I received a copy from Ten Speed Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Most people would jump at the chance to win $50,0000. In facI received a copy from Ten Speed Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Most people would jump at the chance to win $50,0000. In fact, some people would do anything in their power, even if it led to someone else’s demise. When 14 people are offered the chance to win big money, they’re each in it for different reasons. People, like Mack, are looking at the money as a chance at a new or better life. Others are hoping it’ll launch their brand into the limelight. Then there are the people running the competition who are willing to kill to get what they want. However they are involved in the competition, they’re each about to be tied to an old and abandoned theme park for the rest of their lives.
I read the written novel last year, so I was extremely excited when I saw that a graphic novel adaptation was on the way. I could see how the book would translate very well as a graphic novel, so of course I had to check it out. I’m excited to confirm that it does work very well as a graphic novel! This time around, we watch the 14 contestants along with those running the competition come to life through the colorful artwork. Plus, the art style truly brings the story to life with its vivid colors and beautiful drawing style.
Like before, we follow an interesting cast of characters leading up to the competition until its end. We get to know some characters more than others, but we follow Mack the most. There was less suspense this time around, and the Seeker is no longer visually scary. However, I think it still worked out great for its graphic novel format.
Overall, this feels more like a young adult version of the story because there wasn’t much of a scare factor and it lacked suspense. Despite that, I really loved the story. If anything, I actually like that you can choose how scared you want to feel and then choose which version of the story you want to check out based on that....more
I received a copy from Penguin Group (Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons for Young Readers) through NetGalley in exchange for an honest reI received a copy from Penguin Group (Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons for Young Readers) through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Linden has grown up in Caball Hollow, a small town with whispers of its paranormal history. Some of those whispers have a smidge of truth mixed in with the rumors, and she would know this better than anyone since she was born into the latest generation of James women and their distinct abilities. When a girl from town goes missing and is found dead, the town’s whispers about the James women grow louder and louder. This disappearance is eerily similar to Linden’s own disappearance the previous summer, and she can’t seem to remember anything about that night. As many in town begin to grow meaner, louder, and bolder, Linden and her sisters lean into their abilities to find out who is behind the murder… or murders.
When I picked up this book, I was not expecting it to be as much of a mystery and thriller that it actually is, and that’s a good thing! I was sucked into the story so fast. We follow Linden, a teenager whose life was turned upside down after she went missing a year before where the story starts. It all began with a silly game of Moth-Winged Man, which is played like a game of Bloody Mary but in the National Forest and without a mirror. The only problem is that Linden can’t remember much about that night, and it’s caused a divide between her and all her friends. She’s just been waiting for the whole thing to finally blow over when a friend of hers, Dahlia, goes missing around the National Forest.
Of course, things only get worse when Linden discovers Dahlia’s body, only she was pulled to it like a magnet. She and her old friend, Cole, keep dancing around each other as she and her sisters try to figure out what happened. Linden doesn’t want to accept Cole’s help given how their friendship broke apart, but it seems that he’s not as weirded out by her as she thought. I think the differences between Linden and Cole investigating and Linden and her sisters investigating were really fun. We see Linden and her sisters using their abilities, such as contacting the spirits, to see what they turn up. However, when she’s working with Cole, we see just two regular teenagers trying to connect the dots. It was really interesting, especially because we get to see how each method of poking around uncovers new information that helps them all move forward. I especially loved seeing Linden and her sisters bond, bicker, and support each other every step of the way.
