December 2016 Book of the Month Club review time!
If you haven’t heard, Book of the Month (BOTM) is a subscription that sends you a new hardcover book as chosen by a panel of judges every month. You’ll be given a choice between five different book selections which will be revealed on their site on the first of the month. The books will include a broad range of genres and offer a mix of both fiction and nonfiction titles. The Book of the Month team reviews thousands of submissions from dozens of publishers, and works closely with the BOTM judges to select exceptional books that they think members will enjoy.
Disclosure: I received this box for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate and/or referral links.
Subscriptions are $16.99/month or less with multi-month commitments (as low as $8.99/month for the annual plan). — For a limited time, you can can get your first month for only $5! — No coupon code needed.
Okay, let’s check out my December 2016 Book of the Month Club box!
The box!
A peek inside.
As always, the book itself was shrink-wrapped to a sturdy piece of cardboard to keep it from getting damaged in transit.
Included was a note from Liberty Hardy, one of the guest judges for December, who chose the book I received — “Pull Me Under” by Kelly Luce.
Pull Me Under by Kelly Luce – I almost always tend to gravitate towards the darker novels, and this one certainly fits the bill.
From Amazon:
Chizuru Akitani is the twelve-year-old daughter of the famous violinist and Japanese “Living National Treasure” Hiro Akitani. Overweight and hafu (her mother is white), she is tormented by her classmates and targeted by the most relentless bully of them all, Tomoya Yu. When Chizuru’s mother dies suddenly her father offers her no comfort and she is left feeling alone and unmoored. At school, her bully’s cruelty intensifies, and in a moment of blind rage, Chizuru grabs a Morimoto letter opener from her teacher’s desk and fatally stabs Tomoya Yu in the neck.
For the next seven years, Chizuru is institutionalized. Her father visits her just twice before ultimately disowning her. Upon release, Chizuru flees Japan for a new identity and life in the United States. Determined to outrun her murderous past, she renames herself Rio, graduates from nursing school, marries a loving man, and soon has a daughter. But when a mysterious package arrives on her doorstep in Boulder, Colorado, announcing the death of her father, Rio feels compelled to return to Japan for the first time in twenty years, leaving her husband and her daughter confused and bereft. Going back to her homeland, and to the scene of her complicated past, feels like stepping into a strange and familiar dream. When she unexpectedly reconnects with Miss Danny, who had been her beloved teacher at the time of the stabbing, long-kept secrets are unearthed, forcing Rio to confront her past in ways she never imagined, and to decide if she will reveal to her family who she once was.
I was a little annoyed that the Amazon description gave away so much of the story, but I’m still nevertheless looking forward to reading it for myself. 😉
Book of the Month also included a red ribbon for you to “create your own holiday photo with the BOTM box” and have a chance at winning a free 6-month subscription by posting it to Instagram.
Although Amazon’s description kind of gave a lot of the plot away, I’m still happy with the selection I chose for December’s Book of the Month. 😉 — Remember, for a limited time you can can get your first month for only $5! — No coupon code needed.
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