The Book of Essie

 

    

    As usual, one of my good friends recommended "The Book of Essie" by Meghan MacLean Weir. After reading the blurb on the back of the book, I was hesitant about reading it. The story is about a Christian family that has a reality tv show about the family. However, early in the book, the youngest daughter, Essie, finds out she is pregnant. ** SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD**

    I thought this book was beautifully written and all of the plot twists and revelations were given at the perfect times. When Essie finds out she is pregnant, she does not disclose the information to the reader and seems to keep a lot of her life private from the reader. Essie's mother is determined to find Essie a husband immediately, and Essie plants the idea in her mother's head to marry Roarke. 

    Essie and Roarke have never spoken, but Essie believes that Roarke is gay and would be willing to marry anyone for the right price. Essie's family offers to pay his family a large amount of money to marry Essie. Roarke and his family can't pass up the offer and a friendship begins to form between the two. Roarke is Essie's only friend and is willing to stand up for Essie when he finds out the truth behind her pregnancy. Their friendship is beautiful in its own way as they continue to try and protect each other from the cameras.

    Besides the cameras from the reality show, Essie enlists Liberty Bell (Libby), a news reporter, to get full coverage of the wedding festivities. Essie strategically picks Libby because she has a past with life in the cameras from a tragic family death. Libby wrestles with Essie's plan of exposing her family because she was in a similar position.  

    Throughout the book, all of the main characters give small pieces and regrets from their past that create a deep connection with the characters. Weir does an incredible job of getting the readers to feel the emotions of the characters. I was very impressed with the conclusion of the book and felt that it gave the readers the perfect amount of closure. 

    I have already recommended this book to several of my friends, but definitely do not read the book if you are sensitive to sexual assault topics. 

Rating: 4.6/ 5 STARS    

The Longest Build Up and Biggest Letdown

    I was recommended the book "The Last Thing He Told Me" by Laura Dave. One of my friends had it on her bookshelf, so I decided to give it a try. I also learned after starting that it is in the process of becoming a miniseries. It also stars one of my favorite actresses, Jennifer Gardner!

  

    The blurb on the back of the book says that the story is about the main character, Hannah, whose husband, Owen, goes missing. It is revealed that his company is in legal trouble and he vanishes and leaves a note saying "Protect Her." The only her that he could be referring to is his daughter, Bailey. Hannah is confused by the note and Owen's disappearance because it is not his character. 

  

    As FBI agents and U.S. Marshalls question Hannah, she discovers she knows nothing about Owen or his job. This goes on for the first 100 pages, which I found to be quite excessive. I began to lose interest in the book and felt like readers needed a little more to stay involved. It dragged on for another 20 pages before Hannah started to take action.

    Hannah started researching Owen and following Bailey's young memories when they ran out of leads. Bailey is not Hannah's biggest fan and is constantly making things more difficult with her angsty attitude. 

*SPOILER ALERT* 

    Hannah ultimately finds out that Owen and Bailey were a part of witness protection to escape Bailey's late mother's family. Bailey's grandfather was a lawyer for a crime ring and was killed by a rival gang. Owen ran with Bailey to protect her from that kind of life. As Bailey and Hannah run around Austin, Texas, the buildup grows and the "big reveal" is a bit of a letdown. 

 

    I think if Dave had written the plot twist sooner, I would have liked the book more, but there was just too much rising action to keep the reader invested. The book should have been about 75 pages shorter and gotten to the good stuff a lot quicker. 

  Also, the ending was pretty boring, and didn't feel like it finished. Once the big secret was revealed, the story was over and we started the epilogue.

  I have a really hard time recommending this book because it took so long to get interesting. I feel like 100 pages is a bit too much and a waste of time for the reader. Once we got to the answers, I was somewhat bored with the storyline. 

Rating: 2.3/ 5 Stars