The mystery itself was excellent. It went so far back and was connected to everyone in so many different ways. It was really interesting to see how the decisions of some of the characters we get to know impacted how the events played out. I also really liked that the central plot leads Linden on a path of discovery about her family and how her ancestors really ended up in town. There are so many twists and turns throughout the story that it’s easy to tell how much planning went into this. It was truly an excellent read. I wasn’t happy about the final chapter, but that was because it went from high stakes to instant closure when I was hoping we’d get more information about the aftermath of the previous chapters. However, since this is the first in a series, I think it’s very likely that we’ll see the aftermath of those events play out in the next novel....more
I received a copy from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Saskia Kries is the latest heir to her family’s estate, tI received a copy from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Saskia Kries is the latest heir to her family’s estate, the Elf House. It’s the one place she’s always called home, which is why she’s blindsided when she discovers that not only did her mother not tell her she was dying, but she also left the house to Saskia’s former teacher. After finding out that her father also had no idea about the change to her mother’s will, Saskia is on a mission to find out why her mother would just give the house away. The deeper she digs, the more secrets become illuminated, including her own.
I read and loved Rachel’s debut novel, so I was extremely excited when I saw they had another book coming out. I can honestly say that this novel does not disappoint! It should be noted that this book deals with the following tough subjects: death, death of a parent, grooming, and sexual abuse. If any of these subjects are triggering for you, this is a book that you should pass on because Saskia is dealing with each of these subjects all book long.
We follow Saskia, a pianist and prodigy, as we bounce back and forth between the past and present. In the present, we’re picking up right after Saskia’s mom died, leaving her raw and hurt, especially when she had no idea her mother was sick. The longer that Saskia is home, the more she’s confronted with the past that she’s been running away from. Much of the book is watching Saskia deal with her past traumas as well as her very fresh present trauma. All the tough subjects that can be triggering are right there, raw and in the open as Saskia grapples with what happened to her and tries to regain control. It’s such a heart wrenching novel that is very well-written and packs a punch. I look forward to seeing what else the author publishes in the future. They’re a very talented writer and really knows how to pull readers in on the very first page....more
I received a copy from Boldwood Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lexi Jakes has been running from her past for a long time. WoI received a copy from Boldwood Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lexi Jakes has been running from her past for a long time. Working as a journalist and currently living with her boyfriend and their daughter, hardly anyone knows that she’s the daughter of Peter Graves, a well-known convicted serial killer. Not even her boyfriend knows. Everything changes when the murder of her biological mother hits the news cycle. The clencher? Whoever did it is a Peter Graves copycat and they’re sending him a message.
We follow Lexi Jakes and the copycat killer whose identity isn’t revealed until later through rotating POV chapters. The most we know about the copycat killer for a long while is that they are the sister of Peter’s final victim. Other than knowing the copycat killer is unhinged right off the bat because they’re killing people, it’s clear that they are completely unhinged and not caring that the damage they’re doing is hurting everyone the same way she was hurt.
Meanwhile, Lexi spends a lot of time debating on whether or not she is going to tell her boyfriend about her past. When I say a lot of time, I mean majority of the book is her going back and forth on it. Once she’s run off to seek the safety of the family that took her in and gave her a loving and stable home, she needed to tell her boyfriend right away or just accept it was not happening. Unfortunately, that was not the case and we just watch her fear take on different appearances while she argues with herself about what she should do.
This book has a lot of good points. However, the suspense was barely there, and personally, it missed the mark on being a thriller. I’m most disappointed by the climax of the story being totally glossed over. We build up to this big event, Lexi makes here way there and understandably has cold feet, and then the next chapter starts and skips straight over the actual event. The climax is not finding out who the killer is, either, so the whole book fizzled out once it just skipped straight over this very important meeting. The pacing was very slow as well, which would’ve worked well if the suspense made it into the story.
That said, I really enjoyed some of the characters and the initial worldbuilding is excellent. I could really see Lexi’s life and her surroundings the whole way through. Because of this, I’m looking forward to what the author comes up with in the future because I think they are capable of writing a very good thriller. Everything was there to make it happen in this book, but it just missed the mark by a little bit....more
It’s New Year’s Eve and everyone is expecting Y2K to hit with a bang. Instead of a total digital collapse, the Blockbuster massacre happens in Linden,It’s New Year’s Eve and everyone is expecting Y2K to hit with a bang. Instead of a total digital collapse, the Blockbuster massacre happens in Linden, New Jersey. It leaves one survivor, and the killer flees, never to be seen or heard from again. At least, that’s what everyone thought until an eerily similar massacre occurs fifteen years later in the same town. Everyone assigned to the case is left wondering if they have a copycat killer on their hands, but the only way to know is to dive back into the original massacre.
