TITLE: Stone Mothers
AUTHOR: Erin Kelly
PUBLISHER: Minotaur
PUB. YEAR: 2019
SETTING: Outside of London
FORMAT: - ARC
FORMAT: - ARC
RATING - 3.5/5
Marianne Thackeray has built a good life for herself with her husband Sam and daughter, Honor. She also has a darker side that she has done a good job of keeping hidden from her family. Her dark secrets are from 30 years earlier (1988) in Nusstead (outside of London) when she was just 17. She moved out of that area long ago and thought her secret and body she and her boyfriend, Jesse had buried would never be brought up again.
Now Marianne's mother is suffering from dementia and Sam wanted to make things easier for his wife so he purchased a second home at Park Royal Manor, a luxury apartment complex located in a former mental hospital, a place Marianne would prefer to forget.
This story has (3) different timelines (1958), (1988) and (2018) and is told mainly from (3) POVS, Marianne, her daughter Honor and a woman named Helen Greenlaw who also had her secrets surrounding Stone Mothers, the victorian mental asylum.
I started this book on audio and had trouble following the multiple POVs and the fact the book was divided into 4 parts, so I switched to the print version which worked out much better. I loved that much of this story had a Gothic feel. The first part was awfully slow and I felt frustrated but as the story progressed it began to make sense. The images of life at the old asylum were very chilling and just awful to read about, but I liked the way it drew me into the story. If you like books with a Gothic feel or reading about mental asylums of days gone by, you might want to try this one.
TITLE: Restoration Heights
AUTHOR: Wil Medearis
AUTHOR: Wil Medearis
PUBLISHER: Hanover Square Press
PUB. YEAR: 2019
SETTING: NY
FORMAT: - ARC
FORMAT: - ARC
RATING - 3.5/5
Reddick is a 30 something artist who works as an art handler in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a black neighborhood undergoing gentrification. One day he notices a beautiful blond woman, who seems out of place, stagger into one of the apartments. She appears drunk.
The next day, coincidentally, when Reddick arrives at the apartment of a client, the Seward family, a wealthy family in the city, he overhears a conversation and realizes that the young woman he saw is named Hannah and was the fiancee of his client. Oddly, he's pulled into the girl's disappearance by yet another wealthy family who wants answers. What has happened to Hannah and why does one family not want the police involved yet another family is wanting answers?
This is a debut novel that I'd have to say was part mystery, part psych thriller. I thought the whole plot line setup was a bit too convenient, but yet, it's the kind of story that would make for a lively group discussion. I do think it could have benefited from some deeper character development - overall an okay read.
Yeah, different timelines don't work well on audio for me either. Neither of these books sound like must reads for me.
ReplyDeleteToo many books, too little time.
DeleteThey sound like they both needed some more work!
ReplyDeleteYes, Brian, they could have been better.
DeleteOoh, I like the premise of the first one. Those old mental asylums were so creepy.
ReplyDeleteI do love an asylum as a setting LOL
DeleteOh no! More books ranking in the 3s. I hope the next book you read is a fantastic 4.5 or 5!
ReplyDeleteI do have an excellent NF that I haven't reviewed yet so, that's fine if these 2 were not winners.
DeleteI've had Stone Mothers on my list because I've read and enjoyed other books by the author. My library has a long hold list though so it will be a bit before I get to it. I do like Gothic and I also like the mental asylum storyline.
ReplyDeleteKay, I haven't read anything else by this author, and, although this one wasn't wonderful for me, I'd try her again.
DeleteInteresting that you started Stone Mothers on audio and finished it with a physical copy. I have, on a couple of occasions, done the exact opposite because I could not stay focused on a very dryly written nonfiction book and found that an audiobook narrator could keep me on track via voice inflection, etc. Just proves, I guess, that with today's technology, there's always a way to get through a tough read.
ReplyDeleteSam, I think this one was more difficult for me because of MPOV and structure on audio. Also, of course, the reader can be a huge factor as to whether it works one not.
DeleteI agree NF often does well on audio.
Oh, I was thinking of putting Stone Mothers on my wishlist recently. Now I will :) Sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteI know of Bed-Sty well as a native NY'er (but I've lived more years of my life in other states than there). And my father had a job after retirement helping his cousin who had a restoration/gentrification company in that neighborhood. He got a call to show Spike Lee's sister a home there and he thought maybe he'd get to meet the famous director, but he didn't, oh well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here.
p.s. I like that you put half stars, a gripe most of us have with GR>
What an interesting experience!
DeleteBoth new to me. Thanks for the reviews.
ReplyDeleteThese two are new to me as well, as Mytica said. "Stone Mothers" sounds particularly interesting...you ad me at "gothic". :)
ReplyDeleteI'm excited for STONE MOTHERS. I love Erin Kelly and I'm always up for a Gothic thriller, so it sounds right up my alley!
ReplyDelete