Tag: family

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

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“Success is often the result of a series of failures. Try to remember that. You never learn anything from success, but failure can teach you everything about a person. Especially yourself.”
― Alice Feeney, Beautiful Ugly

Alice Feeney is one of my favorite thriller authors. She is a master of plot twists and mixing flawed characters together to create a messy story that requires atmosphere, secrets galore, and unreliable characters. Her 2025 release, Beautiful Ugly, is full of twists and turns that still have me wondering what exactly happened.

What should be the best day of Grady Green’s life ends up being his worst day. Expecting his wife home soon, Grady is anxiously awaiting news of whether or not his latest novel is a New York Times Bestseller. Calling to see where she is, Grady is stunned to hear Abby slam on the brakes, leave her car, and go completely silent. Concerned for her safety, Grady goes searching for Abby only to find her car on the cliff edge road with the headlights still on, the driver door open, and her phone sitting in the car. He combs the area looking, but Abby has disappeared.

Flash forward a year and Grady has hit rock bottom. He has lost his house, is unable to write, and struggles to sleep. His every waking moment is consumed with grief over what happened to Abby. When his agent suggests that he travel to a tiny Scottish island to focus on his writing, Grady takes her up on the offer. He is hopeful that he will be able to write while stranded on this picturesque island with no distractions. While on the ferry to the island, Grady is hit with his first inkling that something is wrong: he sees a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife. That’s impossible. Or is it? Could Abby be hiding out on this island? And if so, why hasn’t she contacted him? What is going on?

While I enjoyed Beautiful Ugly, I have to admit that this isn’t my favorite of Alice Feeney’s, but only because the ending isn’t as tidy as I would have liked. I will say that the ending completely fits with the themes of paranoia and misery that Feeney builds up throughout this novel. Readers are never quite sure who is telling the truth as the book progresses and the end will definitely leave you wondering what exactly has happened. Give this a read and then let me know what you think in the comments below!

This title is also available in large print, CD audiobook, and Playaway audiobook.

Brownstone written by Samuel Teer, illustrated by Mar Julia

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If you’re looking for a graphic novel about family and identity, I recommend Brownstone written by Samuel Teer, illustrated by Mar Julia, with color design by Ashanti Forston. This young adult graphic novel is a coming-of-age story about struggling to find your identity across multiple fronts. (This book also won the 2025 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.)

Set in 1995, Brownstone tells the story of Almudena, a fourteen-year-old living with her white mother. When her mother has the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong career goal, Almudena is sent to live with her estranged Guatemalan father for the summer. While Xavier seems excited to see her, Almudena is less than enthused. First off, there’s a language barrier: Xavier speaks almost only Spanish and Almudena knows little to no Spanish. Secondly, Almudena has never spent any time with her father. He also expects her to help fix up the old, broken-down brownstone where they are living for the summer. Not exactly how Almudena wants to spend her summer.

Almudena is thrown into this new environment with almost no support, but she has no option but to quickly adjust to her new reality. She spends her time helping Xavier and exploring his Latin American neighborhood. Each person she meets has their own heartbreaks and joys, which she soon finds herself invested in. The part that bothers her: everyone has an opinion about how she should act, talk, behave, and dress. They also have a problem with the fact that she doesn’t know where she’s from, a fact that Almudena is more than aware of herself. Spending this time with her father has put it more into focus that Almudena has no idea where she fits in.

As the summer rushes past, Almudena has more questions for her father, but time is quickly running out. Will she ever get the answer to her most important question: Where was Xavier when she was growing up? Spending time renovating his old brownstone gives them quality time together, but the other individuals she has met over the summer feel like they could become family too. Are they all meant to stay in each other’s lives? What will happen when Almudena’s mother comes back and she has to go home?

Brownstone was a refreshing read. It was sweet, yet layered and nuanced. Each character has a well thought out back story and none of them felt like token secondary characters. There are so many layers of identity struggle to this story, light yet heavy. I can’t wait to read more by this author and illustrator.

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall

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“The older she got, the less she thought she knew anyone at all.”
― Kate Alice Marshall, No One Can Know

In her 2024 novel, No One Can Know, Kate Alice Marshall discusses the ramifications of blindly trusting people, even family who should have your best interests at heart.

