Month: March 2025

Title: The Blonde Dies First

Author: Joelle Wellington

Genre: YA horror

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Twins Devon and Drew have grown up with a circle of friends whose bonds are unshakable. However, Drew went to a private school and is graduating high school a year early, has new friends, and has seemingly left her sister behind. At a classmate’s, Drew and her crew play with an Ouiji board and unknowingly unleash a demon.

Told from Devon’s perspective, the story follows the group of friends who have to slay this demon before it continues to wreak havoc upon them. Devon and her sister couldn’t be more different from one another, which makes for some great teenage contention, and Devon’s crush on another girl in the group makes her an emotional wreck.

This book was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it a lot. It’s horror but without being ridiculously gruesome, so it’s pretty reader-friendly. The friend group is awesome, with each member establishing themselves with a distinct personality, which is great writing by Wellington. Definitely worth reading this one!

Title: Framed

Authors: John Grisham and John McCloskey

Genre: NF

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

As much as I loved this book, it was also a gutpunch due to it being completely true. The ten stories in this book are all about people (mostly men) who are convicted of crimes they did not commit. All of them murders, some involving rape or arson, but which results in death as well.

Each short story is written by either Grisham or McCloskey, who both did their research. I have read The Innocent Man and was impressed, so I knew this one would be as well. Similar themes run through each of these stories, as well. Most of the falsely convicted are people of color, or have a low IQ, or are of low income, or a combination of these. None of them asked for a lawyer. The book stated that up to 90% of innocent people don’t ask for an attorney because they know they are innocent and have nothing to hide.

This book should be required reading, honestly, about how police and district attorneys can railroad people to close the case and have a successful conviction on their records. I have no doubt these stories are but a handful in our prejudicial justice system.