Book Review | Book Chatter

The Turn of the Key
By Ruth Ware
Gallery/Scout Press, 9781501188770, August 2019, 352pp.

The Short of It:

I needed a book that I could not put down and this was it.

The Rest of It:

Nanny stories are quite popular. Add a supernatural element, difficult kids, weird parents and a big, spooky house and you have a winner. Now add technology. I mean, cameras, apps, smart refrigerators and TVs and you up the creep factor by 100%.

Rowan finds the nanny position of a lifetime. A high-paying, live-in gig that will take her to the beautiful Scottish moors. The house is unique. An old Victorian in the front, but the back half of the house is all gleaming and new, outfitted with the latest technology. At first, Rowan is impressed by this. Sandra and Bill, architects by trade, restored what they could but re-imagined the rest but all of its gadgetry proves to be a bit much for Rowan when she is immediately tasked with watching the children for ten days while the parents are at a business conference.

Did I mention that the last four nannies all left within a two-year period? Or that the house has a history of death and violence? Or that some in the town believe it to be haunted?

This was such a fun book to read. I was completely immersed and could not turn those pages fast enough. It’s sufficiently creepy and keeps you guessing with all its plot twists. The ending felt a tad rushed but overall, I really enjoyed this one and found it to be really entertaining and fun. I read it in one day. A work day, which should tell you something.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Such a Fun Age
By Kiley Reid
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 9780525541905, December 2019, 320pp.

The Short of It:

A slow build but once I got into it it was like a time bomb ready to go off.

The Rest of It:

For once, I read a buzzy book when everyone else was reading it too. Such a Fun Age is making the rounds and getting a lot of praise. It was selected for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club and although I’ve not read all of her selections, the ones I have read have been really good. This was no exception.

Emira is at a club celebrating with her friends when her boss calls her to ask if she can possibly watch her daughter due to an emergency. One, it’s late. Two, she’s dressed for the club. Three, she’s been drinking. Although she explains this to her boss, the desperation on the other line wins out.

Minutes later, Emira finds herself with three-year-old Briar in an upscale supermarket checking out the nuts, dancing in the aisle, doing whatever it takes to keep the kid occupied while her mother, Alix, tends to her emergency. Just minutes into their visit, they begin to draw the attention of other shoppers. Emira, a young black woman, and Briar, a young white child, wandering the aisles so late at night seems out of place. So much so, that a security guard begins to question her. Emira explains that she is Briar’s babysitter, which is the truth but she knows how it looks. Things escalate. That is where the story begins.

This is one of those slow-build books. Conflict is everywhere but you know something big is coming and as the story plays out, the one word that comes to mind is EXPLOSIVE. This is a book about race but also fetishsizing race, which I thought was interesting.

Two things stood out for me. One, the story is a little gritty. Not overworked or polished which I liked very much. The author did a good job of portraying each character’s POV. None of these characters are perfect and you won’t find yourself siding with any of them. They all play a role in how the rabbit falls down the hole. Two, the portrayal of Briar, the young child seemed a little off. She’s critical to the story but her observations were often not believable to me and they took me out of the narrative at times.

However, there is a lot to think about here and you will find yourself eagerly flipping those pages towards the end because it’s like a train wreck and you can’t possibly look away. I wouldn’t say it was a perfect story but I don’t think it was meant to be.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Chatting with friends about books and life…