MRS. EVERYTHING by Jennifer Weiner

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Mrs. Everything follows the lives of two sisters from childhood and throughout their lives, from the1950s until present day.  The older one, Jo is a rebel who is convinced her mother dislikes her and that she is inferior in some way.

...the worst was true. Something was wrong with her. She was broken, she was twisted, she was unnatural, like her mother had said. She would never be fixed or made right.

In contrast, Bethie is the perfect daughter who is more traditional yet also suffers from feelings of inferiority.

...and sometimes—a lot of the time—it felt like her skin no longer fit her, and her body was only a collection of flaws to be fixed or at least disguised, an endless source of despair.

When the two sisters grow up, they switch roles — Jo lives a traditional life whereas Bethie is a free spirit who gets swept up in the counterculture. The story is essentially about each of the two sisters coming of age and then seeking their place in the world and their purpose. They both want to live fulfilled lives and find happiness. There is also a third main character that I would describe as their relationship, which would include the role they play in each other’s life. 

Jo and Bethie are both likable and relatable - there are aspects of each that will certainly resonate with you. We witness their trials and tribulations as well as the key pivotal moments in their lives that ultimately define them. Weiner explores the different choices that women have as times change — a career, a stay-at-home mom, trying to have it all (working and being a mother), etc. We also witness mother-daughter relationships as well as relationships between sisters over the generations.

Besides highly relatable characters, Mrs. Everything includes many topical issues such as sexual abuse by a man in position of authority, LGBTQ, rape, racism, eating disorders, drug abuse as well as historical topics like woman’s lib, civil rights and the counterculture in the 1960s-‘70s.

What was the point of watching her weight now? Once, she’d thought beauty was power, but now she could see that it was just trouble. A pretty face, a cute figure, a smile, all of those were weak spots. They were ways in, and Bethie wanted to be armored, defended, unbreakable.

...she wondered whether they would ever not try to have it all and do it all and do all of it flawlessly. Would the day ever come when simply doing your best would be enough? Her generation hadn’t managed it, and neither had her daughters.

This is the first book I’ve read by Jennifer Weiner and I really enjoyed her writing style. I loved her metaphors/similes and found them particularly clever. I will definitely read more of her work.

She hates me, Jo would think, but even that didn’t hurt so much, because her father loved her, and she could carry his love, like a glowing coal in the center of her chest, feeling its warmth even in the face of her mother’s fury.

            

Her mom reminded her of a rubber band that had been snapped so many times until all of its resilience was used up, and it just hung there, stretched out and useless and limp.

My problem is that a lot of things taste as good as thin feels.

It was as if Jo had bought a ticket for a trip Bethie couldn’t take; like she was already on her way to a country where Bethie would never become a citizen, where she would always speak the language with an accent. Bethie would possibly be able to visit, but she’d always have to leave, to go back to her own place, to stand at the border and wave and mouth I love you across the divide.

VERITY by Colleen Hoover

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Verity is such a fun and entertaining book! Yes it’s creepy and disturbing but it’s also a book you won’t be able to put down.  The twists and turns are endless and the ending was a big surprise. You cannot help wondering what exactly is the truth. Even after finishing this book, you may still not know what to believe.

This book is about flawed people who are Chronics:

... she said we were Chronics. Prone to chronic tragedy. One terrible thing after another.

Some families are lucky enough to never experience a single tragedy. But then there are those families that seem to have tragedies waiting on the back burner. What can go wrong, goes wrong. And then gets worse.

How can you not be pulled in, like I was, by the first sentence?

I hear the crack of his skull before the spattering of blood reaches me.

Hoover teases you along the way, spilling a detail here or there without telling you how or why it happened. But you find out later in the course of the storytelling. She sets up so many juicy plot lines which all become somewhat intertwined.  At times, you cannot help but feel totally disgusted and shocked. You will say, as I did,  “How can a mother behave that way towards her children?” You won’t want to believe it but you will. Then you will become even more disgusted after reading the next chapter! Verity is a helluva ride! This was my first book by Colleen Hoover and it won’t be my last. 

THE LOVELIEST CHOCOLATE SHOP IN PARIS by Jenny Colgan

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The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris is delightful and engaging. It transported me to France with its vivid portrayal of the City of Lights and had me craving chocolate with such rich descriptions that I could almost taste it!  

We first meet our protagonist, thirty-one year old Anna at the chocolate factory, where she has just had a serious accident. The first sentence drew me right in and I was hooked.

The really weird thing about it was that although I knew instantly that something was wrong—very, very wrong, something sharp, something very serious, an insult to my entire body—I couldn’t stop laughing.

Anna is taken to the hospital where she rooms with Claire, her high school French teacher. Anna never cared much about school but she is now a captive audience and Claire insists she reacquaint herself with the language under her tutelage. After several weeks in the hospital, Claire arranges for Anna to go to Paris to apprentice at a famous chocolate shop owned by an old friend. Then the story really takes off as we watch Anna learn her way around Paris, settle into the apartment she shares with Sami, a flamboyant man who works at the Paris Opera in the costume department, learn about making gourmet chocolate and become acquainted with Thierry, the owner of Le Chapeau Chocolat.  

Throughout the book there is a parallel narrative contained in short and separate sections, of Claire at seventeen first going to Paris as an au pair and her experience there, especially meeting Thierry and the development of their relationship. So for example, as Anna learns about the opportunity to work at the chocolate shop, we also read, in the next section, about Claire’s au pair position with her mother’s pen pal in Paris. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of these two narratives and felt that I was getting a second story while catching up on a back story.

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris is charming and heartwarming with a tiny bit of sadness. It explores the fish out of water concept of living in a foreign country as well as first loves and second chances. The characters are likable and have been well developed. The story may be a tad predictable at times but it did not detract from my enjoyment. It’s a light and quick read that would be perfect as a beach read or an escape from a snowstorm.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an advance ready copy in exchange for my honest opinion.