#jillian cantor

[aliteratewolf]

The Fiction Writer

The Fiction Writer

Jillian Cantor

Rating: 3 Stars

So a couple months ago I decided to join Aardvark Book Club to see how it compared to Book of the Month. I’ve been a member of BOTM for some years now and thought “Why not branch out? Try something new?” Fiction Writer was one of the first books I got from them and let me tell you, first impressions were… not great.

The book opens up with the protagonist Olivia struggling to come up with a third book after a failed retelling of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Her flop of a book was called Becky, a Rebecca retelling through the point of view of the first wife’s ghost (which honestly sounds good and I wish I was reading that instead) NOTE: while I don’t think it’s strictly necessary to read Rebecca before this one, it pulls a lot of themes and also spoils the book so there’s that.

She gets whisked away by a 3rd generation rich man Henry “Ash” Sherwood who claims that du Maurier stole his grandmother’s life story, and our protagonist has the chance to ghostwrite his book and get his grandmother’s story out. Olivia is insanely tempted one, for the advance that would sustain her for a while, and a chance to get a glimpse in the uber rich life. She is also intrigued because Ash’s late wife Angelica who died tragically, if under unusual circumstances.

Olivia gets whisked away to California to do some preliminary “get to know you” and “see your grandmother’s journals” conversations, and things start getting weird immediately. For starters Ash seems reluctant to talk about his grandmother’s journals which supposedly outlines her life, which he’s claiming du Maurier stole. He keeps saying the journals are away being translated, but keeps moving the day they come back to “Oh tomorrow for sure,” or “Fedex is running late, tomorrow definitely.” 

Then whenever Olivia tries to poke for more information he’ll distract her with his charm and handsomeness and she’ll let it go, despite being increasingly frustrated with him. AND THEN if she continues to push for information on the book she’s there to write he’ll leave in a huff, claiming he has to go into the office. Then somehow, without actually having done anything wrong herself, she’ll wind up apologizing to him.

Look maybe this is just me being gay, but I can’t imagine a man being handsome enough to put up with that kind of behavior for DAYS. He doesn’t answer her questions, keeps asking HER about herself, flirts with her one minute, leaves pissed off the next, distracts her by cooking dinner (or having his live in housekeeper/dead wife’s cousin do it) and just wholly acting shady as shit. I understand Olivia has a 50K lifeboat hanging over her head if this deal works out, but there’s only so much this woman should be willing to put up with before saying “Hey, I’m here to work on a book and if there’s no book I’m walking away”

While all this is happening Olivia is also meeting up with Noah, a college friend she hasn’t seen since her first book sold. Despite the fact that they haven’t spoken in years he’s happy to meet up with her and tries to help with her research, despite the fact she signed an NDA. Olivia thinks Noah hasn’t seen her in years because she made it big with her first book before he did and he couldn’t handle being in her shadow. She also knows that something happened between him and Jack, her recent ex. Jack was sure that Noah had a crush on Olivia, which she denied up and down. (At the end of the book it’s proven true, Noah had a crush on her the whole time and confesses his feelings for her at the end of the book. It had very little payout)

ALSO we’ve got excerpts from another book called The Wife, told through the eyes of Angelica, Ash’s late wife. It seems she was also writing a book loosely based on du Maurier’s Rebecca as the first wife. Honestly the excerpts are more compelling than this book. But before Angelica’s book could come out, her agent has bad news, another book with a similar story was already written. My problem with this is that Olivia’s book didn’t do well so I think she could still come out with hers? It wouldn’t be the first time two similar books came out close together, trends are a thing.

I won’t keep going because frankly, this book was okay at best and I want to move on. To answer the question I posed at the beginning tho; Is Aardvark worth it? I’d say yeah. Since this book I’ve also picked up How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead, I was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones and more. With any book subscription there’s gonna be some duds, but I look forward to reading some of the other ones I’ve gotten.

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor

Author: Jillian CantorPublisher: Park RowReleased: November 28, 2023Received: Own (Aardvark)Find it on Goodreads | Aardvark | More Aardvark Reviews Book Summary: Olivia Fitzgerald once aspired to be a great writer. But lately, she’s been struggling. Her first novel did fairly well – but her second was a total flop. So, while she should be doubling down on her third novel, Olivia instead jumps…

[theboyatthebustop]

Made this out of boredom

[lizard-reads-the-world]

YA Books about 🇦🇹 Austria

List of Austria books for the YA World Challenge.

It's been quite a while since I did a country-themed list. This one has been sitting in the drafts for a while.

