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Life doesn’t always follow the plan, no matter how carefully and passionately you’ve outlined it. Even when you’re on track, the details of what you have to suffer through on the way to the end of the rainbow are often so frustrating, it might drive you to madness. Goals are not accomplished on a straight line. It’s more like a line graph with wild ebbs and flows making it look more like a Richter Scale reading than an exponential curve to success. But all the little detours move you forward, even when they seem like a step back, and eventually you learn that happily ever after looks a little different than what you once dreamed.

My (Not So) Perfect Life Sophie Kinsella Book Cover

Kat-Katie-Kat is chasing her dreams in London, working for a boss who is living a picture-perfect life. Demeter is everything Kat wants to be, except she’s also an aloof, often degrading, unapologetic bitch. Kat dreams of being a successful advertise marketer, but is struggling to get Demeter to notice she exists at all, let alone any of her design and campaign ideas. One day, a mystery man named Alex shows up needing help with a couple of things. Kat and Alex work well together, but when she finds out he’s one of the higher-ups, she realizes how out of her league he is. Then, she gets fired (not because of Alex). That was certainly not part of the plan. She’s on a desperate search for another job in her field, when her dad and step-mother call on her expertise to help launch their new glamping resort in the countryside. She’s afraid if she leaves London, she may never end up going back, but there are few other options unless she wants to sleep under a bridge in the name of staying put. The glamping endeavor gives Katie a chance to show off how great she is at her dream job. She’s so good, in fact, it accidentally draws in exclusivity-connoisseur Demeter and her family to stay. It is then Katie begins to see that a picture-perfect life isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.

This book is far more than a romance. It’s an anthem. It is self-discovery and integrity and enlightenment. Katie’s story is at once a girl-boss-revenge story and a coming-of-age reinvention, with a dash of mean-girl-justice on the side.

I was surprised how much I loved this book. It has a depth that I wasn’t expecting. I expected another run-of-the-mill contemporary romance, but this was a book all about girl power and making the most of whatever opportunity is in front of you. And standing up for what’s right, even when you don’t have to. And…yeah, sure, some romance too. Katie’s is the kind of story that sticks with you because its lessons are so meaningful, and the whole thing is just so darned endearing.

This is the kind of story that leaves you with warm fuzzies. Read this if you’re looking for something to make you feel more empowered and uplifted. If you’re not looking for just-another-romance. If you enjoy Emily Henry books, or The Devil Wears Prada (goes glamping, lol). I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as I did!

Details

Title:: My (Not So) Perfect Life
Author:: Sophie Kinsella
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: The Dial Press
Length:: 464 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 58m
Audiobook Narrator:: Fiona Hardingham
Audiobook Publisher:: Random House Audio
Published:: July 11th, 2017
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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One cannot escape the past. Crimes cannot be erased. And those who were affected cannot simply be forgotten.

The Midnight Feast is another edge-of-your seat, layered, multiple POV mystery by Lucy Foley that tells of the secret trauma of one fateful summer night on the English coast, and its rippling effects through time.

The Midnight Feast Lucy Foley Book Cover

Opening weekend at The Manor is slated to be the event of a lifetime with Francesca Woodland at its helm. The cabins are full, the facilities impeccable, and every detail has been fussed over and perfected down to the architect, the staff, the wine, and the turndown service. But by the time it’s over, the police are called in to investigate the dead bodies left in the aftermath.

The first 15% of this book followed the same blueprint as The Guest List (also by Lucy Foley), which had me scratching my head a little bit. Doubling down on a good thing, I guess. Instead of a new, exclusive, wedding venue on an Irish island, this book is based on a new, exclusive, glamping resort-type facility on the English coast. I feel like it probably could have been a little more original, but it’s ultimately forgivable.

We flip back and forth between the present and past diary entries kept by one of the characters on a summer holiday, revealing one entry at a time what happened all those years ago to create so much tension in the present. Probably my favorite part of a book like this one is how each of the POV characters fit into the grander story, and that is one thing this book does so well. Everyone has a link to the past, and they all have a role to play in the present, too.

I loved the folklore thread in the weave. Like any good English town, this one has a longstanding lore surrounding a hundred-eyed tree deep in the forest, and The Birds who seek justice on wrongdoing done in the community. It was a little exhausting reading the words “the birds, the birds, the birds” again and again, but the layer of uncertainty and supernatural it adds really worked for me.

About halfway through I knew this was going to be a banger. I listened as an audiobook and was honestly surprised when I looked down and saw I was only at the midpoint. It has the punch of a climax already at that point, but we get so much more, and the true climax is even more satisfying. If you’re looking for something thrilling and satisfying with elements of horror, this book is for you. Good luck putting it down!

Details

Title:: The Midnight Feast
Author:: Lucy Foley
Genre:: Thriller/Suspense
Publisher:: William Morrow
Length:: 354 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 20m
Audiobook Narrator:: Joe Eyre, Sarah Slimani, Roly Botha, Laurence Dobiesz, Tuppence Middleton
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: June 18th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars