Something She's Not Telling Us by Darcey BellMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Charlotte is married to a financially stable gorgeous husband, has a 6 year old daughter that she is very overprotective of, and a flourishing flower business. She also has a complicated relationship with her mother and a brother who makes horrible choices when it comes to dating. In fact, his newest girlfriend, Ruth, has just taken Charlotte's daughter, Daisy, without permission.
The book starts on the day that Ruth takes Daisy and then we go back to when Rocco brought Ruth to meet Charlotte and her family. The rest of the book is a dual POV between Charlotte and Ruth leading up to the day Ruth takes Daisy. And they both have secrets to hide.
I felt like telling the story in 2 POVs was successful, but I really just wanted to smack the characters a few times each. No one in the story was really likable except for Daisy. Charlotte was self important, Ruth was manic and a liar, and Rocco was easily manipulated and only saw what he wanted to. Even Charlotte's husband was clueless and just let things happen without trying to help. And then it just seemed to end without consequences for anyone and that was a bit of a letdown.
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My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Matriarch Helen has died. Helen's daughter, Deborah, and grandchildren are basically estranged from each other and have to come together to sit Shiva and divide up Helen's possessions. Helen has left her "yellow diamond brooch" to Beck who discovers that it is a long lost 137 carat diamond. Deborah, Beck, Ashley, and Jake then have to investigate Helen's life to determine if she was the rightful owner to the diamond to begin with.
The family dynamics are messy and each of the 4 remaining members have messy lives that they are trying to fix and keep the other family members in the dark about. There are a lot of hurt feelings and fighting between the family members. And a good amount of grudges for past wrongs.
I enjoyed this book until the end. I wish it had ended differently. I ended up caring about most of the characters and felt a little deflated feeling like they didn't get what they deserved. The family was brought together by the diamond and worked together to try and find the history that Helen never shared with them. This was the part that I enjoyed hearing. The dreams of each family member. Feeling betrayed by Helen keeping the secrets and changing certain facts to fit the narrative that she wanted to be known. But also hearing how they got to the place that they were with the grudges and family history.
I realize that in real life, not everything ends up clean and fresh and with everyone getting what they deserve, but I feel like in novels that is what is expected. Although, it also shows that some people never change and that is a bit of a disappointment.
The family dynamics are messy and each of the 4 remaining members have messy lives that they are trying to fix and keep the other family members in the dark about. There are a lot of hurt feelings and fighting between the family members. And a good amount of grudges for past wrongs.
I enjoyed this book until the end. I wish it had ended differently. I ended up caring about most of the characters and felt a little deflated feeling like they didn't get what they deserved. The family was brought together by the diamond and worked together to try and find the history that Helen never shared with them. This was the part that I enjoyed hearing. The dreams of each family member. Feeling betrayed by Helen keeping the secrets and changing certain facts to fit the narrative that she wanted to be known. But also hearing how they got to the place that they were with the grudges and family history.
I realize that in real life, not everything ends up clean and fresh and with everyone getting what they deserve, but I feel like in novels that is what is expected. Although, it also shows that some people never change and that is a bit of a disappointment.
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