56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

I always thought I would hate a book about covid and lockdown but I guess… we’re far enough from it now (while possibly being on the cusp of another?) that it almost seems… quaint?

I’m sure that’s not the right word but it almost fits.

The memories of everything shutting down, the quiet cities, and uncertainty of interacting with others works so well to establish an unsettling premise here. Add in the possible romance and moving in with someone you’ve been on just a few dates with and the stakes are certainly high!

I think the twists were really good because you think you have one figured out, then the rug is pulled out from beneath you right at the end. And not in an underhanded way - you have all the information all along, it’s just not what you expect. I liked the time jumps and how more was revealed each time.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

Once I started seeing this book everywhere, I knew I needed to give it a try. I was surprised to see it was classified as romance at the library, considering the title and book summary. Once I read it, I got a bit of the romance aspect, but it was pretty light and behind closed doors. It made me think of what an Emily Henry cozy mystery might be.

I really enjoyed the writing and the brief interludes of the police transcript. Randomly jumping to Ethan’s POV halfway through, and then sporadically after that, kind of threw me off. I feel like he would mention things and the reader would get them, then he’d mention them again later to Maggie and, while I understand why it was that way, it just felt repetitive as a reader and I would have rather had new reveals instead of reliving the elevator scene several times. However, I loved this overall and want to read more by the author.