Talk Nerdy Book Blog

TagContemporary Fiction

Book Review: The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

By Sarah
In 4-stars, Book Review
June 13, 2024
B

The Gist: In The Connellys of County Down, Tracey Lange skillfully delves into complex sibling dynamics and the aftermath of a criminal conviction, yet the novel falls short with its romantic subplot and fails to address critical systemic policing issues.

Series: Standalone

Release Date: August 1, 2023

Synopsis
When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now.

While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.

The Connellys of County Down is a moving novel about testing the bounds of love and loyalty. It explores the possibility of beginning our lives anew, and reveals the pitfalls of shielding each other from the bitter truth.

Ending
HEA
Representation
• Main character who suffers from a traumatic brain injury (leading to migraines, seizures, and compromised vision)
• Main character who exhibits hoarding behaviours
Possible Triggers: Yes
• Recounting of physical assault while in prison
• Main character who suffers from hoarding
• Recounting of incarceration
• Recounting of the murder of parents during a home invasion
• Police intimidation
• Recounting of car accident resulting in hospitalization of a main character
• Parental abandonment
• Recounting of the Connelly siblings’ mother dying from c@ncer when they were children
Mature Themes
• Sex (alluded to, not explicit)
• Alcohol consumption and abuse (by a side character)
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 4-stars

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Engrossing and Bittersweet: Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

By Sarah
In 4-stars, Book Review
November 5, 2020
E

Series: Standalone

Release Date: April 16, 2019

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
How far will you go to protect your family? Will you keep their secrets? Ignore their lies?

In a small town in Virginia, a group of people know each other because they’re part of a special treatment center, a hyperbaric chamber that may cure a range of conditions from infertility to autism. But then the chamber explodes, two people die, and it’s clear the explosion wasn’t an accident.

A showdown unfolds as the story moves across characters who are all maybe keeping secrets, hiding betrayals. Was it the careless mother of a patient? Was it the owners, hoping to cash in on a big insurance payment and send their daughter to college? Could it have been a protester, trying to prove the treatment isn’t safe?

<strong>Ending</strong>
Sad but HFN (as happy as it could’ve ended)
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Korean main characters
• Korean side characters
• POC side characters
• Autistic side-characters
• Side-character with cerebral palsy
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Violent and descriptive death of an 8-year-old boy and adult women (they were burned alive)
• Sexual assault
• Child abuse
• Suicide
• Discusses fears of what happens to special-needs children when their parents can no longer take care of them
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Underage drinking and smoking
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Paperback

Rating: 4.25/5 stars

Trigger Warning: This review discusses topics that can be triggering for some. Please read the ‘Possible Triggers’ tab above for details.

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Heartfelt and Forgiving: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

By Sarah
In 4-stars, Book Review
October 28, 2020
H

Series: Standalone

Release Date: April 25, 2019

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
This is a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers slowly begin opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.

As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people.

<strong>Ending</strong>
HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Lesbian main characters
• FF romance
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Suicide
• Suicide ideation
• Threat of gun violence
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Hostage situation (that turns into a comedy of sorts)
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Paperback

Rating: 4.75/5 stars

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14 New Books: My October Book Haul

By Sarah
In Book Haul
October 21, 2020
1

My October Book Haul includes both my hardcopy and ebook purchases I’ve made since my September book haul (click here to see). The haul totals to 14 books (including ebooks), and every book, except for two, is a book I’ve wanted to read for months! Despite October being a month dedicated to spooky reads, I’ve never been much of a mystery/thriller fan. However, I’m broadening my typical reading genres by including a mystery in this haul!

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Beautiful and Empathetic: Thin Girls by Diana Clarke

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
October 11, 2020
B

Series: Standalone

Release Date: June 30, 2020

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
A dark, edgy, voice-driven literary debut novel about twin sisters that explores body image and queerness as well as toxic diet culture and the power of sisterhood, love, and lifelong friendships, written by a talented protégé of Roxane Gay.

Rose and Lily Winters are twins, as close as the bond implies; they feel each other’s emotions, taste what the other is feeling. Like most young women, they’ve struggled with their bodies and food since childhood, and high school finds them turning to food—or not—to battle the waves of insecurity and the yearning for popularity. But their connection can be as destructive as it is supportive, a yin to yang. when Rose stops eating, Lily starts—consuming everything Rose won’t or can’t.

Within a few years, Rose is about to mark her one-year anniversary in a rehabilitation facility for anorexics. Lily, her sole visitor, is the only thing tethering her to a normal life.

But Lily is struggling, too. A kindergarten teacher, she dates abusive men, including a student’s married father, in search of the close yet complicated companionship she lost when she became separated from Rose.

When Lily joins a cult diet group led by a social media faux feminist, whose eating plan consists of consuming questionable non-caloric foods, Rose senses that Lily needs her help. With her sister’s life in jeopardy, Rose must find a way to rescue her—and perhaps, save herself.

Illuminating some of the most fraught and common issues confronting women, Thin Girls is a powerful, emotionally resonant story, beautifully told, that will keep you turning the pages to the gratifying, hopeful end.

