BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Elizabeth D. (Apple Valley, MN)

L.A. Women
by Ella Berman

Friendship is complicated (3/22/2025)

I was absorbed by this book from the start. It is about two women in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s who form an uneasy friendship. Point of View changes from Lane to Gala, occasionally to other characters, and is dual timeline, switching back and forth between current …more day (with current day being the 1970s) and ten years earlier - at least at the start; each time we switch back to the earlier timeline, time has moved forward until the two timelines converge. If this sounds complicated, it isn't; at least, I didn't find it so.

The characters in this book are so well drawn: their drive for success, intelligence, and sense of self, but their foibles, their petty jealousies and insecurities, too. I feel like I know them intimately, as friends, or at least as close to friends as they know how to be.

While I feel like this was a strong character study of these two women as they navigated the roles available to women in the 60s and 70s, the assumptions made about women who didn't fit those roles, how these two had to contort themselves to conform at times, and how they were viewed (and how their lives were sometimes constrained) vis-a-vis the men in their life, there were still some very strong plot points, one of which shifted my entire view of the character and how I felt about some of her decisions. I hate to be vague, but I also don't want to drop any spoilers.

While there is a missing person/mystery element to the book, I wouldn't categorize this as a mystery, as there's really no elements of detection in the typical fashion.

I'm struggling to think of a book I've read with a similar friendship to the one between Lane and Gala. I also feel like they're characters I rarely see, if at all (in the case of Gala) in books I've read.

I think this book would appeal to people interested in unconventional female friendships, women's lives in the 1960s and 1970s, the Los Angeles scene in the 1960s and 1970s

It covers many different topics, including female friendships; artistic integrity; uncredited artistic work/artistic ownership; motherhood; addiction; limits of responsibility for another person; women working; changing expectations for appropriate behavior as women age; childhood trauma and its impact on people as adults; husband/wife relationships; friendships between women and gay men; gay men in 1960s and 1970s Los Angeles; how to be true to yourself; and more.

Thank you very much to BookBrowse and Berkley for this Advanced Reader's Copy. I will be thinking about Lane and Gala for a long time to come. (less)

The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant
by Liza Tully

The Assistant is Just Okay after all (3/22/2025)

I was so excited to read this book - the title and description really grabbed me - so I was thrilled when I received word I was chosen for an ARC. Thank you, BookBrowse and Berkley for the early copy! When I received the ARC, I my excitement continued, with chapter titles …more like "An Intriguing Woman with a lot to Offer", "Robbery!", and "The Second Best Son". I'm afraid the book may have suffered a bit from my high expectations.

First, the good. I think the side characters are well-described; I finished the book a couple of weeks ago and I still think about a few of the supporting characters. A couple of them may verge a bit on the cartoonish, but I don't think the line was crossed. It is a big cast of characters, but they're all drawn distinctly and I felt like I could picture them well or that I knew people like them in my own life.

The setting worked well for me - a sprawling resort - as it had elements of a locked room mystery, but didn't go so far as sticking everyone on an island, which seems to be the thing these days. It just felt like a fresh setting to me.

I think the mystery itself works well. I did work it out in advance, but not terribly far in advance. There were a number of different storylines that supported alternate suspects.

Now for the bad. I really disliked the World's Greatest Detective. She is very condescending to her Just Okay Assistant and berates her and her choices with some regularity. I typically enjoy prickly characters, but I think they need to have some positive traits to balance out their personalities in order to find them appealing as a character, and here I just didn't. The detective never shared information with her assistant, treated her like… an assistant (ha! But rudely). I'm still wondering why she wanted her assistant, and others, I suppose, to call her by her last name, Merritt. I just feel like we never learn anything about her or her backstory, so there's nothing to grab onto as a redeeming quality.

As for the main character herself, she's more likable. I did find her leaps from investigation to theories to be pat and conclusory. I can't entirely put my finger on what bothered me about the way she framed her theories, other than to say I felt like she seemed to come up with them fully formed without much explanation about how she got there. Another nit - and it is a nit - is there is a tiny side storyline with her boyfriend's wish for her to contact his mother about something. It's mentioned numerous times, and nothing is ever really made of it - there could have been more self-reflection or more universal points made using this as a springboard, but there really weren't, and I just saw that as a lost opportunity.

Finally I just felt like the writing style wasn't for me. I felt like it was a bit stilted - I just felt very aware I was reading. The flow did improve noticeably later in the book, in my opinion.

