Margot & Me, while set in contemporary times also grapples with the past set during World War II through a diary. What I loved about this book was how the stories of three generations knitted together. Fliss and her grandmother, Margot, were so at odds that Fliss’s mother was the only reason they put up with one another. Watching that relationship develop throughout the pages was immensely touching. Although, how Fliss came to read Margot’s diary didn’t entirely sit well with me. But you know, curiosity and what not…
MORE HAPPY THAN NOT by Adam Silvera
For the month of February Hazel picked More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera as her book recommendation for me to read. What made this round of Epic Recs different was that we specifically chose to go with audiobooks. This also meant that for once we didn’t pick books the other already owned, and so had free rein.
THE CONSPIRACY OF US by Maggie Hall
If I had to sum up The Conspiracy of Us in two words, I’d say, fun mystery. That’s exactly what it is. It’s a crime mystery that takes you from Minnesota to Paris to Istanbul. It hits hard where it has to in terms of inevitable violence. I say inevitable because that’s what villains in crime novels do — they resort to violence. As much as it is a mystery book, it doesn’t stray too close to thriller territories, so if you’re the squeamish kind, you need not worry.
THE BIG LIE by Julie Mayhew
Set in Nazi England, 2012–2014, The Big Lie is premised on one question: What if the Nazis had won World War II? With this in mind, The Big Lie is a speculative work of alternative history. While nobody can say for sure how things would’ve turned out, I think the world that Julie Mayhew imagined is a rather plausible outcome. She evidently did her research and wove together the fascist ideals and lifestyles of the 1940s with contemporary ones.
GET HAPPY by Mary Amato
Get Happy is such a sweet book with the right amount of conflict and tension. I liked Minerva right from the start. She was kinda bratty at first but a very self-aware brat fluent in sarcasm, so reading this book amused me tremendously.
