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The “second chance” trope always stirs debate—sometimes it's romantic, sometimes redemptive… sometimes a hot mess. 😅

I just read Shell Games and let’s just say: second chances aren’t always what they seem.

What’s a second chance story that worked for you (drop the rec in the comments)—or one that totally flopped? 👇

#BookTropes #SecondChanceTrope #BookDiscussion #ShellGames #ReadersOfInstagram #BookishThoughts

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5. Kate is 70, rich, an

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5. Kate is 70, rich, and fabulous—and marrying her teenage sweetheart. Awww❤️, you might say. But on the wedding night, she calls the cops on him, claiming he confessed to a serious crime. He says she imagined it. Her son-in-law says she has dementia. The FBI says he’s clean. Her daughter Julie? Caught in the middle of this whole mess, unsure who (or what) to believe.

I picked up Shell Games thinking it would be something light and entertaining… and I ended up really enjoying it. It’s not your typical thriller—it’s more of a domestic mystery with slow-burn tension and some surprisingly emotional layers.The twists? Unexpected. The pacing? Solid. And the ending? Chef’s kiss.

I especially loved watching Julie evolve. She starts off soft-spoken and slightly lost—living under her powerful mother’s shadow and a manipulative husband’s thumb—but she grows up in all the best ways. Girl found her spine, and I was cheering her on.🙌🏾

There’s also a surprising side plot about the impact of real estate development and climate change—something I didn’t expect in a thriller, but I appreciated the insight.

Goodreads gave this a 3.7… and honestly, that doesn’t make sense to me. No, it’s not a perfect, fast-paced thriller—but it is clever, well-written, and offers more than just twists. It weaves in themes like emotional abuse, identity, and even the environmental impact of real estate. Sometimes books that don’t fit neatly into one genre get underrated—and I think this might be one of them.

All in all? A smart, satisfying read that hit the spot for me when I needed it.

❓Is there any book that has a low rating on Goodreads (or anywhere else) that you found very interesting?

I don't know about you but this gives me the ick.

I don't know about you but this gives me the ick. I expect a male voice when it's a male character, but then it's a female voice trying to sound deep. I'm new to audiobooks, so tell me, is it something that happens often?

#audiobooks #audiobookcommunity #audiobookquestions #audiobookdiscussions #bookchat #bookdebate

📖Current read. I'm 75% in and I'm still figurin

📖Current read. I'm 75% in and I'm still figuring things out. No clue at all to what's actually happening and why. What's the truth? Where is the lie? Who is the rich man behind this? Where is the national security threat the CIA is so sure this is about? They've discovered something: but what? I hope the reveal will not be disappointing, because the way my expectations are high!
Setting is Lisbon and the descriptions of the city make me feel like a tourist😁.

What are you currently reading? Does it pick your interest or you're still unsure what to make of the book?

#currentread #weekendvibes #weekendread #weekendplans #locallibrary #publiclibrary #readingmode

In A Woman is No Man by @etafrum , we meet women

In A Woman is No Man by @etafrum , we meet women who stay quiet to survive—and others who break the silence to live.

❓Have you ever stayed quiet when you wanted to speak up?
What held you back—and was it worth it?

Oh I can't even count the times I stayed quiet instead of speaking up! A lot of it is because of how I was brought up and part of it is due to my personality (which has been influenced by how I was brought up so...😅). I think it's always good to speak up for yourself and I'm learning how to do that. It's definitely not easy for me but I'll get there. Cause if I don't, how will my kids, especially my daughters, know how to speak up?

#BookishQuestion #AWomanIsNoMan #EtafRum #FeministReads #SpeakYourTruth #BookDiscussion #WomenInFiction #SilenceAndVoice #BookstagramCommunity

3 women. 3 timelines. 1 powerful story. 📍Palest

3 women. 3 timelines. 1 powerful story.
📍Palestine, 1990 – Isra is just 17 (yes, 17!) when she's married off and sent to Brooklyn.
📍Brooklyn, 2008 – Her daughter Deya doesn’t want the same fate.
📍And in between them? Farida, the fierce matriarch, holding tight to tradition.

A Woman is No Man by @etafrum isn’t just about culture or patriarchy—it’s about women trying to breathe in a world that keeps suffocating them.
For once, it wasn’t the themes that pulled me in—it was the characters. Complex, messy, frustrating. Sometimes I wanted to shake them, then hug them. Some I couldn’t stand…until I understood what shaped them.

👰‍♀️ Isra — the "perfect" wife. Quiet, soft, compliant…until she isn't. Her transformation was raw but incomplete, like it got cut short before she could fully bloom.

🥃 Adam — the troubled soul. Everything he felt, he bottled up—until he drowned it all in a bottle. Patriarchy didn’t just break the women in this story, it crushed the men too.

👵 Farida — the keeper of tradition. She made my blood boil… but her past pain explains so much. Still, why pass it on?

🎓 Sarah — the girl who dared. She’s my fav. Not because she was rebellious, but because she spoke. She opened a door no one else dared to.

🌱 Deya — strength in confusion. Sensitive, unsure, but still brave in her own way. A softer kind of courage.

And that ending?? Whew. Genius! Open like a math problem. Everyone’s theory could be right. It was bold, and honestly, one of the best endings I've ever read.

Let’s talk:
If you were raised in a harmful system, would you stay and fight to change it—or leave it behind to protect yourself?

#AWomanIsNoMan #EtafRum #BookReview #Bookstagram #FeministReads #MiddleEasternLiterature #OpenEnding #CharacterDriven #MustReadBooks #WomenInFiction #BookDiscussion

I've been MIA here for several weeks already. But

I've been MIA here for several weeks already. But I'm still reading y'all, my late book reviews will be posted soon.

📚My bookish goal this year is to read 36 books, meaning 3 books per month and so far, I'm doing really good. And I'm not giving up, I need to reach this goal even with a busy life.

❓What about you? Is your goal libelled as number of books read or something else (like trying new genres or read books from all over the world)? How is that goal treating you so far😁?

#readinggoal #readinggoals #lifegoals #bookgoals

April. The month I tried audiobooks (again) and en

April. The month I tried audiobooks (again) and enjoyed it😊. Here's what I read this month, and I can't wait to post my reviews because I have a lot to say about all of them!

Were you able to read this month or did life take over?

#monthlyrecap #aprilreads #aprilrecap #monthlyrecap #monthlygoal #bookgoals

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