Fourteen years ago, Emma, Juliette, and Daphne Palmer left their family home never to return. What precipitated their departure has haunted the sisters forever: their parents were murdered in the house. After they were swept away from the house, they each faced their own issues. Emma became the prime suspect in their parents’ murders, Juliette left the younger two behind for college, and younger Daphne spent time in foster care not wanting to be reunited with her sisters. Now Emma and her husband are reeling from more news: she’s pregnant and he has lost his job. At a loss and with nowhere to turn, the two move back to Emma’s family home. It’s never been sold and is still owned by Emma and her estranged sisters. Emma’s reappearance in her hometown has brought up some secrets that some people would rather keep hidden. When she starts looking for answers, she soon finds her estranged sisters popping back into her life. As the three start working through their past, tensions rise. What happened the night their parents died? And what are they each hiding?

Told from multiple points-of-view as well as bouncing between the past and present, No One Can Know is a messy thriller that leads readers down dead end after dead end in a quest for answers. While the ending answered some of my questions, I still had more! I’m left with one big question: Do we finally know the truth? We may never know.

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

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In Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham, readers follow Claire Campbell as she wrestles with her traumatic childhood after the disappearance of her older sister. Claire’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday over twenty-two years ago. Her family was destroyed in the aftermath. Authorities quickly closed the case after Natalie’s blood was found in an older man’s car. He was soon arrested and sentenced to prison for her death. Claire has spent the two decades since trying to move on from her past. She moved away from her family, hasn’t visited her hometown since, and started working as an investigative journalist. After she is passed up for a promotion, she quits her job, deciding to freelance instead. With an empty summer looming in front of her, Claire is shocked when her father calls to summon her back home.

Claire heads back home, much to the surprise of her mother. Convinced she’ll have nothing to do while stuck in her childhood home with her mother, Claire pivots and heads to Galloway Farm, the vineyard where Natalie worked the summer she went missing. When she arrives, Claire is shocked to be offered a seasonal job picking muscadines and helping with other farm tasks. At first, Claire finds this experience relaxing and idyllic, but something seems off at Galloway Farm. As she settles into the guest house, Claire discovers an old diary hidden in the floorboards written by one of the vineyard owners. The stories written are of love and rebellion, but quickly turn bad. The more she reads, the more drawn into the past she becomes. Are their connections between the people and stories in the diary to present day? Claire is soon immersed in a world of danger and intrigue as she obsesses over the truth.

Stacy Willingham kept me on my toes the entire time I was reading this title. I was engaged from start to finish in this witty, twisty story. An eerie feeling kept me on edge and filled with tension as the story progressed. If you like isolated settings, southern thrillers, domestic suspense, and family dramas with true crime vibes, give Forget Me Not a read.

This title is also available in large print and CD audiobook.

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

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“The truth sometimes lies in what we don’t say, rather than what we say.”
― Mary Kubica, Just the Nicest Couple

If you are looking for a gripping, suspenseful thriller, look no further than author Mary Kubica. Kubica keeps me engaged from start to finish with a gripping storyline and intriguing characters. My latest audiobook, Just the Nicest Couple, had me on the edge of my seat, gasping as Kubica whipped through twists through the last page. Solid thriller read.

Affluent surgeon, Jack Hayes, has gone missing. At first, his wife Nina thinks that he is merely cooling off after a bad fight, but the longer he’s gone, the more worried she becomes. After discovering some truly concerning information, Nina reports him missing. However, Nina is concerned that the police aren’t doing enough to find him, so she investigates his disappearance herself.

Lily Scott, Nina’s friend and coworker, is there for her to lean on in her time of need. When Christian, Lily’s husband, returns home from work one day to find Nina in a concerning state, he is worried that something has happened to their unborn child. What Lily shares with him will change their lives forever. With Nina digging for clues into Jake’s disappearance, Lily and Christian will do whatever it takes to hide Lily’s dark secret as long as they can.

This title is also available in large print and CD audiobook.

She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

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“Who am I but someone others define? It’s easier to be a stereotype. It hurts when you are yourself.”
― Trang Thanh Tran, She Is a Haunting

Trang Thanh Tran’s debut novel, She is a Haunting, is a young adult gothic fantasy and mystery with ghosts, colonialism, and queer themes. Honestly I don’t know what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised by this novel with the exception of the bugs. There are SO MANY bugs in this novel that I found myself having to take a break to make sure there weren’t any crawling near me. *shiver* Let’s get into the book!

Jade Nguyen wants to go to college, but her parents’ relationship is making things hard. Her parents have been separated for the last four years. Her father left the family and went to Vietnam to start a business, leaving Jade, her mother, her younger sister, and her younger brother behind. When Jade discovers that she isn’t eligible for loans, she strikes up a deal with her father. If she spends the summer with him in Vietnam fixing up an old house that he plans to turn into a bed and breakfast, he will pay for a year of her college. Sounds like a pretty easy deal to her, but as soon as she shows up in Vietnam, everything feels off.

