messy and intricate relationships. Definitely worth the read~!

REVIEW London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

 

Go out and get this book. Now.  This book is a meticulously researched non-fiction book that reads like a novel. It is, in a nutshell, about the grim, seedy, scary Russian oligarch world of London and the 19 year old that gets sucked into it, ultimately perishing. 

Zac Brettler was 19 when he died. His parents were grieving and didn't understand why or how he died - he wasn't suicidal although everyone chalked this up to a suicide.  But then they learned that he was posing as the son of a Russian oligarch who meets these really sketchy guys that now want something from him (but what, question his parents) and why haven't the police truly, deeply and carefully investigated his death?  This book is Keefe's attempt to assist the parents try to figure all this out.

I loved this book. It's obviously meticulous in its research and the pacing is perfect, especially given the scope of what it is trying to cover. It drew me in so quickly that I read it at any moment that I could - waiting to pick my kid up, at lunch, waiting at the doctor's office - because I simply had to know what happened. A lot of the book has us in the seedy underbelly of London's financial world, and yet, I didn't shy away from it.  This made the book and the story all the more compelling to me. I had no idea such a world existed. And of course there is Zac's parents, who are absolutely, and rightfully, devastated by the loss of their son. It was hard to not feel terribly for them. They carried themselves with dignity and were treated the same way by the author.  

Such a good read. I look forward to reading Say Nothing.

REVIEW The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by

 

This book has been on many, many lists this year and so I thought I would give it a try.  I'm not sure what I thought it would be but it certainly wasn't a horror/vampire novel taking place in the early 1900's.

In the year 2012, the diary of Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran minister is found stuffed into the wall of a building that is being demolished. It chronicles a series of massacres, a transformation, battles and violence between the white settlers and the Blackfeet nation, whose culture is also very much a character in this book. Arthur becomes know as "Three Men" and he is the confessor to Good Stab who discloses many, many things.

If anything this is historical horror. The writing was perfectly fine and the characters very interesting. I found that I could easily picture things everything as they were occurring and in the area that it was happening in. However, I just simply couldn't get behind this novel. It wasn't very interesting to me overall, although the parts about the Blackfeet were very interesting. I enjoyed learning about them very much. The novel goes back and forth between Three Men, who is writing in his diary, and Good Stab who is narrating his confession, which was very effective - the premise is that Arthur is writing down the confession verbatim in his diary - but either one could have carried the story on their own. While I did not particularly rave about this book, I completely respect Jones' historical research into this.  He obviously worked very hard to gather a lot of details that he could put into his book and that is highly admirable and appreciated by me as a history major. 

While I did not particularly care for this novel, I'm glad that I gave it a shot!

REVIEW: Countdown City by Ben Winters

 

When I start a series, I aim to finish it and so here we are! This is book 2 in the Last Policeman trilogy by Ben Winters and it was just as good as the first one!

Hank seems rudderless at the beginning of this novel but that doesn't stop him from putting his investigative skills to work in helping a family friend find her missing husband who left one night and never returned.  In pre-apocalypse dystopia, however, people leave all the time for lots of reasons (although the most popular disappearances are related to people chasing the items on their bucket lists). The backdrop?  An asteroid is hurtling towards the earth and will hit it in 77 days or thereabouts. The mystery in this one is definitely messier than in the first novel, which made this novel all the more intriguing. 

I started and finished this book in about two days - I simply absorbed it (which means it holds your attention and will make you want to keep reading to find out what the hell is actually going on). I enjoyed observing the crumbling of the world as the clock ticks down to impact and the questions that it poses about society: What would I do if I only had 75 days left before the meteor hits? Would I plan for possible survival afterwards or would I say "F*** it" and fulfill my bucket list dreams?  How would I treat my fellow humans? This is, perhaps, the best reason to keep reading this novel as it continues to explore how society is dealing with an inevitable act of mass destruction. 

Generally very well worth it and I can't wait to read the third!

REVIEW: The Family Man: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh by James Lasdun

 

Alex Murdaugh has been in the news lately and I thought that I would read another book that took us through what is shaping up to be his first trial, written by James Lasdun, a New Yorker journalist from England who takes us through his journey through the South to research this book. 

As you may, or may not know, this family was royalty in the Low Country of South Carolina for over 100 years. They were among the powerful civil attorneys and prosecutors in their area. But that all came crashing down when Alex is alleged to have killed his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. This was just the tip of the iceberg as he was purchasing drugs and embezzling millions of dollars from his personal injury clients.  Violence of this magnitude is absolutely unfathomable - he literally shot his son's head off. One of the hardest parts of the evidence for him was video from Paul's phone that puts him at the kennels with them minutes before the homicides are supposed to have occurred (and his corresponding lies - he wasn't there according to him). 

