I have mixed feelings about this one, to be honest. On one hand, it delivered on what it promised, but it did so in a way that left me both impressed and frustrated.

The story starts off strong: Starr Ryder is battling cancer while her daughter, Anna, struggles to make ends meet in the impoverished town of Luxor. Recently fired from her teaching job , Anna crosses the river to The Bent Tree—a stark contrast to her world of poverty—to take up a job . A big hunting event is coming up, and her arrival sets a series of events into motion.

While the story had potential, a lot of it didn’t work for me. The mother-daughter relationship felt unrealistic. I’m not a fan of the “best friend” dynamic between mothers and daughters (think Gilmore Girls), and Starr came across as too whimsical, while Anna felt like a weak shadow of her.

The writing style was another issue. It was inconsistent—switching between character perspectives and a narrator without warning. It took me a while to get used to it, and even when I did, the story didn’t improve much. There were too many characters introduced early on with little explanation, making it hard to keep track. And when things finally started happening, the book rushed to its ending

That said, the book does have its strengths. The contrast between the poor town of Luxor and the wealthy Bent Tree was well-drawn, and it tried to tackle themes like poverty, privilege, and survival. However, these positives were overshadowed by the lack of focus and poor structure.

For those interested, Tell Me Something Good will be out on June 3rd. Big thanks to @harpermusebooks for providing me with an advance copy via @netgalley.

this book was very very hard to read. It was kind of all over the place, there was too much going on all at once and nothing ever really felt tied together or complete. I think it was messy and difficult to get through. I did not like it

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Murders, memories, secrets: woven into a fast read.

Set around multiple families/friendship groups where everyone is connected to a 20 year old multiple murder. The characters were solid, the plot had great potential and for the most part the first two thirds were building depth, mystery and explanation. Unfortunately the last third felt rushed, unclear and super abrupt.

This is a pleasing enough read, a solid 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I only read about 20% of this book and then stopped. The prologue sounded fantastic, but I had to go back to it twice to make sure that I was still reading the same book. I wasn’t able to connect with any of the characters And the writing seemed a bit choppy for my liking.. I’m sure that, at some point in the book, the theme would’ve connected back to the prologue, and I’m hopeful that it does for new readers.

I was instantly drawn into this book with the descriptive writing and the author does a nice job delivering a story with southern flair. There were some areas that I did find rather frustrating. There are times the story is stopped and then suddenly a narrator speaks directly to the reader stating things about the characters to explain/foreshadow events. This was distracting and interrupted the flow of the story. Also, the ending was rushed and all the conflicts/character development was suddenly put on fast forward in order to wrap it all up. So much of the story was spent building on the shady characters and the criminal activities as well as a second chance romance. Then, suddenly it blows up (literally and figuratively) and everything is finished with little explanation. I felt like the book had a lot of potential and the author does a nice job of penning southern life. The story just needs more clarity and direction and less crazy mess confusion. Also, spoiler here: who spends the whole time pining over a sexy man just to marry a woman?!? The story was sensible and realistic and then- what?!?
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was all over the place. I felt like I had ADHD reading it. This book could use a hefty edit.