en-US Sat, 05 Apr 2025 16:17:44 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 195790532 The funny and insightful first-person story of the trailblazing movie director of the 80s and 90s whose fearless punk drama, “Smithereens� became the first American indie film to compete at Cannes, and smash hit "Desperately Seeking Susan" led to a four-decade career in film. Starting out in the mid-70s, a time when few women were directing movies, Susan was determined to become a filmmaker. She longed to tell stories about the unrepresented characters she wanted to see on unconventional women in unusual circumstances, needing to express themselves and maintain their autonomy. Her genre-blending films reflect a passion for classic Hollywood storytelling, mixed with a playful New Wave spirit, informed by her years living in downtown NYC. Seidelman continued to shape American pop culture well into the nineties, directing the pilot of the iconic TV series “Sex And The City,� focusing her sharp lens on the changing place of women in American society and helping to fundamentally reshape our self-image in ways that are still felt today.BOOK in the safe cocoon of 1960s suburbia, Susan Seidelman wasn’t a misfit, an oddball, or an outlier. She was a “good-girl� with a little bit of “bad� hidden inside. A restless teenager, she dreamed of escape and reinvention, a theme that would play out in her films as well as in her own life. Because she loved stories, a high school guidance counselor suggested she become a librarian, but she had her sights set further afield. In 1973, she left the Philly suburbs, enrolled at NYU’s burgeoning graduate film school and moved to NYC’s Lower East Side. There, she found herself in the right place at the right time. New York City was falling apart, but out of that chaos came a burst of creative energy whose effects are still felt in American pop culture today. Downtown became a vibrant playground where film, music, performance and graffiti art cross-pollinated and where Seidelman chronicled the lives of the colorful misfits, oddballs, dreamers and schemers she met there.It’s all in DESPERATELY SEEKING SOMETHING. Seidelman not only has a keen perspective on the times she’s lived through -- from her Twiggy-obsessed girlhood, through the Women’s Lib movement of the early 70s, the punk scene of the late 70s, Madonna-mania of the 80s, to the dot-com “greed is good� 90s, and beyond--she tells great stories.]]> 368 Susan Seidelman 1250328217 JaymeO 3 Review up soon!]]> 3.98
author: Susan Seidelman
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:
3/5 stars
Review up soon!
]]> 219269948 The Paris Apartment meets Only Murders in the Building in this debut murder mystery with an intriguing cast of characters inhabiting a quirky block of flats in modern-day London.

When a minor criminal is murdered in the smallest residential square in London, elderly heiress and landlady Celeste van Duren recruits two of her tenants to investigate. Her cleaner, Audrey, knows everyone and is liked by all, while failed writer Lewis is known by no one. He hates his job, hates his life, and he’s not that fond of Audrey either—but Celeste is persuasive.
As they hunt for clues in and around the Square, they discover everyone has something to hide, including their fellow residents. Audrey and Lewis must find a way to work together if they’re to find the killer in their midst. Assuming of course, there’s just the one . . .

Cozy crime enthusiasts will not be able to get enough of Marchfield Square and its residents.]]> 400 Nicola Whyte 1454958413 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.91 2025
author: Nicola Whyte
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 229214163 USA Today bestselling author Catriona Ward.

Room 17 was the last stop on her husband and son’s journey. Eight years after their deaths, Stella books the same room, hoping to commune with their memories. But as she tries to sleep, disturbing and urgent visions blur the lines between reality and the supernatural, and the other side sends a terrifying message.

Catriona Ward’s Night and Day in Misery is part of The Shivers, a collection of haunting stories that reveal the otherworldly terrors all around us. Once you know, there’s no going back. Read or listen to each story in one unsettling sitting.]]> 35 Catriona Ward 1662532806 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.63
author: Catriona Ward
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.63
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 224003549 The acclaimed author of the “chilling, mesmerizing debut� (Rachel Harrison, author of The Return) Beneath the Stairs returns with a gripping, atmospheric suspense novel about a woman investigating a serial killer’s connection to her mother’s disappearance—for fans of I Have Some Questions for You and Notes on an Execution.

One hot August night in 1993, a young couple go to a party. When their car breaks down, they are picked up by a truck driver who attacks the man and abducts the woman. She is never seen again.

