Hello everyone! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I buddy read The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder last week and while neither of us were over the moon about the book, we really enjoyed being able to chat each other about the book while reading it.

First though, the summary:

In this “irresistible, immersive, and completely unputdownable” (Ellery Lloyd, New York Times bestselling author) debut novel, a former antique hunter investigates a suspicious death at an isolated English manor, embroiling her in the high-stakes world of tracking stolen artifacts.

What antique would you kill for?

Freya Lockwood is shocked when she learns that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and her estranged mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances. She has spent the last twenty years avoiding her quaint English hometown, but when she receives a letter from Arthur asking her to investigate—sent just days before his death—Freya has no choice but to return to a life she had sworn to leave behind.

Now, me:

One of the first things I chatted Lisa while reading was “Lisa! Do you think that antiques hunting is really this dangerous and cloak and dagger?!” because this book made all antique hunting sound like Indiana Jones, with danger around every corner, sneaking into buildings and maybe countries, being all incognito, and having the skills of a criminal. And I think that is one of my biggest issues with this book. It was very over the top dramatic feeling to me.

Freya is a “retired” antiques hunter, having lived the normal life an English mum, married to a not-so-great man, but her past is apparently murky, and they hint a lot about who she “used to be” and how she was starting to become herself again as the story goes on. Like I get it, she was Lara Croft before an incident drove her from the business for twenty years, and now she was free to pursue that career again – and is pushed into it by her former mentor Arthur, with whom she had a huge falling out with and never spoke to again before he .. died mysteriously. He has left a game/hunt/clues behind for her to figure out that will lead her to the answers behind his death and behind the reason she left the field.

I have to admit I kept picturing Geena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight, where she plays a teacher who has amnesia who all of a sudden gets her memory back and finds out she was an assassin.

The book was wandering and I think it just suffered from not knowing what it wanted to be. Did it want to be a cozy mystery, or a thriller, or a murder mystery? Or a character driven book filled with drama and revelations, about a woman starting over again after her child is grown? There was a lot of emphasis on the backstory that led up to Freya’s leaving her old job, which was not being an antique picker, but someone who searched for stolen antiques. (I think?) I was slightly confused. I was also confused as to why Arthur had money issues. I would think selling expensive antiques to rich people would provide a good living.

Anyway, this book is about Freya and her coming into her own again and having a life that she picks, and is also about solving Arthur’s murder. She is accompanied by her aunt, Carol, who is a boisterous, outgoing character, and sort of pushes Freya along when she hesitates.

Overall, I felt lukewarm about this book. There was just a lot going on and it was hard to connect to any of the characters. However, I do think that the author had some very good ideas, and might have things all out in the open now, so that a second book will be tighter and more focused.

I also had a great time chatting Lisa while reading. I have to admit, some it was more along the lines of “This book makes me want to buy red shoes” or “I am distracted by looking up all of these antiques they are talking about that I don’t know what they are” but some of it was more about who we thought did it, who was red herring, who was going to be the love interest, if there was one.

Some of the best writing was in the very beginning of the book, with the descriptions of the village and of Freya’s relationship with Carol when growing up. I particularly liked this line.

“..I’ve always loved the hush of dusk as it settles over the village – its orange glow lighting the medieval wooden shop fronts and Victorian or Edwardian brick houses, interspersed with tea shops and hairdressers.” I also love dusk, it is one of my favorite times of day.

And then my favorite line, “It was like some houses stopped breathing the moment their owners died.” Isn’t that so true?

Although Lisa and I weren’t blown away by this book, I had a great time buddy reading with her and I hope to do another buddy read or group read again. And this book wasn’t terrible – I think it just suffered from wanting to do and be too much, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Better too many ideas than too few! It is probably a 3/5 star read for me.

And with that, I hope you check out Lisa’s review as well! You can find it here.

I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile!

I’ve been doing mini book reviews after every three books read, but today, I am writing this after two. I am anxious to get my thoughts out about The God of the Woods and I am reading so slowly right now! So two it is.

Let’s start with Dark Waters by Katherine Arden.

I love this middle grade series by Katherine Arden, the author who wrote The Bear and the Nightingale. It seems crazy to me that the same author wrote both of these series. They are just so different! This is the third book in the series, and takes place on the infamous Lake Champlain this time. The trio of friends has to face lake monsters, ghosts, and shipwrecks this time around, and the ending was a surprise. The next book should be a good one, and in video game talk, the one where they meet the “boss.”

It was a great spooky middle grade to read at the beginning of summer!

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore is amazing. This book is written from multiple viewpoints, and multiple timelines, each focusing on the disappearance of a child from the Van Laar family at their summer camp. On some level, this book is about the power of rich men, men in power, the women in their lives, and how they mistreat them. But this book is also very woman-driven, with smart, savvy, brave women making their way in the world. Underneath all the surface, this book is also about mothers- good mothers, bad mothers, overprotective mothers, neglectful mothers, and substitute mothers. Mothers who have lost their way and mothers who have lost children. It is also a story of privilege and the working class, power and the powerless.

This book is a chunk, and has so many different points of view and so many stories, that it feels almost impossible to write a cohesive review that encompasses all the plotlines and characters – or it is beyond my abilities, at least.

It dives right in, not with a bang but a squeak, or, lack of squeak, of the all important screen door of a campground cabin. Here we meet Louise, who quickly learns that one of her campers is missing – and of course, it is Barbara. Barbara, the misunderstood, intelligent, clever, confident, punk rock daughter of none other than the Van Laars themselves, the owners of the campground. The parents who lost their other child, Bear, almost a decade before, in the same woods. From here the story unfolds, and the time is fluid, and skips around, stirring up these characters and their stories, with something new floating to the surface with each perspective.

I absolutely loved this book, with one small exception that kept it from being perfect in my eyes. This didn’t prevent this book from being my favorite read of the year so far, because it definitely is. I am not one to throw something completely out because of one small defect. What is that expression? Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater? I can reject that one small bit because the rest of this book was outstanding.

I hate that I keep dancing around this part in my review but there is no way I can discuss it. The only way I could come up with, if you want to know and want to discuss it with me, is to record a small spoiler video and post it here. I have never done anything like this before, so please bear with me. This is an unlisted video on YouTube, but you can comment on there after watching. So, again, watch only if you don’t care about a major major spoiler or if you have already read the book. (that is my suggestion, read the book first).

Ok this video. Please excuse how I look and sound, lol. I did this in one take, no editing. I am running out of time before the surgery and I wanted to get this post up. I was very nervous, and things are not YouTube perfect. Lol. I really thought my voice sounded funny – I am not used to my own voice I guess. I also have this weird eyebrow thing going on too, please know my eyebrows are not like that. However, I did think this was fun, and I liked being able to connect with you guys on a different level, and have a different way for us to discuss spoilers without being here on the blog. You should be able to leave comments there as well. I am going to work on this whole video aspect and improve it but I figured, you have to start somewhere!

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!