4.5 stars
While reading, I kept imagining how this story would come to life through the lens of Nicolas Winding Refn. If you're a fan of movies such as The Neon Demon or American Psycho, where the delirious obsession with fame drives one to extreme actions—Slow Down will be right up your alley.Essentially a story about a filmmaker being pressured to write his next 'big' movie, Lee Matthew Goldberg blends many familiar 'Rags to Riches' themes within a razor sharp narratives about filmmaking: life imitating art (or vice versa), never meet one's hero, and power struggle within relationship. The story is purposefully filled with unpleasant characters; if you're familiar with the aforementioned films and Chuck Palahniuk.'s Fight Club (which was referenced multiple times), you'll have a good grasp of the archetype populating this story: self-righteous, headstrong, and turbulent. Slow Down satisfies our macabre curiosity of just how far one would do, with extreme malevolence and beyond morality, to quench assumed life-depending desire or reputation.It might be bizarre to call a book 'cinematic', but that is exactly how Slow Down reads; Lee Matthew Goldberg set up multiple recurring visual cues, which all come to satisfying revelation as the story wraps up. My only minor gripe with Slow Down is it's truncated ending, which abruptly brings everything to closure in a way that is too naive and dainty for the events prior. BUT, within its meta, cyclical storytelling structure, the choice is also completely intentional and justified; so the final verdict really depends on personal preference: would you prefer an all-out, emotionally gutted ending, or one that is less thrilling, but thematically appropriate?To close, if you have been a fan of hypnotic Neo-noir narrative where characters self-destruct and being their absolutely worst to others for questionable victory, then you'll definitely find Slow Down a worthwhile read.***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***
2.5 stars
After receiving my 'Romance Lit 101' on the Regency romance subgenre through The Bromance Book Club, I decided to venture into my first full-length novel; which turned out to be The Formidable Earl by Sophie Barnes. So bear in mind this review is written from the perspective of a brand new romance reader.The Formidable Earl turned out to be simply average; 'inoffensive' would be the choice word to describe it. I wasn't particularly engaged, but also wasn't offended by the characters or plot development; everything just washed over like water — cured my thirst of boredom but left no trace behind. The two protagonists, Simon Nugent and Ida Strong, were likable characters, but the journey they went through felt very by-the-numbers and lacked any sort of passion or suspense, which is a pretty big flaw considering the primary story objective is a revenge. Sophie Barnes has mapped out a very intentional pacing for The Formidable Earl, one that switches back and forth between romance and revenge at a regulated interval; which I argue actually depletes any sense on momentum. At a constant 30 mph throughout, this might be the most lifeless delivery I've ever read so far this year.Also didn't realize going in this is part of a series (#6 of Diamonds in the Rough), which was made explicitly clear as the last chapter was setting up the couple-to-be for the next book. I would say if you are already reading the series, the familiarity with recurring characters will probably get you more out of The Formidable Earl, otherwise it is a pretty formulaic, vanilla story that will adequately fill up time if you have absolutely nothing to read.Probably not a bad start for my Regency romance journey though, things can only go up from here!***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***
3.5 stars
An atypical MM romance novel that dives into darker themes of childhood trauma, sexual harassment, and rape; while there are rough patches in its characters and narrative, the author has overall woven an engaging story with two sympathetic and memorable leads.The novel's biggest accomplishment is the depiction of its two leads; both Oliver and Bodie are emotionally introverted with a less-than-happy family history. The gradual unveiling between the characters, both physically and emotionally, in small snippets of daily interaction, is both tender and believable; a rarity for this specific genre. Born for Leaving shines the most during its intimate moments.For the overarching narrative, the novel sticks close to the genre playbook, telling a summer-long tale on a fictional New England resort island, with the anticipated ups and downs of friend-to-lover and moments of obstacle and miscommunication. The story contains several antagonists, all of whom are quite comically villainous in comparison to the complexity of the two leads. In particular, the character of Oliver's mom and an ex-lover Jack, both went through a character arc that felt very sudden and over-dramatic. Lastly, while the last plot turn offered some emotionally raw moments between Oliver and Bodie, the initiated action taken by the character felt out of place, and the following events leaned a little too much into the melodramatic, rather than common sense.Overall, thanks to the author's perceptive writing and the introduction of darker subject matter to a genre commonly known for its sexy fun, Born for Leaving is a captivating read beyond what the lackluster book cover otherwise suggests.***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***
4 stars
Utilizing tropes common in domestic thrillers, The Secret Talker is a lyrical study on buried secrets, deceptive harmony, and wandering desire in a seemingly steady marriage.Once you accept the rather archaic method of exchange Geling Yan chose as the primary narrative device (it has been a long time since I personally write / receive meaningful, lengthy emails; texting and other apps have since taken its place.), it's a rather effective storytelling device; organically revealing events in a stream of consciousness manner, providing suspense and twist without feeling overtly manipulative.Being an #ownvoices novel, the Chinese protagonist feels authentic, and her cultural background and upbringing is what validate the realism of The Secret Talker's narrative; the trope can only be sustained convincingly with a conflicting immigrated Chinese's state of mind: glorification of the Western culture (and maintaining it at all cost), internal turmoil beneath a placid facade (unwilling to be seen broken), and disdain, but the same time, nostalgic for one's humbled root.The ending twist is emotionally rewarding, if not The Sixth Sense level surprisingly, nor as flawlessly executed. The puzzle pieces come together abruptly with many conveniences, as if the author has hit the minimum page count for the assignment, rather than letting the narrative reach its resolution in an appropriate pacing. This shortcoming aside, the reveal does warrant The Secret Talker a second read-through, as it alters the reader's interpretation of a specific character.The Secret Talker is more literary fiction than thriller, it uses suspenseful scenarios as catalyst to deep dive into a character's psyche, rather than purely for their shock value. If you are a fan of beautiful prose and well-rounded, flawed protagonist, this book is worth a try.***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***
4 stars
Before She Knew Him reminds me structurally of the film Knives Out, where the culprit is revealed very early on in the story; Matthew IS a killer—but that's not the point; the intrigue instead is centered around the cat and mouse chase between the two protagonists, and the unlikely friendship that formed between two people in conflict.The plot twist, while still remains a satisfying direction, is really not as big of a surprise as the novel made it out to be. For a seasoned thriller reader, the hints along the way are quite explicit at pointing the narrative towards a specific direction, which slightly dampened the impact of the 'reveal'.Still, Before She Knew Him remains a very cinematic, image-conjuring read; Peter Swanson has crafted two very interesting, dimensional protagonists in Hen and Matthew, and it was a worthwhile journey understanding their inner struggles, past demons, and how their relationship send ripples across the people around them.