I really enjoyed this fast paced and truly wild book. Told through rotating narrators, we jump back and forth between the years 1999/2000 and the present as we watch the mysteries behind the cases get fully uncovered. We mainly follow Keller, Ella, and Chris. Agent Sarah Keller is an FBI agent who is at the end of her pregnancy with twins. She assigned to the new massacre and finds herself with multiple mysteries on her hands the longer she looks into it alongside the Blockbuster case. Ella Monroe is a therapist who has been called in to counsel the survivor of the new ice-cream shop massacre. She’s uniquely qualified for the case as the lone survivor of the original massacre that this new case mimics. Finally, Chris Ford is a state prosecutor who hopes to find his brother Victor, who has been on the run for the last fifteen years.
Throughout the book, we learn a lot about nearly every character we meet. For a while, there’s more questions than answers but I can promise you that every question does get answered. In fact, that’s something I really like about this book. Every question gets answered rather than leaving the major questions up in the air when it ends. Plus, it’s easy to like the characters that we follow along with some of the characters we meet several times.
As far as the mystery goes, it’s one wild ride. I fell for one red herring and was convinced they were the real killer all along. Was I in shock when all was said and done? Yes. However, all the answers make sense and I found this to be a truly complex and wild read from beginning to end. It’s not the most fast paced and wild book I’ve read, but I would say that it’s not far behind the book that wins that award.
All in all, I’m looking forward to checking out Alex Finlay’s other books. Just don’t pick up this book expecting a lot of 90s and early millennium vibes because of Blockbuster and the Y2K memories. I can tell you that you won’t find that here, but what you will find is a very well written mystery that will take you for one crazy ride....more
I received a copy from Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Orphaned and living in a shelter, Mack has notI received a copy from Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Orphaned and living in a shelter, Mack has nothing but a small bag of items to her name. She only wants to be invisible. Instead, she’s singled out and offered the chance of a lifetime: participate in a hide-and-seek competition for the chance to win $50k. The offer seems too good to be true, but what does Mack have to lose? It’s a question that comes back to haunt her when the competition begins to disappear rather than be eliminated.
I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I started this book, but I knew it was bound to be crazy. It was hard to follow at first because there’s such a large cast of characters and we only got to know Mack before the main plot gets rolling. It honestly took me a while before I realized I had mixed two of the characters up, and one was eliminated shortly after we met him and the guy I thought was him.
That said, once I got the characters down, it was easy to tell each person apart before their names were mentioned. Each of them are so different from one another and brought something different to the table, so I wish we got to know some of the characters before the competition started. That said, I think it’s an excellent book. We follow several different perspectives, and it truly pulls the whole story together. It was interesting to follow the story from so many perspectives, especially when we jumped to the people who knew what was going on.
I do wish the seeker was revealed completely through the people in the old, closed theme park because it was a little anticlimactic for the main reveal to be vague through a series of journal entries. However, it didn’t ruin the story for me. I just think that the journal entries should’ve come into play after we saw the seeker in all their glory. It was actually quite a fascinating and scary concept that left me very close to being on the edge of my seat.
All in all, I think this was a very good read. I have two of Kiersten White’s books on my to-read list, and now I’m excited to check them out because this was such a good story....more
I received a copy from William Morrow through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
After escaping Liberty Lake thanks to a scholarship, Mary almI received a copy from William Morrow through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
After escaping Liberty Lake thanks to a scholarship, Mary almost had it all. She lost weight, was close to graduating from an Ivy League, had many friends, and had no plans to return to the city escaped. Then she finally let out all the anger she’d been keeping in, leading to her expulsion. Mary finds herself back in Liberty Lake with student loans breathing down her neck as she works a minimum wage job when her former childhood friend, Olivia, goes missing. With nothing better to do, Mary finds herself becoming increasingly obsessed with the case, especially when she becomes convinced that there’s a serial killer involved.
