Mini Reviews: Now You See Me, The Passengers, and Good Girls Lie

Once again, a Chris McGeorge book sets me up for an exciting read, then lets me down.

McGeorge's first book, Guess Who, began as a fascinating and creative locked room mystery, and carried that through almost to the bitter end. The very very end left me disappointed and managed to take away some of the enjoyment I had had of the rest of the book.

This time, Now You See Me, managed to disappoint me for the entire second half of the book. The premise is so intriguing, a cold case where six people went on a boat ride through a tunnel, but only one person came out the other side. The other five were never found, vanishing without a trace, even though there's no way that should have been able to happen.

But then the second half just becomes convoluted, with everything being thrown at readers, but nothing really sticking. One of the major plot point solutions is so ridiculous, and feels unfair because there's no way for a reader to be able to guess it.

I think sadly I just need to give up believing McGeorge will ever produce a book I find completely enjoyable.

At the risk of sounding like I planned this pun ;D this book was a wild ride! The book is set in a future world where cars are driver less, but not everyone supports this-and now eight people are trapped in these driver less cars, assured by a mysterious voice that they are being taken to their deaths. As the world watches, and social media runs wild, people are forced to choose which of the passengers live and which die.

I was listening to this as an audiobook and could not stop listening. At one point, I just let my dinner sit on the counter as I stood there completely distracted by learning the next plot point. While walking, I would frequently realize I was reacting with facial expressions or even saying things out loud in response to the next part of the story or the next incredible twist.

This book completely kept me on my toes the entire time. Nothing was as it seemed, the stakes were so high, and I loved every minute.

I always enjoy a book that I absolutely cannot put down. Despite being over four hundred pages (granted, the chapters were typically short), this read flew by. There are so many twists and turns, and the Gothic nature of the supposedly perfect boarding school made everything feel claustrophobic and horribly inevitably doomed.

While I didn't necessarily completely love the "biggest lie" reveal, it definitely worked within the context of the story, and the last chapter was amazing.

ARC Review: The God Game

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.

Title: The God Game
Author: Danny Tobey
Publication Date: January 7, 2020
Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller
Recommended If You Like: dark twisted reads, futuristic intense interactive games, philosophical and religious debate

The Book:

A group of high schoolers, designated outsiders, are best friends, a group self-titled The Vindicators. When they are invited to play an online game called The God Game, seemingly run by an AI who believes itself to be God, it's a challenge they can't resist.

At first, everything seems fun and exciting, a virtual world imposed on their difficult real lives. But the stakes keep getting raised, the tasks keep getting harder, and soon their worlds seem to be colliding and falling apart.

Die in the Game, die in real life.

What I Liked:

This book started out really interesting. The concept intrigued me right away, and the main characters seemed like people it was easy to relate to-trying to find themselves, to find meaning, to find their tribe. I was also drawn in right away by the idea of a twisted and surprising game working its way into real life in unexpected ways.

Anything I Didn't Like?

This book got so dark, so very very dark. I read a lot of books with storylines that can get intense and dark, but this book was on a whole other level that was just too much for me. I kept reading only because I was more than halfway through by the time it got so heavy, so I figured I should finish.

So...?

This book was definitely not for me. That doesn't mean other people won't really like it, but I couldn't handle the darkness and so couldn't enjoy the read.

Review: Trace

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.

What is especially intriguing about this book is that it is both about the case the podcast Trace investigated, and the story behind all it took to put the podcast together.

Brown, host and reporter, takes readers back to the very beginning, when she was first drawn into the cold case of the murder of Maria James. Readers become emotionally invested along with Brown, as we and she learn more about the sons whose lives were irrevocably shattered by the brutal loss of their mother, and about the slip ups (and possible cover ups) during the original police investigation.

This is a dark, at times difficult, read. It went to a place I hadn't expected and wasn't prepared for. Brown pulls no punches as she shares with readers the terrible truths she learned and the possible conspiracies she uncovered. She is open with the way the investigative process on her side works, and how not everything can be tied up in a neat little bow.

This book makes me want to listen to the podcast and keep updated on the case, so while it is not the  best true crime book I've ever read, it definitely is an interesting and compelling read.

2019 Reading Wrap Up!

**2019 Reading Stats**

Number of Books I Read: 165

Number of Re Reads: 9

1) Best Book I Read in 2019?

 

2) Book I Was Excited About and Thought I Was Going to Love More But Didn't?

3) Most Surprising (In a Good Way) Book I Read?

4) Best Series I Started in 2019?

5) Best Book From a Genre I Don't Typically Read/Was Outside My Comfort Zone?

6) Most Thought-Provoking/Life Changing Book of 2019?

7) Book I Can't Believe I Waited Until 2019 to Finally Read?

8) Shortest Book I Read in 2019?

103 pages

9) Longest Book I Read in 2019?

720 pages

10) Book That Shocked Me the Most?

11) My OTP (One True Pairing) of the Year?

Alex & Henry

12) My Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year?

The Super Six (Alex, Henry, Bea, Pez, Nora, and June)

13) Best 2019 Debut I Read?

14) Hidden Gem of the Year?

I was so lucky to have read so many great books this year, too many to give recognition to in this entry-here's to another great reading year in 2020!

Review: Paw of the Jungle

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.

As a dog mom, I'm always intrigued by any cozy mystery featuring a dog, especially one that is helping solve the crime.

But unfortunately Paw of the Jungle, though having a kick butt dog named Brigit featured, was merely a meh read.

Most importantly for me, there wasn't enough mystery. There was absolutely no way for the reader to figure out who was taking the exotic zoo animals, which took a lot of the fun out of reading. The secondary subplot mystery about stolen rings was actually much more intriguing, and I was really excited to solve it right before the main character did.

There were too many points of view used, and I found it especially strange when the author chose to have certain small chapters from the dog's point of view. These chapters typically added nothing to the storyline, and simply described actions the main character could have described.

I really liked the romance between the main character and her firefighter boyfriend, and the ending almost tempted me to try the next book in the series to see where their journey took them, but I know that there wouldn't really be anything else to keep me turning pages.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

This book is so good. Just so so good.

The protagonist is Pip, who, for her final school project, has chosen to reexamine an infamous cold case that happened in her hometown. While everyone around her believes what the official police investigation stated-that Sal Singh killed his girlfriend Andie Bell and then killed himself-Pip believes there's something more there. As she digs deeper into the secrets and lies, Pip discovers that someone doesn't want her to keep looking-and that finding answers could be more dangerous then she ever imagined.

This book has everything I love-a twisty mystery, secrets from the past, a romance I rooted for from the start, unique characters, a strong female narrator, use of unique formats, suspense, and surprises. The comparisons to Serial (Season 1) and Making a Murderer (both of which I also loved) are spot on, but this is also a book that more than stands on its own.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is one of my favorite reads of the year. Get your hands on a copy as soon as possible and make it one of yours as well!

COYER Winter with Friends Sign Up!

Better late than never! I always love COYER, and while this has been such a busy time for me, reading is always so wonderfully cozy and relaxing.

I'm mostly focused on clearing physical books from my TBR shelves, but I also have a lot of ARCs on my Kindle that I want to read as well, so those eARCs will be for regular COYER!

I don't plan to do any Buddy Reads, but I love Readathons!

My reading recommendation is for a book by a lesser known author who I absolutely love. Both his books are great, so I highly recommend both, but I will pick Dominance by Will Lavender as my recommended read. It's an amazing literary thriller I've re read many times.

COYER:

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FFS, I Suffer From FOMO Readathon (December 15th-28th)

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