ARC Review Roundup: Blaine for the Win, Breathless, It Could Be Anyone, Just Like Mother

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

When Blaine is dumped by his boyfriend...on their one year anniversary...in a fancy restaurant, what he takes away from it is that if his now ex wants serious, he's going to get serious. This means Blaine is running for Senior Student Council President. The only problem is, he's never run for anything in his life, and going for broke might just mean losing himself.

This book was so great. It has humor, friendship, romance, and drama all in one. It's a book with heart. I highly recommend it.

So here's the thing with this book. The premise is so good, with people unknowingly climbing a mountain with a killer. This sets up so much tension, because no one can just escape on their own. There's natural tension too, with threats of blizzards, avalanches, and slips. 

But so much of this book was taken up by explaining mountain climbing and every single step that goes into an expedition. This is set up as a thriller, as it states on the cover, so I think the book should have been more thrilling. The ending itself is really well done and even scary, and I would have liked to see a lot more of that.

This was another story where I loved the premise, but didn't love the execution as much as I hoped for. A group of best friends have to pretend to be excited for their friend's wedding, because the groom is blackmailing them with their deepest, darkest secrets. But as the book lets us know from the very beginning, the groom has pushed one of them too far, and by the middle of the wedding reception, the groom is dead.

The secrets were really huge ones, and when they were revealed, I was shocked each character was able to just keep going given how everything they thought they knew was completely shaken. I definitely wanted to know who killed the dastardly groom, but the answer felt almost like a throwaway at the very end. 

When Maeve fled the cult she grew up in, she left her cousin Andrea behind. Reunited as adults, Maeve finds herself drawn into Andrea's world, even moving in to Andrea's home when her own world starts to fall apart. Andrea's focus is fertility, and the importance of women having children, a stance Maeve doesn't agree with, but she loves her cousin and owes her so much...

This book is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. It is masterfully written and the suspense builds until it's cranked up to 11 and you can't look away no matter how scary things get. And that ending! I definitely recommend this book.