Wives, Fiancées, and Side-Chicks of Hotlanta. Shereé Whitfield. 2017. Dafina. [Source: Personal copy.] It was everything I expected it to be…ratchet, basic, based on Real Housewives of Atlanta characters. Seemingly depicting Kim, Nene, Sheree and Dwight, the book was the whirlwind drama that comes with being in the “in-crowd” of the TV version of Atlanta. With the opening, she could have recapped the saga of Sasha & Terrance without going into so much detail, and that would have allowed her to cover more ground. My guess is the detail and redundancy will allow for a book 2 and 3 so that we can see just how Sasha learns to “play”. Three stars; it wasn’t good, but like the show I’m sure I’ll pick up sequels because it’s like a train wreck you can’t turn away from.

Fire in the Firefly. Scott Gardiner. 2016. 313 pages. TAP books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s a satire, which is generally a departure from what I read. So while I enjoyed the story itself, the approach missed the mark for me. Julius Roebuck is a very self-assured man, and prides himself in his ability to read and understand women. The entire book follows him as he tries to balance his precarious relationships with the women in his life – his wife Anne, her ovulation-clocking business partner Yasmin, and his mistress, Lily. Insert a maybe-botched vasectomy and you’ve got the makings of an suspenseful story that reminds me more of slapstick humor than anything else.

Gone Girl. Gillian Flynn. 2012. 432 pages. Broadway Books.  [Source: Personal copy.] I wanted to like Gone Girl, really.  And I enjoyed most of it, if I’m honest. But sometimes, my enjoyment of a book can crumble in moments, and that’s exactly what happened to me when I finished reading. Gone Girl is the story of Nick Dunne and his wife Amy, who goes missing on their fifth wedding anniversary.  What follows is the investigation into her disappearance but also a retelling of their courtship and married lives.  Amy’s perspective is presented in a series of diary entries that bounce around, but usually start from that past forward.  Nick’s perspective is presented day by day, starting from Amy’s disappearance.