I have discovered that YA books in English featuring Austria consist of only 3 categories:

WW2 (sometimes WW1)

Empress Sisi (interchangeable with Marie Antoinette or Nannerl Mozart)

Eva Ibbotson

And that's it. Well, I'm kidding, but it almost seems like it. Here's the little list I came up with. Feel free to suggest any I missed - I mostly search through Goodreads to find these so the list is prone to mistakes and omissions!

YA

I Don't Live Here Anymore by Gabi Kreslehner 💚 The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu ⌛🦋 Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville ⌛ When the World Was Ours by Liz Kessler ⌛ Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld ⌛🦋 A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson 💚 Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson 💚 The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson 💚 The Musician's Daughter by Susanne Dunlap ⌛ Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten 💚 Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu ⌛🦋 Becoming Marie Antoinette: A Novel by Juliet Grey ⌛ European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman (#2) by Theodora Goss ⌛🦋 Wanderlost by Jen Malone 🏖️ Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith 🏖️🦋 The Empress by Gigi Griffis ⌛ The Secret Diary of a Princess by Melanie Clegg ⌛ The School at the Chalet by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer ⌛ In Mozart's Shadow: His Sister's Story by Carolyn Meyer ⌛ Apple's Song by Blake Ryan 🏖️

MG

Hedy and her Amazing Invention by Jan Wahl 🛩️ The Thing I'm Most Afraid Of by Kristin Levine 🏖️♿ The Language of Spells by Garret Weyr 🦋 Searching for Lottie by Susan Ross 🛩️ Moonlight on the Magic Flute by Mary Pope Osborne 🏖️⌛🦋 Marie Antoinette, Princess of Versailles by Kathryn Lasky ⌛ The Night Crossing by Karen Ackerman ⌛ Stolen Words by Amy Goldman Koss 🏖️ The Taste of Snow by Stephen V. Masse

Memoir

Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life by Ulli Lust GN 💚 How I Tried to Be a Good Person by Ulli Lust GN 💚 Fat by Regina Hofer 💚♿ Becoming Alice: A Memoir by Alice Rene 💚⌛

NA/Adult

The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki ⌛ The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton ⌛ Exile Music: A Novel by Jennifer Steil ⌛🌈 The English Girl by Margaret Leroy ⌛🏖️ The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan ⌛ The Edelweiss Sisters by Kate Hewitt ⌛ The Light After the War by Anita Abriel ⌛ The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck ⌛ The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor ⌛ The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason ⌛ House of Gold by Natasha Solomons ⌛ Setting Free the Bears John Irving Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese ⌛ The Girl with the Golden Scissors by Julia Drosten ⌛ Hidden Among the Stars by Melanie Dobson ⌛

�� Native Author 🛩️ Immigrant or diaspora 🏖️ non-native characters in or about the country (ex. vacation/adventure) ⌛ Historical 🦋 Fantasy or Paranormal 🌈 LGBTQ+ ♿ Disability rep

[memoriesfrombooks]

Many tell lies for many reasons in The Greatest Lie of All by Jillian Cantor. The chapters go between two timelines and the perspectives of two women. Layer by layer, the past is revealed and the connection between past and present comes to light. The mystery of the connection is an intriguing one to follow. I enjoyed the read but would have preferred a different ending more focused on who the rest of the story is about and how it's told. 

Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher’s blog tour.

[beautifulscreaminglady]

Currently reading:

[crazyf0rswayze]

orchid, jasmine, and ivy for the get to know me 🫶

Orchid-if I'm being completely honest it's a song that you guys r gonna think 'oh wow she listens to that?' But it's The Sound Of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel

Jasmine-for a book probably In Another Time by Jillian Cantor because it was a little hard to follow along with. For movies it's The Boy In Striped Pajamas because that was kinda traumatizing bc I watched it at a young age

Ivy-crossed arms and a cheek between my teeth when I'm mad or angry. Usually I'm biting my cheek and my leg is bouncing rapidly when I'm about to cry. Tired? Oh I literally just complain so much. Annoyed? I wind up snapping at people.

https://www.tumblr.com/crazyf0rswayze/729393800170061824/slfcare-random-get-to-know-me-ask-game?source=share

[daphneblakess]

books i read in 2023: beautiful little fools by jillian cantor

“I always thought it was us women who were the fools. But I was wrong. It’s been the men all along.”