I think people who enjoy mysteries with sunshine/grumpy pairings would like this book. I also think people who enjoy the mystery element of a book and are less invested in "befriending" the detective will enjoy it. The mystery is more for fans of the cozy genre or who like books like The Maid or Richard Osman's series rather than hard core detective series. The closest comp I think of is Stephen Spotswood's Pentecost and Parker series, which also features a brilliant detective and her assistant, and is narrated by her assistant.

Thank you again to BookBrowse and Berkley for the Advance Reading Copy! (less)

One Death at a Time
by Abbi Waxman

One Mystery After Another (11/29/2024)

What a fun ride! I really enjoyed this mystery, full of strong female characters and witty repartee. It made me laugh out loud several times. I really liked Mason as a character, someone who'd screwed up in the past and struggles with impulse control, but is committed to …more

Beast of the North Woods: Monster Hunter Mysteries #3
by Annelise Ryan

Cryptid Cozy (10/28/2024)

I was excited to receive this book for early review - thank you BookBrowse and Berkley Publishers! I've had this cozy mystery series on my list to read since I heard about the first book, Death in Door County, at that year's Bouchercon mystery festival.

This is the third …more book in the cryptozoologist series, and despite my interest and intentions, I have not read the first two. I may have enjoyed the book more had I read the first two, and it's possible this book had spoilers from the first two (not sure, but always a chance), I felt this book read perfectly fine as a stand-alone.

I enjoyed the book, and thought the mystery was well-done. There were a few additional subplots that either supported the main story or kept the momentum going. The mystery is resolved in a satisfactory way. While I initially thought some aspects may have been a bit too far fetched, the author actually has a note addressing the reality of these aspects at the end of the book.

The setting, as with so many cozy mysteries, is a small town, but it wasn't an overly twee version of a small town and it isn't the character's home turf.

The main character's subject matter expertise - cryptozoology - and the fact that she is being hired for her experience make the book stand out a bit from the knitting/baking/bookstore owning amateur sleuths (though don't get me wrong, I do love those kind of cozies, too!). She is an interesting mix of cool-headed practicality and anxiety; I appreciated the nod to mental health, though it wasn't much more than that. She approaches her search for cryptids and her investigation of other aspects of the murder in a logical way, so even though the subject matter is unusual, the character isn't a fraudster or gullible, or otherwise untrustworthy.

Community is what makes cozy mysteries, in my opinion, and this book has a good, if small, supporting cast. I liked the inclusion of a strong older woman and a social media-savvy young man. Her dog is a big part of the draw, so cozy fans who like their series with a pet friend will enjoy Newt.

Two nits for me: I was a little surprised at how gruesome the opening scene was. Normally cozy mystery murders take place off stage, so to speak, but there was a fair amount of gore description. It may have been especially noticeable because I was having dinner while I read. And a lot of chapters ended with heavy handed foreboding. Once, maybe twice is good foreshadowing, but it seemed excessive.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I will definitely return to the first two books in the series. I'll be curious if the main character travels away from home in both of these books as well, or whether there's more focus on developing the character's backstory and her relationships with the secondary characters.

I think traditional cozy readers who are willing to go along for the ride on a search for make believe creatures will enjoy this book. (less)

Girl Falling: A Novel
by Hayley Scrivenor

Successful Second Outing (10/5/2024)

I really enjoyed Hayley Scrivenor's first book, Dirt Creek (in the US), so was thrilled to read an advance copy of her next book. It did not disappoint.

It's been several weeks since I finished the book, but I still find myself thinking about the characters and themes of …more

Pony Confidential
by Christina Lynch

A Pony with Personality (5/27/2024)

I enjoyed this book and had fun reading it.

The pony was a strong character with a distinctive voice and personality. I loved his bravado and cockiness. He had a lot of great lines and interesting turns of phrases that I highlighted throughout the book. His travels took him …more

Help Wanted: A Novel
by Adelle Waldman

Just getting by in America (1/27/2024)

I loved this book. I just finished and wish I could spend more time with these characters. I thought about them when I wasn't reading the book, and I imagine they'll stay with me for a long time.

I feel the book does an excellent job of showing some of the complex …more circumstances people have to negotiate just to start their workday, many of which higher income people likely never consider, or the schedules/people/transportation that economically disadvantaged people need to take into account when having to cobble together multiple jobs to earn enough to (just) get by, and how mentally taxing it is to be constantly juggling.

I also feel it does an excellent job of highlighting what we as a community have accepted as a trade-off for cheaper goods, in terms of workplace conditions and corporations holding all the power as they're beholden to their shareholders to make decisions based on bottom line profitability. It isn't just retail, of course. And this is just one (albeit major) contributing factor in income disparity.

