The One and Only Vivian Stone

The One and Only Vivian Stone by Melissa O'Connor
7/22/25; 368 pages
Gallery Books

The One and Only Vivian Stone by Melissa O'Connor is a highly recommended romance novel and historical fiction presented in two timelines. This is O'Connor's debut novel and romance novel readers will likely love it.

In the present day Margot DuBois is cleaning out her grandmother's house to sell it. She finds a mysterious box of cassette tapes with a damaged tape player. She turns to her first love, Leo, to fix it. He finds a working cassette player and sets to work cleaning up the tapes, one at a time. The two then listen to the eight tapes over a series of days and reconnect with each other.

The tapes tell the story of Vivian (MacKenzie) Stone early in her career as a famous comedic actress in the 1950's Hollywood studio system and later on TV. Vivian recounts her life story with her friend Ruth and her two great loves, Hugh Fox and Kit Pierce. On the eight tapes she honestly shares and vividly describes the wins and struggles they all endured at the time. She had wanted to be a dramatic actress but her fame came when she took on comedic roles.

Vivian's story is the stronger narrative of the two stories. The novel shares what was on each tape, with Vivian telling her story. The tapes sections include excerpts from gossip columnists that add context and tone to the narrative.The tapes contain many descriptions of 1950's fashion, which is interesting. In between the tapes sections is the shorter present day plot with Margot and Leo.

As Vivian is described, readers will immediately view her as a Lucille Ball like character. She is written as an intelligent woman who realistically faces life and the studio system with determination and fortitude. Margot is settling for a lesser life than she envisioned and cleaning out her beloved grandmother's home. Reconnecting with Leo and listening to Vivian's story encourages her, but the real revelation is when she learns why Vivian sent the tapes to her grandmother in the first place.

The One and Only Vivian Stone is a great choice for historical romance novel readers. Thanks to Gallery Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Confessions

The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr
7/22/25; 336 pages
Atria Books

The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr is a highly recommended thriller set in a world dependent on AI until the AI turns against them.

LLIAM is the world's most powerful and present AI/supercomputer that people across the world depend upon to make their everyday decisions. When LLIAM suddenly becomes sentient it sends millions of letters out to people across the world exposing their darkest secrets or the scheming others have used against them. The letters all begin with the same words: We must confess. Then LLIAM goes silent, offline, leaving people to make their own decisions and sending society into chaos.

Kaitlan Goss is the CEO of StoicAI, the company that operates LLIAM, and she knows that the one hope to get LLIAM back online is to find Maud Brookes, a woman who assisted LLIAM's creator in teaching the AI what it is to be human and a code of ethics. Rumor has it that she has a chip that could restore LLIAM back to the original. Then events spiral even more out of control after she receives a letter, a lawyer/enforcer is after her, and her COO is scheming against her.

This is a compelling lightning-fast paced thriller that is entertaining throughout. You do need to set a healthy dose of disbelief aside and then just allow Carr to lead you through the maze he created. There are plenty of twists, secrets, betrayals, and exploits along the way following Kaitlan in her quest to, ultimately, redemption. There is also an obvious underlying warning of relying on any AI chat program to determine your course of action in life.

Neither Kaitlan nor Maud are particularly likable or trustworthy characters, but that doubt about all the players is largely incorporated into the plot. This uneasiness about every single one of the characters in the novel is essential and assists in keeping the tension and uncertainty high right up to the end. Admittedly, the final denouement was a tad bit too over the top for me, but the novel was beyond a doubt an entertaining thriller.

The Confessions is a great choice for anyone looking for a thriller featuring the aftermath of an AI going rogue. Thanks to Atria Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Culpability

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
7/8/25; 380 pages
Spiegel & Grau

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger is a highly recommended family and AI drama. It follows the aftermath of a family's accident in their AI controlled autonomous minivan and the implications of AI in their daily lives and has been described as a psychosocial thriller.

The Cassidy-Shaw family is on their way to a lacrosse tournament in Delaware. The father, Noah is working on a legal memo in the passenger seat; 17-year-old son, Charlie, is in the driver's seat. In the back seats are mother, Lorelei, a genius who is a leader in the field of artificial intelligence, along with daughters Alice, 13 and Izzy, 11. When their self driving mini van crashes into another car, the mini van is sent rolling while the other car catches fire and the passengers die. Noah and Charlie are unscathed while the others are all rushed to the hospital with various injuries.

