Total transparency: this is not a great book. The story is shallow, there's no character development, the use of ly-adverbs is overwhelming, and I couldn't care about anyone (even Eve) because there was very little story inside this book.
That being said, it is a tremendous achievement for someone who had major brain surgery to remove a malignant tumor only a year before. This book isn't just another example that publishers will sell anything from their big-name authors just to make a buck. It is a testament to the extreme effort Sophie Kinsella has put into piecing her life back together since having a glioblastoma tumor removed from her brain in 2022. Much like her main character, Eve, Sophie had to learn how to do everything again, even write.
So, I've decided not to rate this book. Because, as far as the story goes, it would get a low rating from me. But Sophie Kinsella's story gets five stars. I wish the author all the best and hope she continues to flourish despite the incurable cancer she's living with.
The title of this book is misleading. There are many secrets in this little community, a fact that would've made this story a fave (I love gossip), but the execution took away from the impact.
This story had a lot of promise. It centers (kind of) around a neighborhood book club. All the women are vastly different in personality and we get glimpses of those outside the main three POVs through the book club scenes. There are even monthly emails from the book club organizer and leader talking about the books they'll be discussing. So, immediately I'm digging this setup. Unfortunately, there were a few things I couldn't look past, thus my rating.
Lena lives in the big house on the hill overlooking Cottonwood. Fifteen years ago a tragedy made her pull away from her friends and community. She has a secret, something she feels she needs to pay penance for. Add to that the strained relationship she has with her daughter and you've got a nice little mystery.
Annie is drawn to Lena's house, but she's never knocked on her neighbor's door until the day she walks by and sees the neighborhood vandal (who is on the peripheral throughout the book) has painted a comical...phallic symbol on Lena's mailbox. She wonders if Lena will remember her. After all, she used to be on the swim team with Lena's only child, and she was at the party thrown by Lena on that fateful night fifteen years before. Though Lena doesn't remember Annie, the two become fast friends despite the secrets lingering between the two of them.
Jen is the mother of Abe, a seventh grader diagnosed with "conduct disorder". Once a career-focused woman, she now dedicates all of her time caring for and observing Abe. She's sure the doctors are wrong about his diagnosis. Abe is just shy and sometimes has outbursts of anger, but he's no sociopath. She begins to question everything her heart tells her, though, when Abe is kicked out of his most recent school for stabbing another student in the hand with an exacto knife. Jen is trying to be a good mother while also trying to reclaim her life as a research scientist, while also trying to appear like a well-rounded person in her neighborhood book club, but something has got to give. When Jen enrolls Abe at the Kingdom School and Abe becomes fast friends with a graduate student teacher, she finally thinks things are going to get better. But when Abe and his new friend (Annie's daughter Laurel) have a falling out, the new lighter life Jen is just getting used to begins to crumble, and she begins to believe the doctors may have been right all along.
Three women with three pretty hefty secrets should've made for a super fast and entertaining read. While I didn't dislike the book, there were a few things that factored into my rating of three stars.
1) It should've been a dual POV. Jen's POV didn't add anything to the narrative, and Lena and Annie's stories were much more interesting than Jen's.
2) There was head hopping. In a limited perspective, I don't expect to jump into anyone else's mind outside of the known POVs. This happened at least twice in this story.
3) There is a minor fourth perspective throughout. Quick little snippets that are usually at the end of the chapter before the book club emails. We don't know the identity of this fourth perspective until the end. I didn't care for it. Those little snippets were more confusing to me than anything.
4) No one really grows as a character. Yes, things happen to them and the events change who they surround themselves with, but they're the same people.
The mystery between Lena and Annie is what kept me reading. It's interesting how everything fits together in the end. I wasn't wholly satisfied, but I don't feel like I wasted my time reading the book.
I would recommend this one to readers who enjoy a lighter, neighborhood-type mystery. There are a lot of personalities in this book and it had me second-guessing myself a few times. The book club format was also a super fun element.
Content warning: Adultery, mental illness, and inappropriate relationships with minors.
Before I get into this, I want to say that this is NOT a bad book. The writing is solid and the premise is interesting. This story had a lot of potential, but the execution didn't quite work (for me). I have the feeling it suffers from Pressing Publishing Schedule, as Ramisetti's debut came out November 2021 and Advika published April 2023.
***SPOILERS TO FOLLOW***
Advika Srinivasan, twenty-six year old aspiring screenwriter, has no idea what life has in store for her when Julian Zelding, famous director and five-time Oscar winner, cozies up to her bar at the Governor's Ball following the 2015 Oscars ceremony. In fact, she doesn't even know who Julian is, but she knows he's important because he has an Oscar, and he has a certain je ne sais quoi. After a whirlwind romance, Advika finds herself married to Julian and living the kind of life in his Palisades mansion she never dared dream of. Unfortunately, not long after tying the knot with Julian, his first wife dies and stipulates in her will that she will bequeath $1.5 million and a secret video tape to Julian's "child bride" IF she divorces him. This announcement sets off a chain of events that leads Advika to situations one only expects to find in the movies.