None of this information is new or especially eye-opening to me, but I imagine it will be to some people, and I still find the inequitableness infuriating and heart wrenching. I appreciate the mention of the importance of generational wealth even in circumstances one doesn't think of as wealthy - I think I tended to think of rich people and estate taxes and trust fund babies when I hear generational wealth, but it's critically important at all economic levels, as demonstrated through these characters' lives.

I found the writing style to be interesting - at points almost factual or documentary in tone, but I felt it fit the subject matter and it didn't prevent me from feeling close to the characters or having empathy for them.

I am probably making this sound like a rather dull economic analysis, and it's nothing of the sort. The characters all have full, interesting lives and back stories peopled with a cast of family and friends, just as we all do. They were people I'd like to know in real life. The plot was solid and engaging.

I'll be recommending this to others upon publication.

Thank you to BookBrowse and W.W. Norton & Company for the advanced reading copy. Now I'm off to read what other BookBrowsers thought of the book! (less)

The Poet's House
by Jean Thompson

The body is a house. Who lives within? (7/15/2022)

I enjoyed this book enormously and believe the characters will stay with me for a long time. I think anyone who's ever felt uncertain about their role in their own life or questioned what the future held for themselves, or how to think about what it means to determine their …more

The Last Chance Library
by Freya Sampson

Sweet defense of public's libraries and the importance of community (7/11/2021)

I really enjoyed The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson, and I read it in one day.

I would recommend it to those who like village cozies, small towns, comfort reads, and those who are passionate about reading, libraries, and the importance of community. There's a hint of …more

The Narrowboat Summer
by Anne Youngson

Didn't Quite Live Up to My Expectations (11/21/2020)

I was thrilled to get an ARC of The Narrowboat Summer! Thank you so much to Book Browse, Net Galley, and Macmillan for the opportunity to read it early. Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson is one of my favorite books, so I've been anxiously awaiting a new book from Ms. …more Youngson. I was especially excited when reading the description of the book - what better way to escape this terrible year of 2020 than by drifting along the canals of the English countryside getting to know three older female characters?

Unfortunately I didn't love this book as much as I hoped I would. The problem is likely mainly due to my own expectations, which isn't fair to the author. I finished the book about a week ago and have been trying to puzzle out why it didn't click for me, before I wrote my review. I think the first reason is because I was expecting a charming, idyllic escape. While Ms. Youngson does an excellent job of pacing the novel to reflect the slow drift of a Narrowboat making its way through the canals, she also does a good job of reflecting the reality of such a journey, including some of the grittier landscapes and characters, the sometimes boring stretches of time, and the often repetitive tasks (I probably don't need to ever read about going through locks again, ever).

The other thing that didn't click for me was the character of Anastasia. I'm not a fan of the "crotchety-yet-wise old person" trope generally, and I felt like the great affection the two main characters had for Anastasia wasn't well-founded enough to be believable.

I did enjoy getting to know the two main characters and taking a virtual trip during these Covid times. As I mentioned earlier, I think the pacing fit the story well, and I think Ms. Youngson is talented at capturing the feeling of a journey, whether by boat, train, or road trip - that sense of being outside of time, letting the journey dictate the rhythm of your days, until the journey is almost at an end and you realize there's so much else you could have noticed or done as you need to start adhering to a schedule again.

Even though I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected or as much as Meet Me at the Museum, I still hope Ms. Youngson has already started her next book. I'll be right there in line to buy it. (less)

The Secrets of Love Story Bridge
by Phaedra Patrick

Another Charming Read from Phaedra Patrick (1/21/2020)

What a delightful read! I expected no less, though, from Phaedra Patrick, which is why I was so pleased to be selected for this First Impressions book. I've read several of her other books, starting with The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, and have found them to be …more

The Big Finish
by Brooke Fossey

Didn't click for me (10/17/2019)

I went into this book with certain expectations, so should not fault anyone but myself when they weren't met. I thought this book would be warm and funny, perhaps even inspirational. Instead, it made me a little anxious (lots of logistics of hiding someone in a confined …more

Anatomy of a Miracle
by Jonathan Miles

Who deserves a miracle? (2/7/2018)

I liked this book. The characters are memorable and fully drawn, flaws and all. The setting is a region underrepresented in fiction I read (Biloxi, Mississippi). The science vs religion theme covered some familiar points, but nonetheless made me think about about who …more

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
by Phaedra Patrick

For fans of life's second acts (5/6/2016)

On her 81st birthday, my grandmother married her high school sweetheart. She hadn't seen him for 63 years, though they did exchange letters around the time of their 50th reunion. I love stories like these. People who believe life is to be lived, despite the amount of time …more

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