Narrated by Mary, we follow her from the moment her dad arrives to help her move out of her dorm room. Lonely, angry, depressed, and ashamed, she doesn’t tell anyone the real reason she’s not at school. Not even her best friend. We spend a lot of time in her head learning why she’s angry and depressed. The more we get to know Mary, the more it becomes apparent that she has had anger issues for a long time and is obsessed with fitting with her peers while being better than them. She’s not a likable character, but she is interesting to follow as she continues to stick her foot dog poop everywhere she goes.
For someone who doesn’t want to call attention to herself or get involved in what’s going on, Mary sure does like to play amateur sleuth. It was interesting to see her make a connection between DeMaria Jackson’s murder and Olivia’s disappearance before anyone else did. However, Mary does call attention to herself a lot more than she thinks she did, and she certainly made life very bad for a character who wasn’t involved in the murders. I think the fact that she’s far from being a detective and makes mistakes left and right is realistic, but I do think that the extent of her investigation does require readers to suspend belief as the story continues.
All in all, I think it’s a great story. I also like that it has an open ending, but that there’s enough information that I know exactly what happened to Mary after the final chapter. I’m excited to see what Catherine Dang publishes next because she had me glued to every page of this book....more
Final girls are last ones standing when a murderer came through and took away their friends, family, and anyone in the vicinity. Unfortunately, LynnetFinal girls are last ones standing when a murderer came through and took away their friends, family, and anyone in the vicinity. Unfortunately, Lynnette has found herself a final girl after surviving two massacres. It’s affected every aspect of her life. Her only true friend is her plant, Fine, but at least she’s always had the final girl support group. Everyone in the group is the sole survivor of a massacre, and each one has been battling with their past in some way or another since. When the person holding the meetings together is found dead, Lynnette is terrified that she’s next. Unfortunately for her, she’s just entered a living nightmare she hoped would never happen because someone with murder on their mind is targeting every final girl in their group.
When I picked up this book, I knew that it was a thriller. What I didn’t expect is that it would be the fastest paced novel I have ever read. It really hit the ground running with nonstop action up until the very end. Inspired by slasher movies, it focuses on what happened to the fictional sole survivors of massacres whose stories became slasher movies. The book is peppered with news articles on the various movies, interviews, and other information that are related to the characters. I thought it was a great addition to the book because it gave us a little more information about how the media dealt with it in addition to taking a small step back from the action before it resumed.
We follow Lynnette, the sole survivor of two massacres that took away her family and then her foster family. When the story begins, we see how the horrors she survived has affected her. Lonely and living with her best friend, a plant named Fine, she’s fearful of another attack happening at any moment. Lynette has OCD, agoraphobia, and suffers from paranoia. The three things that she’s holding onto is that she’s safe thanks to all her safety precautions, she saved Fine when she was unable to save both of her families, and she has her final girl support group. Then things start to go south when Dani announces she’s no longer coming to group and the person who was essentially the final girl’s matriarch has been murdered.
One of the things that I liked about the book is that Lynette is not exactly the most reliable narrator. She’s extremely paranoid and jumps to every conclusion that floats by, but I completely understand why she is the way she is. However, because she’s so paranoid, she ends up being the one person who realizes that someone is coming for the remaining final girls. I felt bad for her when no one wanted to believe her, but I also understood why the other women ignored what she had to say. They’re all survivors who are dealing with their own personal problems whether or not it has anything to do with their past.
I also think that there are some great characters in this book. I’m incredibly sad for these characters and the things they’ve had to survive, which makes me so glad that they are fictional. While you don’t have to agree with Lynette’s decisions, you can understand why she makes them even if that’s not what you would do if you were in her shoes. She has heart and really does care about the people she’s made connections with even if she’s kept them at an arm’s length. I also loved Julie, Michelle, and Heather and the dynamic they had with one another. I have to say that Julie and Heather had some of the best lines as well.
While this book isn’t for everyone, if you’re looking for a thriller that’s going to keep you on your toes, this is the book for you....more
I received a copy from Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rebecca Sorley is just your average college student who is bI received a copy from Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rebecca Sorley is just your average college student who is balancing her active social life with her academic career when several male students start turning up dead. While each death occurred under suspicious circumstances, Rebecca and her friends find it odd that each male student killed by alligators are also rapists. When more bodies turn up, it becomes obvious that someone is targeting rapists. There’s a good chance that this vigilante is a student, and the hunt to find them is on.
This isn’t your usual mystery as this is more of a slice of life story with a suspense and murder weaved through it. We follow Rebecca and she does not investigate the murders. However, her friend and love interest, Det Corby, is working the case and he does bring a bit of his side of things into the story. There is an occasional chapter told from the vigilante’s perspective, but otherwise, we’re following Rebecca and her group of friends through a short period of their lives.
I usually read mysteries from the perspective of characters who are investigating crimes, whether detectives or amateur sleuths, so I love that Dot Hutchison came at this story from another direction. It kept things interesting to follow a group of students who are experiencing the change in energy on campus as the crimes unfold. It gave the story a different dynamic because the primary focus was not on the murder mystery. Instead, as the story developed, it focused on survivors of sexual assault and how rape culture blames the victims.
I loved the many characters we follow throughout the story. There’s such a variety of wonderful characters that I would love to see again if this wasn’t a standalone story. I can picture the series continuing should the author choose to do that, but I also like that it’s a standalone and that we’re left to imagine what happens next based on where we last saw everyone.
As far as the mystery itself goes, I found that the chapters from the vigilante’s perspective when they were closing in on their next victim hindered the mystery. It was obvious who the vigilante was from the very beginning. I think that the mystery and suspense would’ve come through a lot better if these chapters were not included because just came off weird sitting next to the rest of the story. Plus, Hutchison’s efforts to shroud the vigilante’s identity just gave her a suddenly very masculine voice compared to every other chapter from her perspective. I seriously wondered if she had some kind of mental break down and didn’t remember killing anyone.
Otherwise, I think this is a great story and I highly recommend reading it if it sounds like a story you’d be interested in checking out....more
I received a copy from Text Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When Matthew Cave was sent to cover the discovery of a mummiI received a copy from Text Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When Matthew Cave was sent to cover the discovery of a mummified Viking man, he never expected to get tangled up in a 40-year-old murder mystery. What started as simply reporting on an exciting discovery quickly turns tragic when the body is stolen and the man guarding him is murdered and flayed just like the victims of a series of murders that occurred decades ago. Matthew finds himself drawn into the original case only to discover that very powerful people are involved, and those people are willing to kill to keep him quiet.
Nordbo tells such a sad and frightening story through duel perspectives, one set in the present and one set in the early 1970s. We follow Matthew Cave in the present as he reports on a story that quickly turns into a murder mystery, which is when he dives into our second narrator’s notebook from the 70s, Jakob. Matt has a sad backstory that drives him until he becomes obsessed with the murder mystery that is much more horrific than it appears on the surface. However, once start to read chapters from Jakob’s perspective, it becomes even more glaringly obvious that Matt is a flat character. As the story continued, I found myself wishing that the book was told entirely from Jakob’s perspective or from Jakob and Tupaarnaq’s perspective with Matt as a supporting character.
Aside from my issues with Matt as a character, it is a heart wrenching novel that gives a glimpse into Greenland’s history as well as its culture. On the sad and horrific side, it shines a glaring light on how people with a lot of power can shutdown those who investigate them if they do wrong. The deeper that Matt digs into the case, the more danger he is in because there are people who hold the power to either frame him or shut him up for good. The case is a combination of a social and political crimes, which make it difficult for him and Jakob in the past to investigate because they’re playing with fire if they get too close to the truth.
