Welcome to Litsy!

The Bonne Maman advent calendar is ready for tomorrow!

Bieker does dark really well. An abusive husband and father dies. His wife takes the blame for his murder while his daughter slips into the night and starts over in San Francisco. Told in (excellent) alternating timelines the daughter (now a mother) unravels when she hears from her estranged imprisoned mom. She also writes about her father‘s abuse and her escape.

I was over 3/4 through this when I correctly realized an upcoming twist. After that it was wondering how it would go down if and when Clove came to understand the situation. The ending was fine and changed from pure entertainment (as if growing up in domestic violence can ever be fodder for entertainment) to a story with a message.

An exploration of motherhood…after a childhood of living through and “surviving”(?) domestic violence. My goodness this was hard to get through. Reading a child‘s plea to her mother to please leave was heartbreaking.
This one made me cry and rage at the same time. My goodness, the things women have to do to keep themselves alive!
“The world is not made for mothers. Yet mothers made the world.”

I…don‘t know what to think of this. Early on, the MC reminded me of a younger version of the All Fours MC (this is not a compliment) and the ending‘s a bit of a mess. But I found it oddly compelling. So I‘ll give it a pick with reservations, as I can‘t really say I “liked” it.

This was a wild ride! I‘m happy I went in blind to this one so I won‘t say much except that it is thrilling, thoughtful, and is filled with stand out characters. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Ugh, I love everything else Chelsea Bieker has ever written but nothing about this book landed for me. I‘m biased but the motherhood theme was boring, the Portland references made me roll my eyes (born and raised in the same neighborhood the book is based), and the ending wasn‘t surprising but so obvious from the moment the character was introduced. I preordered the book (vs waiting for it at the library) and I‘m not keeping it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This complex story of violence and motherhood feels alive, beating with the pulse of feminine rage. The tense atmosphere is almost tangible and Clove‘s character could walk off the page. I thought it skillfully balanced intrigue with substance and emotion. There‘s nothing like a mad woman… 🎧

All the most intense emotions from beginning to end. You are feeling everything as you read word after word after word. It was a hard read, though, subject matter wise. I was captivated in the feelings. Every single one of them.

Clove has a lovely spouse and 2 young children. When weaning her youngest, she attributes her strange feelings to cessation of the familiar hormones. Then a letter arrives from her mom (in prison: how did her mom find her?) and Clove‘s usually suppressed past revisits her now-simple life…

#ReadAway2024
#Bookspinbingo

@DieAReader @TheAromaofBooks @Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

My picks for #BOTM !