ARC Review: Dragon Detective

 

The Supernatural Consultant series is a series I always look forward to. 

I know when a new book comes out that I will enjoy it, and that it will be a quick and fun read with characters I love and root for. Found family is a favorite trope of mine, and this series has it in spades, with (immensely powerful) father figures who choose each other and their children (dragon kits), and build a loving and protective home.

In the fourth entry in the series, there is more of a focus on Nickel, one of the older kits, who is working with Dane (the Supernatural Consultant of the title). They continue their mission to try to track down the scientists who are doing cruel experiments on dragons, and this brings Platinum, who has escaped from a lab, into their lives.

Platinum is a great new character, and I am very interested to see where their relationship is headed. The other kits, and their family with Dane and Mercury, are as always a hilarious and mischevious delight. They are a highly unique, and very loving, family. With the switch in focus, we get less of Mercury and Dane, whose characters and relationship I love, which was disappointing. But I do like seeing the kits' characters coming more front and center as well, I just wanted a little bit more of a balance there.

I'm excited for the next book in the series! 

ARC Review: The Safe Place

 

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 tagline of this book had me from the start. "No phones. No outsiders. No escape."? That sounds exactly like my kind of book. I love the ever classic amazing trope of a group of people stuck together someplace, bad or suspicious or mysterious or just plain weird things start happening, and readers and characters alike know that at least one member of the group is up to something nefarious. 

And this book had some of that for sure. The massively down on her luck Emily is chosen by her former boss, Scott, for what sounds like a dream job-being caretaker, companion, and nanny to his wife and daughter, who live on a secluded estate in France. At first, everything is idyllic, but then Emily starts to pick up on small things that make her think all is not what it seems.

The suspense was my absolute favorite aspect. The tension was so thick sometimes it felt like I was really there with Emily, creeping around and trying to figure things out. There were all these small things that were just so strange, but all meant something bigger. The set up was really great.

I struggled with the main character, Emily. I did grow to root for her as her character was developed more, but in the beginning, she came off pretty terrible. She only calls her mother to ask for money, and makes her mother cry when she forgets it's her birthday and once again calls asking for money. I know there's a backstory there about feeling like we don't belong within our family, or like they don't understand us, but it's still really uncomfortable.

The big reveal is a really good one, but I had actually figured out the biggest part of it quite a few chapters ahead. I also wasn't crazy about Emily needing to go off site into town to find the huge dramatic piece of information she needed to put the whole puzzle together. I know it wasn't cheating, but when the suspense is built on this claustrophic intense feeling of isolation, just leaving and clicking on a computer to solve the biggest clue felt a little bit like a let down.

I definitely did enjoy this book. The suspense was so well done, and everything just feel tinged with this fantastic sense of eerieness. Anna Downes, the author, also did a good job of exploring that area of gray between good and bad, right and wrong. I really didn't know how characters were going to act and react, and I like being kept on my toes with a book like this. This isn't my favorite book I've read in this genre, but it's a solid and gripping read.

ARC Review: Thread and Dead

 

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: Thread and Dead

Author: Elizabeth Penney

Publication Date: August 25, 2020

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Recommended If You Like: small community settings, sweet romance, a little science with your mystery, strong female protagonists

The Book:

Iris Buckley has just gotten a call about a load of vintage aprons and linens that sound perfect for her shop. But arriving at Shorehaven Estate draws her into mystery and intrigue when she stumbles onto a dead body. Juggling a healthy romance, her friends, and the intrigue behind a hidden set of valuable jewels, Iris must also work to help solve the murder before another person is killed.

What I Liked:

Iris and her friends are great, strong, loyal women. They are always there for each other, but are not cliquey, welcoming newcomers into their circle.

I also loved the romances. Iris and her boyfriend Ian are in a stable, healthy, loving relationship, and are really sweet together. Her friends have very sweet relationships with their partners as well. 

I love a small town setting for a cozy mystery, and this fit the bill perfectly. There's even a festival going on, involving a fashion show, a crazy lobster bib contest, and lots of other events and drama.

Anything I Didn't Like?

The mystery was centered around science and seaweed, which are not really what I'm looking for when I'm reading a light fun cozy mystery. I had some trouble keeping track of who was who sometimes with so many characters and so much intrigue.

So...?

