Kind of a standard domestic thriller setup with possibly creepy neighbors and a gaslighting/I’m always right/clueless fuckwit of a husb(( audiobook ))
Kind of a standard domestic thriller setup with possibly creepy neighbors and a gaslighting/I’m always right/clueless fuckwit of a husband, and good godDAMN did I love where this ended up.
I clearly need more Liz Alterman in my life/ears. ...more
Loved the setup, but this kind of went off the rails and had a very unsatisfying and confusing ending. I think it needed to be either a(( audiobook ))
Loved the setup, but this kind of went off the rails and had a very unsatisfying and confusing ending. I think it needed to be either a short story or a full book — the novella length didn’t quite work for me. That said, I seem to be an outlier, so I wouldn’t discourage people from listening/reading (the audiobook narrator was great!)
* thanks to Macmillan Audio for the NetGalley ALC. this publishes September 3....more
Novella-length story about a girl getting her shit together with some ghost business. Was this earth-shattering? No. But was it perfect(( audiobook ))
Novella-length story about a girl getting her shit together with some ghost business. Was this earth-shattering? No. But was it perfectly listenable and made me want to read more from this author? Yes!
* thanks to Macmillan Audio for the NetGalley ALC. Haunt Sweet Home publishes September 9....more
This was WILD and such a fun audiobook. The action was relentless, which made this fly by and had me hooked from the first second. There were nonstop This was WILD and such a fun audiobook. The action was relentless, which made this fly by and had me hooked from the first second. There were nonstop terrible things happening — and just when it seems like all is well, another terrible thing happens. And another. And another. And another.
No spoilers, so I’ll keep it vague, but my only real complaints were: 1) if the melodrama factor could be measured by a dosimeter, we’d all be dead from radiation sickness - it was too much (for me); 2) there were a few situations that felt a bit too reminiscent of scenarios in another Newman book (if you’ve read it you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about).
Overall - existing Newman fans should definitely read/listen to this, and anyone who hasn’t tried her books yet, this would be a great (if terrifying) intro!
* thanks to Hachette Audio for the NetGalley ALC. ...more
A lady (Lily) falls in love with a falling down old mansion that is way outside her means and her dumb husband (I seriously just finishe(( audiobook))
A lady (Lily) falls in love with a falling down old mansion that is way outside her means and her dumb husband (I seriously just finished listening to this and cannot remember his name, so I will call him Chad) agrees to buy it even though he’s the financially responsible one? Chad then proceeds to act like a giant man-baby when stuff is broken and the house is drafty and leaky and unpleasant to live in. Lily is wildly inept and very, very annoying. She grew up rich, which apparently makes her unable to function as a human in the world, especially now that she’s in debt up to her eyeballs. There are also maybe/probably some ghosts, and Lily goes off the deep end investigating what really happened to the last family that lived in the house.
I think I need to never read anything described as “Gothic” again bc I’ve finally realized that it’s code for an EXTREMELY slow burn. I did like the very end, but getting there was much more of a slog than I’m usually up for - but there was *just enough* going on to keep me listening. I honestly would have liked to hear more about Birdie - she was much more interesting than hot-mess Lily.
Anyway, I think people who loved September House and We Use to Live Here and Mexican Gothic would be into this one too.
HOWEVER: if dead babies and miscarriages and infertility are not ok topics for you to read about, definitely do not read this.
* thanks to Dreamscape Media for the NetGalley ALC. Ghost Mother publishes August 6. ...more
2.5 rounded up — this was fine? The plot was ho-hum and obvious, but it kept me entertained enough while I was doing other stuff. I did like the full 2.5 rounded up — this was fine? The plot was ho-hum and obvious, but it kept me entertained enough while I was doing other stuff. I did like the full audio production, which is what saved it for me. It also seems like it could be a decent setup for a series (maybe it is already a series?) with more internet sleuthing to be done....more
Claire is the only survivor of a doomsday cult (The Flock) that fell apart when one of the members (Lauren/Lolly) was murdered and the (( audiobook ))
Claire is the only survivor of a doomsday cult (The Flock) that fell apart when one of the members (Lauren/Lolly) was murdered and the cult came under public scrutiny. She still lives in the small college town where she grew up and everyone hates her, and now a podcaster is investigating the cult and Lolly's death, so Claire is back in the spotlight and trying to remember/figure out what exactly happened to her cult pals.
No spoilers, so I'm going to be extremely vague here and say I did not like Claire and thought the eventual explanation for what happened didn't make much sense. Claire was a total dingdong and extremely hard to root for. Her husband was horrible. Her dad was a jerk. Why did she stay in the tiny town where everyone hated her? The explanation for what happened to Lolly made zero sense. The person who did the thing had MANY better options to get the result they were going for instead of doing what they did. The podcast angle was underutilized. I usually enjoy hearing from the bad guy, but the sections told from Dom (the cult leader)'s perspective were ridiculous. Lit with Leigh's review hilariously roasts his shit 100x better than I can, so go read it!
I was hoping for something along the lines of Listen for the Lie because of the small town + podcast + dead friend + is she a survivor or perpetrator? (plus a bonus cult!) and this was... not it. I do think readers who enjoyed A History of Wild Places (aka: NOT ME) might like this (?) much more than I did.
* thanks to Dreamscape Media for the NetGalley ALC. Only the Guilty Survive publishes August 6....more
**spoiler alert** I did not love this as much as I thought I would. Details about why are below and are all spoilers.
* thanks to Dreamscape Audio for **spoiler alert** I did not love this as much as I thought I would. Details about why are below and are all spoilers.
* thanks to Dreamscape Audio for the NetGalley ALC. On the Surface publishes July 9. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
This was pretty much a fan-fic rewrite of Gone Girl, but with boats.
There were SO many GG ripoffs -- like: the punchable face*, the "I pretend I'm not like other girls" business, the hot blonde psychopath framing her boyfriend for her disappearance, the framing some sadsack dude who liked the blonde lady more than he should have, the female cop who was the only one not taken in by the hot blonde lady's scam, Dani leaving behind incriminating videos very similar to Amy's diary, and more. I couldn't get past the similarities enough to enjoy the differences.
* the line was not said exactly, but it was something very similar said in relation to Sawyer's face
Gorgeous cover! Loved the playlist at the end. Plot was kind of meandering. I can’t tell if I wanted this to be a short story or turned(( audiobook ))
Gorgeous cover! Loved the playlist at the end. Plot was kind of meandering. I can’t tell if I wanted this to be a short story or turned into a longer novel, but I think the novella length wasn’t quite right.
Also… I haven’t smoked in years, but this book made me want to smoke again SO BADLY ...more
I love a procedural and love female detectives/sheriffs/FBI agents/whatever, so I feel a bit like I won the lottery here with a sheriff(( audiobook ))
I love a procedural and love female detectives/sheriffs/FBI agents/whatever, so I feel a bit like I won the lottery here with a sheriff AND an FBI agent. I haven't read any of the previous Mercy Kilpatrick or Bree Taggert books (YET) and had zero problems jumping in so far along because Elliot and Leigh did a fantastic job including just enough backstory that I had a really strong handle on who these (excellent) characters were without it feeling like a drawn out rehashing. This story was fast-paced and exciting and I loved the creep factor of the chapters narrated by "HIM" -- both narrators were great, but I do wish there had been a separate male narrator for those parts to really up the ick. I'm excited to go back and listen to or read all the previous books in both series (!!!) What a score!
* thanks to Brilliance Audio for the NetGalley ALC. Echo Road published July 2. ...more
Cindy (leavemetomybooks)
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