Saturday, July 12, 2025

Book Review | Dear Jacob: A Mother's Journey of Hope


It feels weird to rate a book like this, knowing the depths of both love and despair that has gone into the Wetterling family's journey since Jacob was stolen from them on October 22nd, 1989, so I am not going to.

This won't really be a review either, because how do you review something so traumatic that happened to someone else, that traumatized an entire state as a result?

In loving and excrutiating detail, Patty Wetterling shares the entire story of her family's nightmare, from the horrifying beginning to the heart-shattering end.

That fall day in 1989 was like any other. Patty and Jerry were going to a gathering while the kids stayed home. The boys were restless and wanted to go rent a video from a nearby gas station, so they called to ask permission. On the way back, a man came out of the darkness, took eleven year old Jacob at gun point, and managed to get away with his crime for 27 years - despite having initially been a person of interest.

Finally, finally, on September 2nd, 2016, Jacob's remains were recovered and he was brought home.

Patty shares so much, detailing those first frenzied days and weeks of the search, at one point even being told Jacob was most likely dead but they would find him. She recounts how the family struggled in their new reality and each dealt with it in different ways.

As the months turned to years, Patty spent that time working tirelessly to lobby for a national sex offender registry and in 1994 Congress passed the Jaob Wetterling Act to establish it. Patty had become an advocate for missing children, working with organizations to train others, and to bring together information in an organized way that could be accessible across the country. In the years when no new information was coming in, Patty was determined to help other families find their loved ones, and worked to help protect, search for, and save missing and exploited children.

In 2013 two others became instrumental in getting answers for the Wetterlings. A local blogger named Joy Baker had been in contact with a young man named Jared Scheierl, who came forward with his story of being kidnapped from a nearby town and sexually assaulted in the same year Jacob disappeared. In turn they would find several cases of young boys who had been kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and then released by a monster whose name I won't even type. Yet there was no police follow-up in any of the cases, and he was free to go on hurting children.

At first authorities and even Patty thought it could not have been the same man - he always let his victims go. But as they continued looking into the evidence and patterns, it became clear who the culprit was. And on that September day, he lead investigators to the field where he'd buried Jacob almost three decades earlier.

My entire childhood changed the night Jacob went missing. I was five at the time but even at that age, I understood something was now fundamentally different - forever. We could no longer just run across the neighbor's lawn to our friends' homes two or three houses away. Parents had eyes on us at all times, never more than a few feet away, always looking for danger. It was like the entire state of Minnesota had decided in an instant that children were never to be alone ever again.

And truly, it is why I hold Eleanor so close, even as she pushes back against boundaries at twelve. The thought of letting her go outside by herself to ride her bike or hover board or scooter makes me sick. I can not take my eyes off of her because I learned at a very young age what can happen if you do, and that core memory has pushed its way down so deeply into my bones, my very being. Even at the water park the other day, I could not let myself relax and enjoy my book while she played with new friends. Every ten seconds I was looking around, almost frantic until each time I would find her, blissfully unaware of my panic as she splashed and swam.

It's why I always have to make sure she enters the school doors before I drive away. Why I've taught her to yell, "MOM!" or "FIRE!" if she is in danger, because just yelling for help is not enough. Why I've endlessly drilled into her head, if something happens, DO NOT get taken to a second location, fight like hell with everything you have. Fight dirty, nothing is off limits - gouge the eyes, go for the kneecaps from the side, kicks to the groin repeatedly, over and over, do not stop fighting. From a young age, if anyone touched her inappropriately, to scream as loud as she could, "Stop touching me! Get away from me!" And I still feel like it is not enough to keep her safe.

I can not fathom the pain of losing a child at all, let alone in such a cruel way, and to just NOT KNOW for so long. Up until the end, until the man finally confessed, Patty held onto hope that Jacob was alive - even when logic dictated otherwise. Jaycee Dugard had come home, so had Elizabeth Smart, and the three young women who had been kidnapped in Cleveland and held captive for years, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight.

This was a gut-wrenching read and I sobbed through the last few chapters, when the end was finally in sight and we would know once and for all what happened to Jacob. In reality I knew most of it already from news reports, but hearing it from Patty herself was heartbreaking all over again. To explain the information her family received, finally knowing everything that had happened to him, how he'd asked to go home, how he was cold and scared and crying, was overwhelming. Patty did not have to share these most personal moments, but she chose to and I think part of the reason why is because so many felt like Jacob was ours, too. He was our brother or our friend, and even though it was this hugely awful thing, we would bear it together.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | No One Can Know


I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kate Alice Marshall is a rare author who writes both YA and Adult really, really well. It's a tough thing to do, but she's phenomenal and I will read everything she ever writes. This is her second Adult novel, and I absolutely devoured her first, What Lies in the Woods. While that novel is still my favorite, this one was an excellent follow-up.

