Recent Reads Vol. 7

I didn't realize how much time had gone by since my last Recent Reads post so there are more than normal this time around but there are some really good ones!

First up is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I chatted about this briefly on Snapchat the other day, but overall I enjoyed the script. I went into it trying to think of it as its own entity and not a part of the book series so that if I didn't like it I wouldn't be disappointed and that helped a lot. For some reason when it comes to Harry Potter I get very emotional, probably because it was so intertwined with my childhood. Anyway, I tried not to go in with high hopes, just in case, but I just knew it was going to be different since it was a script. I enjoyed it because I missed the wizarding world so much, but it felt kind of like fan fiction because you're missing all of J.K.'s descriptive imagination since it's a script. I would say worth a read, but just don't expect it to be an 8th book. 

My sister recommended So You've Been Publicly Shamed and after a couple conversations about recent public shamings, like the whole Cecil the Lion debacle, I was intrigued. It was a quick read and I would recommend that everyone read it in the age of social media. Jon Ronson does a deep dive of social media shamings and interviews some recent victims to get their side of things and see where they are now. He also looks back at the history of public shamings. It's all such an interesting concept and it really makes you think a lot more before jumping in on a social media witch hunt. It also makes you second guess everything you post on social media, which isn't necessarily a bad thing! 

Luckiest Girl Alive was not what I was expecting it to be. I thought it was going to be a creepy thriller like Gone Girl, but it was just a story that was dark at times. It's about a woman who was involved in a traumatic event when she was a teenager but picked herself up and made a name for herself. Then she's asked to be in a documentary that makes her revisit her past and that drudges up issues. I enjoyed this book a lot, but it wasn't as suspenseful as I was expecting it to be. 

I did not like The Widow at all. It was just straight up creepy and disturbing and not in a enjoyable way. I won't give anything away, but everyone is saying this is the next Gone Girl, but I really don't understand why everyone loves it so much. 

Judge me all you want for this one, but I loved See Me by Nicholas Sparks. The man knows how to write a love story. I think I've read almost every one of his books and this was a favorite. Every time a new book of his comes out I tell myself I'm not going to read it because they're cheesy, but then I end up reading it and loving it because I am a sap. Plain and simple. This one is not just a love story, but there's a little bit of a thriller in there too which I enjoyed because it gives the story more layers. 

And finally is After You which is the sequel to Me Before You. Overall it was fine, but it felt a little forced to me. I loved the first book so much and I think it should have just been left at that without the sequel. I love everything that Jojo writes though, so I enjoyed it anyways, but just not as much as the original.

I'm currently reading The Swans of Fifth Avenue and liking it a lot now that I'm halfway in. It was a little slow at first, but it's picked up now. It tells the story of Truman Capote and all of his socialite friends from the '50s. I honestly didn't know anything about Truman Capote so it's been a fun read!

What are you reading or have you read recently?
xo Catherine