Jenni from the book

I just love the summer months for helping me to get back on track with my goodreads yearly challenge. Each year I set it at 12 books for the year, and every year, I'm falling behind by the spring. Cue summer. That girl knows how to get me to burn through books like they're going out of fashion (not literally, that would be a hate crime). So here we are, ready to share some thoughts, some scathing criticisms, and a few occasional spoilers.

This book isn't one I chose very intentionally; it was the outcome of one of those leave-a-book-take-a-book nooks that a lot of hotels have. And I have to say it was the perfect holiday read; I devoured it in one day. Would I have stuck with it under normal circumstances? That remains to be seen. Under a Greek Moon tells the story of Shauna Jackson, A-list movie star, who having recently lost her husband and been embroiled in a classic hollywood scandal, escapes to a Greek island for an idyllic break. But while she's trying to run from her present, she ends up running towards her past, as it's definitely not her first time on the beautiful island of Ithos. She's been there once before, 20 years ago, and if her memories of that summer there aren't enough to overwhelm her, then perhaps her memories of the man she said goodbye to there will be. Is it finally time for some long-hidden secrets to be uncovered?

This book is actually the debut novel of a TV presenter and not to be derogatory but it really shows. The writing style is similar to that of a teenager and all of the dialogue is super basic and cringey. The art of showing instead of telling simply doesn't exist in this book. For example, there is a one year time jump after the events of the first summer and Shauna literally says to her friend "can you believe it that the company I started working for opened an LA office so I was able to move here?". Bearing in mind that said friend is her bestie and they would've talked all the time in between. It was honestly the laziest and least skilful writing I've probably ever seen. That was far from the only example; it was all like that and, in places, even worse. Not to mention that the spelling of various characters names changes multiple times throughout the book, sometimes even multiple times through the same paragraph. Honestly it felt like this book hadn't even been edited or proof-read.

The story though was actually quite a good one. I found myself drawn into the plot and quite enjoyed all of the characters. It was all quite unrealistic, but I read it more as a telenovela so it felt like the lack of realism added to it. Like how all of the characters dreams came true (all rich and famous), they brushed elbows with royalty, there were multiple secret love children. The only trope it didn't have was a secret evil twin!

I actually think the author missed a trick on the order and chronology of the book though (probably down to the lack of writing skills). Everything was told in perfect time order; Shauna and Demetrios fell in love that first summer, she moves to LA, she meets her director husband, they skim over the 20 years they spent together, he dies, the secrets come out, she heads to Ithos, more secrets come out, end of story. The chemistry and love story of that first summer actually drew you in quite well but it took up way too much of the book. There was no difference in Shauna's character between then and now, despite becoming famous, being married for 20 years and presumably becoming jaded by all the things that had happened as a result. Nope, same Shauna as the summer she was 19. And unfortunately, the big reunion between the two fell very flat and there was no effort put into any tension between them. Again, it kind of felt like the twenty year gap just hadn't happened. What would've been better is if the author had told the story across a dual timeline and started in the now with Shauna arriving on Ithos, and then throughout the book slowly learning what brought her there in the first place, what brought her back, and what secrets she'd been hiding in the meantime.

It all just lacked a bit of excitement, tension or suspense. But for a swallow-it-whole holiday read it was low risk and perfectly enjoyable. Once you get past the writing ability.

I absolutely love a thought provoking book and this delivered that in bucket loads. If you could, would you want to know the exact day you were destined to die? The Gold siblings decide that they do when they hear of a travelling fortune teller in New York in 1969. They're just kids at the time but they are each read their fate; the day their life will end. Varya, the oldest, is told she'll live until 88. Daniel, the second, is told he'll live until 48. Klara, the third, is told she'll live until 31. And Simon, the youngest, is told he'll live until just 20. Whether they believe it, internalise it, run from it, disregard it, or try to cheat it, the fortune they're read that day will change the course of their life irrevocably. It prompts the ultimate question; do we make our fate, or does our fate make us?

As a devout fatalist, I absolutely loved this book. My whole belief system is around fate being fixed, not in every action but in every major stop along the way. So I believe you have multiple routes or paths to take, but the destination will be the same. Therefore, my thoughts are that your death date is already decided and that you can't run from it, even if you think that you are. The book subtly leans into this by writing certain anecdotes in the future perfect tense, as though the path is set and the story is being told from a higher perspective. Despite believing what I do with almost my whole heart, I love to explore the whole topic and so I really enjoyed the big questions this book attempted to mull over. In particular, I liked that it didn't attempt to answer them. It's never confirmed whether or not the fortune teller has genuine mystical powers, or is simply a very proficient con artist. And the deaths are handled with a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of approach.

