What I Read in August

it was a five star month

When I used to keep up with my blog, Royally Pink, I had a series called ‘Book Review Wednesday’ — real original, right? I would review every book I read and since putting the blog on hold to focus on other writing (like a novel draft and this Substack) I’ve missed reviewing books.

I’ve been trying to figure out the direction of the Substack and know that I named it ‘gilty pleasures’ for a reason — because I wanted it to be about all of my ‘guilty’ pleasures that I don’t think are guilty in the slightest, and books fall under that umbrella.

So, let us commence the first ‘What I Read’ post…

The House of My Mother by Shari Franke

This was an unexpected read for the month. I was tired of listening to podcasts and music so decided to peruse my Audible library and realized I had The House of My Mother by Shari Franke holding space. I listened to it within a day and it kicked off a desperate interest in the entire Ruby Franke case. I’d been following it since she was arrested but hearing it first hand from Shari, Ruby’s daughter, someone who experienced the abuse was enlightening. It was heartbreaking, beautifully written and left me hoping for the entire Franke family’s healing.

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter

I was in the mood for a heart stopping, jaw dropping thriller and of course, Karin Slaughter delivered with her latest novel We Are All Guilty Here. This dual timeline, small time murder mystery was unreal. It follows Emmy Clifton, a police officer in North Falls, a town that her family basically founded and how she handles the missing child case involving her best friend’s daughter. The case haunts her for over a decade when a copycat case pops up and brings up everything she tried to bury.

It was scary, suspenseful and unexpected. Slaughter takes us on a wild ride full of emotion, pain, friendship, family and small town gossip. The characters felt real, raw and there were twists for days. Just when I thought the story was wrapping up, another plot was introduced leaving room for an incredible second story in this series.

The Summer I Turned Pretty Series by Jenny Han

As previously mentioned, I only started watching The Summer I Turned Pretty this year and I had never read the books. It’s strange because I would’ve eaten these books up when they were released in 2009 — I was the target audience. But, alas, the ship sailed without me and because I always like to read the books of movie & tv adaptations, I purchased and read the full series in August.

The books were…well, the show is better. The show is worlds better because I think Jenny Han grew as a writer, is an excellent producer and TSITP were her first books. I don’t know how the books made it to screen because the story felt very surface level. However, I did enjoy them; I enjoyed seeing the differences, the similarities and feeling more immersed in Cousins. If you love the show, I do recommend reading the books just to ground yourself in everything about the series.

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager

Riley Sager has been one of my favorite authors but I have to say that his last few books were not great, and that includes the newest one With a Vengeance. It was a closed door, murder mystery aboard a train that is taking its passengers to their jail cell. Anna Matheson’s family was destroyed a number of years ago because of a freak accident that killed her brother, drove her mother insane and had her father dubbed a Nazi sympathizer. To get her revenge vengeance, she tricks the people responsible to come aboard the train that is headed to Chicago where the FBI is waiting for them. Murders, fake deaths, attacks, and more ensue and we end up with many twists and an unexpected ending.

The French Honeymoon by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau

I had an arc of The French Honeymoon burning a hole in my Kindle and I finally decided to read it. It started out promising — multiple timelines and POVs to read from and I kept wondering how they would all connect. What could be the reason behind a tense honeymoon and who was this third character following the happy couple around Paris? The reasoning for the connection was very unexpected and surprising, but then the ending ruined it because it was too vague.

While the writing was excellent and suspenseful, the characters were irritating and the last quarter of the book was a little anti-climatic. It was a quick read

It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

I haven’t been in the mood for romances, it just reminds me of what I don’t have but sometimes one of them just scratches at my brain. That’s what Annabel Monaghan’s latest novel It’s a Love Story was to me. I had an ARC and I’ve been wanting to read it, and after just a few pages, I was hooked. This was a romance but it also felt like a ‘coming of age’ story if someone in their 30s is coming of age. It was heartfelt, inspiring, and a really beautiful love story. The characters were interesting, flawed but not annoying and I loved the enemies to lovers trope and how quickly we got there. I also loved the lack of miscommunication trope and how perfectly tied up the ending was. It made me excited about the romance genre again!

Have you read any of these books? What’s on your current TBR? Let’s chat in the comments!