Fourteen years ago, sisters Juliette, Emma, and Daphne were forced to leave home. Their parents were brutally murdered in said home, so Juliette went off to college while Emma and Daphnew went into foster care. Emma has not seen or spoken to either of her sisters since then, and none of them have talked about what happened that night, or what they saw - even as Emma became the prime suspect in the investigation.

In the present, Emma and her husband must relocate after he loses his job and she finds out she is pregnant. Since all three sisters share ownership of the house, one of them can't just sell it on their own, but any of them can live there.

So, that's exactly what Emma has to do when there are no other options for her and her new little family.

Emma has never talked to anyone about that night, not even her husband. When she finally gives him the gist of it, he is shocked to say the least. But Emma being back home has stirred up some trouble - people in town still talk, convinced she is guilty. The case is still open, so the police are eager to finally have another chance to get Emma to confess. And best/worst of all, Emma's reappearance at home brings Juliette and Daphne back as well.

The author is highly skilled in the area of developing and maintaining complex relationships among her characters and she does an exceptional job with these three very different sisters. Juliette was the good one, always quick to follow the rules and do as her parents asked. Emma was the rebellious one, Juliette's complete opposite. The baby, Daphne, was something else altogether - content to hide in plain sight, observing all that goes on around her, perhaps a bit psychotic?

All three were somehow involved that night, though if that involvement equals murder, the author is quick to provide all kinds of clues and twists to keep readers on their toes.

They are bound together forever not just because they are family, but because of what happened that night. They continue to keep secrets from each other and Emma has to wonder just what either sister is not telling her. Yet it was Emma who found her sisters standing over their parents bodies, Juliette shivering and soaked with water, Daphne covered in blood.

And it was Emma who took charge immediately, constructing a timeline that would ensure all were accounted for at all times, that would protect them from being implicated.

This time around though, Emma can only focus on her unborn baby, and will do whatever she must to protect her child - even if it means no longer covering for one of her sisters.

This one truly had be hooked from beginning to end. Watching the dynamic between the sisters play out in both past and present points of view ensured that one would not easily guess the identity of the killer. I'm usually pretty good at that, but this one got me, for sure.

On the note of the timelines and points of view - this sounds like it could be overwhelming, but it is a strength of the author to give her characters unique and distinct personalities and voices. I did not have to constantly go back to the start of a chapter to see who was speaking.

All three were so frustrating at times because it was clear that everyone was hiding something, but just how those secrets fit with the murders was revealed slowly, peeling back layer by layer. But given the fact that these girls endured serious trauma in their formative years, it does make sense that they're all kind of not quite normal. First they lost their parents, then they lost each other.

I can happily say that I was left guessing for quite a long time as to what actually happened that night. Marshall is an incredibly gifted writer who gives possibilities and takes them away, all while leaving plenty to mull over in the mean time. I suspected pretty much every single character at one point or another.

Highly recommended.

Stacking the Shelves #341

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Reading Reality. It is a chance to showcase all the goodies you've collected throughout the week, whether they're bought on-line or in-store, an ARC or a final copy, borrowed from a friend or the library, physical or digital, etc.

I've added a section to indicate if a book is from my TBR. Maybe that will shame me into focusing on the TBR because so far nothing else has worked 🤣

Library Treasures
(From the TBR)

Happy Reading!
Sarah

Friday, July 11, 2025

NetGalley ARC | Suddenly a Murder


I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A locked room mystery (okay, a locked room island) with a 1920s flair is pretty much my favorite thing and this one did not disappoint.

To celebrate graduating from high school, best friends Izzy and Kassidy are joined by five friends on an island getaway. Their destination is Ashwood Manor, where they will dress up in glamorous 20s digs and party like it's (still the rich months of) 1929. Anything not available in the 1920s is out of bounds, meaning of course, no cell phones.

We have Izzy, whose family is not wealthy. She's a scholarship kid who attends their wealthy private school at reduced cost since her mom is a teacher there.

Kassidy planned the entire event, a week-long celebration where she may or may not have intended to murder someone.

Blaine, the victim and Kassidy's boyfriend, not so great since he can't stop cheating on her - and perhaps one or two guests are those he cheated with.

The group is rounded out with Chloe, Ellison, Fergus and Marlowe. Each have various degrees of connection to Kassidy, but to say much else would spoil some important plot points.

It's all fun and games - except it's not. There are little spots of tension building up between various characters, that finally boil over when Blaine is murdered and we quickly find there are plenty of reasons that any of the guests would have wanted him dead. Everyone is a suspect and as the detectives arrive, their number one is Izzy - because she's the one who brought the knife.