***Seriously, there are SPOILERS below***
Advika has had a tough few years. Her twin sister died suddenly in a freak accident, her parents abandoned her and moved back to India, lost in their own grief, and her career as a screenwriter has stalled. Her agent even dropped her without ceremony after a year. As far as Advika is concerned, she's stuck in a super big rut. All of this made me want to like her. And I tried. I promise, I did. Unfortunately, she's not a very likeable character.
I understand why Advika allows herself to be swept up by this man. She's in mourning. She lost her sister Anu almost three years before and she hasn't dealt with those emotions. When she meets Julian, he focuses solely on her and makes her feel seen, like she has someone there for her. She hasn't felt that way in a long time, especially not since her parents abandoned her in L.A. and moved back to India. It's understandable she would be swept away by him, just as it's understandable she would ignore the red flags he's throwing out with his love bombing.
The irks:
1) An Oscar-winner chats Advika up at an after party where she's working as a bartender. They spend the entire night talking and she doesn't even Google him when she gets home. It's 2015, there is no excuse for staying in the dark about this man. I know she holds everyone at arm's length and doesn't commit to relationships easily since losing Anu, but she should be a little curious about this man she's drawn to. Especially since he's someone she can tell is pretty powerful.
2) On their "second" date, Julian asks her to never Google him. That, Advika, is when you absolutely Google him.
3) She is all-in with this guy. She's turned on just by him brushing against her. He gives her the opportunity to walk away twice but she doesn't. Why? Because Julian is her way in (and he's loaded). I'm not saying she's a gold digger, but I AM saying she didn't mind hanging out with a rich guy, especially one with connections in the industry she wants to be a part of.
4) She uses EVERYONE! She's using Julian to fill her time, to be her way in (even if she's doing this subconsciously), she uses her roommate Olive after her childhood friends hurt her feelings and she blocks them. Then, when she lets her friends back in, she uses THEM! She takes, takes, takes, and never asks what's going on with anyone else. Hell, if she'd asked Julian what was going on with him she may not have been so "blindsided" by what she found out about him. I can't even feel sorry for her or root for her later in the book when she realizes she's been using everyone because even when she realizes she's used everyone who likes or loves her, she's still almost fully focused on herself.
5) As mentioned before, she's all-in with Julian. Lusting for him, unable to keep her hands off him, almost totally fine with her life in the mansion, UNTIL the details of his first wife's will are announced. I know we're supposed to get caught up in the mystery of who Julian is, and we're supposed to uncover his dastardly deeds as Advika does, and we're supposed to begin to hate him like she does, but neither Advika or the particulars of the plot are fleshed out enough for me to be compelled to feel anything.
6) Julian is throwing out red flags almost from the minute they meet but Advika is so detached she doesn't even clock them. Maybe if she'd been a little more bothered by Julian not wanting her to Google him at first, or if she'd found it suspicious that he was ready to totally shut her out both when he said "I love you" and she didn't reciprocate the way he wanted, and when he proposed and she didn't immediately say yes, she wouldn't have ended up in a sham of a marriage. His reaction in both those instances would've been enough for me to pump the brakes.
7) SHE LEAVES EVERYONE ON READ! This is a personal irk of mine. It seriously annoyed me that she didn't bother to text anyone back unless she needed something. This particular irk didn't factor into my review. It just annoyed the hell out of me.
I think what bugs me most about Advika is that she was never invested in any of her relationships. Not with Julian, not with Olive, not with her childhood "Oakies", not even with her parents. She became an island when Anu died and she never really allowed anyone on it. Which could have been a great element in the story, but it was too under developed. Instead, she comes across as aloof and self-centered.
And don't think Julian is a good guy. He's a user. He used his first wife for her connections to Hollywood, he all but erased his second wife from the public eye after her death (after he helped ruin her love for her career), and he tried to make his third wife give up her aspirations at stardom to be his stay at home wifey. Julian spies on Advika, tries to derail her career as a scriptwriter, and even puts in their pre-nup that he'll get 50% of the royalties on any work she sells during their marriage. He even goes so far as to include the script she wrote after her sister's death. To put it nicely, Julian is a jerk. He wants to be the important person in the marriage (and in public) while his wife dotes on him and gives him children.
Both Julian and Advika are very unlikeable characters.
That being said, I can't forgive Advika for what she did in the end. Not long after they parted, Advika found out she was pregnant, but she didn't tell Julian. All he ever wanted was a child, and she allowed him to die never knowing he was a father. I know why she did it, and I know telling him would've been super complicated. Still. Julian was an underhanded jerk who spied on her and made his ex wives incredibly unhappy, but it didn't feel right for him to die without knowing he had a child.