Lasdun does a masterful job of researching this book and meticulously unwinding the twine of Alex's lies.  He is also masterful in his portrayal of Alex - he essentially makes Alex out to be the kind of sociopathic manipulator that would rob you blind in a heartbeat while pretending to be your best friend. That being said, it didn't really add much to what has already been written about this case. 

Definitely worth the read and I'm looking forward to the next trial. 

REVIEW: The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers

 

There has been a lot of chatter on this book so I wanted to check it out for myself. I blew through it in like three or four days.  It was really great.

Cora and Sam meet in a baby group. Cora is married, happily she believes.  Her husband, however, seems to disappoint her at every turn - he spends his free time smoking a lot of pot on the porch while the kids sleep and that carries over into the bedroom. He's failing at work and so she's picking up the slack everywhere, and she's miserable while doing it.  Sam is married as well - to a high achieving spouse who is a lawyer and also believes he's happy, but is he?  It's almost like he is emasculated, or feels that way, right from the get go. So when the two meet at the baby group, they are instantly attracted to each other. Cora believes that Sam listens to her in ways that her husband does not. They become fast friends and then decide to bring their spouses into the mix. 

Cora, however, begins to fantasize about what an affair between them would look like. In that timeline, they are seeing each other while in the "reality" timeline, they refrain.  Things in that alternate timeline become super serious super fast. The timelines remain distinct at first, with the reader bouncing between the two, but then they blur together until there is only one timeline.

I really liked this book but it is INTENSE. Their relationship spans ten years of wishing and longing, until the trigger is pulled. The book is VERY readable and Somers has created real and flawed characters.  They are absolutely relatable.  SO good and the way that the timelines are slowly blurred is absolutely brilliant. Highly recommend. 

REVIEW: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

 

This book took me, and the publishing world, by surprised.  Candidly, I wasn't expecting to like it and worried that it would be completely smarmy and self righteous. It was self published in 2025 but only really took off this year. The story follows Theo, an elderly man who travels to Golden, a small town in Georgia. He visits the local coffeehouse, where he sees portraits of the townspeople on the wall. The artist is also a local artist - said artist lives in Golden as well. Theo decides to purchase the portraits and distribute them to the subject of the portraits. With each meeting, he collects their stories and they are inspired by his kindness.

What I loved about this book is that it deals with several important themes:  the importance of slowing down and observing, being kind, loss and grieving and love among others and it does so in a captivating way. I loved Theo as a character - his background is very mysterious but what he does for the people he comes into contact with is very laudable and to be admired.  It's a timely reminder of the importance of kindness.  I did wish that there was some conflict or other tension, which would have made the book more interesting,  and I could have done with less of the religious stuff, but those were both minor, nit picky things on my part.

I flew through this book in about two days. Definitely worth the read and I may read it again to make sure I caught everything!

REVIEW LA Weather by Maria Ampano Escandon

 

This 2021 book was part of Reese's book club - and I generally enjoy the books she selects. So I picked it up from my local library. This novel tells the story of the Alvarado family as they navigate major life changes - not one of the characters isn't experiencing a major shakeup. When we meet them, Oscar, the patriarch, has become distant, leaving his wife Keila feeling lonely and emotionally abandoned. This has prompted her to threaten divorce, which devastates her three daughters: Olivia, Claudia and Patricia. The girls convince their parents to give it a year before finalizing any decision to divorce. During that year, each member faces major life challenges that we navigate with them. 

Stories about families and relationship dynamics are stories that I'm drawn to. I'm insanely curious about them, so this book was definitely in my wheelhouse and satisfied that itch to some degree.  It wasn't the best novel that I have read that looks at these dynamics though. I felt like the characters were one dimensional and I had a hard time empathizing with any of them (except maybe Dani, who is Patricia's child). There was not a satisfying resolution for any of the characters except for Oscar and Keila, which was frustrating.  No one besides them seemed to actually learn anything or develop at all.  I did appreciate seeing how families were dealing with divorces, but that was pretty much it.  I mean, Escandon literally threw everything she could at this family in addition to divorce: gender/sexuality issues, infertility, cheating, stealing, cancer, you name it.  I found myself thinking: can we just pick like one or two big things and do a deep dive instead of barely scratching the surface on many things?

That being said, it was a pretty quick read, which was good.  

You can skip this one if you'd like!