Jen Ryland Reviews

Review of the Wife Upstairs

December 21, 2020 By Jen Ryland 6 Comments

The Wife Upstairs is a modernization of Jane Eyre and has a lot of twists and turns. Check out my review of The Wife Upstairs – this review is spoiler free but I’ll also have a link to my secret spoiler discussion page – come on over!

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins. To be published by St. Martin’s Press on January 5, 2021. I received an advance reader copy of this book for review.

Synopsis of The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane walks dogs in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the jewelry of her well-heeled clients. But Jane’s luck changes when she meets Eddie, Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for. As Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea. Can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?

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What You Need for Cozy Winter Reading

December 18, 2020 By Jen Ryland 2 Comments

Winter is here. Unfortunately, so is the pandemic. But as we try to get through these next few months, let’s try to make time to relax and read. How can you make your indoor reading space as cozy as possible? Here’s what you need for cozy winter reading!

Five Must-Haves for Cozy Winter Reading:

I’ve been spending the last nine months trying to be as cozy as possible, so I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Here are my must-haves.

And just a heads-up: some of these links are affiliate links, which means I might get a small percentage of a qualifying purchase. Any money I get is spent on giveaways – Find out more here.

Soft Snuggly Blanket

The soft snuggly blanket is a must for year-round coziness. You can use it for reading, you can snuggle under it while watching TV, you can grab it in the middle of the night when you suddenly get cold.

For me, the perfect cozy blanket must be machine washable. Who wants to dry clean a blanket, especially in a pandemic? Also, you might drip or spill snacks or drinks on it, or maybe that’s just me.

Be sure to pick carefully (and read reviews) because you also don’t want a blanket that sheds or pills. (If you have pets, beware of knit blankets as dog and cat nails snag on them!)

I personally love the throw blankets that feel like a cross between fleece and velvet. They are SO soft and they wash and dry beautifully and are pet friendly and pretty indestructible. Here are my picks for the best snuggly soft blankets:

Target usually has a great selection of throw blankets. I love this Primalush one for only $17 – it comes in cream and sage.

On Amazon, I like this one for $22. It comes in pale grey and pale pink, which are so pretty.

What You Need for Cozy Winter Reading: a fuzzy blanket

If you already have a fuzzy blanket, here’s something else I love: the blanket basket. My favorites come from The Container Store. If you love pastels like I do, I recommend this one! It has a nice smooth weave so it won’t snag your lovely blanket! It’s about 16″ by 13″ and you can just toss your blanket in there when you’re not using it.

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New YA Books Releasing December 15

December 15, 2020 By Jen Ryland 8 Comments

Another light week, but definitely check these out: New YA Books Releasing December 15!

This week has a good mix of titles – some fantasy and a couple of interesting contemporaries.

New YA Books Releasing December 15 2020

This post contains affiliate links.

Coming Up For Air by Nicole Tyndall – a cautious girl with creative aspirations and the boy who charms his way into her heart.

For Better or Cursed (The Babysitter’s Coven #2) by Kate Williams – a group of witches fight evil in their suburban neighborhood.

Of Thorn and Thread (Daughters of Evil #4) by Chanda Hahn – an empath joins with a knight to fight a magical blight.

This is How We Fly by Anna Meriano – this Cinderella retelling features a girl who joins a Quidditch league the summer before college.

Warmaidens (Gravemaidens #2) by Kelly Coon – the action-packed conclusion – Kammani and the Gravemaidens go to war against the ruler who tried to entomb them.

How is your December reading going? I completed my Goodreads goal, but only because I made it sort of low. Maybe in 2021 I can get back on track! Talk to me in comments!

Are you looking to catch up on recent new release lists? You can find them all here!

New YA Books Releasing December 8

December 8, 2020 By Jen Ryland 3 Comments

The next few weeks lists’ will be small, but as always some great titles that should not be overlooked! Check out these New YA Books Releasing December 8!

Not a big list this week, but a fantasy, a fantasy anthology, and a contemporary. If you’re looking for more recent YA releases, I have included a link to last week’s!

New YA Books Releasing December 8

This post contains affiliate links.

Shine Until Tomorrow by Carla Malden – a socially awkward girl only feels comfortable behind her beloved camera.

Kingdom of Sea and Stone (Crown of Coral and Pearl #2) by Maya Rutherford – fantasy about a girl who goes to a nearby kingdom in her sister’s place, only to find that a prince desperately needs her help.