There was some confusion with the transitions between the past and present. It was almost always unexpected when we jump 40 years into the past. However, Jakob is an interesting and complex character and I do wish that he was the primary narrator of the story. We also follow another character, Tupaarnaq, who is a great character that could’ve been a solid narrator for the present portion of the novel. I wish that we saw more of her and got to know her as a character past the surface through Matt’s perspective.
Despite my issues with the transitions and Matt, it is a heart wrenching novel that is difficult to read at times because of the nature of the crimes Matt and Jakob investigate. It’s a bit slow at times as well, but the ball really gets rolling toward the end and the story ends on a lighter note for the characters. I think that Nordbo is onto something here and I’m not sure if the issues I have are things that just got lost in translation, but I will check out the second novel in the series....more
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Catherine and her family have a huge secret: she has an older sister, Rachel, who diI received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Catherine and her family have a huge secret: she has an older sister, Rachel, who died in a skiing accident when Catherine was a pre-teen, and they were all scared of her. Since her death, it's like she never existed. Even daring to speak her name is enough to upset everyone. Years later, Catherine is getting ready to marry the love of her life when someone starts terrorizing her in Rachel's name. Everyone's acting like it couldn't possibly be Rachel because she's been dead for many years. Or is she? What is everyone hiding from Catherine?
This is such an interesting read because it's like one big puzzle that I was sorting out while Catherine was trying to get answers. There's the main set of characters, which include Catherine as well as her parents and fiance. Then there's the characters that pop in and out, such as friends and the people Catherine work with. These characters are presented in a way that made me aware that something was amiss. It's clear that Rachel is the huge ghostly elephant in the room that everyone is avoiding like the plague. As the story continues, we get to know these characters better, including Rachel through Catherine's memories.
The mystery is a slow burn as we watch Catherine become more agitated by whoever is terrorizing her. It starts with someone mailing her Rachel's snow globe with an eye inside of it and slowly escalates to destroying Catherine's property. The odd thing is that no one believes Catherine, not even the police. Everyone thinks she's imagining things, doing it for attention, or that it's stress related and she just doesn't remember. Poor Catherine just wants answers, but no one wants to talk about it. Once the story gets rolling, it quickly spins out of control and we understand exactly what's happening and why everyone was so tight lipped until the 65% mark.
As I got closer to the halfway point, I had more than one theory about what was happening. My first theory was close, but didn't hit the nail on the head. The layers just peel off and I was left with an answer for everything. I was shocked about some of the revelations pertaining to one character that seemed a bit off, but I wasn't sure what it was until the ball was rolling. Sadly, I didn't care for the ending. I understand where Holland was going with it, but it just seemed too good to be true. However, it is a wonderful book and I was sitting on the edge of my seat until the very end and I would read it again....more
Samantha Leeds, a psychologist and radio personality known as Sam, is recovering from a trip gone wrong with her ex when she starts getting creepy phoSamantha Leeds, a psychologist and radio personality known as Sam, is recovering from a trip gone wrong with her ex when she starts getting creepy phone calls and threats from a killer, Father John. He insists that she's a former prostitute who needs to atone for her sins, and he's working his way up to making her his final victim. As his attacks escalate, someone starts haunting her as the voice of a teenager who is believed to have committed suicide after contacting Sam for help. Then she becomes involved with her hot and mysterious new neighbor, Ty Wheeler, who knows a lot more about her than he lets on and he's hiding something big. Sam's head is spinning as she starts to point fingers, unsure who to trust, as Father John gets closer and more violent.
Told in rotating perspectives, we see the story unfold from several different viewpoints, including Father John himself. Sadly, the only character that is well developed is Sam. We barely touch the surface on majority of the characters, including the detectives that return in future installments of this series. I also don't understand why John was so obsessed with Sam and her nonexistent past as a prostitute. I thought he was targeting prostitutes because Sam had been one herself deep in her past, but that's not the case. There are just some things that are a part of the mystery aspect that just don't make sense once I reached the end of the book.
