Skip to main content

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand Book Review


Reasons for Reading This Book:

As a member of The Readheads podcast book club I am always putting their book recommendations on my to read list. One of the recommended books was Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand. Oddly enough it wasn't the concept of the book that caught my attention it was the title. While working in Boston, MA I visited a used book store. I went in with books that I was looking to buy and this was one of them. Lucky for me they had one copy left. I went into this book with little to no expectations. I knew it was a summery beachy read and was excited to read it during the start of the summer.

Content of This Book:

Vivian Howe is a Nantucket novelist who has one summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on Earth learn to live without her. Vivi is killed in a hit-and-run while on her morning run. Upon her death she entered the Beyond, where she meets Martha. Vivi is granted one last summer to watch what happens on Earth. She is also given three "nudges' to change the outcome of events down below. Vivi left three children behind. Her eldest Willa has had three miscarriages. Carson her middle child is the wild party child. And her youngest Leo is dealing with his high-maintenance girlfriend before he leaves for college. Vivi is also able to watch as the Chief works on her case. Following her death her final novel is published, Golden Girl. This book contains secrets from her childhood that have the potential to ruin her reputation. Secrets come to light and nudges are used. Read to see how this story plays out. 

What I Liked About This Book: 

In my opinion this was the perfect book to read to kick off summer. The use of multiple narrators aided in depicting and explaining the various storylines and how each character related back to the main story line of Vivi and her death. I loved the structure of the book. Having each character narrate their sectioned and their lives' provided character development. I personally was a fan of not having numbered chapters, it would have distracted and messed up the flow that the chosen structure provided. The detail in this book was immaculate. This book provided the perfect amount of detail for the reader to picture how the characters looked, the scenery, and so much more. The level of detail in this book is one of my favorite things about it. It is also what made it so enjoyable to read. I find that some authors choose to focus on a detail that they carry throughout the book. I think that the detail that Elin Hilderbrand chose is music and songs. I loved the included of song titles and artists. It set the scene and made it personable. It is hard for me to describe but I had the best and most enjoyable time reading this book. The writing flowed and was consistent from start to finish. The characters were reliable narrators and truly opened up and shared every thought and emotion with the reader. I also just loved the concept that Vivi was able to watch her loved ones following her death. This not only helped her but also the ones she left behind. 

What I Disliked About This Book:

Having the Chief narrate his sections of the story progressed the investigation and provided the reader with information on Vivi's case. With that there were long stretches of the story where the Chief was not included and the main focus was on other storylines and not the case. I would have preferred in the Chief had regular small sections with little updates instead of becoming a large part in different chunks of the book. Some readers might be put off by the length of the book. I am personally a slow reader. The length of this book was not a problem for me as it is an easy and enjoyable read that you fly through. 

Would I Recommend This Book?

Without a doubt yes!! I am so glad that I have my own copy so I can loan it to those in my life who I think would also enjoy it. This is a perfect book for a road trip, vocation, and flight. I say go get yourself a copy it is so worth the read!!

Check out my book reviews for 2022!!


Check out my book reviews for 2021!!


Check out my book reviews for 2020!!

Check out my book reviews for 2019!!


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reasonable Dorm Room Cleaning Schedule

Reasonable Dorm Room Cleaning Schedule After my first semester of college I have developed a cleaning routine that I have been able to keep up with. You can read my previous blog post about What I Learned In My First Semester of College . Over the past few months I have experimented and I am confident in the routine that I have created.  Personalize When it comes to personalizing the schedule you could add or take out the different chores. For example I also wash my retainers weekly and monthly my roommate and I decorate the marker board on the outside of our door. We also only clean our mirrors when needed since we have found that they do not seem to become too dirty regularly. Something that I would make sure you sanitize every week would be the surfaces that you are constantly touching. That means light switches, door handles, and your desk. By doing this I managed to avoid getting sick when my roommate and other floor mates go sick. Another task that you could add to y
91 comments
Read more

Bullet Journal Fitness and Workout Spread Ideas

If you want to purchase some of these spreads you can buy the digital bundle from my Etsy shop: Simply Paperless .  I had created six different bullet journal fitness and workout trackers/spreads. These spreads were made in my digital bullet journal using the GoodNotes App.   I highly recommend to use a stylus when using GoodNotes as a digital bullet journal. For this project I used the Adonit Dash 3 Stylus , which I highly recommend. I also recommend the Bargain Depot Stylus 2 Pack  from Amazon. Daily Workout Plan This first spread can be used to plan out what exercises you plan to workout each day of the week. I would recommend this spread for those who are just starting to workout. I did not created the workout that is used as the example for the content of this spread. The workout is from Pintrest Workout Plan .  Workout Tracker This next tracker is in the format of a monthly calendar. In order to track the different workouts accomplished throughout
63 comments
Read more

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Book Review

Reasons For Reading This Book: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus was Jackie's choice for the month of October. Jackie is the host of The Readheads Podcast Book Club. This is a monthly podcast book club that I have been apart of since it was established in 2020. I love getting to hear the thoughts of the hosts each month.  Content of the Book: Elizabeth Zott is a chemist but is much more than meets the eye. She is not only beautiful but also extremely smart, confident, strong, and not afraid to beat to her own drum. Elizabeth is one of the only female chemists working at Hastings Research Institute. She is viewed as different by everyone there. It's there that she meet Nobel-Prize nominated chemist Calvin Evans. Calvin who falls in love with Elizabeth is described as a loner, grudge holder, and extremely brilliant. Fast forward a few years and Elizabeth is now a single-mother working as the host of the most watched cooking show, Supper at Six . With Elizabeth's ways of
2 comments
Read more