Mean Sisters by Lindsay Emory

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

Note: The American edition of this book is titled Sisterhood is Deadly.

This is a gloriously fun book. The protagonist, Margot, is so likable and relatable, one of the most enjoyable protagonists and narrators I've encountered in my reading recently. Sure, many of us (myself included) don't know what it's like to be in charge of a sorority, or attempt to solve multiple murders, but that's the magic of what Emory does here. Even in the midst of all the absolute craziness, you still want to grab a venti latte with Margot and chat for hours.

The plot itself surrounds a murder mystery with some great twists and surprises. Margot is so loyal to her sorority that as an alumna she travels around the country advising various branches. But now she is back at her alma mater, and a sorority sister has just dropped dead during a chapter meeting.

Murder, mystery, and mayhem commence, and even in some particularly emotional moments that really do make you think, Margot keeps her wits and her wittiness about her. There are some great supporting characters as well, especially her best friend Casey, and a hint of a romance with a handsome cop that is hopefully leading somewhere.

I really hope there are more Sorority Sister mysteries to come!

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books On My Spring TBR

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful The Broke and The Bookish !

1) I've been waiting for this one to come out for a while now! I too am a true crime addict, and the Maura Murray case is fascinating, and one I just started learning about.

2) and 3) These both look like great, creepy, young adult mysteries.

4) I love Sophie Hannah, especially now that she's taken on writing the new Hercule Poirot mysteries. I'm trying to read everything she's written now.

5) I have high hopes for a psychological thriller being billed as the next Gone Girl or Girl on the Train.

6) This is another creepy looking young adult mystery, involving secrets from the past.

7) This is being billed as a modern take on And Then There Were None, one of my all-time favorite books.

8) This book is being compared to The Virgin Suicides, and appears to be about either a Manson-like cult, or the Manson Family themselves.

9) A psychological thriller with a recommendation from Sophie Hannah-I'm sold.

10) Essentially Jane Eyre as a serial killer!

Death With an Ocean View by Noreen Wald

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.


In this fun, light cozy mystery, Wald introduces readers to Kate Kennedy, a widow living in Florida adjusting to her new life. What brings her out of her self-imposed shell, besides the ministrations of her long-time best friend, is a shocking murder on the beach below her condo.

Local politics, love affairs, zoning rights, tell-all articles, and Hearts games combine to form a quick read with some well-done twists and turns. The characters are well-differentiated, and there are some really funny, clever scenes, as well as more heartfelt moments as Kate reflects on the life she never expected to be living.

My issue is with the epilogue. It's really short, just a few paragraphs, and just throws out there a major, major secret that comes out of left field. The epilogue seems completely tacked on, and undermines one of the most important relationships in the pages that had preceded it.

If you just ignore the epilogue, this is a quick, easy, fun mystery that doesn't require much thinking, which can be a very welcome thing.

Relic by Gretchen McNeil and Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book, or my review itself.

Relic centers around Annie, our narrator, and her boyfriend and their group of friends. They have just graduated high school, and are determined to have a summer of "no regrets" before they separate to attend college. To this end, they lie to their parents, and sneak out to an island to drink and explore the mysterious mines.

This book has a lot of characters and scenarios that have been seen in many books before. There is the strong but insecure main female character, who loves her boyfriend but isn't ready to "go all the way", the ex-girlfriend who is gorgeous but mean, the best friend who worries all the time, the conspiracy theorist who can always score good drugs...

But where McNeil makes her book stand out is the well plotted out mystery and horror that accompany these characters after their ill-fated island trip. After the first few chapters, there is almost constant tension and suspense about just what exactly is going on, and if it can be stopped.

Relic sometimes veers over into overly dramatic territory, with the group of friends concerned that if they don't go all out this summer, one of them may suffer a breakdown in college because they don't know how to be independent and have rule-breaking fun. The romances can also seem a little forced and out of place with all the murder and mayhem happening around them.

But despite its flaws, Relic is a quick, gripping read. McNeil seems to be growing as a writer from her earlier works, and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

Advance warning: This is not a light read, but it is a good one. It centers around the titular Jake, who is missing after a school shooting. The police and neighbors seem to instantly think the worst of Jake, and thus are searching for him as a suspect, not a boy in need of help. But the narrator, Simon, Jake's father (a stay-at-home-dad), is determined to find Jake and help him, whatever he needs.

The story goes back and forth in time, from before Jake was born, when Simon and his wife decided she would go back to work and he would stay at home to take care of their children, to right before the shooting, to after the tragic event. Through this device, Reardon really allows his readers to get to know Jake, Simon, and their family outside of the high-stakes of the present-day events.

Reardon tackles some very heavy topics-violence, what causes it, modern-day witch hunts, innate personalities, parenting, gender roles, and moral codes-and handles them well. Finding Jake gets its point across without being heavy handed or preachy, and is a suspenseful, haunting read.

All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

Stick with this book.

It starts out with a bang, then seems to drift around somewhat, going back and forth in time, getting in the heads of so many different characters you may find yourself unsure if you are keeping track of them all correctly.

But stick with this book. It all has a purpose, a beautifully written, haunting purpose.

All Things Cease to Appear is the story of families, of tragedies, of love and lack thereof, of men and women and children. It is the story of murder, of societal expectations, of religion and disbelief, of the past and present and what it means when they collide.

Brundage is not afraid to tackle massive topics, and she handles them beautifully. There is so much to unpack in this novel, the kind of story you can imagine a college professor (somewhat ironically, given events in the story) teaching to their Literature students. But it's also a story that can be read, absorbed, and thought about in the comfort of your living room, on the train on the way to work, during a lunch break.

Stick with this book. It is so very, very worth it.

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

YA Horror/Paranormal/Supernatural

There is a really good book in here, even though the book as is is disappointingly lacking. With a great editor, The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall could be a thrilling, scary read, with a fascinating mystery to solve.

But the mystery, in fact, all the exciting parts, essentially get buried in the last third of the book. Alender spends page after page describing how time can slow down for ghosts, and makes the reader feel each minute of the years a ghost might spend lying on the grass or sitting in a room. Then, in the last third, secrets are revealed, foes are fought, and every page is full of action. But all the reveals and running around, while really interesting, feel really rushed as well.

I wish that Alender had made this a shorter book. If she had cut out some of the more repetitive parts, there would have been more room to explore the core of the book-the mystery behind Hysteria Hall, and what that means for all who have entered its doors. This would have made the book great, instead of just okay.

Remembrance by Meg Cabot

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not effect my opinion of the book or my review itself.


I was really excited to hear this book was coming out, and even more excited to get an ARC of it. Meg Cabot was one of my favorite writers when I was a teenager, and I read her more adult books as I got older. I had loved The Mediator series as a teen, falling in love with Suze and Jesse and their story, and to have it continued so many years later was a great surprise.

Remembrance is not for a young adult audience. Meg Cabot has specifically said this is The Mediator book for her fans who have grown up. While there isn't really any explicit language, there are lots of hints at it, as well as some violence, a dark situation involving a ghost, and some sexual situations.

If you haven't read the previous books in this series, you can still enjoy this book, but I think you definitely get a lot more out of it if you were a fan from the start. It's rare to get to have a series you loved growing up continued, especially to have it continued by the original author, and this was a special treat.