"Wartime with the Cornish Girls" by Betty Walker

I was very excited to read Wartime with the Cornish Girls, (Avon) by Betty Walker, as I have a long history of loving WWII era novels. This novel follows Violet as she flees the city to the country side of Cornwall with her two nieces. There she meets Eva and Hazel. The novel really takes turns telling all three women's' stories and eventually they interlock. They come together to fight the war in their own way. To be really honest I rated this 2 stars. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with it, I just found it quite boring. It appears that this is the first of a series that I won't be continuing. A copy of this book was provided to me for review by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

"The Spires" by Kate Moretti

Photo credit: Netgalley

The Spires, (Thomas & Mercer) by Kate Moretti, just came out September 21st.  I was super excited to read this one as Moretti is a "Tall Poppy" and I've heard great things about her stories. This is the first I've read, and I started it on the plane during my honeymoon.

Our main character Penelope ("Pip") has a demanding job, two teenagers, and an unemployed husband. She's dealing with all the stress that brings when unexpectedly one of her college room mates, Willa, knocks on the door asking for a place to stay as she escapes a dangerous marriage.  Pip of course says yes, two weeks tops, to the disapproval of her husband.
 

As Willa seems to infiltrate every part of Pip's life, all of the memories of the year after college come rushing back. During this year Pip and Willa lived with 3 other room mates. None of them have seen each other since some sort of tragedy at the end of that year.

As Penelope's family quickly warms up to Willa considering her the perfect guest, Penelope becomes increasingly frustrated. Willa not only crosses the line multiply times but she is heavily gaslighting Pip.  What happened the last year together may shine line on what's going on now so Pip starts to try to figure it out.

This dual timeline is quickly paced and the end is twisty. I typically enjoy dual timelines as they read so quickly.  The chapters weren't super short but they weren't super long either. There were multiple surprises through out the story, which I always love because I usually can figure at least part of it out. I  thoroughly enjoyed this read and would recommend.

A copy of this book was provided to me for review by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

"Under the Whispering Door" by TJ Klune

Picture credit: Netgalley

 

TJ Klune's latest novel, Under the Whispering Door (Macmillan-Tor), just came out last week.

This novel is about a man who is picked up at his own funeral by a reaper and taken to a tea shop where he meets a man who will help him "cross over." Our main character has to not only accept his death but go through all the stages of grief, twice actually. 

The story starts with all the hope of the whimsy that Klune gave us in Cerulean Sea, but he just didn't keep it up.  For that reason I just didn't love it, because it wasn't the style of writing I was looking for. And maybe that's unfair as it is a completely different work.

He does nicely work through acceptance and the stages of grief, and the character goes through quite the journey.  The romantic relationship in the book again felt forced to me as it did in Cerulean Sea, but not quite as badly.  This one ended up at least having some ground to stand on.

Should you read it?  Do you want to read book that has a sad undertone the entire time? If so, then go for it. Check trigger warnings first as the book does discuss multiple paths to death.

A copy of this book was provided to me for review by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review