Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...

Book Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Book Club Book Review of It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
I belong to a couple of book clubs, and one of them reads a bit of everything. It's this book club that chose It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover as one of three book selections for the December Book Club Meeting. Normally, we only have two selections, and we can choose to read one of them or both of them. I decided to go with the aforementioned book because it takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, and Boston is one of my favorite cities to visit.

With that being said, I wasn't too sure I'd like this book because we had read another one of Colleen Hoover's books, and it was just okay. Anyways, despite the heavy topics in It Ends With Us, I ended up loving the book. Topics included spousal abuse, accidental death by gun, and homelessness. It does include some graphic scenes, so it may be too upsetting for people to read if they've gone through any of this in their life. At the very end of the novel, the Collen Hoover explains that the book is semi-autobiographical, which I was wondering about as I read the novel. I am lucky that I haven't experienced any of this in my life, but it did sadden me to know that people do go through these things in life.  

One of my favorite things of the book, other than bringing light to some serious topics, is that a couple of the characters tell naked truths. Naked truths are where you tell the honest, brutal truth, no matter what. I think if people were more honest with each other, people would be somewhat happier.

Women's Lit Book Review of It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Some of the characters were very well developed and some weren't quite as developed. Despite this, I fell in love with all of the characters and became emotionally attached to them, even the ones who turned out to be not so good. I hope she writes a sequel to it because I just have to know what happens with the characters.

Synopsis:  After graduating college, Lily Bloom moves from a small town in Maine to Boston, Massachusetts to work in marketing. One night, she finds herself sitting on the roof of a nearby building after having a bad day when Ryle Kincaid appears on the roof. Months later, Lily decides to start her own business only to run into him yet again and a romance begins to blossom.


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