Happy SATURDAY, friends!
It’s the 22nd of the month which means it’s BOOK CLUB DAY!
Who doesn’t love chatting books over the weekend?!
Grab your coffee, cozy blanket, and settle in.
Today is BOOK CLUB #30!
If you would like to read the “rules” of Shay’s Book Club and see a complete list of every book we’ve read as a group along with my personal “star” ratings, they are all RIGHT HERE.
In this blog post and in the comment section, WE WILL BE DISCUSSING SPOILERS. If you are interested in reading this book, you might not want to read below this line. In AUGUST’S BOOK REVIEW later this month, I will give a quick recap and let you know if I recommend the book or not, so if you haven’t read it, you might want to wait until that official BOOK REVIEW because there will be no spoilers and based on that, you can decide whether or not to read the book.
Anything below this though will include spoilers as everyone commenting here has already read the book.
Ready, set, here we go!
This month’s book was…
…When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams.
Eh, boo.
You guys know this already, but it’s worth repeating…I LOVE BEATRIZ WILLIAMS’ BOOKS! In fact, in 2016, A Hundred Summers was my third favorite book of the year, and then in 2017, The Secret Life of Violet Grant was also my third favorite book of the year. In 2020, her novel Her Last Flight very nearly made the top three, and in 2021, her novel, Our Woman in Moscow was MY FAVORITE BOOK OF THE YEAR (out of 59 books!).
This book didn’t even feel like a Beatriz Williams book to me.
I haven’t love, loved all of her books, but they’ve all at least felt like “her” to me. This one was a big miss. I thought the plot was forced, I thought some of the storylines didn’t complement each other, and I thought it was pretty anticlimactic in the end. I didn’t hate it, it was just “eh” to me.
Here are a few thoughts, and then, I’m really curious to read yours!
#1: I was very intrigued just by the opening scene. Beginning the book with an NFL game is very un-Beatriz Williams to me, so that quickly got my attention. Was that storyline though really relevant/necessary/pertinent/valuable to the plot? I don’t know? At first I was intrigued by this storyline, then I kind of forgot about it, and then, at the end, I realized the author just needed some reason to “pin it” on Ben. It felt forced to me.
#2: Call me crazy, but I enjoyed the “excerpts” from The Great Snow. I could have actually had more of that content. When the book was over, I was sitting on my back steps (it was early in the morning…so not yet 163 degrees outside), and I started thinking about how perhaps I would have enjoyed an entire book just about Ramsay and Hephzibah. I don’t even love books set in the 1700s, but I was invested in their story.
#3: I liked Lucy and thought her daughter was sweet (though I could have gone without calling her Punkin), but she was very very unaware of all the things clearly going wrong in her dad’s home. Between the water, and the fire, and the man watching her from afar…she should have been a tad more guarded, no?
#4: I don’t know how else to put this, but I thought the whole Laura subplot was weird. I didn’t love her as a teenage girl, and I thought it was all strange for her to come back AFTER her brother’s wedding as a dying woman and Lucy and Ben were “her people” as she died. I just didn’t buy it and thought the whole thing was too unrealistic/odd/clunky.
#5: Was the part where she goes back to London necessary? Was any of the storyline with her mom really relevant? Again, clunky to me. I just never felt like the story was cohesive.
In the end, I was underwhelmed by the anticlimactic discovery of her dad’s body, the way they figured out that Stephen Nye was the “bad guy”. It felt rushed and honestly, not that interesting.
Sigh.
I am giving this book THREE STARS and not fewer because I was mildly entertained and if I’m being honest…because of the author. I can’t decide if I would have enjoyed it more had I not already LOVED her other books or if I would have given it an even lower rating had it been an author whose work I was unfamiliar with. I can’t decide.
Am I being too harsh?
Do you agree or disagree?
I cannot wait to read the comment section below!
Okay, so what are we going to read as we head into fall?
Next month, we are going to read…
…The Story Keeper by Kelly Rimmer.
I absolutely adore this author! Her book The Things We Cannot Say was MY FAVORITE BOOK OF 2019, A-N-D her book, The Paris Agent, was my FAVORITE BOOK OF 2023! She’s the only author that has ever received my #1 spot multiple times. I hope you’ll read her newest book with me, and we’ll discuss it on September 22nd.
Before you head off to enjoy your weekend, I’d love to know what you think about this month’s book! Please comment and share.
Have the best, best weekend, friends! Thank you for stopping by! xx
Heather D. Henderson says
You nailed everything I was thinking about this book down to calling the daughter Punkin! I would have loved a whole book on the pirate love story too. There was so much more to that storyline. Thank you for book club. I look forward to it every month.
Becky says
I rated the book about 4 stars. I agree, I loved the parts about Ramsey set in the 1700s. That could have been the whole book! I felt creeped out by Ben also. Maybe that was the point, to make the reader think there was more up with Ben than there really was.
Hallye says
Thank you for your reviews, Shay! I almost never quit a book, but by chapter 17 I made the executive decision to stop and wait for your review to tell me what I missed! I do love this author, but it all felt off. And to be fair, I was listening to the audible, which made “Punkin” and the pirate section hard to listen to. Again, thanks for sharing what I missed!
