Search This Blog

2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 books. 100% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (7)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (2)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (3)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (1)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (8)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (2)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (2)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Australia (2)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (3)
- China (1)
- England (20)
- France (1)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (1)
- Russia (1)
- Scotland (3)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


44 / 50 books. 88% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


50 / 52 books. 96% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


36 / 40 books. 90% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


17 / 40 books. 43% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 25 books. 84% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


17 / 26.2 miles (3rd lap). 65% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


38 / 100 books. 38% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


92 / 104 books. 88% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


125 / 165 books. 76% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


76 / 100 names. 76% done!
Thursday, January 12, 2017

Cape Cod Family Drama Satisfying, But Not Super Memorable

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Brett has been entranced with Charlie Moss ever since she met him as an 18-year-old college student.  Even now, after marriage and the birth of their first child, she's still swayed by his magnetic charm.  His blasé attitude and perpetual joblessness, however, are becoming a bit of a problem.  Struggling to hold their little family together, Brett is at the end of her rope.  She doesn't want to hurt Charlie, but it might be time to call it quits.  For her sake and for that of 15 month-old Sarah.

Then, the unthinkable happens.  Charlie is murdered, his throat gruesomely slit on the back deck of the Moss' seaside Cape Cod cottage.  Wracked with grief, Brett struggles to understand what has happened.  Who could have done such a heinous deed?  The most obvious suspect is Charlie's mentally unstable brother, Eli, who had shown up unexpectedly the day before.  But he's not the only one with motive, opportunity.  Was Charlie killed by a passing stranger?  Or someone he knew?  His own brother, perhaps?  As the investigation wears on, Brett will have to face some shocking truths—about her marriage, her family, and herself.

Although The Last September by Nina de Gramont is a murder mystery, it's really more of a family drama than anything else.  Its focus remains on the characters and their relationships, not the crime.  Brett, Charlie, Eli, and the rest are complex story people.  All realistically flawed, only Eli is truly sympathetic.  Neither Brett nor Charlie are super likable, both being fickle and selfish.  Overall, the novel is depressing, but it's also compelling enough that I wanted to know what really happened to Charlie.  The Last September is a satisfying read, in the end, just not a super memorable one.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for language, violence, and sexual content

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of The Last September with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.

1 comment:

  1. I find way too many books are like this. Good but not memorable. I wonder if we read less than we did if we'd remember more of the stories.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.

P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
The Boy Who Cried Bear by Kelley Armstrong



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive