Jill Hedgecock

Fiction Writer

#bookrecs

Book Review: Those Girls by Chevy Stevens


Review by Jill Hedgecock

Those Girls (St. Martins Griffin, 2016, paperback, 400 pages, $17.10) by Chevy Stevens is a novel about three teen Canadian sisters, Jess, Dani, and Courtney, who make a life-altering mistake that leaves them fleeing from the law. The three orphaned sisters head for the Vancouver but run into trouble when their truck breaks down in a rural town named Cash Creek. With no money and on the run, they make the unfortunate decision to put their trust in two boys who promise to help them. The girls become imprisoned in an abandoned building.

Told initially from the perspective of the youngest girl, Jess, some passages are hard to take. The suspense is sometimes almost unbearable, but what carries the book is the bond between the sisters.

The girls eventually escape their imprisonment, and with the assistance of a caring bystander, they change their names and start a new life. However, Courtney (now going by the name of Crystal), who suffered the most egregious abuse from the boys, never fully recovers. Jess winds up pregnant and decides to keep the child, which sets up the second half of the book, which takes place eighteen years later and is told from the perspective of Jess’ teen daughter, Skylar. Skylar doesn’t know the truth about her father or the abuse her mother and two aunts endured as teens. Skylar is aware of Crystal’s self-destructive behavior but is very fond of her aunt. When Crystal decides to return to Cash Creek and take revenge, Skylar follows her into a dangerous situation, leaving the reader wondering if history will repeat itself.

This book is not for everyone. The abuse scenes are often written in graphic detail. But those who love a gripping, page-turning thriller will not be disappointed. I found myself drawn into the plight of these girls and charmed by their commitment to each other, even into adulthood. Theirs is a story of survival and the strength. Fans of Frieda McFadden, Lisa Jewell and Karin Slaughter will likely enjoy Chevy Steven’s latest edge-of-your-seat novel.

Chevy Stevens is the New York Times Bestselling Author of That Night. Still Missing also won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel. Her books, including Those Girls, which Stephen King called “incredibly scary,” have been published in more than thirty countries and optioned for film. Her seventh novel, Dark Roads, was released in 2021. Her new release, The Hitchhikers, is scheduled to be released in October 2025. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. Learn more through her website at chevystevens.com.

Click here to buy the book:

https://amzn.to/43L9iaG
Note: I receive a small commission if you purchase from this link.

Book Review: Lessons in Chemistry by Betty Garmus

Review by Jill Hedgecock

Lessons in Chemistry (Vintage, April 2025, paperback, 400 pages, $14.24) by Bonnie Garmus is as much as a humorous character study as it is a statement of society’s views of women in the 1960s. But it’s more than that. Somehow mixed into this quirky tale of a woman chemist turned TV cooking show celebrity is how to make science entertaining.

Our primary protagonist, Elizabeth Zott, believes in the sciences and it is her sole mission in life to study abiogenesis—the theory that life arose from nonliving matter. The problem is that she’s a woman before her time. Convention in the 1960s was that women should aspire to snag a husband and raise babies. Much to the chagrin of her male colleagues at Hastings Research Institute, Zott is anything but conventional. Elizabeth Zott won’t let anything stop her in her quest to further her research, so when she doesn’t have the proper equipment, she decides to collect a few beakers from her colleague, Calvin Evan, under false pretenses. Evans is a brilliant chemist, who has been nominated for a Noble prize multiple times. But he is also known for holding a grudge. But instead of being angered by Zott’s ruse, Evans falls hard for her, and the two socially challenged misfits soon become participants in a different type of chemical reaction.

Zott’s life takes many dramatic turns because of her love for Evans. She becomes a rower, which was a passion of Evans. The two lovebirds also adopt a former bomb detection dog named Six Thirty. Six Thirty, it turns out, is exceptionally smart like his two owners. Zott teaches the dog words, and his vocabulary nears a thousand words by the end of the novel. Six Thirty, who becomes an integral part of the story, even narrates a few scenes in the book.

Elisabeth Zott’s misfortunes include being fired after becoming accidentally pregnant. Her financial situation forces her to take a job as a television personality on a cooking show called “Super at Six.” The problem is Elizabeth has her own ideas on how to create a meal, which she views as another form of chemistry. The results are often hilarious, but also sometimes life changing for her women viewers.

In Lessons in Chemistry, Zott helps us explore questions such as what makes a family and what might be possible if women are given equal opportunities. The book also offers a fascinating exploration into the science of food preparation all told with a dash of humor and a pinch of sarcasm. In an era of the “Me Too” movement, “Lessons in Chemistry” reminds us how far opportunities for women have progressed since the 1960s.

Lessons in Chemistry is a New York Times Bestseller, a GMA Book Club Pick, and was considered a best debut by Goodreads in 2022. In 2022, it achieved Best Book of the Year by Barnes and Noble, The Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Entertainment Weekly, and Newsweek. The novel has been translated into 40 languages. It was as an Apple TV+ series, starring Brie Larson, Lewis Pullman, and Beau Bridges. Fans of Anxious People by Fredrik Bachman, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevinand, and The Maid by Nita Prose will not be disappointed in this novel.


Lessons in Chemistry is Bonnie Garmus’ debut novel. Like Elisabeth Zott, she’s a rower. But unlike Zott (who can’t swim), Garmus is also an open water swimmer. She is a copywriter and creative director. Garmus has raised two daughters and currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99.

Click here to get Lessons in Chemistry:

https://amzn.to/3FQNJvz

Note: I receive a small commission at no added cost to you if you order from the above link.

Book Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures

Review by Jill Hedgecock

Remarkably Bright Creatures (Ecco/Harper Collins, May 2022, hardcover, 368 pages, $13.79) by Shelby Van Pelt is a feel-good story about Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at Sowell Bay Aquarium in Washington State, Tova, the aquarium’s custodian, and Cameron, a 30-year-old man who can’t seem to hold down a job. The three main character’s lives all intersect at the aquarium and each holds a clue as to how Tova’s son, Erik, died over 30 years ago.

Marcellus, who provides his own narrative in the novel, counts down his passing days based on his time living in captivity. He is painfully aware he’s reached the end of his life span. The octopus has taken a special interest in Tova and plots a way to help the older woman understand something important about her son’s death before he passes. Marcellus is incredibly intuitive and smart, is a crafty escape artist, and often provides comedic relief.

Tova, a seventy-something widow, is only making the motions of living. She has never recovered from the unsolved mystery surrounding her only child’s death. She “found something to do” as a night shift cleaning lady at the aquarium after her husband passed. When she’s not working, Tova spends time with the “Knit-Wits, her long-term woman’s group, but she feels left out as the women discuss their children and grandchildren. She has a special platonic friendship with the local grocer, Ethan, who is definitely interested in pursuing her.

Cameron is struggling to find his way. His deadbeat mother pawned him off on her sister and he has never known his father’s name. When he discovers an old photo of his mother with a real estate mogul living in Washington State, he jumps to the conclusion that the man is his father. His money woes lead him to travel across the country as he concocts a plan to extract back child support. Things don’t quite pan out and Cameron must get a job to pay back a loan from his aunt. When he lands a job at the aquarium, he sets a new trajectory for his life that he couldn’t possibly have predicted.

Remarkably Bright Creatures is part mystery, part love story, and one-hundred percent enjoyable. It instantly became one of my favorite reads of 2023. Fans of A Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein should put this novel on their “must read” pile.

Remarkably Bright Creatures was an instant New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick, and an Amazon Best Book of 2022. It was named a Best Book of the 2022 Summer by the “Chicago Tribune” and “USA Today.”


When Shelby Van Pelt isn’t indulging in her flash-fiction addiction, she’s wrangling her cats and children. Remarkably Bright Creatures is her debut novel. She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, but now calls the suburbs of Chicago home. Find out more at www.shelbyvanpelt.com

Click here to buy the book:

https://amzn.to/4c3HErz

Note: I receive a small commission if you purchase from this link.

Book Review: The Midnight Library

Review by Jill Hedgecock

Midnight Library (Viking, 2020, paperback, 304 pages, $) by Matt Haig is a book that sticks with you for a long time after the final page is turned. Midnight Library is more than the tale of Nora Seed’s unusual near-death experience, it also delivers a hopeful message about the infinite possibilities that life holds.

On the day Nora’s cat dies and she loses her job, Nora takes pills with the intent of ending her life. Instead of dying, she finds herself inside an unusual library where one book, The Book of Regrets chronicles life choices she wishes she could now change. The remaining books on the shelves offer glimpses of what Nora’s life would look like if she made different decisions. Each book selection offers Nora the opportunity to step into a different life than the one she has been living.

Nora’s former school librarian, Mrs. Elm, the only other occupant of the library, explains that Nora has been given an opportunity to choose her perfect life. Mrs. Elm guides Nora to select specific books that will take her on a journey that resolves one of her regrets and a life that she can adopt permanently. Nora accepts the challenge and explores different scenarios that take her in widely different directions. From a life where her cat is no longer dead, to an alternate existence where she marries a man that she rejected, to becoming an Olympic champion swimmer, to stepping into a life as a glaciologist studying arctic ice melt, to melding into a lead singer in an internationally acclaimed band, Nora begins to see each of her regrets dissolve. But with each new experience comes unexpected negative consequences, and she continues to search for her perfect life.

One of the challenges that Nora must face during each new life is that when she takes over this alternative Nora, there are things she cannot know, like the original songs that the band usually sings to close a show, or what the famed Olympian Nora would say to an audience when giving a motivational speech. Somehow, ordinary Nora muddles along, trying on new lives like clothes. Not only is this an entertaining read, but this book inspired me to self-reflect on my own life choices, and to consider ways to reinvent myself.

Those who love the movies It’s a Wonderful Life and who are fans of author Mitch Albom will likely enjoy Haig’s latest deeply moving novel. Chances are high that the time you spend reading the book won’t end up in your “Book of Regrets”.

Midnight Library was an instant New York Times bestseller, Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction, A Good Morning America Book Club Pick! And one of the LibraryReads 2020 Voter Favorites. The Midnight Library has sold over 9 million copies worldwide across 54 international territories.

Over 20 years ago, Haig nearly died by suicide, thinking he would never be happy again. Fortunately for readers, he found his life’s calling as an author. In addition to The Midnight Library, Matt Haig is the internationally bestselling author of How to Stop Time, The Humans, The Radleys, A Boy Called Christmas, and his memoir Reasons to Stay Alive” His latest release is The Life Impossible. His work has been translated into over fifty languages. Learn more through his website at www.matthaig.com.

Click here to buy the book:

https://amzn.to/4bGzC7Y

Note: I receive a small commission if you purchase from this link.


Book Review: The Lake House by Kate Morton

Review by Jill Hedgecock

What happened to little Theo? Was the toddler kidnapped? Murdered? This is the major premise of The Lake House by Kate Morton (2016, Atria Books; Reprint edition, paperback, 512 pages $11.88.) Theo had disappeared from the Edevane estate in Cornwall, England, during the Edavane’s annual Midsummer party in June 1933. The case has remained unsolved for 70 years.


Fast forward to 2003 in London when Sarah, a former policewoman who has been put on leave and has returned to Cornwall to stay with her grandfather, stumbles upon the abandoned Edevane property while out running. The derelict house intrigues Sarah because it appears that the former occupants up and left without packing a single possession. When Sarah learns about the tragedy of Theo’s disappearance, her detective skills kick in. She contacts one of Theo’s sisters, Alice. Theo’s sister wants to bury the past, but through Sarah’s prodding, Alice learns that one of her assumptions about what happened on that fateful evening in 1933 has been wrong.