When a storm rolls through there's no way to leave the island, so the six suspects are interrogated and the detectives can see that everyone is lying. The story then proceeds over several days as they are trapped with a murderer and have to figure out who the culprit is.

I always try to be a little more lenient when it comes to YA thrillers, because teenagers are dumb. It's not meant to be an insult, they just are. Their brains are not fully developed yet. But the one thing that did bug me is that you have six incredibly wealthy kids, plus Izzy. Not a single one asked for their lawyer, and just agreed to be interviewed? There's just no way.

One of the strong points of the novel is the mini-conflicts between various characters. It really helped sell the fact that this group is actually a lot closer than it would appear on the surface. Most of the teens have known each other nearly all their lives - so there's plenty of secrets, anger, betrayals, and more to parse through. But in turn, that just complicates everything for the detectives because everyone had a motive and opportunity.

While the novel is not perfect, it is a fantastic debut. I still went with five stars just because it was so much fun, and contained so many elements that I love about YA mysteries and thrillers.

Highly, highly recommended.

Thursday, July 10, 2025

NetGalley ARC | Last Girl Breathing


I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eight years ago the rain started, and wouldn't stop. Water levels rose and the dam broke. Families were caught in the flood and several lives were lost. Among those was Lucy's little brother. While she was able to help save many, Clay was not one of them, and his body was never recovered. Despite having just been a child herself, this is a heavy burden Lucy continues to carry.

Slowly but surely the town rebuilt what had been destroyed and they tried to move on, though this singular event shaped so many of the characters' lives from that point on. Lucy and her friends came of age, bound together by the trauma of losing so many.

Fast forward to the present day and Lucy is about to graduate from high school. She's also looking forward to competing at the Olympics in the air rifle competition. But then her stepbrother Martin goes missing and the search leads to the same area of land where Clay died nearly a decade earlier.

Everyone has secrets, including Lucy. She knows what her stepbrother was up to the day he vanished, but she isn't sure who she can trust with that information. It turns out Martin was asking questions about the dam and why it broke, questions someone didn't want anyone to know the answers to.

And then the search for Martin turns into a murder investigation, though he is only the first victim of several. All clues start pointing toward Lucy's ex-boyfriend, Neil. She is sure he isn't responsible, and is determined to find the real killer. Even so, Neil is arrested and Lucy knows she does not have much time to prove he is innocent.

This story was immensely engaging and despite me having read so many in this genre, there were times where I suspected nearly every single character in the book; everyone looked guilty in one way or another. The author does a fantastic job of creating fully fleshed-out characters, distinct despite a somewhat larger cast to keep track of, and I did not feel overwhelmed trying to remember who was connected to who, and how.

This is a well-written, emotionally-charged novel. The author weaves a fantastic story with plenty of twists and turns, a little misdirection, and a lot of trauma. It's impossible not to be pulled into this little corner of the world in rural Kentucky. Lucy is compelling main character, one who is easy to root for as she tries to understand what is happening to this place she loves so much.

Highly recommended.

Publicist/Marketing Gift via NetGalley | The Heiress


I received a free digital ARC from the publicist/marketing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐

I absolutely LOVED Reckless Girls. The Villa was great. The Wife Upstairs was okay, but not quite on par with the other two for me. The same goes for The Heiress; it is just not Hawkins' strongest book, to me. There were some interesting twists but I figured out who Jules was pretty quickly, having read Hawkins' other novels, and many in this genre in general.

To sum it up in one sentence: unlikeable rich people doing unlikeable rich people shit.

Meaning - lots of secrets and lies and backstabbing to get their hands on the family fortune.

Ruby McTavish Woodward Miller Kenmore was the richest woman in North Carolina when she died. Her life was practically out of a movie - kidnapped as a young girl, a widow many times over (to the point the townspeople started calling her Mrs. Killmore), a beautiful family estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and ruling over the tiny, nearby town of Tavistock. With her death, the property and fortune went to her adopted son, Camden, leaving the rest of the family with nothing except the agreement that they can live in the sprawling home.

Cam, however, wants nothing to do with the money or any of his remaining family and we quickly find out why. He's made a life for himself over halfway across the country in Colorado, is married to a woman named Jules, and spends his days as an English teacher.

Unfortunately for Cam, his uncle's death leads to him being summoned back home to Ashby House, the elegant, breathtaking home where he was raised. Jules is enthralled immediately and is determined to make sure Cam claims every last cent of his fortune.

The story is told in three perspectives: Cam, Jules, and Ruby (via letters she wrote before she passed). There is also some mixed media, which I am always on the fence about. Here the author chose to tell parts of the story through magazine and newspaper articles related to the family and I would say it worked for the most part.