Jade has never quite fit in – in America she’s not American enough, while in Vietnam she’s not Vietnamese enough. After a falling out with her best friend, Jade isn’t sure if she’s straight enough anymore. In Vietnam, Jade isn’t impressed with the decaying French colonial house that her family used to work in and that her father has chosen to restore, but when she believes she can make it the five weeks to get her tuition money. Quickly though, things start falling apart. She has paralyzing bad dreams, is visited by ghosts, and is certain there are bugs crawling around her. Her father and sister don’t believe her, leaving Jade with no choice but to stage some hauntings of her own. The downside is the house isn’t a fan of her meddling and has decided to make its presence known. Jade and her family are in danger, but she isn’t sure what to do to break the hold.

Interested in this book? She is a Haunting is the January See YA Book Club pick. We will be discussing this book on Wednesday, January 7th at 6:30pm at our Eastern Avenue branch. For more information about future See YA book picks, visit our website.

See YA Book Club

Join our adult book club with a teen book twist. See why so many teen books are being turned into movies and are taking over the best seller lists.

Registration is not required. Books are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Eastern Avenue library. We meet the first Wednesday of the month at Eastern at 6:30pm. Stop by the service desk for more information.

Wednesday March 4th session will be meeting in the Story Room.

January 7 – She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

February 4 – Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter

March 4 – The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

April 1 – Looking for Smoke by KA Cobell

May 6 – If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

June 3 – Shut Up, This is Serious by Carolina Ixta

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

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“The funny thing about the internet is that it is basically a collective hallucination. If you don’t join in, it doesn’t exist.”
― Katherine Center, The Love Haters

Katherine Center writes about resilience and struggle. Her characters may go through hardship, but they learn how to enjoy moments of grace amongst the chaos. Her latest novel, The Love Haters, talks about the lengths people will go to protect the ones they love.

Katie Vaughn’s job is in danger. Her boss is on a firing binge and as one of the newest hires, Katie is looking for a way to prove her worth. When one of her coworkers, Cole, comes to her with the opportunity to go to Key West and film a profile of Tom ‘Hutch’ Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, as a recruitment video, Katie isn’t going to let the pesky fact that she doesn’t know how to swim stand in her way. Next thing she knows, she’s on her way to paradise to film Hutch and save her job.

When Katie first meets Hutch, she is shocked. He is absolutely gorgeous, but if what Cole says is true, Hutch is also a love hater. The more time Katie spends around Hutch, the harder time she has believing that Hutch is as negative as Cole says. He shows great feelings towards his rescue Great Dane and towards his aunt Rue. Katie has been burnt by love in the not-so-distant past though making her believe she may also be a love hater. With the help of her cousin, Katie details the parts of herself that she loves. As she spends more time with Hutch, the two develop a strong bond formed through swim lessons, impromptu conga lines, helicopter flights, filming sessions, and interviews. Katie is caught up from the very start in a series of lies started by Cole. Though she has multiple chances to tell the truth, she holds off, frightened by her past even though being in Key West has helped her become braver.

The Love Haters was an adorable read with some of my favorite tropes: forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine, and quirky side characters. What I loved about this book was that it wasn’t just a love story between characters, it was a story of acceptance between Katie and her body. Aunt Rue and her gal pals were some of my favorite characters, plus Hutch’s Great Dane! There is also a LOT of mentions of eating disorders and body image issues, so take that into account if you’re thinking of giving this a read.

This title is also available in large print, CD audiobook, Playaway Audiobook.

Nine Month Contract by Amy Daws

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“Well, preferring loneliness over rejection or disappointment won’t work forever. You’re hurting yourself under the guise of protection, but it makes no sense because all you’re doing is literally hurting yourself. It’s a pointless cycle. And you’re missing out on life,”
― Amy Daws, Nine Month Contract

All Wyatt has ever wanted is to be a father. Not wanting to go the traditional route, he reaches out to a surrogacy agency, but is disappointed in the candidates presented to him. When his brothers and niece get involved, he soon discovers a help-wanted ad spread all over his small mountain town advertising for a surrogate. This eventually leads the family to Trista. Trista wants to be a surrogate for her own personal reasons, but the surrogacy agency doesn’t believe she’s a viable candidate. When Wyatt’s family reaches out to her, she decides to meet and see if they are a good match. The banter between the two is off the charts from the very first meeting. When his brothers join in, it’s clear that his meddling family is going to be involved every step of this surrogacy journey.