I loved the main characters a lot, they kept me really involved in the story. The mystery itself had a great dramatic conclusion, but the subject material wasn't really my cup of tea. This was a good read, and I would wander back to this series at some point I suspect, mainly because of the main characters.

ARC Review: The Patient

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 Patient

Author: Jasper DeWitt

Publication Date: July 7, 2020

Genre: Horror

Recommended If You Like: Creepypasta, internet stories, chapters set up as blog posts, authors that get discovered/published through unique means

The Book:

Structured as a series of online message board posts, this quick read centers around a psychiatrist who took on an asylum patient everyone else had seemed to abandon--because everyone else who had worked with this patient was either dead or committed to an asylum themselves.

What I Liked:

This book is a page turner that goes by really quickly. There's a lot of suspense, and the horror is really amped up, especially towards the end. I like that the author is playing with a more unique format with the fictional message board posts.

What I Didn't Like:

The message board format left me feeling somewhat disconnected, because the psychiatrist character was clearly talking to the other medical professionals online and so not to the readers. If I had been able to read at least some of the comments constantly referred to, it maybe would have made me feel more part of the story's world.

Also, the ending fell apart for me a little bit. It had some really scary moments, but it felt a little confusing, and a little cliched.

So...?

Everything about this book made more sense when I learned that it was originally written as a Creepypasta story on Reddit, which is where the format of the book then came from. Having read the original ending on the Reddit thread, I preferred that one a lot more than the one we got in the actual book.

This is not a bad read, it's an okay read. It's got some really scary parts, but doesn't hold up for me personally when I compare it to other spooky asylum books I've read in the past.

ARC Review: Boyfriend Material

This book is an absolute delight!

First of all, and I think most importantly, I could not get enough of the two main characters and their romance.

 Luc has never felt like he was worth much of anything, between his former rockstar father abandoning him, and his ex-boyfriend selling their story to the tabloids. Since he doesn't feel worthwhile, he hasn't cared for his reputation either, which has landed him in hot water at his job (working for a charity for the preservation of dung beetles). Major donors are pulling out of their biggest fundraiser, and the only way to lure them back in and save his job is to make it look as if he's turned his life around-hence the need for a fake respectable boyfriend.

Enter Oliver, who Luc's friend has been trying to set him up with for ages. Luc thinks Oliver hates him, Oliver thinks Luc hates him, but Oliver also needs a fake boyfriend so he doesn't have to attend his parents' anniversary party alone. Both agree that they will bring their fake romance to an end as soon as both events are over, but then real feelings get involved.

I shipped these two so hard from the moment they shared the page together. I was so invested in them getting and staying together I almost skipped to the end to make sure everything ended up okay (and this is a thing I never ever do). Their relationship developed so naturally despite the outrageous circumstances.

Also, this book is really, really funny. There are so many hilarious moments, many brought into play by the fantastic cast of highly unique supporting characters. Luc's friends are a stitch, and there is a great running gag where every day Luc tells a joke to his co worker, who doesn't understand what a joke is and instead tries to puzzle them out through logic every time.

I absolutely recommend this book. It was a real moment of joy in the midst of these difficult times.

ARC Review: Perfectly Famous

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 my thoughts and feelings on this book went through a progression that can best be described as a downward spiral with a huge drop off at the end:

• Premise:  Sounds intriguing. There's a reclusive writer hiding away after a family tragedy, and a determined journalist working to solve the unsolved mystery behind said family tragedy.
• Beginning: Okay, we're getting some character backstory here. While it does seem a long time spent on describing a book signing, it is the set up to the crucial event the entire novel is centered around. We get the background on the journalist and her life as well, which also seems important for why she would be so motivated and driven to find this one specific author who does not want to be found.
• Middle: I spent a large portion of this just wanting to shake almost all the characters and tell them to stop making stupid and annoying choices. But I was curious enough about the secrets that were still to be revealed, and there was a developing romance I was definitely rooting for.
• Ending: Ooo, a big reveal I didn't call! I love when I don't see something like that coming. However, the other big reveal I had been essentially screaming at the book for many, many chapters. 
• Last Page: Um...that happened. It made no sense, came out of nowhere, and could have been a really intriguing twist if it fit in at all with what came before and if there was any sort of follow up. And it seems like almost every other review I've read seems to feel the exact same way. I just don't understand how any writer or editor would have just left that "plot twist" (?) in there and thought that was a good call.