ARC Reviews: The Night Before, The Invited, Burn Baby Burn

I received ARCs of these books from the publishers in exchange for honest reviews. This did not affect my opinions of the books or the reviews themselves.

When I started this book, I was immediately hooked. The story is centered around two sisters, one of whom has deep secrets in her past that may have come back into play, as she doesn't return home after a first date. Her sister is determined to find her, and through flashbacks and two POVs, the readers are there along with the characters, learning just enough information to keep the suspense high.

This book was so suspenseful. Walkers is an expert at dropping little hints as to what is going on. The reveals were all completely shocking and I didn't see a single one coming. I highly recommend this book.

I am a huge fan of McMahon's books. I have read every one, and own almost all of them. I go back to them for re reads. I was very excited about this new release, which centers around a couple building their dream home, from materials that are somehow connected to terrible deaths of women from a famous local family.

While I did enjoy this book, I unfortunately didn't love it as much as I have loved McMahon's previous books. I love the way she integrates the supernatural and paranormal with mystery and psychological thrills, and the stories surrounding the women were absolutely fascinating. But these same paranormal aspects began to feel somewhat cheesy towards the end of the book. I was also able to guess the big reveal a chapter before it happened.

This was a good read, but not a great one as McMahon's other books have been for me. If you are a reader new to McMahon, start with her older books before you try this one.

Always intrigued by a fiction book that integrates a true crime, I was interested in this book from the start, and it did not disappoint. Medina has authored a well-written book that managed to both break my heart (some parts were very difficult to read, but also brought to light a very important issue) and uplift me.

Told through the eyes of a young woman named Nora, readers are brought straight into her difficult world, lightened only by her friends and a young man who enters her life. Also impacting her story is the real-life shootings committed by the Son of Sam, who caused fear among all young women in New York at the time this book is set in. This is a smart, well-written, emotional book that I would recommend.

Review Roundup: All the Wrong Places, Guess Who, and The Silent Patient

So sorry I've been gone from this blog for so long-I moved to a new apartment, and then didn't have wireless for two weeks, so haven't been able to update. But my wireless finally got installed today!

Here are some of the books I've read since I last updated:

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.

This was one of those books where I kept turning pages, but I'm honestly not sure why. At various points, I would consider giving it a DNF, but something I still can't identify kept me reading.

I just had a lot of problems with this book. First, I didn't really like any of the characters, or care about them. I know there were some I was supposed to love and some I was supposed to hate, but I just felt blah towards all of them.

Also, there was barely any mystery or suspense of thrills. There were so many side plots, all full of supposed drama, and when the suspense finally came, it was so rushed. The end twist was a good one, but I saw it coming a few chapters away.

Sadly, I just can't recommend this one. I'm still not sure why I took the time to finish it.

This was a book I bought when it first came out because it checked two of my absolute favorite boxes-locked room mystery and killer among us. It is centered around a man who became famous for solving a mystery in  his childhood, who is now as an adult locked in a room and forced to figure out who is the killer before they all die.

I definitely enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. I loved all the twists and turns, and was genuinely shocked at the majority of them. The ending left me feeling a little let down, it just seemed to be lacking a little something. But I would still recommend this read.

I had waited over two months to get my copy of this from the library (extremely long waitlist!), and luckily, my wait for this highly hyped book was worth it. After a woman shoots her husband, she refuses to speak a word. A highly determined therapist attempts to get through to her, and secrets are revealed even through the silence.

This book had me turning pages so fast! This was such a suspenseful thriller, with twist after twist being revealed, and that final twist was incredible!

I'm always so happy when a much-hyped book does live up to the hype, and this book did not disappoint.

Review: A Dangerous Collaboration

Title: A Dangerous Collaboration
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Publication Date: March 12, 2019
Genre: Mystery
Recommended If You Like: strong female characters, male and female detective duos, secluded island settings, mysteries from the past

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.

The Book:

Veronica and Stoker find themselves as houseguests on an island owned by Malcolm Romilly, whose bride Rosamund disappeared after they said their vows. Now Romilly has reunited everyone who was there that fateful day, and Veronica and Stoker must find the murderer before the murderer finds them.

