Monday, August 18, 2025
Five Survive by Holly Jackson
Monday, August 11, 2025
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
Thursday, May 1, 2025
What Have You Done by Shari Lapena
I usually like Lapena’s books because they’re quick, engrossing reads, and to be fair, this one was too. The only disappointing thing was I felt like the murderer was SO obvious the entire time. That was a bummer because the three main suspects had great reasons to be accused but I could never get caught up in the suspense of their questioning because I knew it was this other character the whole time.
SPOILERS!
Sunday, April 6, 2025
I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell
Alex Marks moves to New York City hoping for a fresh start—just a quiet life with her copywriting job. But when she hears about the murder of her childhood hero, Francis Keen, everything changes. Keen wasn’t just any journalist; she was the beloved voice behind Dear Constance, a famous advice column. Her death shocks everyone, but the killer was never caught.On a whim, Alex applies to take over the column, never thinking she’ll actually land the job. But once she does, strange letters start showing up at the office, making her wonder—why hasn’t the murderer been found? And could her new boss, the powerful editor-in-chief Howard Dimitri, have something to do with it?As Alex digs deeper, she realizes she’s not just uncovering Keen’s secrets—she’s stirring up ghosts from her own past. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous things become. Can she solve the mystery before she ends up just like Francis Keen?
Monday, December 9, 2024
We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz
Emily is having the time of her life--she's in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than ever. But on the last night of their trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she'd been flirting with attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense. Even more shocking: The scene is horrifyingly similar to last year's trip, when another backpacker wound up dead. Emily can't believe it's happened again--can lightning really strike twice?Back home in Wisconsin, Emily struggles to bury her trauma, diving head-first into a new relationship and throwing herself into work. But when Kristen shows up for a surprise visit, Emily is forced to to confront their violent past. The more Kristen tries to keep Emily close, the more Emily questions her friend's motives. As Emily feels the walls closing in on their coverups, she must reckon with the truth about her closest friend. Can she outrun the secrets she shares with Kristen, or will they destroy her relationship, her freedom--even her life? (from Goodreads)
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen
On the surface, the Barclays appear to be a picture-perfect family, but underneath, they’ve spun a tangled web of lies.
When their young nanny falls to her death—was it an accident or something darker?—things spiral out of control. Nine-year-old Rose, who witnessed the fall during her parents’ bitter divorce, has gone silent and developed a chilling habit of collecting sharp objects. Enter Stella Hudson, a lawyer tasked with uncovering who’s a victim and who’s a potential murderer. But good luck finding the truth when everyone’s hiding something.
Stella usually avoids clients under thirteen because of her own troubled past, but her mentor, a respected judge, insists she’s the only one who can handle this case.
The moment she steps through the ornate iron gate of the Barclays' lavish DC mansion, Stella realizes things are more twisted than she imagined. The house feels eerily plastic, devoid of glass.
As she digs deeper into the secrets the Barclays are desperate to keep hidden, Stella finds herself in a dangerous game where her past collides with the present. Everyone’s a suspect in the nanny’s death: the mom, the dad, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend, and even little Rose. Can Stella protect the girl who might just be the one she needs to watch out for?
I love books that make you suspect everyone, and this certainly did the trick. Not only does Pekkanen make you distrust the entire Barclay family, you also start to distrust the people she’s working with in a professional capacity.
I had no clue who did what and who was going to betray Stella until the end of this book, which is always a good sign, in my opinion. I hate figuring out the mystery too early, as satisfying as it may be to get it right. I think the ending here was really touching and hopeful, too.
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
The Doll's House by Lisa Unger
Monday, October 14, 2024
Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica
Monday, September 23, 2024
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
Thursday, August 22, 2024
The Housemaid Trilogy by Freida McFadden
The Housemaid
This one came at the perfect time. I needed a book that would grab my attention, and The Housemaid did just that. It’s the kind of psychological thriller that makes you keep turning the pages because you just have to know what happens next. I tore through it in a day or two, and honestly, it helped me rediscover my love for reading. Sure, there might be familiar plot elements that have shown up in other thrillers, but when you’re hooked, you’re hooked. It was a fun ride, with enough twists and tension to keep me fully engaged.
The Housemaid’s Secret
Going into the sequel, I had my reservations. Sequels are tricky—so many times they fall flat, especially after a strong first book. But The Housemaid’s Secret delivered more of that same addictive, page-turning energy. McFadden managed to keep the suspense high without feeling like she was just rehashing the first book. It was a solid follow-up, and while it didn’t have quite the same “lightning in a bottle” feeling as the first book, it kept me invested in the characters and story.
The Housemaid is Watching
Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me. By the time I got to The Housemaid is Watching, the magic had faded a bit. I wanted to finish the trilogy and see how everything wrapped up, but this third book felt more like a slog. It didn’t have the same pacing or intensity as the first two, and while I was curious to see how the story would conclude, I found myself pushing through rather than eagerly devouring each page. It was still worth finishing for the sake of completion, but it just wasn’t on the same level as the others.
Overall, McFadden’s Housemaid trilogy pulled me out of my reading slump. Even if the third book didn’t quite live up to the first two, I don’t regret diving into this series. If you’re into fast-paced thrillers that are easy to get lost in, it’s definitely worth checking out. Just be prepared for the final installment to feel a little less exciting than the others. I'll also mention that I tried to read another standalone title by her (Never Lie) but the twist made me swiftly move it to the "trying too hard"/unreliable (and poorly done) narrator camp.
Friday, May 17, 2024
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
My mom got this book from the library and said she read 3/4 of it in one day. I feel like I've been in a reading slump since the new year, so I was definitely in the mood for a book I couldn't put down.
And this really delivered! It's something I would call a cozy thriller, in that it doesn't really mess with my emotions but the suspense does keep me turning pages. (Okay, is there really a sub-genre called cozy thrillers? I love me some cozy mysteries but I won't lie - some of these thrillers almost give me a heart attack because they're so over-the-top. I want the suspense but I don't want to put my health at risk.)
In all seriousness, I call it that because I didn't really care about the main character. She was interesting and unique and I had no clue what her backstory was or what she would do next, but I wasn't invested in her survival. She was somewhat flat, and I mean that in a good way! I didn't want to care about her - I just wanted her to entertain me.
And she did. I read this book on Sunday, start to finish, and I genuinely had no idea how it would end. I call that a job well done.
With that said, I feel like trying to explain the story would either confuse you or give it away, so I'd suggest reading the blurb and seeing if it strikes your fancy. And if it does, comment so we can talk about it because I got lots of thoughts!
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Scott Smith Books: A Simple Plan and The Ruins
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
The Family Upstairs and The Family Remains
I love a good suspense book, especially when nothing else seems to be catching my attention. Lisa Jewell is always a good choice when I want something well-written and twisty.
I first read The Family Upstairs as a Book of the Month choice in 2019. I loved it back then, but once I heard there was a sequel, I knew I needed to re-read the first so I could appreciate it completely. Thankfully, my memory is pretty terrible, so while I knew I read the book and loved it, I didn't remember anything beyond the general storyline. This is actually a great quality as an avid reader because it means re-reading felt pretty darn close to reading it for the first time!
I love how Jewell creates storylines that are full of mystery, but the pacing keeps the suspense like a rollercoaster so you don't feel exhausted and ready to flip to the end. Her characters are all really vivid, which helped make the twists seem more organic. They each had distinct voices, too, which I feel like a lot of authors struggle with when they have alternating narrators.
The end was a great twist with some loose ends, but it didn't feel hokey. It felt realistic, like the way things wrap up in real life that makes you think, Ok, that's done... for now. And thankfully, Jewell felt that way, too, and wrote a sequel!
Even with the loose ends, I wasn't sure what was going to happen in The Family Remains. I think it's a great storyline, though, giving Jewell a chance to fill in some holes left by the first book without making it seem like she's retelling the same story.
I also love that she wrapped up all the loose ends and then, at the very end, tugged one loose.
Will there be another book? I don't know, but I'd read it! The story and characters now live on in my imagination, so I'd love a chance to peek into their lives again.
Have you read these books? Share your thoughts in the comments! Recommend some other suspense books, too!
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson
Monday, August 26, 2019
The Whisper Man
Cue seeing The Whisper Man all over #bookstagram, with all the blurbs saying how creepy it is, how you shouldn't read it at night. I looked it up online to get my own copy, but it didn't release until August 20th, and this was the beginning of August when I was seeing it all over the internet. So I read more into everyone's posts, and saw that they were getting it from the Book of the Month subscription club. I found a code to get my first book for $10, and selected The Whisper Man.
It got to me a few days later, but I was finishing up one book, and had one that I needed to read to review. Once those were out of the way, I started The Whisper Man.
At the same time, the local police are investigating the latest kidnapping of a young boy. Twenty years ago there had been a string of related kidnappings, and the cops were sure they had arrested the correct man. He's been in jail since, but now another kidnapping has occurred. It could be a copycat, but some of the details were never released. The police realize that their suspicions of the killer having an accomplice might be true.
Monday, February 18, 2019
You: Books to Shows
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You and Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes |
I've wanted to talk to everyone about You after I binge-watched it on Netflix, but it's hard to find people who have watched it, read it, or both. A friend loaned me the book in October with the disclaimer that she, a fan of psychological thrillers, bought it based on the back cover blurb alone. I'm always excited to have books recommended to me, and I don't judge reading tastes, so I was looking forward to it... and read it in about a day.
As soon as I started reading, I realized the language is pretty brutal and it’s VERY creepy. Overall I couldn't put it down and sought out the follow-up, so what does that say about me?
It was very twisted but I think a lot of the language was over-the-top, and while it didn’t seem out of character for Joe, it could have been taken out and he would come off just as creepy and horrible. Some of the situations in the book seemed like they were there for shock value - or at least the language used to describe them was for shock value. It made me like the story a little less.
But the show polished up the story and took out a lot of the language and scenarios that seemed to be too much. They added some characters, like the little boy, and added some scenes that weren't necessary, but I won't pretend to understand what makes good TV. I'm sure they had reasons for adding in the kid and the abused neighbor and all the drama that brought in.
I think this has been one of my favorite book-to-movie adaptations, because even though I didn't like the book much, I thought the story was interesting, and that was really given room to shine on screen. The writing was what brought down the book, in my opinion, so having a chance to revise the story really made it better.
As I mentioned, I read the sequel and have heard that it will be "season two" of the show, so I'll definitely be tuning in for that!
Did you watch You? Did you read the book before, or after, or not at all? What did you think of the book compared to the show? I love dissecting things like this, so leave your thoughts in the comments!
Monday, January 7, 2019
Bird Box: Books to Movies
Monday, April 30, 2018
Zusak
I’ve had The Book Thief on my shelf forever but wasn’t in the mood to read it the two times I tried, and I was worried this book would be just as dark. I listened to this as an audiobook and absolutely loved it! Marc Aden Gray, with his Australian accent, was the perfect narrator since the characters are Australian. He seemed to have fun with the narration, changing his tone according to the story, and even changing his voice for different characters. This really helped pull me into the story. Most audiobooks I’d tried to listen to previously were read more straight-forward, so my mind wandered instead of paying attention to the story. I Am the Messenger made me think of radio shows from the time before TV, when families would gather ‘round to listen to a story, instead of turn on the TV and expect to be entertained. The audiobook was well-done, but I would have loved this story regardless of how I read it. There was a bit of suspense and mystery throughout the whole story, and I really identified with Ed. His story of accidentally foiling a bank robbery and then becoming an unwilling messenger of goodwill was intriguing. The ending, however, has to be one of my favorite book endings ever. I kept thinking about it - and that’s all I’ll say! Read it for yourself and you’ll understand why it might have ruined me for all other books! See my detailed review here. |
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Unreliable Narrators
I love suspenseful novels. Some are really well done, and I love feeling my heart pound just from reading words on a page. It's powerful! But unreliable narrators are pretty much the worst character you can read or write about.
I remember being warned against unreliable narrators in my writing workshops. It can be done, and it can be done well, but in current mainstream fiction, I don't think it's being done well. I don't think *I* can do it well, either, to be fair. I'm not trying to be holier-than-thou. I know a lot of people enjoyed Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train and all of those other books almost exactly like those. They're bestsellers and movies so clearly something works!
But for me, I can't stand unreliable narrators. I think mental illness is something that should be explored in fiction, but using it as a deus ex machina is a cop out. Same with alcoholic characters, like The Girl on the Train. Suspense is one thing, but leaving out sections of story because the character blacked out, only to miraculously remember them at the end of the book to solve the mystery is a big hoax. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like the author conned me when that's the sad resolution to a story.
The worst part is, there are so many of these! All of these new books are being compared to The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl and, like I said, I understand they are bestsellers - but that doesn't mean they're good. It frustrates me that these books are touted as good literature when other books are tossed off as "chick lit" or "romance" or "fluffy" because they're not as "heavy hitting".
How do you feel about unreliable narrators? Have you read the books I mentioned? What did you think? Have you read books that seem to have the same "formulas" as each other?