<strong>Ending</strong>
On road to healing
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Lesbian main character
• Bisexual supporting character
• Gay side character
• Lesbian side character
• f/f main romance
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Anorexia (on-page)
• Bulimia (on-page)
• Physical abuse (on-page and off-page)
• Emotional abuse (on-page and off-page)
— Lily’s boyfriend manipulates her into dieting (read starving herself)
• Bullying (on-page)
• Death as a result of an eating disorder (off-page)
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Discussion of BDSM relationships (the line between consent of S&M and abuse)
• Detailed sex scenes (including Rose walking in on Lily practicing BDSM)
• Explores toxicity of diet culture: fine line between dieting and harming yourself
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

Trigger Warning: This review discusses topics that can be triggering for some. Please read the ‘Possible Triggers’ tab above for details.

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Riveting Yet Demoralizing: If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

By Sarah
In 3-stars, Book Review
October 9, 2020
R

Series: Standalone

Release Date: April 21, 2020

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossibly high standards of beauty, secret room salons catering to wealthy men, strict social hierarchies, and K-pop fan mania.

“Even as a girl, I knew the only chance I had was to change my face… even before a fortune-teller told me so.”

Kyuri is a heartbreakingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a “room salon,” an exclusive bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake with a client may come to threaten her livelihood.

Her roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the super-wealthy heir to one of Korea’s biggest companies.

Down the hall in their apartment building lives Ara, a hairstylist for whom two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgery that is commonplace.

And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to get pregnant with a child that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise and educate in the cutthroat economy.

Together, their stories tell a gripping tale that’s seemingly unfamiliar, yet unmistakably universal in the way that their tentative friendships may have to be their saving grace.

<strong>Ending:</strong>
Surprisingly hopeful
<strong>Representation</strong>
• South Korean main and supporting characters
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Parental abandonment
• Physical assault (on-page and off-page, one instance resulting in one main character, Ara becoming mute)
• Emotional abuse
• Discussion of abortion
• Discussion of miscarriage
• Cheating
• Discussion of suicide and suicidal ideation
• Discussion of murder and suicide of sex workers
Title
Miho’s relationship with her boyfriend: Not Safe
• Does have cheating
• No OM
• Does have OW
— He cheats on her with a sex worker (a friend of Miho’s roommate) and is engaged to a woman from a family of similar economic wealth to him
• Does have Miho pushing Hanbin away
• No separation

Wonna’s relationship with her husband: Safe with Exception
• No cheating
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have Wonna pushing her husband away
• Does have a separation between Wonna and her husband (a permanent one, I think)
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

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Striking Yet Harrowing: Searching For Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

By Sarah
In 4-stars, Book Review
September 23, 2020
S

Series: Standalone

Release Date: June 4, 2019

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
A poignant and suspenseful drama that untangles the complicated ties binding three women—two sisters and their mother—in one Chinese immigrant family and explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears, and a series of family secrets emerge, from the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation

It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes.

Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love.

But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it’s Amy’s turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister’s movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy’s complicated family—and herself—than she ever could have imagined.

A deeply moving story of family, secrets, identity, and longing, Searching for Sylvie Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive portrait of an immigrant family. It is a profound exploration of the many ways culture and language can divide us and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone—especially those we love.

<strong>Ending:</strong>
Tragedy; HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Chinese main and supporting characters
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Racism
• Statutory r@pe
• Discussion of suicide
• Emotional and physical abuse
• Infidelity
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Childhood abandonment
• Missing person (the resulting grief that goes with that)
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 4.75/5 stars

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Calming and Genuine: The Secret Women by Sheila Williams

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
September 19, 2020
C

Series: Standalone

Release Date: June 9, 2020

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
Elise Armstrong, Carmen Bradshaw, and DeeDee Davis meet in a yoga class. Though vastly different, these women discover they all have one thing in common: their mothers have recently passed away. Becoming fast friends, the trio make a pact to help each other sort through the belongings their mothers’ left behind. But when they find old letters and diaries, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee are astonished to learn that each of their mothers hid secrets—secrets that will transform their own lives.

Meeting each month over margaritas, the trio share laughter, advice, and support. As they help each other overcome challenges and celebrate successes, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee gain not only a better understanding of the women their mothers were, but of themselves. They also come to realize they have what their mothers needed most but did not have during difficult times—other women they could trust.

Filled with poignant life lessons, The Secret Women pays tribute to the power of friendship and family and the bonds that tie us together. Beautiful, full of spirit and heart, it is a thoughtful and ultimately uplifting story of unconditional love.

<strong>Ending:</strong>
HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Black biracial main character
• Black main and supporting characters
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Mental Illness — Bipolar disorder
• Attempted suicide and murder of children
• Death of parent
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Death of parent
• Allusions to teenagers drinking
• (Amicable) divorce
• Children (who are late 40s to early 60s) lashing out at parents who start dating after their spouse dies
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Paperback

Rating: 5/5 stars

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