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Beautiful Little Fools

Author: Jillian Cantor

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2022

Genres: fiction, historical fiction, retelling, mystery, contemporary

Blurb: On a sultry August day in 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of local mechanic George Wilson is found in the woods nearby...then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire. Daisy Buchanan once thought she might marry Gatsby, before her family was torn apart by an unspeakable tragedy that sent her into the arms of the philandering Tom Buchanan. Jordan Baker, Daisy’s best friend, guards a secret that derailed her promising golf career...and threatens to ruin her friendship with Daisy as well. Suffragette Catherine McCoy fights for women’s freedom and independence - especially for her sister, Myrtle Wilson, who’s trapped in a terrible marriage. Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unravelling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession...with devastating consequences for all of them.

[the-gayest-gatsby]

Started reading the book Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor today and I highly recommend it for fans of the ladies from The Great Gatsby so far 💖

[whimsicaldragonette]

ARC Review: Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor

Preorder:

Add to Goodreads:

Publishing Date: February 1, 2022

Synopsis:

USA Today bestselling author Jillian Cantor reimagines and expands on the literary classic The Great Gatsby in this atmospheric historical novel with echoes of Big Little Lies, told in three women’s alternating voices. On a sultry August day in 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of George Wilson, a local mechanic, is found in the woods nearby. Then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire. Daisy Buchanan once thought she might marry Gatsby—before her family was torn apart by an unspeakable tragedy that sent her into the arms of the philandering Tom Buchanan. Jordan Baker, Daisy’s best friend, guards a secret that derailed her promising golf career and threatens to ruin her friendship with Daisy as well. Catherine McCoy, a suffragette, fights for women’s freedom and independence, and especially for her sister, Myrtle Wilson, who’s trapped in a terrible marriage. Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unraveling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession, with devastating consequences for all of them. Jillian Cantor revisits the glittering Jazz Age world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, retelling this timeless American classic from the women’s perspective. Beautiful Little Fools is a quintessential tale of money and power, marriage and friendship, love and desire, and ultimately the murder of a man tormented by the past and driven by a destructive longing that can never be fulfilled.

My Review:

★★★★★

This was hauntingly beautiful. It was so sad and desperate and hopeless, watching Daisy and Jordan and Catherine's lives crashing down around them. I couldn't look away.

The structure was brilliant, getting each of the women's perspective as their lives slowly intertwined and tangled around one another. Adding brief interjections from the detective trying to solve the case of Gatsby's murder was brilliant as well, heightening the tension as the lies mounted up.

I've always thought the Great Gatsby was a beautiful and tragic story, but getting Jay's story through Nick wasn't nearly so tragic as this. Nick's perspective was that of an outsider looking in at a gin-soaked world of parties. Daisy and Jordan and Catherine had so much more depth to them, because women, even rich women, had so much less power than the men.

I was riveted the entire time I read, drawn in to the darkly glittering world, but drawn in the most because of Daisy and Jordan and Catherine's humanity. They felt so real, so alive, so timeless.

I was bracing myself the entire time, waiting for the final crash at the end, but Jillian Cantor managed to infuse it with just a touch of hope and made me love it all the more for how unexpected it was.

This is a story I will be reading again and recommending to all my friends.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for providing an e-arc for review.

Favorite Quotes

Daisy sounded petulant, but oddly, it was the first time it had ever occurred to me that there might be a difference between the two, that it might be impossible to be both good and happy.

---

That was life, wasn't it? Everything you could never believe happening to you, happening just like that, right before your very eyes.

---

I'd been feeling this way for a few weeks now, since we'd moved here from France. Weary and restless at the same time. It was hard to breathe and even harder to remember to smile.

---

It made me soften toward him a little, as I felt the way inside that his face looked: angry and disappointed and a little bit sad.

---

Myrtle? It felt funny to know she had a name, that she was a real, living breathing woman who desired something unattainable too. Just like the rest of us. Golf. Daisy. Tom and the west.

---

Of course, Nick agreed. Nick agreed to everything that summer. If you looked up agreeable in Merriam-Webster's I was pretty sure you'd see Nick's photograph.

---

And the way her face turned in that moment, it hit me that she would someday grow to be a woman. I wanted more for her than to be a fool. I never wanted men to treat Pammy the way they treated me. I wanted her to be brave and bold, and fearless and independent.

---

"She's a little you, isn't she Daisy?" he said. His words burned my face, my heart. Pammy had to be better. I wanted so much better for her. I had to make sure she was better.

---

They were all the same, weren't they? They all wanted nothing more than to ruin me. It was utterly exhausting to be a woman.

