Book Review: Sandalwood by Carol Deeley

Title: Sandalwood

Author: Carol Deeley

Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I would like to thank the author for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Sandalwood is about a 20-something girl named Josie. She is living her life after college, scraping by. All of that changes when she gets a mysterious package at her door. It is from her estranged grandmother. And that is where this story begins. Josie never knew her grandmother. As far as she knows, her grandmother abandoned her mom and grandfather just after her mom was born. How on Earth did this woman even know she existed? What could her grandmother say that was of any importance to Josie? She never knew Josie, she wasn't important to her grandmother. So the mystery begins. She takes a road trip with her best friend in an attempt to uncover the answers to this mystery.

Here is what I liked:

The writing style was great, first person narrative, and in a diary kind of format. It was beautifully fast-paced and easy, entertaining read. The mystery, the intrigue, the overall plot was unique yet easy to relate to. I can still relate to being a fresh out of college, working a crappy job, scraping by on the few dollars I have left over, having a crappy boyfriend and knowing I can do better. I love the characters. There were a lot of characters in this book, some for a few pages, some for much longer. The growth of Josie and her relationships were well paced and appropriate. The range of emotions this book made me feel was extensive. I wanted to cry in parts, and laughed out loud in others.  I loved the ending. It was amazing. It was perfect, it simply ended with "the end." I was engrossed in this story. When the end of the book came, I kept trying to move to the next page. I wanted to know more, I wanted to continue to be an observer in Josie's life. I wanted to know about her life after all the revelations and mysteries were solved. 

Here is what I think could be better:

My version had a few editing errors. Such as lack of capitalization of proper nouns and plurality instead of singularities. However, this did not cause enough of a distraction to deter from the story line at all. The only thing I could have wanted was more of Josie's story.

Overall, this book was fantastic and earns a respectable 4.5 ⭐'s. The only reason it didn't get the full 5 stars was because of the editing errors I found. Regardless, I would definitely read it again. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone who enjoys contemporary fiction shaken, not stirred with mystery, humor and a twist of romance.