Justice Reads & Reviews

Living Lies by Natalie Walters Published by Revell Synopsis: In the little town of Walton, Georgia, everybody knows your name--but no one knows your secret. At least that's what Lane Kent is counting on when she returns to her hometown with her five-year-old son. Dangerously depressed after the death of her husband, Lane is looking for hope. What she finds instead is a dead body. Lane must work with Walton's newest deputy, Charlie Lynch, to uncover the truth behind the murder. But when that truth hits too close to home, she'll have to decide if saving the life of another is worth the cost of revealing her darkest secret. Debut novelist Natalie Walters pulls you to the edge of your seat on the first page and keeps you there until the last in this riveting story that will have you believing no one is defined by their past. My Take: Before I even talk about what’s inside of Living Lies, can I just say how much I appreciate the cover?  The dark greens a...

The Boy Next Story  by Tiffany Schmidt Synopsis: The second book in a series where your favorite literary characters come to life, inspired by the timeless classic, Little Women! There’s no one better than the boy next door. At least not according to Aurora Campbell, fourteen, who has been in love with Tobias May since their very first sandbox kiss. The problem is, he’s in love with her older sister, Merrilee. And Merri is already dating one of his best friends. Rory is learning all about pining as her class reads The Great Gatsby, a book she doesn’t find “great” at all. Also not great—her GPA, something she needs to fix, quickly, if she’d like to apply for the chance to spend a week studying art with her hero in New York City over winter break. But when Ms. Gregoire assigns her to read Little Women for extra credit, Rory discovers more than she expected—both about herself and Toby. Maybe she wasn’t in love with the boy next door. . . but the boy next story. ...

Where the Crawdads Sing By: Delia Owens I haven’t read many coming of age novels, but Where the Crawdads Sing was the pick for our book club for May and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.   Your heart goes out to the main character Kya right from the beginning.   Her family in disarray, her living conditions also completely pitiful but this story doesn’t focus on that.   Rather it talks about resilience.   The need to keep going to live, to thrive.   A young girl growing into adult hood and not by the help of her mother or sisters or aunts, but by nature.   You find everything from gulls to lightening bugs, fishing and digging for mussels.   The reader truly feels enveloped by the marsh and its inhabitants throughout this story.   Kya goes on one emotional ride after the other and you can’t help but stay with her through her journeys of isolation.   How can one young person be so isolated but still have so much lo...