Kaira Rouda Archives

ARC review: We Were Never Friends by Kaira Rouda

October 25, 20252 min read

We Were Never Friends by Kaira Rouda unfolds from several points of view but it feels like Beth is the natural lead character. Perhaps because we meet her first. In the most bizarre of coincidences her daughter is engaged to the son of one of Beth’s sorority ‘sisters’ from her college days and for reasons not entirely sane, Roxy decides to invite Beth and another of their ‘sisters’ to her Palm Springs holiday home (a passion project of Roxy’s husband Ryan) in honour of their kids’ recent engagement. Adding some spice to the weekend, another of their sorority sisters gatecrashes the weekend reigniting the rivalry with Roxy festering from two decades earlier.

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Book review: The Second Mrs Strom by Kaira Rouda

August 18, 20243 min read

I stuffed up big-time when reading The Second Mrs Strom by Kaira Rouda. It wasn’t until the very end I read the note by the author and she mentions taking Paul Strom out on a second outing following his appearance in Best Day Ever. Do’h!

I LOVED that book (it’s my fave of Rouda’s) and realising that would have given this so much more context. This opens with Paul narrating and he’s surprisingly loathsome straight off… in Paris elbowing other tourists out of the way and literally telling them to “Shoo!”. Had I realised he was the same character we loved to hate in Best Day Ever I would have understood that Rouda had no intention of us liking him or finding him more palatable. Of course if my memory was better I might have recalled his name or some of his backstory (which he shares here). But alas… I read this with fresh eyes and found myself somewhat agog at his smug arrogance.

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Book review: Under the Palms by Kaira Rouda

April 25, 20242 min read

Under the Palms by Kaira Rouda is labelled The Kingsleys #2. I hadn’t realised it was the second in a series but I didn’t feel like I was missing any backstory or context. Although – given the secrets of #1 (Beneath the Surface) are revealed here – it does render going back and reading that kinda pointless (from the whodunnit and why perspective anyway).

I enjoyed the early parts of this novel though found almost all of the characters to be incredibly unlikeable. And in some ways they bordered on caricatures, they were soooo obvious. That being said, I appreciated the whodunnit and the game-playing that featured prominently.

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Book review: Somebody’s Home by Kaira Rouda

January 13, 20223 min read

Kaira Rouda’s Best Day Ever was one of my favourite books of 2017. I haven’t received any since for review but managed to read The Favourite Daughter just recently.

Rouda’s talent seems to lie in offering up flawed characters but luring us into their world, so we bond and feel sympathy or empathy before twisting things until we realise we’ve been duped. Often along with other characters we’re following on the journey.

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Book review: Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda

August 21, 20174 min read

This book by Kaira Rouda gives us one of the most unlikeable male leads I’ve come across in a while. Untrustworthy and unlikeable narrators aren’t a new thing… think Girl on the Train and so forth, however I think the creepiest thing about our lead character Paul is that he lies to us. Out of laziness or habit I think, rather than any real fear of what we’ll think of him.

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