TW: Pedophilia, child abandonment



I went into The Best of Crimes with such high expectations. I had read the synopsis several months ago when a publicist reached out and asked me if I'd be interested in reviewing it, but had since completely forgotten what it was even supposed to be able. Turns out, I was in for a totally controversial bit of literary fiction.



Walter is a bit of a prodigy. A child genius, if you will. Before turning 20, he'd earned two doctorates and had a job in the legal big league. Within years, married with a daughter. His childhood had flashed right before his eyes, so watching his daughter and her best friend, the neighbor girl, grow up became a pleasant experience for him. But his relationship with his daughter's best friend begins to grow and blossom in a way he never expected. Which could mean trouble for him. 




This novel was surprising, to say the least. The writing was great, easy to understand, but not necessarily poetic, beautiful prose. Which is fine. I love a book that is easy to read; a book that I don't have to feel like an idiot as I read it. But here's the thing - the entire book is about a grown-ass man and his feelings for a pre-teen girl. It's creepy as hell. What's worse is his commentary. The novel is written almost solely from Walter's perspective. And he feels so proud of himself whenever he doesn't act upon his un-pure thoughts. It's sickening.






I want to compare The Best of Crimes to Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly & Wonderful Things, but it's really incomparable. AtUaWT is written in such a fashion that is so heartbreakingly beautiful. There's so much more to the story than inappropriate relationships, but that's basically the only story in Crimes. I wanted to enjoy this book, but I couldn't get behind the subject matter. I'm seeing lots of comparisons to Lolita - many saying if you enjoyed it, you'd enjoy this one. (I haven't seen or read Lolita, so I'm no help here - but it does seem to be a general consensus.) Me? I just felt gross.





Goodreads rating: ★★★☆☆

TW: Abuse, child abuse, violence, death, gore



Yikes. If I could sum up Ration in one word, that would be it. Yikes. This was an incredibly tough book to read and for more reasons than one. It was so gory and sickening, I was often sick to my stomach. This isn't necessarily a turn off. I tend to like books that are haunting and terrifying on a deep level. But the writing was not strong. In fact, I struggled to comprehend a lot of the story and found myself re-reading passages over and over again. Even though this book was just over 200 pages, it took me several days to finish it. I found myself doing anything but reading, and if I was a little nicer to myself, I likely would have placed it on my DNF shelf (which is nonexistent, because I can't make myself not finish a book I've started).



In a far away dystopian future, girls are shipped into apartments where they're used for their skin and body parts - and not in a sexual way. Men no longer exist, and the upperclass, if there's still such a thing, are using the less fortunate for their parts. No part of a girl is wasted, being used for food and skin grafts, for health concerns. When one girl is shipped out for committing murder through ordering too many rations, her closest friend must learn to survive in the apartments in a new role.




I found the epilogue to be useless. In terms of the main storyline, I'm not sure what its purpose was. It was briefly mentioned again, but had no relevance to the rest of the novel and I sincerely felt it could have been done without. That wasn't my biggest complaint though. This novel felt like it was trying so hard to be shocking and twisty, that the novel instead lost the appeal the story could have brought to the table.

The characters were walking contradictions. I couldn't quite distinguish who was "good" and who was "bad." In some writing, that can be a great thing - a beautiful conflict of personal values mixed with flaws that create a realness around each character. In this instance, it was a flaw in the writing. Characters were unreasonably horrible, then quite kind, then back to horror. It was messy and confusing, and I really had to push myself to finish reading the story. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and truly hated them all.

I'm considering the fact that the book was written as a character study on dystopian literature and the value of human morals in an apocalyptic society where we have to feed on others to survive. I haven't read The Handmaid's Tale, but I've watched the show, and it seems there was a lot of influence taken from that storyline and placed into this one. But while The Handmaid's Tale is based on realism and seems much more possible (and therefore, all the more terrifying), this novel became a more literal story about what we take from others. 







The outline of this book was incredibly interesting. It could have been impactful and maybe a twisted retelling and classic in dystopian stories, but the writing was too messy, the characters were too contradicting, and the overall execution of the storyline fell terribly flat. There was so much potential with this novel, but it all was implemented so horribly wrong.




