Friend Request, by Laura Marshall

Friend Request - by Laura Marshall

Genre: Psychological thriller

Publication: September 2017

4/5 stars

When Louise receives a Facebook request from a classmate (Maria) who is presumably dead, she is more than surprised. That friend request brings back bad memories that Louise has tried to keep hidden for so long. Quickly, she is brought back to her time in high school and slowly reconnects with former classmates, in hopes of finding out what truly happened to Maria.

It was nice to read a book that incorporated today's technology, especially something big like Facebook. That's the first thought that popped into my head when I started reading the book. I quickly got intrigued by this friend request and how it could happen, even the character was supposedly dead. Midway through the book, I had trouble putting it down. I NEEDED to know what was going on.

The only reason I am giving this book 4 stars is because I was a bit disappointed by the ending. To be honest, it is more a personal disappointment and not because the ending is bad or far-fetched. It's just not how I would have ended the book.  

Overall, this book is modern and a great read.

Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35427186-friend-request

The Cafe at Seashell Cove, by Karen Clarke

Title: The Cafe at Seashell Cove
Author: Karen Clarke

Genre: Women's Fiction (chick lit)

Release date: March 2018

After being fired from her job in event planning, Cassie Maitland, visits her parents in Seashell Cove. A lot of things have changed since she's last been there, including the cafe her parents own. Not telling anyone the real reason she's back in her hometown, Cassie begins organizing events in hopes of starting her own event planning business. During her stay, she reconnects with her two former best friends and, of course, former crush: Danny.

I liked Cassie from the beginning. As I got to know the other characters, I began to like them as well. They are well-rounded characters, not too "over the top", with qualities and flaws. They felt realistic to me, unlike so many other characters in romantic comedy books.

It's too bad I cannot give 4.5 stars, as I feel that's how I would have rated the book. The only reason I would take away a half-star was because the plot direction was obvious. Still, it is a feel-good novel that I really enjoyed reading. I will definitely need to check out this author's other books.

Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37612808-the-cafe-at-seashell-cove

Wild - Cheryl Strayed

Wild - Cheryl Strayed

After a series of very bad luck in her life (divorce, death of her mother, self-destructive behavior), Cheryl decides to change her name and hike the Pacific Crest Trail with no real hiking experience. Along the way, she meets many people with whom she connects and shares part of her travel. I didn't know what to expect when I started reading the book. I had heard about it from a TV show I will not mention and decided it was something I would like to read. I like reading about real people who have taken their lives into their own hands to make it better. So it wasn't like I was expecting the book to be only about hiking. After reading it, I wish the author would have focused more on her empowerment, and less on the self-pity Cheryl often displayed throughout the book. The back and forth between past and present also took me a while to get used to. By the end of the book, however, it didn't really bother me that much. I enjoyed getting to know her and learn what she had gone through in her life. I even bawled like a baby after the death of a certain animal. But, overall, the self-pity parties took away from the enjoyment of reading the book. The reason why I am giving 3 stars is because I enjoyed the hiking part of the story, meeting the different characters, and the emotion the author conveyed through her story. 2.5 stars might have been a more suitable rating, to me.

Book Review: Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot #10) - Agatha Christie

In this installment, Hercule Poirot finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery aboard the Orient Express. The train, stuck in a snowstorm, has been at a standstill and no passengers have been in or out of the train.

This was my second Agatha Christie book. I had read one in high school and read this book as part of a book challenge (Read a book considered to be a classic). I liked the way the crime was solved using only deduction and observation, even though sometimes I felt like Hercule Poirot was taking a huge leap and, with luck, it worked out for him. 

I did think the story went around in a circle at times, with Poirot and his colleagues replaying scenes or conversations over and over again, asking the same questions to the different passengers and getting the same answers. 

However, overall, I found it an easy and enjoyable read. It was a nice change of pace from the modern mystery crime novels written today.

Rating: 4 stars