That woman was Fiona Green’s mother.

When the trucker, Eddie Ward, is caught, a mass grave of bodies is discovered in his backyard but Fiona’s mother isn’t there. Thirty years later, on his prison deathbed, Ward insists that he didn’t kill her, so Fiona finds herself back in the small town where her mother disappeared. Fighting demons of her own, she’s shocked when history repeats another woman, another roadside breakdown, and another disappearance. Only this time the primary suspect is Jason Ward, Eddie’s son. Desperate, Fiona hunts down answers, unaware that she is being drawn into a dangerous trap.

With Jennifer Fawcett’s signature “suspenseful and immersive� (Library Journal) prose, Keep This for Me is a fresh, spellbinding exploration of what we unwillingly inherit from our parents and how one random act can send ripples years into the future.]]> 352 Jennifer Fawcett 1668050641 JaymeO 0 to-read 5.00
author: Jennifer Fawcett
name: JaymeO
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 215362027 A woman dives into her husband's memories to uncover a decades-old feud threatening reality itself in this staggering technothriller from the bestselling author of Ascension.

Maggie Webb has lived the last decade caring for elderly husband, Stanley, as memory loss gradually erases all the beautiful moments they created together. It's the loneliest she's ever felt in her life.

When a mysterious stranger named Hassan appears at her door, he reveals a shocking truth: Stanley isn't losing his memories. Someone is actively removing them to hide a long-buried secret from coming to light. If Maggie does what she's told, she can reverse it. She can get her husband back.

Led by Hassan and his technological marvels, Maggie breaks into her husband's mind, probing the depths of his past in an effort to save him. The deeper she dives, the more she unravels a mystery spanning continents and centuries, each layer more complex than the last.

But Hassan cannot be trusted. Not just memories are disappearing, but pieces of reality itself. If Maggie cannot find out what Stanley did all those years ago, and what Hassan is after now, she risks far more than her husband's life. The very course of human history hangs in the balance.]]> 384 Nicholas Binge 0593852168 JaymeO 4
Dissolution can best be described as The Matrix meets Inception. It is the second sci fi thriller I have read in the past month that delivers a compelling plot dealing with time travel through memories. While you will have to wait until May 20th to read The Memory Collectors, I highly recommend picking up Nicholas Binge’s Dissolution. Specifically, the fantastic audiobook read by a full cast!

Maggie Webb admits her 83 year-old husband Stanley to a care home after dementia has taken the last ten years of his life. When a man named Hassan shows up at her door claiming that the Sunrise Care Home is responsible for deleting her husbands’s memories in order to prevent a long buried secret from coming out, Maggie can’t believe it! He says that it’s essential that she break him out of the care home as soon as possible in order to preserve the memories he has left. They need to hurry! If she helps get him out, she will be able to get his memories back. Compelled to reconnect with the old Stanley, Maggie follows Hassan’s instructions. But Hassan has his own secret agenda. Can he really be trusted?

Dare I say that I enjoyed a love story? Told in multiple time lines through different points of view, this character driven novel will keep you guessing and furiously flipping the pages. I could easily see this book being made into a major motion picture! While I didn’t completely grasp all of the complex scientific concepts, it didn’t affect my reading experience. Light sci-fi readers will definitely be thrilled by this clever plot!

Highly recommend!

4.5/5 stars rounded down]]> 4.14 2025
author: Nicholas Binge
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves:
review:
“It hungers.�

Dissolution can best be described as The Matrix meets Inception. It is the second sci fi thriller I have read in the past month that delivers a compelling plot dealing with time travel through memories. While you will have to wait until May 20th to read The Memory Collectors, I highly recommend picking up Nicholas Binge’s Dissolution. Specifically, the fantastic audiobook read by a full cast!

Maggie Webb admits her 83 year-old husband Stanley to a care home after dementia has taken the last ten years of his life. When a man named Hassan shows up at her door claiming that the Sunrise Care Home is responsible for deleting her husbands’s memories in order to prevent a long buried secret from coming out, Maggie can’t believe it! He says that it’s essential that she break him out of the care home as soon as possible in order to preserve the memories he has left. They need to hurry! If she helps get him out, she will be able to get his memories back. Compelled to reconnect with the old Stanley, Maggie follows Hassan’s instructions. But Hassan has his own secret agenda. Can he really be trusted?

