Three Five Star Book Reviews
Win Me Something by Kyle Lucia WuGenre: adult fiction, literary fiction OwnVoices
Liar's Dice by Juliet Faithfull
When Mathilda Nightingale lost her husband, Joe, to cancer, her grieving is soothed by the gift he left her. Alfie, the bookstore owner, was asked to give Mathilde (Tilly) a book gift each month for twelve months. The books are meant to mean something to Tilly or to send messages to her from Joe. She had, after all, lost her interest in reading since the time Joe became sick.
I loved anticipating the books that Joe gifted her each month in advance. Visiting Paris after reading a romance, trying running after a book by Murakami on the topic, trying camping in the Scottish wilds, and books on various other topics seemed to change Tilly a little bit each time, with her new experiences and travel.
It wasn't a surprise that Alfie had so much input in the choice of the books, as Joe was never much of a reader. This of course led, no surprise here, to a romance developing between Tilly and Alfie.
An interesting plot for a novel and intriguing reasons for book choices for Tilly. I enjoyed reading this, being a book lover myself.
Published Nov. 2, 2021, Tin House
This intriguing novel nevertheless left me disturbed and slightly anxious. The well written novel is about a biracial young woman who battles feelings of loneliness in New York City. Being the only child of a Taiwanese dad and a white American mother, she feels left out when her parents divorce and have new families and children. Not feeling a part of either her dad's new family or her mom's new family, her feelings of loneliness intensify.
Battling racial discrimination or misunderstandings only adds to Willa Chen's feeling of isolation and wanting to be seen as a person in her own right.
Battling racial discrimination or misunderstandings only adds to Willa Chen's feeling of isolation and wanting to be seen as a person in her own right.
Her new experiences being nanny to a well off family with a young daughter broadens her horizons a bit, but she is eventually let go when the child becomes too old for a nanny. Left again to her own devices, there is hope she can move forward into a fuller life of her own and see and accept herself for who she really is.
Liar's Dice by Juliet FaithfullPublication: April 28, 2026; Random House, NetGalley
Genre: adult fiction, lit fiction
Teenage Dolores feels the loss of her identical twin, Mita, who was sent away to live in a hospital in London because of a serious illness. Dolores learns to read with the help of a sympathetic teacher, and begins to write letters to Mita, but receives no replies. She aims to find the money to travel to London by writing love letters on the beach for eager patrons, pawning what jewelry she can find at home, even playing poker at a casino, etc.
I found that the story was not so much Mita's illness, but the separation of the twins and what it meant to the healthy one, Dolores. Dolores must eventually come to terms with her sister's situation and the solutions that her parents had found for Mita's long term car e.
The setting of the beaches and rural areas of Brazil added to the interest of the story. Dolores is a well drawn character with whom the reader sympathizes and admires for her closeness to her imperfect twin.
Teenage Dolores feels the loss of her identical twin, Mita, who was sent away to live in a hospital in London because of a serious illness. Dolores learns to read with the help of a sympathetic teacher, and begins to write letters to Mita, but receives no replies. She aims to find the money to travel to London by writing love letters on the beach for eager patrons, pawning what jewelry she can find at home, even playing poker at a casino, etc.
I found that the story was not so much Mita's illness, but the separation of the twins and what it meant to the healthy one, Dolores. Dolores must eventually come to terms with her sister's situation and the solutions that her parents had found for Mita's long term car e.
The setting of the beaches and rural areas of Brazil added to the interest of the story. Dolores is a well drawn character with whom the reader sympathizes and admires for her closeness to her imperfect twin.
Published Feb. 3, 2026, Berkley, NetGalley
Genre: adult, romance, lit fiction
When Mathilda Nightingale lost her husband, Joe, to cancer, her grieving is soothed by the gift he left her. Alfie, the bookstore owner, was asked to give Mathilde (Tilly) a book gift each month for twelve months. The books are meant to mean something to Tilly or to send messages to her from Joe. She had, after all, lost her interest in reading since the time Joe became sick.
I loved anticipating the books that Joe gifted her each month in advance. Visiting Paris after reading a romance, trying running after a book by Murakami on the topic, trying camping in the Scottish wilds, and books on various other topics seemed to change Tilly a little bit each time, with her new experiences and travel.
It wasn't a surprise that Alfie had so much input in the choice of the books, as Joe was never much of a reader. This of course led, no surprise here, to a romance developing between Tilly and Alfie.
An interesting plot for a novel and intriguing reasons for book choices for Tilly. I enjoyed reading this, being a book lover myself.
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