Goodreads rating: ★☆☆☆☆

My August FitSnack box recently arrive, and I'm excited to show y'all what was inside. As of lately, there has been a good mix of old favorites and new things to try. Keep on reading to see what was in my August box, and click the graphic near the bottom to get a discount on your first month.



What was in my August box?

Libra Bar meal bar | chili lime

Luke's Organic cheese puffs | white cheddar clouds

Spudsy sweet potato puffs | bangin' bar-b-q

Conquering West jerky | all natural hickory

Superseedz gourmet pumpkin seeds | sea salt
AKA Snacks palmonds | sweet bbq

Nakd Wholefoods bar | cocoa orange

Incredipuffs | cinnamon apple pie




























Piqued your interest? Get started with a discount by clicking the picture below.





How do you snack healthy?

















As an ambassador for FitSnack, I receive a complimentary subscription each month. All opinions ar 100% my own.

TW: Domestic abuse, talks of pedophilia, violence, death, drugs



August YA Book of the Month picks were all pretty fantastic - it was hard to choose just one, but I ended up going with Hello Girls, because it sounded like such a fun, wild ride. It was described as YA novel version of Thelma & Louise (which I've surprisingly never seen, but know the general gist of).


Lucille and Winona couldn't be from more different worlds. Lucy lives with her waitress mom and drug-dealing brother in a neighborhood with her extended family. She works part-time to help her family make ends meet. Winona, on the other hand, lives in a high-end home with her weatherman father and a fortune left by her mother, who overdosed when she was young. But Winona's father isn't the friendly neighborhood weatherman he seems - he's a controlling father, and Winona's mother? She's alive. And in Vegas. So Lucy and Winona make a plan to drive cross-country to find her, but they've got to make some pit stops along the way. 


I wouldn't go into this book with any kind of expectations that this book is incredibly realistic. It's about two teenage runaways doing illegal things, so be open-minded. But this book is a fun testament to the power of female friendships, and that family doesn't always mean DNA.

This novel is a bit corny at times, and there are some problematic themes within the book. There were sensitive topics that were handled pretty nonchalantly. The characters aren't very diverse, and the situations are a bit ridiculous. But it was definitely a fun and quick read. I enjoyed the female friendship and the camaraderie. I thought the book was definitely laugh-out-loud funny at times.





I enjoyed this book, and would likely recommend it to others. It's definitely a YA book with some serious topics, such as domestic abuse and pedophilia, but it's not diverse in a lot of ways. Because of that, I felt it was lacking in some areas. Overall, it was quick-paced and funny. I'd love to see it as a tv show or movie.



Goodreads rating: ★★★★☆

TW: Harm to children, violence, death, serial killer, abduction



There's been so much talk about The Whisper Man all over the book world, and it's been nothing but good reviews and talks about how creepy this book is, so when I saw it was an August Book of the Month pick, I selected it so quickly. And I have to say I agree with the reviews that are out there on the interwebs. I can even tell you the exact page that creeped me out and made me kind of afraid to keep reading (it's page 100, if you're wondering).


After the death of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his son Jake move to a small town to start fresh. But twenty years ago in that small town, a series of young boys went missing and were later found murdered. The Whisper Man was caught and has been in prison ever since. Now it's happening again, but it can't be the same guy because he's still in prison. But something's definitely not right and Pete, who was on the Whisper Man case two decades ago, is bound and determined to figure it out.


I was so impressed with this book. After all the reviews, I expected to be terrified from page one, but it was a bit of a slow burn. Once it got creepy though, I wasn't entirely sure when the scares would creep back in, but there were definitely parts of the books that made my skin crawl.

I really appreciated the themes of fatherhood and relationships between dad and son. There were lots of parallels in different stories taking place within the novel. So while this was a creepy, skin-crawling horror/thriller, there was also some really beautiful story-telling.






I really loved this book and I truly don't think I have any complaints about it. I thought the book and story was incredible. I truly didn't see the twists and turns coming. I was shocked regularly throughout this novel and once I got to that 100-page mark, I could not put the book down. I definitely recommend this one - it's beautiful and haunting, and you may want to read it with all the lights on.




Goodreads rating: ★★★★★