Book Review: The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White

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The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White is the story about Phoebe Manigault returning home to Mt. Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, South Carolina, to help her sister with their ailing mother. When past memories resurface, Phoebe is thrown back into some childhood turmoil. I requested an Advanced Readers Copy ARC of The Last Carolina Summer from NetGalley, and I was ecstatic when the provided me with a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. So, a big thank you goes out to them! When I began reading this story, I just happened to be vacationing in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. I loved hearing about the different places, including streets and a bridge called the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which I had to cross to get into Mt. Pleasant as well as Isle of Palms. It's always nice to be able to visualize the places and author writes about. With that being said, I'm not a fan of traveling over bridges, and one of the scenes of The Last Carolina Summer mentions a car going off ...
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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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