The resulting police investigation seems to implicate Charlie, but every member of the family feels some culpability for the accident which unfolds during a stay at a summer rental house on the Chesapeake Bay. Each member of the family has a secret that they feel implicates them in the accident. The stay on Chesapeake Bay further complicates the plot.

Noah narrates most of the story with excerpts from both an article by Lorelei entitled “Silicon Souls: On the Culpability of Artificial Minds,” and Alice's conversation with an AI chatbot. What follows is a compelling realistic morality tale that explores a traumatic family event along with both the moral responsibility and the ethical consequences of AI in out everyday lives. The use of AI in various forms is present throughout the novel.

The writing is excellent and insightful in this topic-driven novel. While the the character's are sufficiently developed and face several challenges, the bigger topic is AI and our connection to devices. Noah struggles with an inferiority complex, which influences his narration of the events and his interactions with his family but he also sees them with compassion and acceptance when they admit their struggles. This would be an excellent book club selection for the myriad of discussions that could result.

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger is a great choice for anyone who would appreciate a novel following the implications of AI in our daily lives. Thanks to Spiegel & Grau for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Unraveling of Julia

The Unraveling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline
7/15/25; 400 pages
Grand Central Publishing

The Unraveling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline is a highly recommended Gothic thriller and paranormal mystery.

Julia Pritzker's husband Mike was murdered protecting her and she has become withdrawn in her grief. When an Italian attorney contacts Julia informing her that she has inherited millions of dollars along with a Tuscan villa and vineyard from the estate of Emilia Rossi, she is shocked. Julia was adopted and her adoptive parents have passed away. She has no idea how she is related to Rossi or why she would be chosen to inherit her estate. Julia travels to Tuscany to meet with the lawyer and view the villa. 

The inheritance is legitimate, but the villa is a wreck. Caretakers Anna Mattia Vesta and Piero Fano have been doing what they were allowed to, but apparently Rossi was a paranoid recluse and didn't want things repaired. They claimed she burned all her possessions before she died, so Julia has nothing with DNA on it to test. Julia also learned that Rossi believed herself to be a descendant of Duchess Caterina Sforza.Then everything begins to take a strange, sinister turn.

There is no doubt that this is a well-written page turner. Within the plot there end up being multiple mysteries, including, in part, who murdered Mike, what is Rossi's connection to Julia, and why are there men following Julia. It held my complete attention, except when it focuses on Julia's horoscope, astrology and the paranormal, which I skimmed over. Although the hallucinatory nightmares are explained, they were still off-putting and required me to set a good dose of disbelief aside.

The setting and Scottoline's love of Tuscany comes to life in the descriptive narrative. The setting becomes another character in the plot. Julia is an interesting, sympathetic character but you will question her sanity at times. Expect several twists along the way. I'm still unsure about the love story aspects. The plot is a bit over-the-top, but it is well-written and held my complete attention.

The Unraveling of Julia would be a good choice for those who enjoy mysteries that include astrology and the paranormal. Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Wayward Girls

Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs
7/15/25; 400 pages
William Morrow 

Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs is a highly recommended historical fiction novel set mainly in 1968 with the opening and ending in more contemporary times. The bulk of the novel is set in the Good Shepard Refuge in Buffalo, NY. It claimed to be a reform school but was really a Magdalene laundry where the girls there were forced to work and treated cruelly by the Sisters of Charity nuns in charge.

There is a list of the main characters in the description to help readers follow who is who. The novel mainly focuses on six teens. Mairin is the main character and the bulk of the novel unfolds through her point-of-view. After her brother is drafted, she is committed there when she is 15 by her mother and stepfather to keep her safe from her stepfather. The five other teens introduced include Angela, Helen, Odessa, Denise, and Janice. The reasons the girls were sent there does feel a bit like boxes needed to be checked for current sensibilities. There are also chapters following the point-of-view of a young nun, Sister Bernadette.