It was a treat to watch all the relationships grow and change over the course of almost a year. While initially I wasn’t sure what I thought of Nine Month Contract, this book did have some of my favorite romance tropes: forced proximity, small town romance, grumpy x sunshine, and found family. If you have listened to Checked In!: A Davenport Public Library Podcast, then you know that I do not like pregnancy tropes in romance. A pregnancy trope is when a character’s unexpected pregnancy drives the story, usually as a surprise or accidental or secret baby plot. Not my favorite, but when I saw Nine Month Contract and that deals with surrogacy, I was intrigued. Could I handle a pregnancy trope if both characters knew it was happening? After finishing this book, I can clearly say . . . ‘I have no idea’. It was decidedly different than anything else I have ever read, but I’m still undecided. Wyatt’s family kept the story moving, in my opinion. They were hilarious, unhinged, yet incredibly sweet. Wyatt and Trista were also clearly a grumpy x sunshine situation which I adored. The banter was top notch. All in all, Nine Month Contract was a small town romance full of family drama.

Mountain Men Matchmaker series

  1. Nine Month Contract (2024)
  2. Seven Year Itch (2025)
  3. Honeymoon Phase (2025)
  4. Bad Boy Era (2026)

The oldest brother Max’s story is told in Last on the List, the fifth book in the Wait With Me series by Amy Daws. Last on the List takes place several years before the Mountain Men Matchmaker series and leads you in to that series.

You Belong Here by Sara Phoebe Miller

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You Belong Here written by Sara Phoebe Miller and illustrated by Morgan Beem is a coming of age story about Esther Rosen and her senior year of high school. Full of drama, angst, and romance galore, You Belong Here is a true-to-life glimpse of one teenager’s struggle to find out where she belongs.

Esther Rosen, Essie if you please, is more than ready to leave her hometown of Harborview. Luckily for her, it’s her last first day of high school and she can’t wait for school to finally end so she can graduate and get away from here! While it seems like the end may be far off in the future, time has a funny way of playing tricks. With her best friend off at Columbia living her best life, her brother across the country in rehab, and her mom turning every conversation into a fight, Essie is struggling to find her way. Essie should be able to turn to her boyfriend Bruno, but even he has become weirdly distant. Through all of these ups and downs, Essie knows one thing: she has a limited number of days before she will start school at NYU in the acting program of her dreams with her best friend.

It doesn’t take long before Essie’s plans start to unravel. Her best friend isn’t responding to her texts, Bruno breaks up with her, and her mom’s constant nagging about perfection ramp up her anxiety. After she bombs her audition, Essie is at a loss. She missed the audition window for the community theater group she usually works with and instead has to try out for the school play. When she’s cast opposite Christopher Sun, Essie is conflicted. While Christopher is charming and attractive, he is also the young brother of the drug dealer who got her older brother hooked on drugs and caused all her family’s problems. How can she be attracted to Christopher? Is he a rebound? Or is what she feeling for him real?

This young adult debut graphic novel was gorgeously written and drawn. The illustrator used blue watercolor tones to highlight the story, focusing on details and expression in each interaction. Even though the artwork is monochromatic, readers are easily able to see the big emotions play across each character. You Belong Here is ripe with teenage angst as Essie struggles with her family, friends, and feelings.

Visitations written and illustrated by Corey Egbert

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Inspired by true events, Visitations, written and illustrated by Corey Egbert, dives into a formative part of Corey’s childhood that starts him on a path to change his life forever. This young adult graphic novel has strong themes of religion, mental illness, and family dynamics. To me, Visitations was an insight into a young child’s upbringing in the Mormon church and how he was influenced by those around him.

Growing up, Corey was closer to his mom than his dad. His mom always made him feel safe, while he felt further away from his dad. Something happened in the family when Corey’s sister was young that caused his parents to divorce which led to visitations with his dad. He dreaded the visitations, especially as he grew older because his mother’s accusations against his dad and his dad’s side of the family became more erratic. She insisted that Corey be his sister’s protector against their father as she believed he was the devil and trying to turn them against her.

Corey’s mother relied strongly on the Lord through all of their troubles. One day, she received a message that Corey and his sister were to stop the visitations with their father. She took Corey and his sister away from their home and traveled deep into the Nevada desert. With seemingly no directions except to believe that the Heavenly Father had a plan for them, the three traveled with little food, living in their car, while running from the police. Tensions quickly grew to a breaking point. Corey was consistently visited by a flickering ghost who urged him to look outside of what his mother had been telling him for years. This graphic novel deals with heavy topics: mental illness, religion, and ever-changing family dynamics. I appreciated the author’s examination of religion and belief systems, how those are so intertwined into every aspect of life, and how hard finding the line between imagination and memory, the truth and lies can be. This was a four star read for me, but could be triggering for others.