Kay says
Oh good, I’m relieved, I did not love this book! The whole pirate thing kind of threw me off but I did go in with an open mind. In the end, I agree with everything you said. It didn’t feel like the author!, the plot was all over the place and sort of unbelievable and I felt like Ben was a character written by a woman, if that makes sense? He just didn’t seem to have the depth that some of her characters in the past have had. Oh well-we tried! Looking forward to next month’s book AND Liane Moriarty’s first ever sequel comes out in just a few days-wooo hooo!
Emily D says
Oh rats- I really liked this book and also love Beatriz Williams- I liked all the story lines weaving together. The 1700s chapters were my least favorite- ha!! But they grew on me at the end. It was 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me.
Tina says
I read this earlier this summer and gave it 4 stars. I enjoyed, but I think there was almost too many storylines going on. I also was not a fan of the nickname for her daughter. I am looking forward to the next read and the recommendations from the group.
Sheila says
I was waiting for this book at the library and when I started reading it I wondered who recommended it! Glad I know now! I unfortunately could not get into it, and usually love her books. I do appreciate all your book recommendations!
Emily Firko says
I also gave it 3 stars, ugh. It was slow at times and I didn’t love the tie in of the story from the 1700’s.
Tricia Bowen says
I thought the book was entertaining, and an easy read, but agree with all of your points! I loved the 1700s love story, but thought the modern day pirate scheme was kind of wacky! I look forward to book club every month. Thanks for hosting.
Tracy says
I actually really liked this book! I did not like the Laura subplot either, and thought the basketball tournament/catching of Stephen Nye was odd but did find myself wanting to read it to see how things ended. Initially I didn’t like the Great Snow excerpts but that subplot grew on me and I’d be interested in learning more about that time. I also thought she did a good job of describing Ben throughout and kept picturing him as one of the Kelce brothers!
Nicki says
You are being generous with this one.
Liz P says
It was a definite 3 star for me. I don’t mind flipping between times, but the 1700’s storyline was hard to get into at the outset and didn’t interest me until halfway through the book. It was my first book by this author so if there are better choices let me know!
Shirley says
I highly recommend The Flower Sisters book. It is terrific!
Debbie Hibbert says
Yeah, I agree with 3 ⭐’s. Too many parts in this book that seemed off … like Ben and Lucy being “the people” to take care of Laura (or why she even came back). I also wasn’t a fan of the pumpkin nickname.
Elspeth Mizner says
I always go by your recommendations!! Can’t wait for the next one!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
Jessica says
I fully agree! I wanted so much to love it because I typically love anything this author writes….. but ehhhh so many cringy and unrealistic things combined made it tough to read and even harder to take seriously.
Sigh….. on to the next!
Vickie says
It wasn’t my fav Beatriz Williams but I did a little digging bc of the football scene and it relates to her time at Stanford as an assistant on the team so after I learned that, I liked it a little more. Felt like the second half was better than the first and liked the parallels in relationships bw the 1700 story and the modern day story (in love with someone but sacrifice that for commitments to others etc). I’d give it 3.5 (liked bringing monk Adams back, Mrs Peabody etc). Thx for the next book rec!
Crystal D says
I loved it and thought it was a super easy read. Maybe not memorable or one that will stick with me, but I enjoyed the mild suspense and interwoven plot lines. I gave it a solid 4 stars since I couldn’t recall the plot or title of the book just one week later. 🙂
Arika says
I just started A Pair of Aces. It’s a Reece book club pick and hers are often hits for me. I’m just a couple chapters in but so far it seems like it will be great. I’ll keep you posted. Maybe it would be a good one for a future book club.
Rebecca says
Beatriz is one of my favorite authors. I discovered her 10 – 12 years ago, I read all her earlier, more historical books & just loved her style so much! So, I did wait for many of the excellent historical books to come out & loved them too. I think maybe these last 3 new books have all focused more on the modern/ current day storyline, so they’re maybe not as amazing as her older books? Perhaps that’s why you haven’t enjoyed them as much? I agree it’s been different than her earlier writing, but I’ve still enjoyed them. Especially bc they do weave in previous characters & families, she does that so well!
Maybe it’s just part of a writer’s evolution to change a bit, just how you hated Elin Hilderbrand’s final few books? I love your monthly reviews & have read some of your book club books too. I think as avid readers we just have to accept that every book by a favorite author isn’t going to be the same for us as a previous work. We have to continue to support our fav authors anyway & hope they’ll continue to write books we love!💗
Mix and Match Mama says
All valid points! The books I didn’t enjoy from Hilderbrand all included ghosts…I don’t love a ghost in a chick lit. I did love The Academy though!
YOLANDA MCLEAN says
I added this book to my DNF list. I couldn’t do it! Zero stars? One star?
Laura Sotelo says
4 Stars! First half was difficult for me to get into but second half held my attention and I enjoyed reading. Love book club, thanks for choosing great books!