Book Review | Book Chatter

The Woman in the Dark
By Vanessa Savage
Grand Central Publishing, 9781538714300, February 2020, 352pp.

The Short of It:

This story was excellent. A creepy murder house, a husband with questionable motives and his family trying to make sense of it all.

The Rest of It:

This is a very difficult time to read. Everything is a distraction and I was having such a hard time getting back into a reading routine. However, one of my students dropped this book off for me and it was exactly what I needed to get excited about reading again.

Patrick and Sarah along with their two older children, move to Patrick’s old, childhood home. The moment it came up on the market, Patrick put his regular life aside, and threw all of their savings into the home so it could be his again. Wanting to re-live the wonderful childhood he had there, he forces the rest of his family to uproot their lives to make his dreams come true.

But the house is not the quaint seaside home you’d imagine. It’s known as the “murder house” because of the family that lived there before. Sarah is hesitant to move, given the house’s history, but Patrick insists and bad things happen. Behind its peeling plaster are hidden messages. There are cold spots throughout the house and rot that they can’t rid themselves of.

This story reminded me a lot of The Shining. Nevertheless, it had me flipping the pages pretty fast and I like how the ending came together. There are secrets, and supernatural elements and I like how art was incorporated into the story.

If you need a quick read to take your mind off of things, I recommend this one.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Miracle Creek
By Angie Kim
Sarah Crichton Books, 9780374156022, April 2019, 368pp.

The Short of It:

I do not know what I thought this book was about before reading it but I certainly didn’t think it was about a hyperbaric oxygen therapy accident.

The Rest of It:

I simplified that blurb a little because Miracle Creek opens with a terrible accident but then quickly turns into a court room drama, a mystery, a story with an immigration thread and even a bit of scandal.

Young, Pak, and their teen daughter Mary, run a hyperbaric oxygen therapy business that they call Miracle Submarine. Adults and children, enter the chamber to partake of its healing properties. On this particular day, the normal group enters but there is a terrible explosion which kills one adult and one, autistic child, Henry. The accident leaves several other injured as well.

It’s believed that Elizabeth set the fire which caused the oxygen tanks to explode. Elizabeth being the mother of Henry. The prosecution believes that she wanted her child dead, due to his burdening care. This triggers all kinds of thoughts about the care for special need kids.

The story bounces between characters. Who did it? Who set the fire? Why? Many of the witnesses are lying but for different reasons. In all honesty, this story was difficult to get through. There is a lot of back and forth and even though it revolves around just a handful of characters, I had to keep reminding myself who they were.

However, the ending… the ending was beautiful and sad and left me with thoughts about how hard it would be to care for a special needs child. How hard it is for people from other countries to make a living here. How hard it is to fit in. So I think in the end, I liked it much more than I thought I would.

I read this for my book club discussion which was cancelled due to social distancing but we may try to meet via Zoom so we can discuss it. Have you read it?

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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