ARC Review: Golden Boy

 

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

Golden Boy tells the truly harrowing tale of Thomas Gilbert Jr., who shot and killed his own father. That he committed the crime was not in dispute; however, if he was legally insane when he did it is the source of intense media speculation and endless debates in the courtroom.

That is what Grant expertly explores in this book. Gilbert Jr. was born into an extravagant and privileged life, where he was still receiving an allowance from his parents even in his twenties, and many of his shocking or disturbing behaviors were brushed off as eccentricities. Grant examines if this lifestyle actually did him a grave disservice in covering his paranoia, agressive tendencies, and other signs of deep mental illness.

Did not only society, but the very law itself do Gilbert Jr. a great disservice? Should he have been deemed fit to stand trial? What would life have been like if Gilbert Jr. had been able to be helped before he spiraled downward so completely?

Grant does an especially great job of showing both sides of the issue while still highlighting the stigma surrounding mental illness, and the tendency to sweep things under the rug or completely deny they are happening. Golden Boy is a devestating true crime tale that also manages to be a scathing social commentary.

ARC Review: The Last Nomad

 

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.

Shugri Said Salh has spun a powerful true tale of her life growing up in Africa, and her journey that eventually led her to have to flee her homeland.

When Salh was six years old, she was sent as an extra daughter to assist her grandmother. Salh's grandmother was a nomad, among the last to truly live that way of life, before political upheaval and truly threatening practices changed everything Salh had ever known. Salh describes this time of her life, not only that of standing guard over her goats and listening to stories shared at night, but including the difficulties women faced-such as being blamed if a man assaulted them and thus took their virginity in the eyes of the community-and the torturous detail of Salh and her sister going through the rite of female circumcision. 

Salh weaves her truth to take readers with her as her father (a frightening and violent figure) makes a series of choices that bring heartache and danger to bear on the family, as they find themselves refugees at an orphange, then fleeing to whatever town they can find that has not been swallowed by war. Salh shows us how she continued to rise from the ashes, to find a fierceness and a light and a strength within herself, and she makes sure to honor all those who gave her hope along the way.

ARC Review: Kill All Your Darlings

 

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.

So here's the thing. With Kill All Your Darlings and The Plot both coming out within months of each other, and having many similarities in their storylines, it's inevitable that they will be compared. Some of the reviews even suggest Kill All Your Darlings for fans of The Plot. 

Both feature a creative writing professor, who has a student who writes an incredible story better than anything the professor has read before. Both professors find themselves with a decision to make when their students disappear/never publish, and both professors choose to publish the respective stories under their own names, effectively stealing the words of their students. Both professors have to reckon with what happens when someone threatens to expose them, and when the stories they stole have similarities with real life crimes.

The thing is, The Plot does it better, much better.

I've enjoyed Bell's books in the past, but this one just felt so slow and stretched out to me. The story dragged and felt repetitious. I definitely appreciated Bell writing about a really relevant and important topic, and there were parts that were really suspenseful and interesting. But by the time I got to those last chapters I had lost a lot of my interest, and then the ending was so abrupt.

I think Kill All Your Darlings does suffer for coming out within a few months of The Plot. That said, I don't think I would have loved Kill All Your Darlings regardless.

ARC Review: The Final Girl Support Group

 

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 is a very unique and terrifying book, examining what could happen to those famous final girls of horror, when the killer is dead and real life begins again. 

Lynette, the final girl whose eyes and mind we see the rest of the story through, survived a massacre that took the lives of her family, boyfriend and local police officers. She is technically still surviving. But life for her now entails hiding in her fortified apartment, memorizing people's shoes, and all of her possible escape routes, when she goes outside once a month to her group therapy-a gathering of other women who are also Final Girls. 

But when someone doesn't show up to the group, Lynette becomes convinced there's a villain out there coming for them, and she's determined to survive again.

This is a super unique read-a horror story combined with a meta commentary on how "final girls" are treated after surviving unspeakable trauma, utilizing (fictional) magazine articles, essays, reddit posts, and interviews. This is also definitely a really dark, intense read, sometimes so dark that I debated if I was going to be able to finish the book, but the thing is that the story is so compelling and the mystery so intriguing, that I had to keep reading, and I'm definitely glad I did. The ending packs a real punch.

I would recommend this book, but just go in knowing that you are entering a dark and twisty world with almost no light. This was definitely not an easy read.

ARC Review: The Stranger in the Mirror

 

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.

Addison is haunted by her unknown past, every moment of her seemingly happy life darkened by the fact that she remembers nothing of the last two years. Even her upcoming gallery show and wedding can't seem to fill the hole in her history.

Then there is Julian, desperately missing his wife while trying to make things perfect for their daughter. 

What I've always loved about the books written by the very talented Constantine sisters (the author name is a combination of their two names) is how nothing is ever what it seems. There tend to be big twists leading to surprising reveals that leave you flipping back pages to see just how it was all pulled off.

The thing with this being the tried and true formula for an author/authors is that there can come a point when readers become a bit better at predicting what is coming, depending on the author and the story being told. This mean that with this book, I was able to make some guesses that turned out to be pretty accurate, such as when that big moment-when the narrative is completely flipped on its head- will occur, as well as part of the truth behind a character's facade.

This does not mean in any way that I did not enjoy the book. I've just enjoyed their other books more. They felt more like genuine surprises, and they felt a bit more grounded. The ending with this one just didn't leave me as satisfied as I would have liked. 

That said, this is absolutely an enjoyable read. There is so much suspense, lots of interesting characters, and plenty of secrets from the past to keep readers invested and engaged. Just know that, at least in my opinion, this is not the strongest story by these authors.

ARC Review: The Temple House Vanishing

 

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.

Once there was a sixteen year old girl named Louisa, who attended Temple House as a student. Longing to feel seen, she became deeply intertwined with Victoria, a fellow student, and Mr. Lavelle, their art teacher. But one day Lousia and Mr. Lavelle disappeared without a trace. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of this unsolved mystery approaches, a journalist begins to dig deeper into what everyone thinks they know.

This was a haunting beauty of a book. Every character is complex and captivating, and the alternating perspectives the reader gets provide a look into the characters' motivations, thoughts and desires. Temple House itself becomes a character as well, damp and dank and cold and frightening. 

I could not put this book down. I became so caught up in the characters' world and having to know what really happened. I also became completely caught up in Donohue's writing style, where every single word truly felt like it mattered, and every sentence managed to be both beautiful and intense. The ending came as a complete shock to me (and the beginning came as quite a gut punch as well), but fit perfectly with what had come before. 

I'm still thinking about this story even after I finished it, and I highly recommend this book.

ARC Review: The Disappearing Act

 

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.

Mia Eliot has just hit it big as an actress in her native London, which leads to her agent sending her to L.A. for pilot season. But when Mia does a favor for another aspiring actress, Emily, and then Emily disappears, Mia is unable to stop herself from trying to help her fellow actress and solve the mystery-especially when Emily supposedly reappears but is not the person Mia remembers meeting.

This was definitely a very suspenseful and at times scary read. Steadman knows how to build up tension and does that expertly here. Just like Mia, readers don't know who to trust, or even if Emily is completely fine somewhere and Mia is just reading too much into everything. Setting the story during L.A.'s pilot season also ups the dramatics as well. Technology is also well-used here, as characters' cell phones and laptops become crucial to unraveling the plot.

Reading this, I had this whole complex conspiracy theory in my head about what was going on and how it would play out. While I was completely wrong (and thus a little disappointed), the ending did still work for me and wrap everything up well. 

Steadman is a steady writer who always seems to produce a well thought out suspenseful thriller, and this is no exception.