July Wrap Up

When I stop to think about it, the passage of time has always been a funny thing. But this month – and this year in particular – seems to be slipping by in a daze of books, working, and isolation. I feel trapped physically, so I turn to art in various forms to soothe my soul and calm my mind. If nothing else, these past months have taught me to cherish every moment of life. I took for granted the way we all lived, before.

Last year, I was free in a way we aren’t this year. I was constantly outside, visiting fields of golden sunflowers and active bees, glimpsing the mountains of a far away city on a road trip. Staying up way too late with friends. And going on countless walks to soak up the glow of the sun.

So this July was different for me, as it was different for all of us. This is what my July looked like.

ARC Review: “Every Step She Takes” by K.L. Armstrong

Title: Every Step She Takes
Author: K.L. Armstrong
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Source: Penguin Random House Canada
Publication Date: June 30th, 2020
Format: eARC
Page Count: 320 (paperback edition)
Rating: ★

Add it on Goodreads
Buy it on: Indigo | Your Local Independent Bookstore | Barnes & Noble

Plot Summary: Sometimes there’s no use running from your past. . . .

Genevieve has secrets that no one knows. In Rome she can be whoever she wants to be. Her neighbours aren’t nosy; her Italian is passable; the shopkeepers and restaurant owners now see her as a local, and they let her be. It’s exactly what she wants.

One morning, after getting groceries, she returns to her 500-year-old Trastevere apartment. She climbs to the very top of the staircase, the stairs narrowing the higher she goes. When she gets to her door, she puts down her bags and pushes the key into the lock . . .

. . . and the door swings open.

It’s unlocked. Sometimes she doesn’t lock it because break-ins aren’t common in Rome. But Genevieve knows she locked the door behind her this morning. She has no doubt.

She should leave, call the police. What if someone is in her apartment, waiting for her? But she doesn’t.

The apartment is empty, and exactly as she left it, perfectly tidy and not a thing out of place . . . except for the small box on her kitchen table. A box that definitely wasn’t there this morning. A box postmarked from the US. A box that is addressed to “Lucy Callahan.”

A name that she hasn’t used in ten years.
..

_________________________________________________________________________________

..

I received an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warning: This book contains on the page sexual assault.