Dakota Diva Book Reviews


  • Let Me Lie  by Clare Mackintosh
    FICTION , MYSTERY , ADVANCE READING COPY , RECOMMENDED FOR BOOK CLUBS / January 16, 2018

    Anne is a young mother who has lived through the suicide of both her parents. Then she receives a note making her think it wasn't suicide at all. Were her parents really murdered? This book has many twists and turns, great secondary characters, and a plot that picks up speed as it goes, making it hard to put down. My only complaint is a bit of a glum final wrap up for the characters. Otherwise thi....


  • The Rosie Project  by Graeme Simsion
    FICTION / November 27, 2017

    I loved this book.  It's a quirky story of Don, a man somewhere on the autism spectrum, and Rosie, a somewhat free spirit of a woman, and how they fall in love. I read it in one day, although at only 292 pages that might not be saying too much. I am going to read the sequel, which does say something, at least to me.


  • The Deal of a Lifetime  by Fredrik Backman
    FICTION / November 12, 2017

    I read this because a friend loaned it to me and it looked like it might be a meaningful Christmas story. I found it to be bittersweet, and to me, more like an episode of "The Twilight Zone" than "It's a Wonderful life."  Maybe I am missing the point, and I might be in the minority, but I found it a bit odd. The author could have taken another turn with it, made it a bit longer, and made it more h....


  • Sleeping Beauties  by Stephen King and Owen King
    FICTION / October 25, 2017

    When I picked up Sleeping Beauties and held it in my hand, I wondered "Am I going to finish this?" (It is 700 pages). Well, it took me two weeks, but I must stay, I never felt like I wouldn't finish. The story revolves around an idea of a world without men. Would it be better? How would it even happen? What would happen to the men? Or to the women? In Sleeping Beauties, it starts when all the wome....


  • Tulip Fever  by Deborah Moggach
    FICTION , HISTORICAL FICTION / October 13, 2017

    I just finished Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach. It came to my attention a while ago, and then I saw it had been made into a movie. I decided I had to read it. For those who like a quick, easy read, this might be for you. The format of the book is one that switched POV with each new chapter, but I found I could follow along without problem. The characters are well formed. The time period, circa 164....


  • I Let You Go  by Clare Mackintosh
    FICTION , WOMEN'S FICTION / August 27, 2017

    I Let You Go is a novel that I have mixed feelings about. The writing is excellent and the characters thoughts and dialogue are realistic and convincing. What I question is some of the characters motives, actions, and reliability. The novel starts with a Prologue where the reader witnesses a child dying in a hit and run accident. Then Part One begins with main character Jenna living, if you can ca....


  • The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend  by Katarina Bivald
    FICTION / August 17, 2017

    Do you enjoy cute, funny, and somewhat quirky novels? Then this one's for you. In the novel The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend we find Sara traveling from Sweden to stay with her American pen-pal Amy, only to arrive to the news that the woman is dead. Wow, what an opening to a book! The people of Broken Wheel want Sara to stay, as that is what Amy would have wanted, so she does. The format of t....


  • Before I Go to Sleep  by S. J. Watson
    FICTION , MYSTERY / July 31, 2017

    As I read the first few chapters of Before I Go to Sleep I began to get the impression that for me, this felt like an old school horror story, or as if the classic TV show the Twilight Zone had been transfered to print. The story is one of Christine Lucas, a woman with amnesia, and Ben, her husband, and finally Dr. Nash, who is secretly helping Christine, even as he studies her case. I was drawn i....


  • The Play of Death  by Oliver Potzsch
    FICTION / July 28, 2017

    Have you ever liked the characters in a book more than the plot? Don't get me wrong, The Play of Death has a lot going on, many twists and turns, but I just love the characters so much. Jakob Kusil, a big, scary, hulk of a man, is the town hangman and executioner. Magdalena is his oldest daughter. Simon, a doctor of sorts, fell in love with her back at the series beginning and had to get permissio....


  • The Forgetting Time  by Sharon Guskin
    FICTION / July 26, 2017

    The Forgetting Time is the story of Noah, a troubled child, and Janie, his single mother, who is trying to deal with him. One of his most extreme behaviors is his refusal to bathe. But in addition to this odd behavior, Noah seems to know things he shouldn't know. And he constantly asks for his "real" mother. This is the set up for a voyage of discovery that leads Janie to suspect Noah has memories....