The book is told in sections, like a baton passing between the siblings. It follows each of them from their own perspective up until their death, and then passes to the next, from Simon to Klara to Daniel to Varya. And it's really interesting seeing how each of them live their life based on their death sentence. Simon, told he'll die young, decides to run away from home at 16. He's gay so he heads to San Francisco to make sure he lives his life to the fullest in the years he has. But is he running away from his fate, or towards it? Klara, a magician herself, believes her fate entirely. But with alcoholism and some other undiagnosed madness plaguing her, has she taken the woman's reading too much to heart? Daniel, who always saw himself as the protector of the family, goes on to be a military doctor. Though he was unable to save his younger siblings, can he get justice for the way the fortune teller hurt them? And Varya, a worrisome and burdened teenager, has grown into an adult with OCD, terrified of living her life properly. She's dedicated her scientific career to longevity research and the mission of elongating the human life, but is there more to life than just existing for as long as possible?

As it covers a 40 year period, the book delves into some really poignant and important milestones of American history such as the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and America's part in Israel's occupation of Palestine. It has some really good social and political commentary, even going as far to discuss the relationship between Jewish victimhood and Zionism. I actually found it to be quite a brave book and it made me want to cry quite a few times.

The writing style took a while to get used to, as it's written in quite a high brow tone of voice. Although there's some really random injections of vulgarity in there, for seemingly no reason. Like describing a guy's penis, or the wound of an injured animal. Not sure what it added actually, other than a bit of shock factor. I also struggled with a lot of the Jewish references, knowing relatively little about the religion, and it didn't really go out its way to explain them. But for the most part, it was well written, well thought out, and extremely well researched.

I didn't love the ending is all I'll say. I really enjoyed Varya's section as a whole and her healing journey was quite beautiful to watch. The book doesn't actually end with Varya's death in the way that the other siblings' sections did, so I thought it would maybe end with a message about your fate still being in your own hands, or the rest is still unwritten type of thing. But it didn't have anything particularly profound like that, it just ended with describing the family and what they were up to. The actual actual ending was a magician's performance. It just felt a bit random is all, but I guess the author felt by that point they had already explored the ideas of life, death and fate enough. Then I guess it's up to the reader to decide.

From the blurb this sounded like my exact favourite type of book. Serendipity, alternative lives, the path not taken. Rachel and her friends are getting ready to head off to university when they go for one last celebratory meal together. Little do they know that that night will tear their worlds apart. But could it have literally torn time into two? After a 5 year time jump, we find out that Rachel's life has severely not gone to plan since the accident, and it certainly didn't turn out how she'd once hoped. But when she a fall lands her in hospital, she wakes up to find things completely different. Like really different. Like important-people-back-from-the-dead-different. As Rachel gets used to a reality in which she got everything she once wanted, can she piece together what happened and figure out what's real?

The headline on this book is that it was pointless. I don't mean that as a throwaway insult. I mean it literally didn't have a point. Normally books that explore alternative timelines and different versions of reality like to make commentary on the concept, and explore the philosophy of it. They're normally quite poetic and thought provoking actually. But this one did none of that. It didn't particularly try and theorize why Rachel had swapped lives, or what it meant, or how she felt about it. It was a very what book, rather than a why book, and I typically hate those.

I did enjoy the central love story though. Rachel has been with Matt for a couple of years when they're getting ready to head off to university, although everyone around her can clearly see her best friend Jimmy is in love with her. In timeline 1, the worst happens and Jimmy dies, her and Matt break up, and she's sad and alone. When she wakes up in timeline 2, Jimmy is back from the dead, her and Matt are engaged, and she's left feeling confused. She's delighted Jimmy is back of course, but the warm fuzzy feeling she has for him feels different from before. Exciting. So it was nice to read the parts about their budding romance.

But literally everything else about this book was painfully boring. I'm pretty much ready to swear off debut novels at this point because people need to learn that writing a book is a not a fun project that everyone should embark on at some point or another. Writing is a skill, and one that this author does not unfortunately possess. Everything was very lazily written to the level of a year 3 reading competency, the dialogue was unrealistic and over explanatory, and the book spent way too long focusing on Rachel trying to prove she'd had an alternative life, rather than exploring anything interesting within the new one.

On top of that, the number 1 thing that annoyed me about this book was the timelines and relative ages. So at the start, everyone is 18. After the five year time jump, they're all 23. Unless this book was based on a Mormon community, then I'm severely confused as to why all the characters seem to then be written as people in their mid-thirties. All married or engaged, all somehow at the very top of their career game despite supposedly only being out of uni for 2 years. The way they dress, the things they do, the way they talk. It was all sounding a bit middle-aged. It certainly didn't ring true with me and my friends at 23 and it really stunk of someone much older writing this and not understanding their characters. If all of that wasn't enough to be annoying, there's a 6 WEEK time jump at the end from an engagement to a wedding. Please tell me why that was necessary?! Overall, would not recommend.

