There are no spoilers here (not really), so put the saran wrap and aluminum foil away. And if you are on a more health-conscious tip, put away the glass storage containers (generally me, but I do partake in the former).
I enjoyed the overall experience of this book. The ending, though a more than generous display of a happy ending, wasn’t my favorite. Sometimes people get below their just due, and sometimes people ‘get away with it’. Throughout the story, I wanted every evildoer and their enabler(s) to pay with interest, yesterday.
I will also say, take heed to the Prologue; every word is meant to prepare you for what you will read. If you proceed, don’t say Shanora didn’t warn you.
The friendship in this book was felt on a deep level; having people travel life’s often raggedy journey with you is a treasure, and I so appreciated how the author did it here. I saw two people show love-in-action, when the world was more cruel than kind to them (and sometimes, a real friend is the only thing that gets you through it).
Heed the prologue, and if you continue reading, I hope you enjoy the ride, because I did.
Now, in my last post, I said I was on an ‘autobiography surge’…well the surge was shorter than a cheap sugar rush. Life got serious, and a lot of things changed quickly. I didn’t read anything for several weeks. I tried to complete a book for the sake of providing consistent blog updates, but nah, this blog will be updated when I finish a book that I’ve read while actually living…and if I don’t, it won’t (this also prevents plotitude from becoming ‘work’ , and keeps it as a hobby). Ok, back to my latest read.
I should’ve known by now, especially after reading a couple of Freida’s books (pre-blog) how she gets down…she twists the story tighter than a stubborn HDMI cord.
Natalie and Dawn played tug of war with my emotions. A good bit of the dialogue is over email, and some of the emails had me in tears. The pivot in the story took place in a raggedy motel carrying a sandwich in a brown paper bag…oooWEEEE! Any liquid I would’ve had in my mouth while reading it would have flown out because I screamed.
The book will piss you off, have you rooting for someone to get their due punishment, and sometimes, have you telling the ‘justice bringer’ to slow the hell down with the antics.
I recommend this book; don’t pick a side too early.
So I’m on an autobiography surge right now, and the next few posts will reflect that. Ok, lets get up in other peoples’ business.
This book has been on my list ever since I saw an interview with Tommy talking about his life. He played parts in many of the shows I grew up on, and to hear his life….oooh tell me more.
Watching someone on television is funny…because, whether you set out to or not, you develop an ideal image of them in your mind….who they are, their likes and pet peeves, and how they move about in the world (the real world). I think this is why, when you hear some scandal or something about someone that doesn’t fit the image you’ve created, it’s devastating (I mean not really, but a little). I remembered this conundrum when things Tommy shared about himself and others that went against those ideals for me. Moments like that are good reminders to shatter images I have of others, appreciate different perspectives, and understand that as much as I may know about someone or something, there is just as much that I do not know (you know?)
I loved how Tommy weaved in his history with his present, and how different characters in his life showed up for him (or lack thereof). I stopped reading some parts, not because they were too difficult, but because I remembered this character or that one, and I would go online and watch clips of the shows he was in (laughed out loud more than once!).
Nostalgia is like a warm cup of tea, or an iced drink, depending on the season.
I recommend you take a listen….but…you can do what you want to do.
There are spoilers galore….continue reading if you’re nosey.
This book was a mentally exhausting mess, and with the story being set during the pandemic, ooo wee.
Kelly, after a breakup, moves in with an old HS classmate Sabrina (whom Kelly’s been stalking on social media btw….red flag 1/1,000) and her husband Nathan. Kelly is blown away by their beautiful neighborhood and spacious home….think Park Place & Boardwalk.
Kelly spends her time navigating her breakup-ish after moving out of the home she and her ex-fiancé Mike shared, making sense of her new surroundings, all while managing her intuition (which she appropriately refers to as her ‘gremlin’).
Soon enough 2+1 = 3….and they start getting it IN (because what else is there to do cooped up in the house?).
Kelly’s gremlin gets whiffs of new information about the couple’s previous lover, and she starts digging all up in these folks business.
Now the hot tub scene….this is where I figured I had it…The three of them are hugging and kissing, touching…all of a sudden Nathan takes bobbin for apples too seriously and starts drowning Kelly
I tell Kelly:
“This is your sign girl… go and find Dianne The Busy Body and ask her to get you the HELL up out of Park Place.”
Does she listen to me?
Then out of the BLUE little miss absent from class shows up, and now I have some serious questions. Maybe Sabrina and Nathan aren’t who I thought they were?
Babygirl ends up dead….and I’m like, nah, they are….they definitely are.
After a quick session of ‘whodunit’, the trio decides to take a nap before going out at night to bury Beth like an easter egg.
While Sabrina and Nathan sleep, Kelly’s gremlin rages relentless, and she soon finds the murder weapon….she gets caught….she and Nathan get into it, and Nathan…boom…is gone.
Sabrina and Kelly then make up some ish to tell the detectives, and after a lazy investigation, both walk free. They decide to start over and move out of Park Place, and Kelly decides to go visit Mike for one last goodbye (because when all your wounds have healed, re-opening one makes the most sense).
This book also makes you realize that perspective is a helluva drug….because as previous parts of the story were being re-told I’m like ‘HOW DID THEY GET THIS FROM THAT!?
I won’t completely spoil the ending, but I will say, everyone needs to be locked up…every last one of them. And the deceased? Lock them up posthumously.
Overall, this was a good listen…A quote from Kelly sums it up well
Plotitude 