Author: pleasantnites

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Natalie is a typical tradwife who spends her day cultivating her image on Instagram. She has a bunch of kids, a farm, and a following. However, as we peel back the layers, the reader sees that Natalie has been lying to us all. She has nannies and a full workforce at the farm. When her lies become apparent, her world explodes.

Natalie then wakes up in the past. She is living the life she always claimed she did. There are no cameras. Her husband is similar, but definitely not the husband she’s familiar with. Her kids aren’t the ones she was currently raising. Natalie’s confusion is taken in stride by her family, but she has no idea what happened.

This book was great. As much as I hated Natalie (she was a nightmare, honestly), the entire plot made sense once you got to the end. I had no idea where this book was going and was pleasantly surprised at the reveal. This one deserves the hype it’s getting.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

The book starts after 9/11 with a police officer in charge of a dump site for remains. But when an old skeleton is revealed, she knows who to go to for the truth about who that skeleton is.

Raj and his friends, the Victory Boys, are the misfits of their neighborhood, which is known for Fresh Kills, the largest landfill ever. As they run from bullies into Fresh Kills, they witness a murder by the local mob boss. They have to walk the line between knowing what happened and keeping their mouths shut so the mob doesn’t come after them.

But the mob discovers Raj is great with numbers and hires him to work their books. More secrets are uncovered, and Raj has to decide between the rock and the hard place he’s wedged into. This book was really good and a fun trip back into the late 90s. Raj and his friends were great characters with their own mysterious pasts. Really enjoyed this one.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

When Effie ran away from the New Zealand bush when she was 15, she cut all ties and vowed never to return. But when a girl who looks just like her appears in town, she’s drawn back to help the girl and understand what happened to her.

Effie left an abusive, neglected past, and this girl seems to have survived something similar. Because their family’s home was so remote, only Effie knows how to navigate to it to discover what happened. This book was a great thriller with excellent twists. I can’t say I’ve ever read a book set in the NZ bush, so this was a fascinating dive into the flora and fauna. I definitely recommend this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I love a book with a unique location. While many books are set in Iceland, I don’t stumble upon them much. I’ve read Jar City and The Night Guest, which are both excellent. And this one was steeped in Icelandic folklore, which was fascinating.

Unnur is a single mother with a mysterious past. When she was a kid, she lived on a farm, and her only playmate was the farmer’s daughter, Freyja, who disappeared one day under mysterious circumstances. Now, Unnur’s ex-husband has a new girlfriend whose daughter is named Freyja, which brings up old memories for Unnur. This new girlfriend also seems to know a lot about Unnur’s past.

The story is told through two timelines: Unnur’s past and present. As her present-day memories surface, she has to face what happened to the first Freyja. This book was really good and kept me guessing. Really enjoyed it.