A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology by Various Authors – a fantasy short story collection featuring some of YA’s most beloved own voices authors: Samira Ahmed, Jenni Balch, Libba Bray, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Kwame Mbalia, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tochi Onyebuchi, Mark Oshiro, Natalie C. Parker, Rebecca Roanhorse, V. E. Schwab, Tara Sim, and Nic Stone.

Since this week is so small, did you miss the new books releasing last week?

Review of Take it Back

December 7, 2020 By Jen Ryland 4 Comments

If you love legal thrillers, you’ve got to check out this award-winning book set in London and featuring themes of family, culture, gender, and sexual violence. Read my review of Take it Back!

Take it Back by Kia Abdullah. To be published on December 8, 2020 by St. Martin’s Press.

Synopsis: Zara Kaleel shattered the expectations placed on her by her family and forged a brilliant legal career. But her decisions came at a high cost. Now, battling her own demons, she has exchanged her high profile career for a job at a sexual assault center. When Jodie, a sixteen-year-old girl with facial deformities, accuses four boys in her class of an unthinkable crime, the community is torn apart. Zara is determined to fight for Jodie, to find the truth in the face of public outcry. And as issues of sex, race and social justice collide, the most explosive criminal trial of the year builds to a shocking conclusion.

Review of Take it Back

Take it Back was a gripping legal thriller with multiple twists and turns and a lot of layers.

A white, physically disabled daughter of an alcoholic accuses her four Muslim schoolmates (boys of Pakistani and Bangladeshi descent) of rape. Former barrister-turned-rape-crisis worker Zara, herself a lapsed Muslim, becomes the girl’s advocate. The community explodes as everyone takes sides, putting Zara into even more conflict with her family and worsening her Valium addiction.

I really enjoyed Take it Back. While the tortured/addict protagonist is a common trope in the police procedural and legal thriller genres, this book featured a character I hadn’t seen before. Zara’s backstory, which included fleeing an arranged marriage, alienating her Muslim family, and being hooked on Valium, was multi-layered and well-developed. The public reaction to the rape case pitted advocates for victims of sexual assault against members of the British South Asian community, men against women, and student against student.

Told in multiple POVs, Take it Back managed to reasonably develop a huge cast of characters. All the twists and turns kept me guessing who was telling the truth until the very last page.

Really enjoyed this one and I will definitely keep an eye on what Kia Abdullah does next! Do you read legal thrillers? Talk to me in comments!

Review of Pretty Little Wife

December 3, 2020 By Jen Ryland 2 Comments

Looking for a book with twists and turns to entertain you this holiday season? While this one doesn’t have happy families or holiday cheer, it will keep you turning the pages. Check out my review of Pretty Little Wife and, if you’ve read this and want to discuss, check out my secret SPOILER page.

Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane. To be published on December 29, 2020 by William Morrow.

Synopsis: Lila Ridgefield lives in an idyllic college town, but not everything is what it seems. A student vanished months ago. Now, Lila’s husband, Aaron, is also missing. At first these cases are treated as horrible coincidences until it’s discovered the student is really the third of three unexplained disappearances over the last few years. The police are desperate to find the connection, if there even is one. Little do they know they might be stumbling over only part of the truth….With the small town in an uproar, everyone is worried about the whereabouts of their beloved high school teacher. Everyone except Lila, his wife. She’s definitely confused about her missing husband but only because she was the last person to see his body, and now it’s gone.

Review of Pretty Little Wife

This post contains affiliate links.

If you love twisty books and are looking for a page-turner, definitely try Pretty Little Wife out!

For me, the strength of Pretty Little Wife was its plotting. There were consistent twists and turns and I felt compelled to keep reading.

The book begins as Lila discovers a terrible secret her husband has been keeping. They fight about it. Then, six weeks later, he goes missing.

As the synopsis of Pretty Little Wife indicates, as opposed to the typical missing person’s case, Lila actually knows what happened to her husband. That is, she knows where she put his body, but then it disappears. She’s completely shocked and isn’t sure what to say or do when the police show up. Who took it? And why? This early twist made the book really suspenseful and unexpected.

Due to some trauma in Lila’s past, she was pretty closed-off, suspicious, and cynical. For me, her complete lack of emotion made it a little hard for me to connect with her. While I did admire her toughness, she was a bit of a contradiction at times. She’d say she was this trapped housewife, but would then do the most bold and out-there kind of things.

For me, the narrative of Pretty Little Wife was also a little heavy on telling and info dumping. But by the end, all the loose ends of the story were tied up, which is a big thing for me.

All in all, I found Pretty Little Wife highly entertaining! If you’re looking for a twisty book, definitely give it a try!

If you’ve read it, come talk spoilers with me on my Spoiler Review and Plot Summary of Pretty Little Wife!