April 2021 Book Reviews and Recommendations

I’m bringing you some variety this month but I have to warn you, none of these books are very light or funny. Surprisingly, it was the thriller that won my vote for book of the month. Check out my book reviews below to read what I thought of each of these stories.

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Beach Read

You know I enjoy a good love story with a hot sex scene every now and then but Beach Read is so unrealistic I couldn’t get into the plot at all. 

Two authors who just happened to like each other in college manage to end up in neighboring beach houses. This is after they both recently got out of relationships and moved from other states. Now both semi-famous authors are struggling with their next books and a few life events. The female author typically writes happy endings and the male author usually writes twisted dramatic books. Now they place a bet to see who can write the other’s genre better.

Personally, I would probably skip this book unless you need something totally mindless and predictable. Sometimes you do need a book like that!

The Girl in the Mirror

Immediately after I read The Girl in the Mirror I thought “wow that was crazy”. This book was a page-turner for me and I read it super fast. While some parts are very predictable, there were definitely a few twists I didn’t see coming.

Identical twins are at very different points in their lives. One sister is unemployed and recently divorced while the other is happily married to an extremely wealthy (and hot!) man. When the happily married twin needs her sister to help sail their yacht across the ocean the other twin jumps at the chance. Throughout the trip, we learn about the twins’ history, particularly that of their father and his interesting requirements for inheriting his wealth.

The book isn’t too scary, I think it would be the perfect book to take on vacation.

Magic Lessons

Magic Lessons is the prequel to Practical Magic. I never read Practical Magic but I enjoy the movie. I thought this book was very dark and depressing. Honestly, there are very few happy parts and it’s not fun at all. The writing is good and I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story.

In this novel, an ancestor of the Owens sisters comes to America after falling for a man and getting pregnant. Thus starts off the family curse we learn about in Practical Magic. She was an indentured servant in Curacao after fleeing England. Unfortunately, the witch ends up in Salem, Massachusetts right when the witch trials are really starting to take off. Her daughter has powers too and ends up using a slightly different approach with her magic that could have dire consequences.

The Great Believers

The Great Believers flips between the present time in France and the ’80s in Chicago. There are two main characters.

Yale is a homosexual male in a monogamous relationship. He lives in Boystown where the AIDS epidemic is wreaking havoc on the gay community.  Yale works for a gallery and is trying to procure paintings from an elderly woman but her family tries to stop the arrangement.

Fiona is the sister of one of Yale’s close friends who dies from AIDS. She ends up being the caretaker and power of attorney for many men in Yale’s group of friends. In the present time, Fiona is in France searching for her daughter who joined a cult in the U.S. but then left it. Now a granddaughter might even exist.

It was fascinating to learn more about the AIDS epidemic in Chicago. The fears people had during this time, the prejudices, and the healthcare system are all touched on through the telling of a story about love, careers, friendship, betrayal, and death.

P.S. Door County is a setting for some parts of the book which I really enjoyed.

Check out my book reviews from March for more book recommendations!