Given the set-up, I was hoping for something at least a little gothic-y, only because the family home is so central to the story and Cam being called back to Ashby was the starting point of the story. I love when the atmosphere makes the house almost a character in itself, but that did not happen here. I also don't think it was the author's intention anyway, as it's not gothic-y at all. That's just my personal preference.

As the truth is slowly revealed through Ruby's letters, there seem to be more questions than answers. More questions arise about Ruby's childhood, and the kidnapping that made her so famous. Then, there are the ever-present four dead husbands - surely all four could not have ben accidents or natural causes? Then there is the question of Camden himself. Why did Ruby choose to adopt him, after all was said and done? Ruby's relatives certainly see him as an obstacle. They want that fortune and some would do anything to get it.

As far as this type of mystery/thriller goes, it's not bad. It's just the weakest of all Hawkins' work, I feel like. The story was suspenseful even when I had things sort of worked out, because it's always fun to see how wrong or right you are. I just did not feel nearly as wrapped up in this one as I did Reckless Girls or The Villa.

Even so, I read it in a few hours, because I do like this author's work and will continue to read future her books.

Recommended.

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Book Review | Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music


Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This surprisingly slim volume packs in a ton of information for Swifties and music fans in general. Rob Sheffield is one of the great music journalists of our time and is 100% a Swiftie. Those who love Taylor will enjoy the many Easter Eggs and jokes he drops along the way, as well as the whole catalog of knowledge he possesses, and music fans will enjoy his professionalism for this deep-dive into one of the greatest pop icons of all time.

Sheffield has been there from the very beginning, back when Taylor was just another young girl with her guitar and a dream, landing her first record deal in Nashville. He is Taylor's preferred journalist and he's had much more contact with her throughout her career than any other music journalist, period. He knows her work inside and out, and that knowledge is on full display here. With his unique perspective, he is able to chronicle Taylor's career and connect with fans in ways other journalists only dream of.

Taylor is at once both one of the most loved icons of all time, as well as the most heavily criticized. For the most die-hard fo fans, she can do no wrong. For the biggest haters, she can do no right. It's a battle that I don't think anyone is particularly intersted in winning, and that's fine. Like it or not, what Taylor has done for pop music, and music in general, will echo for generations to come.

One of my most favorite things Sheffield does is rank every single Taylor song, currently sitting at 274 entries. He updates the list with each new album and I highly recommend Swifties check it out if you haven't already. While I wildly disagree with some of his rankings, I love seeing what songs other Swifties love and hate. It's crazy how ten randon fans could come up with ten wildly different lists, but that's due in part to the many genres of music Taylor dabbles in - from country, to pop country, to pure synth pop, indie, back to pop, and more. She does it all.

While Swifties will catch many inside jokes and Easter Eggs, that should not dissuade a casual fan from picking this one up. It is a fantastic look at everything that makes Taylor, Taylor. He gets to the heart of the albums and eras, writes of specific songs and what they've meant to him at various stages of his life, and so much more.

Taylor has inspired two generations of young girls now (Gen Z and Gen Alpha) to pick up their pens (glitter gel, quill, and/or fountain - the three ways Taylor has categorized her own music) and guitars and write their own songs. When Eleanor had to stop dancing in the fall of 2023, she had been messing around with a hand-me-down accoustic from one of our cousins. Within a couple weeks, she was at a music school for guitar lessons, determined to learn every single Taylor song ("Our Song" was the first one and she nailed it within just a couple lessons). She's since expanded to take vocal lessons and a performance class, as well as recently adding drum lessons. I am so, so thankful to Taylor for inspiring this in her. Even as Eleanor discovers new artists that she loves even more, Taylor is where it all started.

Though it is obvious that Sheffield loves Taylor, he does not shy away from the times where she has made some serious errors in judgment, nor does he overlook her flaws. But, she's human just like the rest of us. Those issues along the way make her even more relatable, just as her songs do.

This book was not written simply to make a buck off of Taylor's name. In the end, this volume is a love letter - to Taylor, to Swifties, and to music.

Highly, highly recommended.

Monday, July 7, 2025

Tackling the TBR | Week 25 | Jul 1 - Jul 7, 2025

Here we go!

This is year SIX of Tackling the TBR. When I started this mess  I was well over 5,000 books on the TBR, so to be where I am now is pretty incredible.

I will post on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and last day of the month.

Previous Week's TBR Total: 1,720

On My 'Currently Reading' Shelf
(This does not mean I am reading all of these at once. As soon as I get a book from the library, NetGalley, a publisher/author/marketer, or - for not much longer - Prime, I put in on my 'Currently Reading' shelf. Yes, I know I have a problem. No, I don't want to do anything about it.)



Books Read



Books DNFed: 0


Books Added to TBR: 0


Books Removed from TBR: 28

Duplicates Removed: 

New TBR Total: 1,691

Happy Reading!
Sarah