I have four books to discuss with you for my February 2020 book reviews. So far I’m keeping pace with my goal of three to four books per month. If you missed the review of books I finished in January, you can check it out here.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
I have to get this one down before I’ve fully recovered from it. This book was astonishing. I read intellectual thrillers, suspense novels, and whodunnit stories quite frequently. This one is the first in a long time that made me really think. I read the first half of the book in one sitting and only stopped for date night with my husband. When I closed the book I sat in a stupor for a while, just pondering it. Turning it over in my mind.
The author makes you feel like you’re just missing something that’s right in front of you, that if you look at it long enough or think about it hard enough you’ll catch it. But you won’t. At least, I didn’t, not until it happened. Oh yes, this one actually delivers on its promise for a chilling twist at the end. Again, as a seasoned thriller reader, I had my doubts. But it did, in fact, leave me in a state. I finished the entire book in two days. “Un-put-downable” is exactly the way to describe this story.
The premise is that a happily married, talented painter murders her famous photographer husband, and never speaks again. Six years later, a therapist takes a job at the mental hospital she’s been living at, to try to get to the bottom of her sustained silence. Again, the author dances you through the story, giving you just a little bit in every chapter and wordlessly promising more to come in the next. I chased the information through the pages and couldn’t get it out of my head when I stopped. Go and read this book. The most captivating story I’ve read since In the Woods by Tana French.
An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
Shari Lapena writes delicious mysteries. I’ve previously read A Stranger in the House and The Couple Next Door. The twist in both comes from a piece of information that’s withheld until the end, which beautifully blows up any theories you may have had that try to solve the mystery.
An Unwanted Guest is no different. It’s another adaptation of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, or, if you prefer, the 1980s film adaptation of the board game Clue. A group of strangers have all made their way to a remote boutique hotel in upstate New York for a weekend getaway, just in time for an epic winter storm that leaves them trapped with no power and no phone. In the opening chapters, the reader learns a bit about each of the guests: the young lovers, the middle-aged couple, the author, the criminal defense attorney, and so on. Over the course of thirty-six hours, four of the hotel guests turn up dead, and the group becomes increasingly suspicious of one another as they anxiously await outside help.
Another trademark of Shari Lapena’s is that even after the mystery is solved, she reveals something new that leaves you with a nasty chill and a feeling of unfinished business. The Unwanted Guest follows suit.
Her books are page-turners with realistic and relatable characters. Frankly, if you’re going to recycle this premise you’ve got to be damn sure it’s a worthy read, and Lapena does it beautifully. You won’t be disappointed.
The Calling by Rha Goddess
My nonfiction read of the month was The Calling by Rha Goddess. It would take more than just a quick review to speak to all the ways this book has begun to change and heal me. If you’ve been reading my blog posts and watching my recent videos, you may have noticed the change in tone and topic. I attribute most of that to the introspective time I’ve spent with myself, spurred by this book.
The Calling is a highly practical approach to healing your energy, getting spiritually aligned, and getting on the life path that’s right for you. You won’t find anything mystical here; Goddess approaches her coaching through pointed questions, affirmations, and exercises designed to wake you up and get you thinking.
I read the book all the way through without pausing for the journaling or the exercises first. Then I went back and started it again, taking my time with each exercise and practice on the second round. I recommend doing it this way so you have a sense of where you’re going. Each chapter builds on the previous work in the book, so reading it cover to cover first provides a clear sense of direction. And lots of inspiration. Goddess shares stories from people she’s coached, illustrating each point in relatable ways.
There was nothing in the book that I felt wasn’t useful or didn’t apply to my own life. If you’re ready to do some real work to help yourself get aligned with your soul purpose, this book will guide you through getting honest with yourself about what you desire, and what you may need to leave behind so you can consciously create your most fulfilling life.
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
I read most of Ruth Ware’s books last year, including The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, and In a Dark, Dark Wood. She writes psychological crime thrillers. Her stories do a very good job at withholding the identity of the antagonist, which I enjoy. I am entertained by the plot, but it also serves as an analytical thinking exercise.
Eventually, I will learn that all analytical thinking is useless once game-changing information is introduced. That is the way of crime thrillers like Ms. Ware’s.
While I enjoyed her other books, The Turn of the Key was an uncomfortable read that ultimately didn’t satisfy. The big “twist” felt disjointed, like it didn’t belong, and almost undermined some of the carefully laid plot from earlier in the story.
We meet our heroine, Rowan McCain, through a letter she’s writing to an attorney from inside her prison cell. We learn straight away that a young girl is dead and she’s been blamed for it. But she persists that she is innocent, and she sets out to tell her story to this attorney, and by extension, us.
A little of the storyline (no spoilers!)
Rowan’s troubles began when she took the live-in nanny job caring full-time for the three daughters of architectural business owners Sandra and Bill. Four nannies have left the post in the past twelve months, but Rowan hints at having ulterior motives big enough to overcome whatever presumably scared the others off.
The scene is skillfully set so you know straightaway that something is off. If the four departing nannies weren’t enough, the house itself is an architectural answer to Frankenstein’s monster, half made of glass and chrome and entirely run from an app on a smartphone. Panels embedded in walls instead of proper switches, cameras in every room and invisible speakers that Sandra uses in lieu of a telephone while she’s away. The daughters, too, are eerily drawn. The eldest left in Rowan’s care reminded me straightaway of Maxwell Anderson’s The Bad Seed. The middle daughter is brighter in demeanor but is inexplicably nervous, all the time. And then there’s the baby.
On the whole, everything is designed to feel unpredictable and outside of Rowan’s control. You, as the reader, are struck by the same sensation of never being able to find your footing.
As the smart technology starts to act up and classic fright-night fare like broken doll heads and noises from the attic show up one after the other, Rowan is faced with the mystery of discovering what’s behind all of this seemingly inexplicable activity.
After multiple sleepless nights and endless frustration with and disrespect from her charges, you start to wonder why Rowan isn’t the fifth nanny to submit her resignation. One final twist reveals the ulterior motives that she alluded to earlier in the story.
My Thoughts
I did something terrible here, guys. Something I’ve done maybe only once or twice in my life; I skipped ahead and read the last chapter. I know, I know. Apparently, my triggers are creepy children and smart houses. A third of the way through the book I literally could not sleep at night. I had to know what really happened, what was really behind all of the bizarre activity going on in the house, because my imagination had run off.
And the truth is, even once I knew the ending, the book creeped me out. So, if you’re up for a haunted house story, this might be up your alley. But be warned: If you’re looking for a genuine haunted tale, this isn’t for you. The ending is somewhat anticlimactic. As, as previously mentioned, the “twist” has the dissatisfying feel of something that doesn’t belong in the plot. If a book is going to spook me, I at least want it to be worth it. If you want to try one of Ruth Ware’s books, I recommend The Lying Game much more.
Final Thoughts on February 2020 Book Reviews
I told myself last month that I needed to calm down on the intellectual thrillers. You can see how well I didn’t do on that front. There is wisdom that suggests consuming content like this actually traps us in a state of fear, even after we’ve set the content aside, and even though we think we’re being entertained by it.
That said, I am on the hunt for some other kinds of content. I am already started on two books for March (yes, one is a thriller), but I am hoping to venture outside my usual. What content do you love? I there anything you’d recommend to me?
Book Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Pexels