---

"I don't want a safe life," I told him, much to his chagrin. "I want a good life. I want a meaningful life."

---

And maybe that was the last and biggest lie of all. That what I would do next with my life would be good enough to make up for what I had done.

[lilibetbombshell]

!!!ARC REVIEW!!!

TITLE: “BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS”

AUTHOR: JILLIAN CANTOR

PUBLISHER: HARPER PERENNIAL

PUBLISHING DATE: JANUARY 4TH, 2022

RATING: 4 / 5 STARS

***Spoilers for F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” included in review, just in case***

I’m a big fan of literature that takes place in the 1920s and a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, “The Great Gatsby”. But, Fitzgerald was a middle-aged white guy writing about the events unfolding during the summer of 1922 in West Egg from the POV of unreliable narrator Nick Carroway… the females in Fitzgerald’s story (like most things in that book) were either inconsequential or metaphors.

“Beautiful Little Fools” takes the narrative out of the hands of the males and puts it into the hands of the female characters: Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle, and Catherine. Mixed into a switched-up first-person POV that bounces between the past and the present (and with a police detective who’s been hired off the books to find out the truth of who really killed Jay Gatsby added in to provide a devil’s advocate voice to the book), these four women all become fully fleshed-out and realized people who aren’t just metaphors or background noise in some middle-aged white male’s book.

This is definitely a character-driven novel. And I have mixed feelings about that, because I think it’s missing a lot of ambiance and atmosphere it sorely needed. The book takes place in the 20’s (for the most part), but it doesn’t feel like a novel that takes place in the 1920s. Where I felt this the most was in the dialogue. The characters, save maybe Jay Gatsby himself (with a few pithy bon mots), don’t speak in the vernacular of the 1920s. And in a dialogue-heavy novel, it really sticks out.

But the characters, oh, they work. They work so well. Seeing them whole is to see them broken. Daisy with her cold grief and emptiness, Jordan with her quiet fears and cynicism, Myrtle and her desperation, and Catherine with her unflinching pessimism and anger.

If you love all things 1920s, you might be a little put-off by the anachronisms or the lack of depth. But if you loved “The Great Gatsby” and might want another lens to look at the work through, this is a great book to read. Definitely worth the time.

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

The Fiction Writer Jillian Cantor

The Fiction Writer is a fascinating thriller with SO many twists and turns. (It was also the perfect fit for my "ghost writer" reading prompt, hooray!). In truth, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this one – but I did enjoy many of the reveals.

First – I LOVED this premise - an author getting pulled into a (probably scammy) ghostwriting gig? Only for her writer-senses to tingle and tell her to keep on digging? Yes, please! I also love that it is all themed around a famous literary piece (Rebecca).

That said, having a basic familiarity with Rebecca is helpful before reading this book. Honestly, you could get away with reading a quick synopsis. Even that much would help give you a better appreciation of some of the reveals.

The Fiction Writer is one of those books that constantly pulls the rug out from under your feet. It did for me! I was hooked and surprised on more than one occasion. I also didn't see that ending coming – but I did rather like how they left it.

Highlights: Books about Books Suspense/thriller Ghost Writers Layered Mystery

[shy-and-reserved]

The Many Different Covers Of:

The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor

[2020ya]

THE CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK

by Jillian Cantor

(Inkyard Press, 10/6/20)

9781335090591

Add to Goodreads

Purchase from Indiebound

From bestselling author Jillian Cantor comes a smart, edgy update of Jane Austen's beloved classic Emma. Emma Woodhouse is a genius at math, but clueless about people. After all, people are unreliable. They let you down—just like Emma's sister, Izzy, did this year, when she moved to California for college. But numbers...those you can count on. (No pun intended.) Emma's senior year is going to be all about numbers, and seeing how far they can take her. When she and George, her Coding Club co-president, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is born—a matchmaking app that goes far beyond swiping, using algorithms to calculate compatibility. George disapproves of Emma's idea, accusing her of meddling in people's lives. But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works. At least at first. Emma's code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep falling for each other and her own feelings defy any algorithm? Emma thought math could solve everything. But there's nothing more complex—or unpredictable—than love. 

[memoriesfrombooks]

I am drawn in by the title - The Fiction Writer. The description of Jillian Cantor’s novel pulls in a classic - Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. As a reader, I love books about books! I struggle with this story as the descriptions and actions depicted of the main character do not lend themselves to a protagonist to cheer for or one that is interesting enough in their poor choices to watch and follow just to see what happens. Unfortunately, I find myself not the reader for this book. 

Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher’s blog tour.