The romance plot was okay. We just didn't learn enough about Ty, and what we did learn, made it seem unrealistic once the romance was in full swing. Although, Sam does have a habit of choosing all the wrong men, so I suppose it does make sense for her. I was mostly put off by the romance aspect because of the mystery plot. One minute, John was raping a murdering someone, and Sam was either being romanced or having sex in the next. I was distressed by John's chapters, so my brain was just not computing the romance.
The title of this book sounds like it's a romantic thriller, but don't let the title fool you. It's a thriller with a romance plot, so if you're looking for a romantic thriller, this might not be the story for you. That said, the mystery aspect of the novel is great. I was convinced that a particular character was Father John for majority of the book and it totally wasn't them. In fact, I didn't even figure out who Father John was until almost the end of the book. All in all, it's not a bad book. I was just put off by the romance in combination with the mystery plot, and I wish the characters were better developed....more
Sasha's working up the courage to tell her best friend, Xavier, that she wants to change their BFF status to BF/GF because she's fallen in love with hSasha's working up the courage to tell her best friend, Xavier, that she wants to change their BFF status to BF/GF because she's fallen in love with him. The problem? He just spotted the ex that did him dirty and now they're getting back together. When Sasha turns an drunk, angry, and hurt idea into a full fledged plan to prove that Xavier's ex is no good, she thinks it's the key to ripping him out of his evil ex's clutches. As she gets deeper and deeper into texting as her male alter ego, things spin out of control and she finds herself transforming into a person she doesn't recognize anymore.
Told in multiple perspectives, this wild book had me glued to the pages from the start. It starts out predictable with teenage cliches, but the wonderful writing sucked me in from the start. Imagine my surprise when it went from predictable to one wild ride that had me wishing I had some popcorn to munch on while watching the story unfold. Plus, there are aspects of these characters that are relatable, which makes them even more real than when they remind us of someone we know or knew at one time.
Each of the characters begin as people that we've met throughout our lives, but instead of growing as people, we watch their flaws grow and flourish as the story continues. Without spoiling the book, it's a story about obsession and manipulation that's both predictable and surprising. It's a wonderful mix of both, which keeps you on your toes as things go from 0 to 100. It reminds me of those cautionary tales that exaggerates what could happen if someone toes the line enough that they eventually fall straight over it....more
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
After moving to a rural Swedish town to be closer to her terminally ill mother, TuvaI received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
After moving to a rural Swedish town to be closer to her terminally ill mother, Tuva Moodyson finds herself working on a once in a lifetime story for the local newspaper. Tuva starts investigating the murder in connection with a series of similar cold case murders that took place in the same forest. Unfortunately for Tuva, she is forced to keep facing her fear of nature by constantly having to return to the forest during her investigation, which puts her on edge during this already dangerous story.
Tuva is such a well-written protagonist who is relatable from the very beginning. She's continuing the struggle with the death of her father, which leads her to strive to report the facts delicately so that she doesn't cause any additional suffering to the victim's families. Tuva also has a rocky relationship with her mother, which makes her feel guilty even though her feelings are justified. Plus, she's smart, strong, and driven, which makes her an extremely interesting character to follow. She's also deaf and bisexual, and neither of these characteristics are the sole reasons for her presence in the book. It's nice to see some positive representation!
In addition to Tuva, there's a cast of characters that range from fascinating to bizarre and suspicious. There's an eccentric ghost-writer, a man who is believed to have hoarding disorder, sisters who create trolls with a variety of items including some of their own hair, and a seemingly perfect couple hiding failing marriage. There's also Tuva's close friend Tammy, who is being submitted to racism at the hands of the people living in their rural town, and a cast of supportive to silently grumpy co-workers and acquaintances. Each of these characters and their circumstances are brought to life in a way that is easy to see them living their lives somewhere in reality.