Dare I say that I enjoyed a love story? Told in multiple time lines through different points of view, this character driven novel will keep you guessing and furiously flipping the pages. I could easily see this book being made into a major motion picture! While I didn’t completely grasp all of the complex scientific concepts, it didn’t affect my reading experience. Light sci-fi readers will definitely be thrilled by this clever plot!

Highly recommend!

4.5/5 stars rounded down
]]> 150247389
When Gracie Gold stepped onto center stage (or ice, rather) as America’s sweetheart at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, she instantly became the face of America’s most beloved winter sport. Beautiful, blonde, Midwestern, and media-trained, she was suddenly being written up everywhere from The New Yorker to Teen Vogue to People and baking cookies with Taylor Swift.

But little did the public know what Gold was facing when the cameras were off. In 2017, she entered treatment for what was publicly announced as an eating disorder and anxiety treatment but was, in reality, suicidal ideation. While Gold’s public star was rising, her private life was falling Cracks within her family were widening, her bulimia was getting worse, and she became a survivor of sexual assault. The pressure of training for years with demanding coaches and growing up in a household that accepted nothing less than gold had finally taken its toll.

Now Gold reveals the exclusive and harrowing story of her struggles in and out of the pressure-packed world of elite figure the battles with her family, her coaches, the powers-that-be at her federation, and her deteriorating mental health.

Told with unflinching honesty and stirring defiance, Outofshapeworthlessloser is not only a forceful reckoning from a world-class athlete but also an intimate account of surviving as a young woman in a society that rewards appearances more than anything and demands perfection at all costs.]]> 352 Gracie Gold 0593444043 JaymeO 4
Awards won:
2014 Olympics - Team Event ]]> 4.05 2024
author: Gracie Gold
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
Outofshapeworthlessloser is the alter ego of Olympic champion figure skater Gracie Gold.

Awards won:
2014 Olympics - Team Event
]]> 217903865 In this hauntingly twisted tale, an author reconnects with an old boarding school friend, forcing her to reckon with their shared past and the imaginary creature she thought they left behind.

Touch a line, you break your spine.

Stacey is the dusty air, the cracked soil, the drought. To fourteen-year-old Bethany Sloane, she’s everything.

Abandoned by her mother at a remote African boarding school, Bethany will do anything to stay in Stacey’s good graces. And that means learning the rules of each twisted game.

Touch a crack, you break your back.

Seventeen years later, Bethany is a bestselling author. Disabled now, she can’t remember what happened back in the bush. But there’s no mistaking Stacey Preston’s name in her inbox.

Glassy, glassy, cut my arsey.

That email brings Bethany’s childhood rushing back. The Glass Man was just a story the Thorns invented, a game of wits. But every game has its rules—and consequences for breaking them. To stay alive this round, Bethany needs to play right into Stacey’s hands.

Dark and disturbing, The Thorns explores the horrifying world of adolescent abuse, controlling friendships, and blinding obsession.]]> 395 Dawn Kurtagich 1662526970 JaymeO 4
“She makes things out of other things—she turns them into something better. I wonder if that’s what she did with me. Took what I was and made me better.�

I’ve said this before, but if you are a fan of psychological horror, Dawn Kurtagich is the author you NEED to read. I’m not sure why she floats under the radar, as all of her books are creepy, disturbing, and oh so DARK!

The Thorns begins with a note from the author that the plot for this book is written from many of her own experiences at boarding school. It includes trigger warnings for the reader, so I will include them for you before my review:

Trigger Warnings: Darker themes, specifically bullying, sexual violence, gaslighting, self-harm, chronic pain, minor alcohol and drug abuse, reference to animal harm, and mental health crises.

Bethany is an award winning author of the Sally Chronicles. She is struggling to write the last book in the series to make her deadline when her husband is unexpectedly called away for business in South Africa. Despite the fact that she relies on his constant help to remember to take her pills and to get around on crutches and a wheelchair, she tells him she will be fine while he is away.

