Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

 Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

I’ve been hit or miss on Kubica’s books (two with one star and one each of two, three, and four stars), but I keep coming back for more, so I feel like that says something. (However, I do the same with Ruth Ware but overall dislike her books so maybe I’m not the best judge.) My feelings on this book were a bit conflicted… 

First, some pettiness: I’m so sick of titles about women/girls/wives/couples. The Perfect Couple, The Golden Couple, The Couple Next Door, One Perfect Couple.

Also somewhat petty: I’m tired of prologues. Some can be well done, but many in thrillers just throw you into a random scene with no context. I understand it’s supposed to grab you and pull you in, but I often skim or skip them because they do nothing for me. This prologue was especially worthless to the story, in my opinion. I went back to it after I finished the book and pieced it together to figure out where it went in the book, and it was still meh. It didn’t add anything. So… why have it? To meet a word count? Because every suspense book seems to have them these days? Who knows.

The writing style was also a bit lacking and felt like Kubica was saying the same thing in many ways to meet a word count. I know there needs to be some rise and fall in suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat, but this was a LOT of slowness that made me want to skim ahead to see what the point was. Lots of mundane details that didn’t matter to the story except to bring it to a halt.

Begin the spoilers: 

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Ally hates reading because the letters seem to move around, making it impossible to focus. But she loves to draw, and she imagines the words people speak as images in her mind. After years of frustration in school, a teacher finally takes the time to understand what’s going on—dyslexia—and helps her find ways to work through it.

I originally read this one in January 2016, when I was a children’s librarian. I found the story a bit overly-sentimental, but it’s so beautifully written that you can’t help but be drawn in.

I re-read this book after my kid read it for summer reading this year. With my kid being closer in age to Ally, the story hit me in a new way. My kid loved it, and I found myself more touched than before, seeing it through his eyes. There’s something special about watching a story you once thought was a bit sugary resonate with your own child, and it made me appreciate Ally’s journey even more.