An intriguing and ghostly but ultimately hazy tale of grief and memory.
In this literary novel, a woman alone on her family’s farm becomes trapped in a cycle of memories.
Mazie Mills has returned to the family farm—the vacation spot she loved as a child, where, she remembers, “there was no ‘supposed to’.…Just be.” Alone on the property, she is befriended by elderly neighbor Lula, who takes daily walks through the farm’s orchard. Lula begins to stop by every morning for a game of gin rummy, and Mazie starts to tell her stories about her family. She talks about a road trip to California, how she always had the worst seat at the table, and how she has never eaten an apple from the orchard that tasted any good. Lula, who rarely speaks about herself, listens kindly to Mazie’s memories and offers helpful analysis. But a number of things haunt Mazie, including her early, intense relationship with her high school boyfriend, Sean; a dream she has in which she died; her wedding, which took place on that very farm; and her husband, Eddie. Why is Mazie here alone? And why can’t she quite remember how she got here? Is it possible that she may be dead? Monier’s prose is lyrical and measured, deftly evoking the dreamlike qualities of the setting through Mazie’s eyes: “The short step down from the porch, my bare foot on the hot summer grass, I am hit by a wall of humidity. The full, fertile feel of the air that marks a Pennsylvania mountain summer. Thick, wet, ripe with a steaming, green life.” But the book is a bit too dreamy, both in its premise and its presentation. The first third, which mostly deals with Mazie’s relationship with Sean, is quite gripping, but as soon as the otherworldly element is introduced on Page 50, every scene has the ephemeral quality of a dream sequence. Readers will have trouble taking these scenes seriously, and the novel quickly treads into the clichéd Hollywood territory of false realities and gauzy interior worlds. Despite her clear talent, the author has not constructed enough of a story—one rooted in reality, with genuine stakes and authentic characters—to keep readers invested.
An intriguing and ghostly but ultimately hazy tale of grief and memory.Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 119
Publisher: Amika Press
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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