However, as soon as he is gone, she stops taking her pills and begins to remember her experiences at boarding school seventeen years ago.

Told in alternating perspectives between past and present, Bethany is forced to confront the truth about her obsessive and abusive friendship with Stacey, the inspiration for her FMC in the Sally Chronicles.

Visceral and deeply personal, The Thorns is a heartbreaking story that sheds some light on the author’s inspiration to write horror novels. I truly hope that the most brutal parts of this plot are fiction. Kurtagich grabs ahold of the reader and doesn’t let go until the shocking twist is revealed at the very end. This would have been a five star read, but I was left wanting a bit more from the ending. Perhaps this was done on purpose, as I just learned The Thorns is part of a two book deal and a sequel is forthcoming!

Highly recommend!

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 4/1/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer publishing for the ARC of The Thorns in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.51 2025
author: Dawn Kurtagich
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

“She makes things out of other things—she turns them into something better. I wonder if that’s what she did with me. Took what I was and made me better.�

I’ve said this before, but if you are a fan of psychological horror, Dawn Kurtagich is the author you NEED to read. I’m not sure why she floats under the radar, as all of her books are creepy, disturbing, and oh so DARK!

The Thorns begins with a note from the author that the plot for this book is written from many of her own experiences at boarding school. It includes trigger warnings for the reader, so I will include them for you before my review:

Trigger Warnings: Darker themes, specifically bullying, sexual violence, gaslighting, self-harm, chronic pain, minor alcohol and drug abuse, reference to animal harm, and mental health crises.

Bethany is an award winning author of the Sally Chronicles. She is struggling to write the last book in the series to make her deadline when her husband is unexpectedly called away for business in South Africa. Despite the fact that she relies on his constant help to remember to take her pills and to get around on crutches and a wheelchair, she tells him she will be fine while he is away.

However, as soon as he is gone, she stops taking her pills and begins to remember her experiences at boarding school seventeen years ago.

Told in alternating perspectives between past and present, Bethany is forced to confront the truth about her obsessive and abusive friendship with Stacey, the inspiration for her FMC in the Sally Chronicles.

Visceral and deeply personal, The Thorns is a heartbreaking story that sheds some light on the author’s inspiration to write horror novels. I truly hope that the most brutal parts of this plot are fiction. Kurtagich grabs ahold of the reader and doesn’t let go until the shocking twist is revealed at the very end. This would have been a five star read, but I was left wanting a bit more from the ending. Perhaps this was done on purpose, as I just learned The Thorns is part of a two book deal and a sequel is forthcoming!

Highly recommend!

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 4/1/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer publishing for the ARC of The Thorns in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 213713209 “So clever and fresh with a wild and incredibly satisfying twist at the end.� —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author

A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game, as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets…or else.

Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.

But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game when the old friends find themselves held at gunpoint. They are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.

It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out The Wasp Trap. This and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.

Alternating between the past and present with a colorful ensemble of characters, The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced and twisty thrill ride that is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney.]]> 0 Mark Edwards 1405971495 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.41 2025
author: Mark Edwards
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216997496 Heathers meets The Stepford Wives in this creepy and frighteningly funny dark thriller about a woman who will do anything to find her missing sister. Even pretend to be one of them.

After her twin sister, Chiara, goes missing at a mom-fluencer weekend, Adrienne Shaw will find her no matter what it takes. They may have been on the outs, but no one comes for her sister and gets away with it.

It’s been a year, the authorities have no answers, and her brother-in-law is useless in the matter. It’s time for Adrienne to take the case into her own hands. Following in Chiara’s last footsteps, Adrienne goes undercover, infiltrating the same influencer retreat as the last thing she wants to an Instamommy.

The remote ranch in Northern California is certainly welcoming—in a cult-adjacent kind of way. A charismatic leader, communal crafts, fixed smiles—and a lot of dead eyes.

Going on gut instinct and chasing a wild theory—that Chiara came here and never left—Adrienne is determined to uncover the truth before the too-perfect-to-believe women figure out who Adrienne really a threat to be eliminated.]]> 271 Elizabeth Rose Quinn 1662524803 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.55 2025
author: Elizabeth Rose Quinn
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220481291 368 Deborah O'Connor 146423468X JaymeO 0 to-read 3.97 2025
author: Deborah O'Connor
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 223843516 200 Rebecca Rowland 1960988859 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.30
author: Rebecca Rowland
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 224044745
Mr. Montessori and his family return home from a trip to the beach to discover that their sofa is different. Once dark and contemporary, it’s now antique, green and yellow, and smelling faintly of damp.

