Book Review: The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens

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A huge thank you goes out to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens . I was provided a copy free of charge in exchange for my honest review, and I was ecstatic about it because Chevy Stevens is absolutely one of my favorite authors and is a must read in my humble opinion. The story opens with Alice and Tom, who are husband and wife, taking their newly bought RV from Seattle, Washington and take a road trip through Canada where they will end up at the 1976 Olympics in Toronto. As they pull into their first stop of the trip, a campground, Alice and Tom see a young couple named Simon and Jenny walking in their direction and offer them a ride to the next town. However, the young couple aren't as they seem and take their hosts as their prisoners. Chevy Stevens, a Canadian author, does not disappoint with her latest novel aptly named The Hitchhikers . From page one of this story, I was immediately suck...
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Book Review: Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

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book club book review happiness falls angie kim
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim is a story about a bi-racial Korean-American family whose patriarch goes missing.  Told from twenty year old Mia's perspective, she's not initially concerned when her younger brother Eugene comes home without their father.  As minutes and hours tick away, the entire family finally realizes is something most be horribly wrong for the father and husband not to be home yet.

This novel was selected by my book club for our June 2024 discussion.  I hadn't heard of this book or author before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoy a good mystery and the synopsis intrigued me. "Meh" is my overall thought of Happiness Falls because I didn't particularly like the main character, Mia.  She seemed awfully self absorbed and unobservant, especially when it came to her younger brother, Eugene.  

Eugene is non-speaking and was diagnosed by doctors to being autistic and having a rare disease called Angelman Disease.  There is a huge twist with Eugene, and it shows that no one was actually that observant when it came to the youngest member of the family.  It actually irritated me how everyone treated Eugene like he was stupid and didn't understand anything.  With that being said, the author did a great job of teaching me some things that I didn't know about when it comes to programs for people with special needs.

The story seemed to be more focused on Eugene's story rather than the father missing.  The two are interconnected, but it just seemed like the story went in a different direction than what I anticipated. That's perfectly fine but not exactly what I was expecting or wanting in a book at that time.  On top of that, the story seemed semi-autobiographical.  I also wasn't liking that it was set during the shutdown of the world due to the coronavirus. It's just a little too soon for me.

I just didn't connect with any of the characters or the plot with maybe the exception of Eugene because everyone seemed to underestimate him.  Someone else might absolutely love Happiness Falls by Angie Kim, but unfortunately, I wasn't one of those people.  I didn't dislike the book, but I didn't love it either.  Three out of five stars.



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