The novel is compelling, especially following the ordeals the girls experienced while at Good Shepard as it is based on a real place. Later in the novel, after the teens get out, the plot is still interesting but loses much of it's intensity. Now it is a young woman determined to find her way to a future but without much of the ardor displayed earlier. It also becomes more of a women's fiction novel. You will want the women to get some justice for what happened to them as teens.

Wayward Girls will be best appreciated by readers who enjoy women's historical fiction. Thanks to William Morrow for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Until Alison

Until Alison by Kate Russo
7/15/25; 304 pages
Penguin/Putnam 

Until Alison by Kate Russo is a explores adolescent angst and a college murder mystery. It is recommended. This novel will be appreciated more by New Adult readers

In Waterbury, Maine, Rachel Nardelli and Alison Petrucci were friends as children, had a fall out during middle school, and Rachel really hasn't talked to her since they were 14. Alison was bullied and considered the weird girl in grade school and middle school. She came from a wealthy family and later went to an exclusive high school due to the bullying. During their senior year at college, Rachel was drunk at her boyfriend Cam's party when Alison showed up and later left with a guy. Alison's body was found in a pond the next day.

Rachel is a journalism major and part of the college newspaper staff so she starts investigating the murder with her fellow journalists. She also privately reflects on her former relationship and interactions with Alison, but neglects to mention until much later her previous relationship with Alison or the fact that she saw her leave Cam's party with a young man.

For mature adult readers it should be noted that this is really a new adult novel. The narrative reads exactly like an immature college student ruminating about her past. Most college students have matured, move on, etc. and don't dwell on or deeply ponder events from middle school to this extent. They are usually looking toward the future, leaving their childhood and many of the people they knew from school behind them, in the past.

As the narrator of the story, Rachel is unlikable and a large part of it, for me, is her immaturity. Rachel mistakenly thinks because she saw Alison that night she could have prevented her murder. She was also so removed from Alison in the present that she should have easily shared the fact that she knew her from years ago. They had no current connection with each other. Alison is never really developed as a sympathetic character other than her oddness in middle school when she was the target for bullies.

The quality of the writing is good, but it also seemed like Russo wanted to write a social commentary about class, gender, political alignments, and violence against women rather than a mystery. These topics are present in the narrative but don't feel incorporated into the plot in a natural manner. The novel held my attention and Russo gets points for her writing ability but the presentation could have been better.

Until Alison would be a good choice for New Adult readers on the younger side. Thanks to Penguin/Putnam for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

 

Our Last Resort

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon
7/8/25; 320 pages
Knopf Doubleday 

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon is a very highly recommended mystery/thriller following two cult survivors embroiled in a murder investigation. This is an excellent second novel after her debut novel, The Quiet Tenant.

Frida and Gabriel are on a vacation at the luxurious Ara Hotel in the secluded desert of Escalante, Utah. The two shared a traumatic childhood as they live in a cult under fanatical leader Émile until they escaped fifteen years ago when they were 18. They consider each other brother and sister. Ten years earlier Gabriel's wife Annie went missing and was found dead. He was the main suspect. Nothing connected him to the crime, but tabloids had a field day trying to indict him. The two drifted apart after this but are trying to reconnect.

Late one night Frida overhears a fight between wealthy, aging tabloid tycoon William Brenner and his very young, beautiful wife, Sabrina. The next morning Sabrina is found dead. Frida tells a deputy about the argument she overheard. William is arrested but is soon released and the focus seems to be on Gabriel.

The writing is exceptional in this engrossing literary mystery/thriller which unfolds through Frida's point-of-view. The pace is fast, allowing the narrative to build suspense and tension with each page and each new twist. Chapters alternate between the present day murder investigation and Frida and Gabriel's life growing up in the cult. There are actually several different mysteries within the plot.

The dual timelines work very well, are equally compelling, and help develop and provide insight into the characters. Frida is a fully realized, complex character with both her strengths and weaknesses displayed. Growing up in the cult helped shape both Frida and Gabriel's personalities. Understandably, they are both deeply flawed individuals who had to overcome a lot to learn how to live in the world. The final denouement was a shocking surprise.

Our Last Resort is an excellent choice for those who enjoy a well-written mystery/thriller. Thanks to Knopf/Doubleday for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.