I don’t think I want to read any more books by this author. I tried her last one and that was a DNF and this one was almost a DNF too but I pushed through. I didn’t like Josie at all, she was too much of a wallflower character.

I really did not like this one. The pacing was very slow. I liked the present timeline more than the past .

I really liked this book. The characters felt so real and I grew to care about them a lot. It was interesting and sad and powerful all at the same time. I also learned so much about Iranian people’s history and how they stood up against the regime. It opened my eyes to stuff I didn’t know before. If you like stories about strong women and real-life struggles, this one’s totally worth reading.

Jennifer Weiner's latest book that does not take place on the Outer Cape but in Philadelphia and New York in August of 2023. The main character of the book is Abby Stern who is a "larger" person that struggles with criticism from her Mother as well as society. Abby is also an avid biker who ends up leading a 14-day bike trip on the Empire State Trail from NYC to Niagra Falls. Among the fifteen riders on the trip is Sebastian whom Abby had a one-night-stand with two years earlier. The rest of the book centers around Abby, Sebastian, and Abby's current boyfriend, Mark. I enjoyed the book as well as the different stories of the characters on the bike trip.

I think it had too many different points of view and I didn’t enjoy the back and forth timelines but overall it was a decent story. I really liked reading from the state trooper’s point of view the most.

4.5 What a beautiful story. I really enjoyed this book and its surprises (I don’t like to give spoilers). The Community House is a surprising place and the librarian, as all librarians are, is magical. I can relate in some way to each story and each one touched my heart. Life’s simple things and what we can do if we think a little differently about our selves and situations. And try new things. And how we interpret stories differently. Libraries are always comforting to me. Sayuri Komachi is a wonderful librarian - she knows what people need. Open up and value ourselves a little more.

I was very excited about this book. It sucked me in through the first 80% and lost a bit of steam. There were a few loose strings I’d like to have had cleared up . Overall, I enjoyed it yet wanted more from it.

I read this as part of an all school summer read. The two author voices create an authentic experience providing two perspectives. I appreciated the back and forth of two young people sharing vulnerabilities coming from different backgrounds, using a forgotten medium that allows for a mindfulness that I think young people could benefit from. I did think the novel attempted a lot with all the issues it covered.

Amazing book, filled with action and activity! Good book for people who love action packed books! So good!

It had a sligtly slow start, but it quickly picked up and became a page turner. A young woman goes to Australia with her husband and his 2 kids (her stepkids) to Australia and end up going to a private island where a tragic accident occurs, setting off a chain of events