Books I Finished Recently

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

 

MY OPINION:

Okay, so I kind of knew the ending of the book (my sister accidentally told me), which is why the storyline’s tension was kind of gone for me. However, the book was well written, and I really enjoyed the different perspectives. I love books where you don’t know who to trust and what to believe. Nothing makes sense, but then, in the end, it does. Love it. This is what happened here. Also, I really liked the setting of the story. It kind of reminded me of Riverdale, which reminds me that I should probably finish the third season, haha.

Anyways, definitely recommend One Of Us Is Lying, and I totally get why it is so hyped. I know I would have liked it a lot better if I didn’t know about the ending. 

★★★

 

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Braden Mack thinks reading romance novels makes him an expert in love, but he’ll soon discover that real life is better than fiction. 

Liv Papandreas has a dream job as a sous chef at Nashville’s hottest restaurant. Too bad the celebrity chef owner is less than charming behind kitchen doors. After she catches him harassing a young hostess, she confronts him and gets fired. Liv vows revenge, but she’ll need assistance to take on the powerful chef.

Unfortunately, that means turning to Braden Mack. When Liv’s blackballed from the restaurant scene, the charismatic nightclub entrepreneur offers to help expose her ex-boss, but she is suspicious of his motives. He’ll need to call in reinforcements: the Bromance Book Club.

Inspired by the romantic suspense novel they’re reading, the book club assists Liv in setting up a sting operation to take down the chef. But they’re just as eager to help Mack figure out the way to Liv’s heart… even though she’s determined to squelch the sparks between them before she gets burned.

 

MY OPINION:

As some of you might know, I already loved The Bromance Book Club. It’s one of the funniest and most unique romance books I’ve ever read. The characters are absolutely incredible, and their conversations are on point. 

Undercover Bromance was great too. I was so happy to be back with all the characters and get to know Braden better. However, I missed the book club part of the book. In The Bromance Book Club, they read and discussed a romance novel, which was SO GOOD. This time the book club wasn’t really there, which I kind of missed. 

Nevertheless, such a great book, and I literally can’t wait to read the third book. You HAVE to read this series.

★★★★

 

Normal People by Sally Rooney

At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers – one they are determined to conceal.

A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

 

MY OPINION:

I started Normal People a while ago and had difficulty getting into the story and warming up with the characters. I didn’t really like Marianne at the beginning and found the writing style hard to follow. I knew there was a show to the book and randomly decided to watch it. Best decision ever. I don’t know why, but it helped me understand the characters and the storyline. The actors did a fantastic job of portraying both main characters.

Even if it took me a while to get into the story, the ending was very emotional. I really liked that Rooney didn’t romanticize Marianne’s and Connell’s life, making the whole thing feel so real.

Normal People will probably not become one of my favorites, but it’s still such a beautiful and real book. Definitely recommend!

★★★

 

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

The first sleep book by a leading scientific expert – Professor Matthew Walker, director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab – reveals his groundbreaking exploration of sleep, explaining how we can harness its transformative power to change our lives for the better.

Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when we don’t sleep. Compared to the other basic drives in life – eating, drinking, and reproducing – the purpose of sleep remained elusive.

But an explosion of scientific discoveries in the last 20 years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming. Among so many other things, within the brain, sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming mollifies painful memories and creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge to inspire creativity.

Walker answers important questions about sleep: How do caffeine and alcohol affect sleep? What really happens during REM sleep? Why do our sleep patterns change across a lifetime? How do common sleep aids affect us, and can they do long-term damage? Charting cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs and synthesizing decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels; regulate hormones; prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes; slow the effects of aging; increase longevity; enhance the education and lifespan of our children, and boost the efficiency, success, and productivity of our businesses. Clear-eyed, fascinating, and immensely accessible, Why We Sleep is the crucial account on sleep that will forever change listeners’ minds on the subject.

 

MY OPINION:

Literally, everyone has to read this book. I started it a while ago and then had to stop listening because my audiobook subscription expired, haha. Last month I decided to get the Summer Audible deal and just had to get this book. It is scray to know how severe sleep deprivation is. I always prioritized my sleep, but recently, I had a hard time falling and staying asleep. I will definitely work on that now that I know what not enough sleep can cause.

Walker touches on many different topics, such as sleeping pills, sleep, and the educational system (so interesting and eye-opening!). He also includes tips on how to get better sleep.

As I said, read this book. You definitely will not regret it!

★★★★★

 

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Definitely let me know if you’ve read any of the books and what your thoughts were. Happy weekend xx