I fell head over heels for the movie adaptation of The Descendants a few years back. This family dealing with their grief struck me as true to life. The loss of a loved one can be overwhelming but life still goes forward, even when you’re dying inside. The Descendants captured that dichotomy and I’ve been meaning to read the book ever since. The novel centers on Matt King and his family. Matt’s great grandmother was a Hawaiian princess and he and his cousins are the […]
I don’t even know why I was surprised that I liked this so much
4.5 stars. I honestly didn’t expect to like this book much when I found out it was centered on Scorcher Kennedy, a massive annoyance in the French’s last book, Faithful Place. Kennedy cares a lot about how he is perceived and can come off a little strong and brash. To my surprise, this was my favorite Dublin Murder Squad book so far. I’d never want to be friends with Detective Kennedy, but he’s a great character to read about and the mystery was fascinating. A […]
Move over Sherlock Holmes
3.5 stars. This was a good, solid mystery book. In a way, it’s Sherlock Holmes fanfiction reclaiming the original series for women (in a similar way that Elementary the tv series functions). Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories are classics for a reason, but the casual sexism is undeniable and for a modern reader like myself, it can be hard to swallow, “the woman” Irene Adler or no. The Beekeeper’s apprentice examines what it would be like if an older Sherlock had a female protege. Holmes meets […]
Here to rave about CBR8’s favorite romance
So many people raving about one book can’t be wrong so I rented this as soon as possible from the library and immediately fell head over heels. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes (see Much Ado About Nothing, Pride and Prejudice, and North and South). There’s something so incredibly satisfying about hate turning to love. The Hating Game did not disappoint. Lucy and Josh work as assistants to the co-CEOs of a publishing house called Bexley & Gamin. The publishing house used […]









