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.

ARC Review: Separated

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.

Separated is the second book in Frances' In Midsummer series, and even though I have not yet read the first entry in the series (though I would like to), enough background was integrated into this second book that I felt I was able to follow along just fine.

This book is the continuation of the story of Rocky and Conner. Rocky is the sheriff of Midsummer, who is a single father to a young daughter named River. Conner is in Midsummer to create a social media presence for a small town in need of more tourists to keep afloat.

Conner and Rocky were drawn together in the first book, but Rocky pulled away, saying he didn't want a relationship. Rocky feels he has to focus solely on his town and his daughter, and that Conner will only leave anyway when his job is done.

At least this is what Rocky tells himself.

But River has already formed a bond with Conner, and Rocky can't stop thinking about him. When Conner starts receiving attention from a famous actor who has a house nearby, and then starts receiving death threats, Rocky can't deny how he feels anymore. He becomes extremely protective of Conner, and they have a very sweet scene where Rocky goes over to where Conner is staying simply to wrap him in his arms and make him feel safe so he can finally get some sleep.

Rocky and Conner make a great couple, and Rocky, Conner, and River make a very sweet family unit. I found myself very invested in all three of them. The small town setting really comes alive, and there are some good supporting characters. As the death threats escalate, they bring a lot of tension to the story and make Rocky's protective side really come out.

The only thing I found lacking was the solution to the mystery of the death threats. It was so out of left field that it just didn't give me that satisfied feeling I was hoping for. That said, the relationships kept this book as a read I really did enjoy, and I would like to read the other books in the series as they come out to continue to see these relationships develop.

ARC Review: I Killed Zoe Spanos

(Book mood board on left by me, book cover on right)

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: I Killed Zoe Spanos
Author: Kit Frick
Publication Date: June 30, 2020
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Recommended If You Like: true crime podcasts (especially ones like Serial), books like Sadie, Are You Sleeping, and the Six Stories series, creepy Gothic houses, so many secrets

The Book:

Teenager Anna desperately needs a fresh start, and a nanny job in the Hamptons fits that need perfectly. But when she gets there, she discovers she looks exactly like a missing girl named Zoe, whose case is the subject of a local true crime podcast. While Anna's confusing memories and old friends try to pull her under, Zoe's body is found, and Anna is arrested-but is she confessing to a crime she didn't commit?

What I Liked:

This book was so good! I absolutely love a mystery and/or thriller centered around a fictional podcast (which would be one of the many reasons the Six Stories series is one of my all-time favorite series). It worked really well to have the podcast host be a teenager who lives in the town, who has a personal stake in solving the crime. Frick's story had so many twists and turns and reveals, and everything made sense looking back.

Anything I Didn't Like?

I wanted more of the podcast! There were some times when an episode was just casually referenced, and readers didn't get a transcript of it. I would have liked the book to include transcripts of all the episodes, and for there to be more (and longer) episodes in general.

So...?

I definitely recommend this book! Books are always a comfort for me, especially in times like these, and this was the perfect book to distract me. It's a thriller with substance, a young adult book adults can and should read (read more YA books!), and a story that will keep you hooked.

ARC Reviews: Only Love is Deathless, and Dragon Dilemna

In Only Love is Deathless, two men fall in love and fight a dragon (as well as an assortment of creepy otherworldly beasts).

In Dragon Dilemma, two men are in love, and one of them is a dragon (who can shift back and forth to his human form).

The story in Only Love is Deathless jumps into the action right away, with a prince coming to an agreement with a thief that they will get married, but it will be a fake marriage and only for a year. This will allow the prince's younger brother to marry his true love, because the rules of the land dictate that a younger member of royalty cannot marry until their older sibling does.

From the start, nothing goes as planned. The fake dragon the thief (who has magic) was supposed to conjure up so he and the prince could "meet" by dramatically battling the beast together, is actually a real one sent by someone unknown (but clearly evil), and the thief gets badly injured. Cue the prince and the thief pretty adorably falling in love with each other while the thief convalesces.

From there, the story essentially follows this format. Sweet love story, lots of battles with mythical creatures, a quest, and some highly dramatic tragedies. Just a note that there are quite a few explicit "strong sexual content" (as the movie rating system would say) scenes in this book. I know some people prefer to skip the erotica, so just a heads up there. The scenes start out well-written, demonstrating the love between the two characters, but then there are so many of those scenes, and they are written so similarly, that it just becomes very repetitive. Some variety in writing style would have helped there I think. But it's an enjoyable read with some sweet romance and a lot of page-turning drama, and flew by pretty quickly.

Dragon Dilemma is the third in a series, I have read the previous two. Dane, the extremely powerful son of a god, and Mercury, an extremely powerful dragon, are raising a group of dragon kits together (dragons can shift to human form). Dane and Mercury originally joined forces to stop a series of dangerous experiments being done on dragons, but quickly fell in love and are now a family with the younger dragons as their children.

In this entry in the series, Dane's mother, who is also extremely powerful, unexpectedly comes to visit, as do leaders of other supernatural territories. Someone is spreading lies and rumors in an attempt to cause dangerous conflict, which means readers get dramatic battles, mysteries, and protective family scenes.

This is a series I enjoy. It makes for fun, quick reading, with a good group of reoccurring characters. I would like to see more focus on Dane and Mercury's relationship, it is depicted as very strong, but we don't get a lot of scenes of just the two of them centered around their relationship and not around an ongoing emergency.