Retarded Girl Raised in Dog Pen: Authorities Say Girl Witness to Murder by Lauren Leigh

Synopsis:

A Spellbinding Murder Mystery That Offers a Sympathetic Look At the Struggles Faced By Individuals with Disabilities Baby is every adoptive parent's nightmare-blind, paralyzed from the waist down, unable to speak, and diagnosed with developmental and intellectual disabilities. For the first 10 years of her life she is raised outside in a dog pen by a cruel adoptive father, a Mississippi deputy sheriff who values his bird dogs more than his daughter.

Retarded Girl Raised in Dog Pen is the story of Baby's placement in a Mississippi mental institution for individuals with profound retardation after the brutal murder of her father and the arrest of her mother, and her desperate attempt to escape the institution.

Once the mother is convicted of murder and sentenced to death, the story takes a bizarre twist as mental health professions discover that Baby is capable of communication, despite being trapped inside a grotesque body that holds her prisoner.

How much does Baby know? Can she prove her mother's innocence?

As the mother sits on death row, the clock ticking, a brilliant psychologist has the shock of her life when she discovers that Baby is not who she seems. The question is will the psychologist be able to solve the mystery in time to save the mother's life?

The title of this novel is a bit off-putting and really didn’t make me interested in reading it. I had to rely on the synopsis for that, and it did pique my interest.

This book was pretty easy to get through. There was a lot going on, so I never really wanted to stop reading.

It was heart breaking and uplifting all at the same time. It really shows how strong a bond can be between a mother and her child, no matter the cost.

Even though there are heart-warming moments, there were also cringe-worthy story lines involving spousal abuse, sexual abuse, and the complete mistreatment of a child. It was hard to read at times because of how disturbing it could be.

That said, it was well written, and the characters were developed well. Baby was a really interesting character, and I wish more of the book had been told from her perspective.

This book is labeled as a murder mystery, and technically it is. But, it didn’t really seem like a suspense novel to me because it was more about exploring Baby’s character than the murder.

Overall, it was an interesting read with strong characters.

4/5 Stars

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Snow by Áine Greaney

Synopsis:

Set in a one-street small town in the Irish midlands, "Snow" is an exquisitely crafted portrait of Dolores, a young expatriate Irish woman who is suddenly summoned home from America to take care of her estranged and sick father. In her childhood home, Dolores wrestles with the push and pull between her new American life and her past life in Ireland. As she nurses her father back to health, she is beset by memories and caught between family loyalties and her own desires.

In order for short stories to be appealing to me, I either have to connect to the main character, or they have to make me feel something.

This one accomplished neither.

I didn’t really understand what was going on most of the time. I spent more time confused than actually understanding what I was reading. It didn’t seem to flow together, and it never really grabbed me at any point.

This story could maybe have been effective as a longer book, but as a short story it missed the mark.

1/5 stars I feel like I am missing something since everyone else gave this a great review. 

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Never Think About Love at Night by Valerie Nelan

Synopsis:

Cass Ingram throws a dinner party to celebrate buying her first house in midtown Memphis, Tennessee. Rye, Cass's perpetually single best friend, is obsessed with one of the party's married men but is seeing someone else. Another guest is planning an abortion without telling her husband of 15 years, and another is deep in a postpartum depression. Then there's newcomer Ben Lockhart, who has Cass's attention from the moment he appears.

With voyeuristic access into every character's head and heart, you'll soar into the wonder and hope of new love, then plunge into the deepest parts of love's madness. Friendships are cast into doubt, marriage crumbles, love begins. There's a near-murder, extra-marital sex, soul-wrenching confrontations, and brutal honesty that'll leave you cringing.

This book is interesting because for the majority of it, the setting does not change except for excerpts with flashbacks. It is about a bunch of friends at a house warming party. A party for the ages because everything goes wrong. Secrets are exposed and lives will never be the same.

For a book that deals with pretty harsh and saddening topics, it is a fairly light read. It is easy to get through without much effort. Not much happened, but a lot happened at the same time. It was interesting enough to make me keep reading it at least. 

I didn’t really understand the purpose of the “Chorus” parts of the book. They didn’t do anything for me.

I wouldn’t say this book was significant enough to change my life, but it was an interesting read overall.

3/5 stars Romance book with a side of dark topics.

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