Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

I have no finish date for this book because I didn't finish it
I can read; horror, I can read books that detail unpleasant subjects, I can read books where most of the characters are unlikeable. What I can't bother with are boring books, and Bittersweet is just that BORING. Nothing happens of any significance in the first 150 pages, which is surprising since the book is 380 pages.
Let's run down the list of things that made this book so bad.
1. A story that's been told so many times Hollywood rarely tries to do it anymore. Poor/white trash/ fish out of water girl somehow winds up at expensive East Coast college rooming with an obscenely wealthy girl whom she has nothing in common. But they becomes BFF's enough for the little Paris Hilton to invite boring drab Mabel to spend the summer with her at the family's summer compound. Who in the last 50 years named their kid Mabel?
2. Mabel wishes she was an intellectual, Mabel wishes she could read Paradise Lost by Milton, which is funny since that book is as boring as this book. Mabel salivates at the gobs of money this family has, but is so boring and unfun her roommate looks for ways to get away from her.
3. The Paris Hilton wanna be Ev/ Eve/ Genevieve is as vacant as she can be. And a slut on top of it. Not slutty enough to be interesting just a slut. The rest of the family all act as though they are inbred, maybe this was revealed later in the book, I don't know.
4. One family member is the lovable whacky eccentric, the rest are cold calculating and manipulative.

I confess I finally read some of the reviews with spoilers and can safely say that none of the plot that was revealed was enough to compel me to finish this Manhattan written crap. I honestly have no idea how this book got such rave reviews. How can nearly the first half of the book be written with nothing interesting happening? As for the narrator Mabel, if anything bad happens to her I am sure she deserves it for torturing the reader through her whining and boringness.… (mais)

I received June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore* without really knowing what to expect. I had sort of read the blurb, but forgot about it after receiving the book and finally getting to it, so I went in cold. What I got was a quite enjoyable ride.

June takes place in two time lines- the modern timeline focuses on Cassie who is living in a crumbling mansion called Two Oaks. It was once a beautiful house, but due to time, it has started to fall apart. Cassie is broke and hanging on by a thread with the house being her only real possession left. She gets a knock on the door letting her know she has just inherited millions and millions of dollars by a famous actor. The actor's daughters are contesting the will and Cassie is offered a million dollars to walk away rather than receiving the millions upon millions which will come with DNA testing and years of lawsuits.

The other timeline takes place in the same town with the same mansion, but Hollywood has come to town! June and her sister are enthralled with the Hollywood lifestyle and quickly become part of the shoot. On this shoot is Jack Montgomery a very famous actor, who June (Cassie's grandmother) has started getting attached to.

What happens when these two timelines begin to come together? What is the connection between Cassie and June and Jack?

This was a quick and fun read- a perfect "summer" novel. It moved fairly quickly and flowed quite smoothly. It was a good mix of storytelling, mystery, and murder. Nothing too deep, but simply a good read.

I really enjoyed that the house gets a narrative as well. The house will often tell of its history and its place in the story. It was a good break in the narrative and helped fill in the blanks.

As stated, this is one of those books one picks up, reads on the weekend or on the beach, and just has a good time with it. I really liked this one for the entertainment. Great storytelling.

I gave this one 4 stars.

*I wish to thank BloggingForBooks and Crown Publishing for the chance to read this book. I received it for free in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)

I was instantly taken with the blurb and couldn't wait to read this book. I have a big weakness for books with stories where the character in the future is trying to solve some great mystery from the past. Sometimes I love both stories equal, and sometimes I find one slightly better than the other.

When it came to this book I have to admit that I found Cassie's story a bit more interesting than her grandmother June's. I think that's because the characters; Cassie, Tate, Elda Nick, and Hank is way more interesting to read about than June, Lindie, and Jack. I'm not saying that the 1955s story was bad. It's more that I found myself not always that interested in what was going one between June and Jack. One would think that Jack and June would have had a lot of chemistry, she is a beautiful young woman, engaged and Jack, the handsome Hollywood star. But, I just didn't feel it. I felt that Lindie was pushing them together and that was actually a bit annoying.

However, the story in 2015 is really interesting. I loved the interactions between Cassie, Tate, Elda Nick and Hank and Cassie's quest to find out more about Jack and June. And, Cassie and Nick was without doubt much more interesting to read about than Jack and June.

In the end, I have to say that the book was good, despite my lack of passion for the 1955s story. I loved the old house that Cassie had inherited, the feeling that it was alive. Some people made a bigger impression on me than other did and I liked that the story took turns that I didn't expect. Especially towards the end of the book.

Thanks to Crown Publishing and TLC Blog Tours for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!… (mais)