Clearly very behind here, but realized I didn’t put up my post about what I read in June! It’s a short list, but a good one!
SUCH A BAD INFLUENCE by Olivia Muenter
4.5/5 Stars
I loooooved Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter. It’s a bit of a psychological thriller but only in the sense that there’s a mystery to solve. I thought it was a little more of a family drama featuring a prominent mommy vlogger, her now-teenage daughter who is a huge influencer in her own right, and her adult daughter who has stayed away from the spotlight. The influencer daughter has disappeared under mysterious conditions and her older sister is trying to figure out what happened to her. I loved the whole thing– especially the ending omg.
MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES by Rufi Thorpe
4/5 Stars
If you’re an audiobook fan, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook of Margo’s Got Money Troubles. Elle Fanning narrates it and she does a fantastic job. I went into this completely blind and had no idea what it was going to be about. Basically the main character Margo gets pregnant after a short fling with one of her college professors. She has the baby and has to figure out how to support her child while also being a young, single mom. It’s a quirky book, but has deep character development with really brilliant writing. Actually while I was listening to the book, it felt “familiar” to me and realized that I had read (and loved) the author’s other book The Knockout Queen.
SWAN SONG by Elin Hilderbrand
4/5 Stars
Of course I had to pick up Elin Hilderbrand’s latest novel! Swan Song is her “swan song” as she retires from her current book/year schedule. If you’ve never read an Elin Hilderbrand novel, I would not start here. This book is meant to be read, in my opinion, by Elin fans. It so perfectly wraps up her career of summertime Nantucket novels with favorite characters from her fictionalized world.
READ WITH ME
Such good suggestions! I’ll be adding some to my to be read list!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES by Thorpe was a horrible recommendation. I abandoned 25% through. You forgot to mention the biggest plot line, that the main character joins OnlyFans and the author fixates on it. This is the only “character development”…
Sorry to hear that! I do think a lot of the character development occurs throughout the book (her relationship with her dad, her dad’s journey, how she sees her mom now that she’s a mom herself, her growing confidence in motherhood, etc.) but I do think it’s quirky book!
I have to agree with what Carly said – it’s definitely quirky, but there’s a lot of character development that happens, and the book has some really insightful commentary on society and motherhood, too! It usually takes a while for character development to develop – usually more than 1/4 of the way through the book!
If we wanted to start reading Elins books what order do you recommend?
The Perfect Couple is my fave! Silver Girl, 28 Summers, Golden Girl, Hotel Nantucket, The Five Star Weekend, Summer of ‘69… all great!