The murder mystery is well planned and had me glued to the pages. I found a handful of characters highly suspicious and zeroed in on a character that was not the murderer on the loose in the forest. The way that Dean develops the murder plot is gripping and had me wanting to continue reading even when I couldn't. The case is eerie and jarring but, unfortunately, the killer's motives lack depth. The big reveal is also a bit rushed and the story has an open ending that I wish had been tied up. I think the story could benefit from an additional chapter or two to wrap things up. Regardless, I enjoyed following Tuva through the twists and turns the story takes her through and find myself looking forward to reading more from Dean....more
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Best friends Samantha and Ginny take a trip to San Francisco. It was supposed to be I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Best friends Samantha and Ginny take a trip to San Francisco. It was supposed to be their pre-college trip of a life time, but things go awry shortly after landing: Ginny is abducted from the airport bathroom. Armed with her luggage and Ginny's cell phone, Sam is on the run for her life after realizing that she was the target, not Ginny. Told through rotating narrators, we learn about Sam's mom, Clare, and why her secret past just caught up with Sam.
I love when authors have rotating narrators, so it was exciting to see that the book is written from Ginny's perspective in the present as well as Clare's perspective in the past. The closer we get to the end of the book, the closer the events in both perspectives collide. Clare has no idea about her mom's true past. She just knows her as her strong doting and protective mom who also hates psychology. However, Clare's past reveals that she was once a green psychiatrist working at a prison. She's a survivor of abuse who feels broken and blames herself for what happened to her and for the way men respond to her. What Ginny knows of her mother clashes with the life that Clare shed when she fled and started a new life.
Ginny and Clare are very different characters, so it's interesting to jump back and forth between the two and see what's going on in their minds. Clare's young, getting ready to enter college, and is terrified while running for her life and trying to save her best friend at the same time. She went from living the small town life that she's always known to being thrown into this whole new world where she has to trust a guy she just met, try to save Ginny before she gets killed, and face the fact that her father is far from who she thought he was. Meanwhile, we jump into the past every couple of chapters and read about Clare's life, the long term havoc that her attacker has left her with, and how she fell for the charming murderous man, Cutthroat Cullen. It's also interesting that Cullen is so charming because it echoes reality. We're taught to get away from the people who look like "weirdos" when the suave guys are often the ones who we should be weary of.
It was an interesting mystery to get sucked into because the true mystery is not what it appears to be at the beginning of the book. I thought I had everything figured out when one final mystery, one that has been fueling Levi for years, is the one that pulled the wool over my eyes. It is a difficult read because of the nature of Clare's chapters, which are very dark as well as sad, but Kane put together a story worth reading. I will definitely be back for the second installment in the series....more
Olivia is a defense lawyer who is called on to defend her ex fiancé when he is arrested as the main suspect for a triple homicide case. She tries to gOlivia is a defense lawyer who is called on to defend her ex fiancé when he is arrested as the main suspect for a triple homicide case. She tries to get Jack to let her pass his case onto someone else because of their past, but he begs her to stay on because she knows him… or does she? One of the victims is the father of the man who killed Jack’s wife in a shooting spree, and Olivia begins to ask herself if she really knows Jack the way she thinks he does as the evidence stacks up.
Burk produces a page turner that falls somewhere between being a courtroom drama and personal drama. Olivia narrates the story, and she has a lot of energy on Jack because of their past. Her guilt about how their relationship ended casts a long shadow on how she views Jack as she collects evidence that goes in his favor as well as against him. We learn a lot about these two characters and how the two have been holding a torch of sorts for each other for all of these years. This is certainly not how they thought they’d be entering each other’s lives again. In the midst of Olivia’s reminiscing, we learn about Jack’s living family, which consists of his teenage daughter and his best friend. These two are integral to his impending trial because they both want to be knee deep in helping a man they believe to be innocent.
I honestly thought I knew exactly where the plot was going and how it was going to end, but I was oh so wrong. Burke really pulled one on me! I was glued to the pages even when I was confident in thinking that I knew exactly where this was heading. I side eyeing Olivia at times because I thought she was blinded by the past. Even when things seem obvious, there’s still a bit of a mystery going. If this was a movie, I would watch it again so I could see how view it after knowing what I know after it ended, so I will definitely have to reread because it’s that good....more
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