What I Liked:

This was such a fun book! Veronica and Stoker are fantastic characters, who were surrounded by a strong and unique supporting cast. There were so many revelations, twists, and turns, and I loved the use of the isolated island to up the tension level. I also didn't see the solution to the mystery coming at all, which is always fun.

Anything I Didn't Like?

Honestly, there wasn't anything not to like. This book just flew by, and was so much fun to read.

So...?

I will definitely be needing to read the rest of this series!

Review: Between the Lies

Title: Between the Lies
Author: Michelle Adams
Publication Date: March 5, 2019
Genre: Psychological Suspense
Recommended If You Like: amnesia mysteries, family drama

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.

The Book:

Chloe Daniels finds herself surrounded by her parents and sister after waking up from a car accident with no memory. Feeling literally trapped in her childhood home, her attempts to regain her memory begin to open doors to secrets her family would rather she forget.

What I Liked:

I'm always intrigued by a book with a premise like this, where there are secrets from the past that the protagonist can only discover through finding their own clues and putting them together. Plus, there were a lot of twists.

Anything I Didn't Like?

Unfortunately, this was another meh psychological suspense book for me. I saw the big twist coming from before the halfway point of the book. Most of the main characters were highly unlikable, and the narrator came across as unfortunately pretty boring. The random italicized chapters from a "mystery" character's point of view were poorly written and took me out of the book.

So...?

This was another book I really did want to like, with an intriguing premise in a genre I tend to love. But I unfortunately cannot recommend this. I kept reading until I finished, hoping I would be surprised, but I was left unimpressed. 

Review: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

I had been wanting to read this book since I first heard about it. It took months to get a copy through the library, as the hold list was so long due to the hype being so big.

Luckily, Turton's extremely popular read did not disappoint.

This is a brilliantly original book that kept me guessing the whole time. Aiden Bishop is caught in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over, each day in a different host body. He won't be freed to live the next day until he identifies the murderer of Evelyn Hardcastle, an unsolved crime.

I will admit, sometimes this book had me confused-and I'm still a little uncertain about how some of the timeline angles worked. But I couldn't put this book down. To be honest, I just shrugged the confusion off, because the story was so brilliant, and I had to know the ending. The ending was amazing, but every other twist and turn was too.

I would definitely recommend this book. Know you may be left a little confused by some of the time aspects, but also know that this book is so good that it's worth turning those pages. In fact, you won't be able to help turning page after page.

Review: The Last Woman in the Forest

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.

I'm left not knowing how I feel about this book.

On the one hand, it was definitely suspenseful. When I was about 25% from the end, I had to sit down and just keep reading so I could find out the ending.

On the other hand, the long-sometimes paragraph long-run on sentences drove me crazy. The whole book was full of them, to the point that I almost stopped reading about 10% in. I also had a similar problem to the one I had with The Abominable, where so much of the book was focused on the main character's job-in this case, being a dog handler for wilderness studies-that I just wanted more of the mystery.

The author has a personal stake in this book which is really powerful, and she clearly did her research on the main character's job. I just really wanted to like this book so much more than I did. The writing style makes me think I won't be seeking out any more of Les Becquets' books.

Review: The Cheerleaders

In The Cheerleaders, the book alternates between past and present, telling the tale of why there are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook. Years ago, five cheerleaders died, in a car crash, murdered, and through suicide, and the school disbanded the cheerleading team permanently. In the present, one of the cheerleaders' sisters is determined to find out what truly happened, as she discovers mysterious notes, cell phones, and connections she never knew about.

I really enjoyed this book, just as I really enjoyed Thomas' The Darkest Corners (and have just put her Little Monsters on hold at the library). There is so much suspense, and so many red herrings and twists and turns. The ending left me absolutely shocked, which I love-I didn't guess any of the answers or twists.

This is a quick, gripping read that will keep you guessing, and I definitely recommend picking up a copy.