The story unfolds in pieces between Alice’s childhood and the Edevane family saga in 1933 and Sarah and Alice’s current lives. Red herrings tucked into the novel keep the reader guessing about Theo’s fate. Several nannies, a retired medical doctor, and a handsome young groundskeeper could have played a role in Theo’s disappearance. Then there’s the backstory of Theo and Alice’s parents: Eleanor, a fiercely devoted wife, and Anthony, a nature lover, war veteran, and loving father.


The Lake House received a Woman & Home Reader’s Choice Award for Best Historical Thriller (2016) and a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction (2015). Readers who enjoy a compelling mystery, learning about the effects of World War I on servicemen, and poetic prose will love this book.

The mystery of what happened to Theo launches this otherwise quiet book into a page-turning frenzy.
Kate Morton is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author. Her five novels are published in over 40 countries, in 34 languages, and have all been number one bestsellers around the world. Kate grew up in Queensland and now splits her time between London and Australia. She has degrees in dramatic art and English literature with a focus in nineteenth-century tragedy and contemporary Gothic novels. Morton says of her experiences as a reader and novelist, “I fell deeply in love with books as a child and believe that reading is freedom; that to read is to live a thousand lives in one; that fiction is a magical conversation between two people – you and me – in which our minds meet across time and space.”

Click here to buy The Lake House:

https://amzn.to/4bnh64k

Note: I receive a small commission if you purchase the book from this link.

Book Review: H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald

Review by Jill Hedgecock

H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald (2016, Grove Press, paperback, 320 pages, $10.06) weaves the author’s grief-stricken journey as she grapples with the death of her father while training a goshawk. In the book, Helen says, “…walking the forest you come across all sorts of things you don’t expect.” But it can easily be said that while reading this book you will similarly encounter the unexpected. Along Helen’s emotional journey, she learns from the mistakes of T.H. White, who also engaged in falconry, but best known as the author of the King Author series, most notably The Sword in the Stone. H is for Hawk is somewhat a literary biography of White and his story is told on a parallel track with Helen’s self discovery.

Riddled throughout the narrative are fascinating details about the sport of falconry. Readers will seamlessly discover what mutes, creances, swivels and jesses are as they learn the dedication needed to train a wild bird of prey. The details of hawk, and specifically goshawk behavior, is fascinating. For instance, instead of attaching bells to hawks’ legs on tiny leather straps called bewits, a tail-mounted bell is much better for a goshawk, which has a habit of shaking their tails. But even more interesting is the bond that develops between, Mabel, our narrator’s goshawk, and her human handler. Throughout the book, the savage, yet somehow endearing, personality of Mabel shines through the pages. This writing is brutally honest, poetic, gut-wrenching, historical, and informative all at the same time.

Helen’s descriptions of frustration at not being able to flush prey to give Mabel an opportunity to “do what she was born to do” are intense. The brutality of a hawk kill is described both vividly and with a kind of stark forgiveness. Mabel’s antics during the hunting flights often put Helen in impossible situations. Yet, the book somehow drifts in nostalgia as our narrator reveals her father’s obsession with warplanes that dotted the skies of his youth. This is a book like no other. I highly recommended it not only to bird and nature lovers, but also for those that have experienced the grief of a loved one.

H is for Hawk landed on more than 25 Best Books of the Year lists, including TIME (#1 Nonfiction Book), NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine (10 Favorite Books), Vogue (Top 10), Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle (Top 10), Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews and Amazon (Top 20). Given the poetical style of H is for Hawk, it is not surprising that her first book, Shaler’s Fish, is a collection of poems. She has plans to tackle the subject of how humans perceive the natural worlds as separate from themselves in her next book. Helen Macdonald is an English writer, naturalist, and an Affiliated Research Scholar at the University of Cambridge. She lives in Suffolk, UK.

Click here to buy the book:

https://amzn.to/3EMISLf

Note: I receive a small commission if you purchase the book from this link.