I was a little apprehensive starting this one as I've had mixed feelings about Colleen Hoover over the years. I loved It ends with us, I hated It starts with us, and I've heard lots of bad things about her other books. Nevertheless, I was excited to read this one as the blurb sounded very enticing. Lowen is a struggling author who's nearly out of money and nearly out a home. Another awful and tragic thing has just happened around her, when she meets a kind and mysterious man. Bonding over their shared trauma, the two have some kind of instant connection. Although fate would mean it wasn't their only one. The man turned out to be Jeremy Crawford, husband of successful writer Verity, who Lowen has a meeting with since his wife is too injured to complete her book series and he's looking for a co-author. Securing the job, Lowen heads to the Crawford house to sort through Verity's notes and get started on the new books. 

What she doesn't expect to find is a manuscript that would turn Jeremy's world upside down. Verity may write successful books from the villain's point of view, but could it be that it's because she's a villain herself? Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, but as her feelings for him grow, can she really continue to hide the details of what really happened to his two dead daughters? Add in Lowen's suspicions that Verity isn't really as injured as she seems, and this book promised a rollercoaster ride.

Well, it delivered. I don't think I've ever been so on the edge of my seat over a book. The way the author built tension and suspense through the pages showed real skill and I literally burned through this in two days.

Colleen Hoover has a real love for shock factor and this book was no different. From deaths to inappropriate comments and vulgar language, sometimes it feels a little too deliberate, but it definitely adds to the effect. This book was honestly so creepy and I loved it. I won't actually include too many details about how it unfolds because a spoiler here would completely ruin it, but it was very in line with the film, A simple favour.

A few criticisms. The pay off didn't quite measure up to the build-up. I was waiting for a dramatic showdown scene reminiscent of a horror film, and it never came. So it felt a little anti-climatic in some ways, although I did really enjoy the twist at the end and how it kept you guessing. Lowen was also a bit annoying as a main character. Mainly because why did she take so damn long to read the manuscript?! Like weeks. She's an author, and if I found something that juicy I'd devour it in one sitting. I know Hoover probably made her read it slowly to draw out the timeline but it was a little frustrating. And actually Lowen was a bit annoying in lots of ways, but she was a well-rounded character, as was Jeremy. Their chemistry and sexual tension was good too, and they were brought together at just the right pace. Overall I think the author did a good job at creating full, complicated, interesting main characters. 

None were more interesting though than Verity herself. A truly evil icon. And I say evil because the ending leaves it open to interpretation but I'm firmly in the camp of evil. It was a fascinating read overall, that really outlined the power of writing, of storytelling, and in one's ability to convince. Verity was obviously a mastermind, as was Hoover in this case.

How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. This could possibly be one of the worst books I've ever read. To the point that I'm convinced all of the positive reviews and comments printed on the book must've been from people held up at gunpoint. How could anyone ever enjoy such a badly written pile of cringe? With this kiss is the story of Lorelei and and the secret power she possesses; when she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they die. While some might see this as a gift, Lorelei has always seen it as a curse and has carried it as a secret burden all her life. Convinced that her kiss not only reveals the future, but actually creates it, she's steered clear of love for years to prevent any horrific deaths being foretold. She's quite content with her life of reading, working at the cinema and spending time with her best friend in the whole world. But when she meets Grayson, her attraction towards him makes her think that maybe her life is missing something afterall. And maybe she needs to face her demons, and her secret power, in order to reach a happy ever after.

First of all, the main character was loathsome. Truly terrible. She was whiny, she was boring, she was entirely self absorbed (almost to the point of narcissism) and I couldn't actually find a redeeming quality about her. 

Second of all, the "connection" between Lorelei and Grayson was non-existent. They met literally twice, and Lorelei refused to tell him anything about herself (apparently this magic kissing-seeing-the-future-power had made it so she wouldn't even tell people her hobbies or where she grew up). Yet for pages and pages she goes on about her feelings for him and how she wants to be with him. Weird.

Third of all, the whole kissing power thing had serious plot holes. Like apparently it's whenever you kiss on the lips, which she did at 13 for the first time. But people kiss friends and family on the lips when they're young? Also, she sees the person's death when she kisses them. But please tell me why the 4 or 5 people she kisses in the book all have tragic, gruesome deaths before the age of 30. Is that likely out of such a small sample size of young healthy guys?

Fourth of all, the whole book was really badly written, really badly planned out, and really poorly executed. The timeline was weird to the point it felt unnatural, the events seemed to all happen either way too slowly or way too quickly, and the author was obviously trying to win some inclusivity points by chucking in a lesbian character and a trans character, but then gave them absolutely no depth or stake in the book at all. In fact, the only time the trans character appeared was at a book club where her only line was to explain why saying 'ladies and gentleman' is problematic. I understand the author probably had good intentions, but it only served to pedal the idea that trans people are obsessed with correcting people's language, rather than living fulfilling lives of their own.

In fact, the whole thing was so bad that by about page 200, I was skim reading the whole thing, and largely skipping big paragraphs altogether because I couldn't cope with Lorelei's internal monologue any longer. I will definitely be shelving this author as 'do not ever read anything from her again' - wish me better luck on the next book!