The Only One Left by Riley Sager

"Here we give young women accused of terrible deeds the benefit of the doubt."

We are back with another TikTok recommendation. This one is The Only One Left by Riley Sager. In 1929, within the walls of a mansion on a cliff in Maine, all but one member of the very wealthy Hope family is brutally murdered. Who could it have been except the one remaining family member, a seventeen-year-old girl. Fifty-four years later, when the details of the tragedy have been reduced to a school-yard rhyme, Kit, a caregiver in her late twenties who grew up with those words ringing in her ears, has been called to care for that now seventy-one-year-old survivor. Having been accused of something terrible herself, Kit is determined to find out what really happened to the Hope family.

Oh, boy! This gothic mystery didn't seem quite right for this sizzling time of year, but I pressed on and I'm so happy I did. It took me a couple of chapters to settle into the mood of the book, and it was a little difficult for me to remember at first that the current day was in the early 80s, but once I did, I was invested. There were a couple of twists that I guessed ahead of time, but others that took me completely by surprise. There were details that I clocked as significant, that still didn't add up until Sager was ready for me to know what it all meant. As the pages turned, the story folded in and over on itself in such a satisfying way. I can't remember which creator recommended this book, but I really enjoyed it!

 

What I've Heard- Spare by Prince Harry

Yes, I am a little late to the tea party, but I finally got around to listening to Spare by Prince Harry. Audiobook is my format of choice when it comes to memoirs, especially when they are read by the author. At fifteen hours and thirty-nine minutes, this was a lengthy one, but I really enjoyed it. It was very interesting to learn some of the behind-the-scenes protocols when it comes to the British Royal Family. The idea of needing to make an appointment with your own grandmother and then having that appointment subject to approval by anyone other than her was baffling. It was heartbreaking to learn about the lack of affection with which Harry was raised and hearing his description of the pursuit of the press was immensely frustrating to the point of my own muttering in public. I've mentioned before that I usually listen to audiobooks on my bike rides, so at least there was no one to witness my muttering, but still. 

In his own recollection, Harry takes responsibility for all his naughty behavior over the years. He admits when he was wrong and details his attempts to do better. He does not, however, let any of the false stories about him or his family stand. Encompassing his whole life, he shares his memories as best he can; while admitting there are things he can't recall due to the trauma of the situation. Seeing as this is his memoir, of course we are only hearing his side of the stories, but I found his version very compelling. I highly recommend adding this to your list of audiobooks. 

 

At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber

I am slowly making my way through some recent BookTok recommendations and this week it was At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber. Ava is sent from her sheltered homelife in Ohio to a small town on the Alabama coast. Sent by whom? Well, that's the question. An anonymous letter arrives in the mail and the only person Ava can think may have sent it is... no longer with us. Desperate for a change in her life, she decides to follow it. What she discovers is a darling little town full of interesting characters, some of whom may or may not have some sort of magic about them.

I love a little magical realism, and this was very sweet. The writing was a little light and the plot wasn't intellectually challenging, but sometimes that's just what you need. I liked this book and I'd be willing to read more from Webber. Pick it up if you're looking for a light summer story.

 

The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez

 

What does an author do when she nears the end of her life and hasn't been able to finish all the stories in her head? In The Cemetary of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez, Alma is our author in question. She has had a successful, prolific career, but there were just some stories she couldn't finish, and they are driving her mad. Her solution? Move back to her country of origin, the Dominican Republic, and bury them. She builds a most irregular cemetery and creates final resting places for all the books she never wrote. When the stories refuse to rest peacefully, we, as the reader, hear them after all.

This book was interesting and mostly enjoyable. I felt like it became a bit disjointed with all of the intermingled stories and switching of points of view, but perhaps that was the point. This book did one thing that I really don't care for: it had no quotation marks. It was difficult to tell what was narration and what was dialogue. I found myself frequently bouncing back a few lines to clarify who was speaking and which words were actually said out loud. There were beautiful lines of prose, and the stories were compelling. There was plenty of drama from the broad cast of characters. I liked this book, but I didn't love it.