Book Review: Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3)  by Heather Vogel Frederick  is the third book in a middle grade book series that is being rereleased. Chaos erupts in this third installment as the daughters in the book club get themselves into trouble. Each of the girls have big changes in their lives:  Jess is going to boarding school; Megan's grandmother comes to live with her; Emma starts a campaign against school uniforms; Cassidy has a lot of unexpected change coming to her family. Will the mother daughter book club stay together? I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Dear Pen Pal  by Heather Vogel Frederick with it's upcoming rerelease to the public. I always love a good book that involves books, even if its target audience is children between the ages of eight and twelve. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realized that it...
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Book Review: Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena

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book review not a happy family shari lapena

Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena introduces the reader to the ultra rich Merton family in an upscale neighborhood in Brecken Hill located in upstate New York. However, all the money in the world can't protect Fred and Sheila Merton from being murdered, and their three children are all a person of interest in their deaths.

Whenever I learn that Shari Lapena publishes a new book, I know that that I'll read it without even knowing the synopsis, and it wasn't any different when I learned of her latest book Not A Happy Family. I jumped right into it and was pleasantly surprised with the storyline.

Reminiscent of the movie Knives Out, I enjoyed all the suspense and trying to figure out who the murderer was in Not A Happy Family. However, there came a point that the story became a bit sluggish and drawn out. With that being said, it was still extremely intriguing, and I suspected everyone at one point. I narrowed it down between two different characters and wasn't sure which of them was the culprit until the end. Speaking of characters, there weren't very many likable characters in this book and the few that were likable where very minor.

I gave Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena four out of five stars because it did become slow-moving at one point, but I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless of that. If you liked this book, I recommend Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens.

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