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danaleelin's reviews
145 reviews
The Mall by Megan McCafferty
3.0
Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC in return for my honest review.
When I first saw that Megan McCafferty had a new novel set in the 90s mall scene I was counting down the days until I was able to get my hands on it.
But when I did get my hands on it I still felt like I was missing something. The bones were there and the set up was ready, but it seemed like it just kept falling short of being fully fleshed out. Nonetheless, I did enjoy ready this light fun read.
The Pros:
The setting. There was nothing like the Malls in the Early 90s. And the mall in summertime with the kids on the cusp of leaving. It was a little look back to the times of Zines and mall fashion shows.
The fault in the characters: McCAfferty has a way of creating flawed characters you can’t help but root for. She did that here with the cast of characters. Each character has a flaw.
The Treasure Hunt: this was my favorite thing. I loved the premise of sneaking around the back hideaways of the mall in a search left behind. Though I still wanted more from this
Female friendships: I liked the development of the friendships in the book and females supporting females. (Ghost Girl is the best)
The Cons:
Some of the characters didn’t get a chance to grow out of the cardboard caricatures that they were set up in the social hierarchy of high school.
The pacing: it was a bit all over the place. I wanted some things to develop naturally but some things happened off page and were somehow “resolved” or just not explained. Some of the challenges resolved too quickly just to tie it all up in a rushed ending.
All in all I’ll give this book 2.5/5.
When I first saw that Megan McCafferty had a new novel set in the 90s mall scene I was counting down the days until I was able to get my hands on it.
But when I did get my hands on it I still felt like I was missing something. The bones were there and the set up was ready, but it seemed like it just kept falling short of being fully fleshed out. Nonetheless, I did enjoy ready this light fun read.
The Pros:
The setting. There was nothing like the Malls in the Early 90s. And the mall in summertime with the kids on the cusp of leaving. It was a little look back to the times of Zines and mall fashion shows.
The fault in the characters: McCAfferty has a way of creating flawed characters you can’t help but root for. She did that here with the cast of characters. Each character has a flaw.
The Treasure Hunt: this was my favorite thing. I loved the premise of sneaking around the back hideaways of the mall in a search left behind. Though I still wanted more from this
Female friendships: I liked the development of the friendships in the book and females supporting females. (Ghost Girl is the best)
The Cons:
Some of the characters didn’t get a chance to grow out of the cardboard caricatures that they were set up in the social hierarchy of high school.
The pacing: it was a bit all over the place. I wanted some things to develop naturally but some things happened off page and were somehow “resolved” or just not explained. Some of the challenges resolved too quickly just to tie it all up in a rushed ending.
All in all I’ll give this book 2.5/5.
Little Whispers by K.L. Slater
3.0
Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for my honest review of Little Whispers.
Even the highest gates and shrubs can’t buy you privacy.
When Janey moves to an elite neighborhood she thinks this is the perfect opportunity to start anew after the death of her mother that burdened her with a deathbed secret. There’s just one catch. No matter what she does, it’s never enough for the judging eyes and her mother’s voice repeating in her head to be careful.
That is until she’s taken under the wing of the head of the mom clique, Janey finds the female friendship she’s always wanted but never had, which is especially needed when things are tense and secretive with her husband.
This was a nice read, though the beginning seems very slow in the drawing out in the cliquey “we’re rich but we have problems too” vibe. There was no push or drive with the “weighty secret”. While it picked up in the second half with the urgency of the mystery unfolding it still didn’t feel like a proper payout to me. It seemed like too much was wrapped up in the span of the last 10 % than the pace of the preceding buildup. If there had been more twists earlier and scattered throughout then I would have called this a stellar thriller. It was still enjoyable and I wanted to know the secret which we don’t find out till near the very end, so I was invested.
2.5/5
Even the highest gates and shrubs can’t buy you privacy.
When Janey moves to an elite neighborhood she thinks this is the perfect opportunity to start anew after the death of her mother that burdened her with a deathbed secret. There’s just one catch. No matter what she does, it’s never enough for the judging eyes and her mother’s voice repeating in her head to be careful.
That is until she’s taken under the wing of the head of the mom clique, Janey finds the female friendship she’s always wanted but never had, which is especially needed when things are tense and secretive with her husband.
This was a nice read, though the beginning seems very slow in the drawing out in the cliquey “we’re rich but we have problems too” vibe. There was no push or drive with the “weighty secret”. While it picked up in the second half with the urgency of the mystery unfolding it still didn’t feel like a proper payout to me. It seemed like too much was wrapped up in the span of the last 10 % than the pace of the preceding buildup. If there had been more twists earlier and scattered throughout then I would have called this a stellar thriller. It was still enjoyable and I wanted to know the secret which we don’t find out till near the very end, so I was invested.
2.5/5