Categories
The Elementals
Month: May 2023
Categories
Red Rising
Categories
Exit West
Categories
The Night Shift
Title: The Night Shift
Author: Alex Finlay
Genre: thriller
Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.
I read Every Last Fear a while ago and thought it was pretty good. Good enough to want to read more of Finlay. So, when I saw this one on NetGalley, I grabbed it, expecting another pretty good book. I was surprised because this one was even better. I loved this one and flew through it in a couple of days.
From Goodreads: It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in New Jersey, four teenagers working late at the store are attacked. Only one inexplicably survives. Police quickly identify a suspect, the boyfriend of one of the victims, who flees and is never seen again.
Fifteen years later, more teenage employees are attacked at an ice cream store in the same town, and again only one makes it out alive.
In the aftermath of the latest crime, three lives intersect: the lone survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive the horrors of her tragedy; the brother of the fugitive accused, who’s convinced the police have the wrong suspect; and FBI agent Sarah Keller who must delve into the secrets of both nights—stirring up memories of teen love and lies—to uncover the truth about murders on the night shift.
I loved that this book follows three different characters, Sarah Keller; Ella Monroe, the survivor of the original murders; and Chris Ford, the brother of the accused. Between those three, you get the full story. And there are some fun plot twists along the way. I did guess the big reveal at the end at the beginning of the book, but there were plenty of other surprises. I’m super critical of good writing, and Finlay wrote a beautifully tight story. I will definitely recommend this one.
Categories
My Best Friend’s Exorcism
Categories
The Family Game
Title: The Family Game
Author: Catherine Steadman
Genre: thriller
Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.
This book is preposterous. Just flat out no way in the world would any of this happen. And I don’t mean this in a fun way. I gave this three stars, but that was generous. The main character jumps to conclusions that no actual person would. I rolled my eyes a lot at her.
From GoodReads: Harriet Reed, a novelist on the brink of literary stardom, is newly engaged to Edward Holbeck, the heir of an extremely powerful family. And even though Edward has long tried to severe ties with them, news of the couple’s marital bliss has the Holbecks inching back into their lives.
As Harriet is drawn into their lavish world, the family seems perfectly welcoming. So when Edward’s father, Robert, hands Harriet a tape of a book he’s been working on, she is desperate to listen. But as she presses play, it’s clear that this isn’t just a novel. It’s a confession. A confession to a grisly crime. A murder. And, suddenly, the game is in motion.
Feeling isolated and confused, Harriet must work out if this is part of a plan to test her loyalty. Or something far darker. What is it that Robert sees in her? Why give her the power to destroy everything? This might be a game to the Holbeck family—but losing might still prove deadly.
READY OR NOT, HERE THEY COME…
I mean, I could not stop reading mostly because I wanted to see what wretchedness the family would concoct from one scene to another, but Harriet is the most ridiculous detective. Given the meager clues Steadman writes, there is no way Harriet would have figured out what was going on as quickly as the did. The plot holes are gaping, the characters are empty, and the story was flat. I was really disappointed with this snoozefest.
Categories
A Beautiful Mind
Categories
Book Lovers
Categories
The Cartographers
Title: The Cartographers
Author: Peng Shepherd
Genre: fantasy
Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.
I LOVED The Book of M. I read it in 2019, and it ended up being my favorite book that year. I still think about it from time to time, especially that plot twist. So, when I saw Peng Shepherd had another book out, there was no doubt I was going to read it. I’m so glad I was able to get this from NetGalley. And, as is my preference, I went into this entirely blind. I had no idea what it was about.
From Goodreads: Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.
But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and also exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence… because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way. But why?
To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discover the true power that lies in maps…
Perfect for fans of Joe Hill and V.E. Schwab, The Cartographers is an ode to art and science, history, and magic—a spectacularly imaginative, modern story about an ancient craft and places still undiscovered.
This story starts out as just a regular mystery adventure book. Whereas Book of M starts in the fantasy world from the first page. So, I was a little surprised this one was so, well, normal. But as I kept reading, small mysterious things just kept happening. As the story unfolded (much like a map, haha), the magical part of the story became much more evident. As we follow Nell, we also hear other perspectives telling her stories from the past, which fill in many of the backstory gaps. But these stories occur naturally within the plot rather than feeling shoehorned in. I really loved this book, although I did see this plot twist coming about halfway through the book. This one is easily another five-star book. I will definitely be eagerly anticipating her next book.
Categories
The Girl
Title: The Girl
Author: Victory Witherkeigh
Genre: YA Fantasy
Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.
I’m not a huge YA fantasy fan, but I’m all in when a good one comes along. This was not it. I skimmed the last 25% just to get this one over. There is a place for teen drama in books, but this one couldn’t decide if it was about teen drama or fantasy or abuse or one of the other many genres it touches on.
From Goodreads: The parents knew it had been a mistake to have a girl. At birth, the girl’s long, elegant fingers wriggled and grasped forward, motioning to strangle the very air from her mother’s lungs. As she grew older, she grew more like her father, whose ancestors would dream of those soon to die. She walked and talked in her sleep, and her parents warded themselves, telling the girl that she was evil, unlovable, their burden to bear only until her eighteenth birthday released them.
The average person on the streets of Los Angeles would look at the girl and see a young woman with dark chocolate eyes, curly long hair, and tanned skin of her Filipina heritage. Her teachers praised her for her scholarly achievements and extracurricular activities, from academic decathlon to cheer.
The girl knew she was different, especially as she grew to accept that the other children’s parents didn’t despise them. Her parents whispered about their pact as odd and disturbing occurrences continued to happen around her. The girl thought being an evil demon should require the skies to bleed, the ground to tremble, an animal sacrifice to seal the bargain, or at least cause some general mayhem. Did other demons work so hard to find friends, do well on their homework, and protect their spoiled younger brother?
The demon was patient. It could afford to wait, to remind the girl when she was hurt that power was hers to take. She needed only embrace it. It could wait. The girl’s parents were doing much of its work already.
If this were what the book was about, that would be a MUCH better book than it ended up being. But this was maybe 1/3 of the book. The rest was just unwarranted parental abuse and teenage drama. The reader isn’t clued into that abuse until over halfway through the book. And the abuse is a lot. Very verbal, emotional trauma. But the drama, oh my gosh, the drama. Whoooo… cares…..??? Sure, YA books are targeted to teens, but the drama felt so out of place in this book. It had the potential to be so much more. What a disappointment.
Pleasant Nights 