Its appearance and origins are a mystery. A joke? An inverted theft? A break in the fabric of reality? Yes, the police take the “crime� seriously. But what happens next lies outside their expertise. Strange sounds in the night. A half-bathroom toilet with a mind of its own. Odd, fleeting glimpses of something (or someone) in mirrors. The inexplicable vision of Montessori’s neighbor: He swears he saw a burglar. . . .

Montessori’s quest for answers will take him to a dank highway overpass in decayed upstate New York, a very strange dry-cleaning supply concern in outermost Queens, and into the depths of an eerie, warped forest where time and space no longer connect, all while putting his ever-more-troubled marriage and young family in grave danger. But that’s what it costs to find out if we own our possessions � or if they own us.

Munson emerges as a master stylist in this tense, taut work of surreal humor and psychological horror.]]> 162 Sam Munson 1953387977 JaymeO 0 to-read 5.00
author: Sam Munson
name: JaymeO
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222361447 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets Modern Gothic in this smart and upmarket horror novel.

Atlas of Unknowable Things begins when a young college professor writing on the occult joins an isolated research think-tank on a sprawling estate high in the Rocky Mountains. Her colleagues are a group of stand-offish fellows and the estate full of references to the occult. She slowly becomes plagued by nightmares and bouts of sleeping walking when she discovers a previous attendee had mysteriously disappeared - who seems to be leaving her clues on the true purpose for the research center.

As she delves deeper into the mystery the more she becomes confused and questions reality. It's only after she discovers her personal connection to the facility, and the real reason why the former researcher left, that the true monstrous horror of the research center is unleashed...literally.]]> McCormick Templeman 1250393507 JaymeO 0 to-read 0.0
author: McCormick Templeman
name: JaymeO
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218671839 A spiritual companion to Strange Pictures and a bestselling horror phenomenon in Japan —mysterious spaces, trap doors, windowless children's rooms . . . something is wrong with this house. Can you solve the "mystery" of its floor plan?

A writer fascinated by the macabre is approached by an acquaintance who is considering purchasing a second-hand house in Tokyo. With its bright and spacious interior, the home seems perfect. But looking closer, the building’s floor plan reveals a mysterious "dead space� hidden between the walls. Seeking a second opinion, the writer shares the floor plan with an architect friend only to discover more “strange spaces� dotted across the house.

What are these mysterious “strange spaces� and why do they exist—are they really there, or is there something off with the floor plan? Who is the home’s former resident who suddenly disappeared?

The freelance writer and his architect friend can’t resist the challenge of solving the riddle of these puzzling floor plans . . . and the terrifying plot behind it all.]]> 208 Uketsu 006343315X JaymeO 3
The book follows a similar format with a type of questioning and answering by the characters in order to puzzle together a series of murders through odd blueprints. Unfortunately, the translation does come off a bit stilted in this one. While much shorter than Strange Pictures, I didn’t find the mystery as compelling as the first. I also had trouble distinguishing the characters from each other in the final reveal, as there are so many of them with similar names!

While Strange Houses is an intriguing short mystery, it just didn’t engage me as much as the first book.

3.25/5 stars rounded down

Note: “Uketsu’s real name and identity are unknown. He only ever appears online, wearing a mask and speaking through a voice changer. His innovative mysteries challenge readers to discover the hidden clues in a series of sinister drawings.�

Expected publication date: 6/3/25

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for the ARC of Strange Houses in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.90 2021
author: Uketsu
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
Strange Houses is the second book translated into English by a Japanese author who goes by the name Uketsu. I really enjoyed Strange Pictures, so I was eager to figure out the mystery of Strange Houses.

The book follows a similar format with a type of questioning and answering by the characters in order to puzzle together a series of murders through odd blueprints. Unfortunately, the translation does come off a bit stilted in this one. While much shorter than Strange Pictures, I didn’t find the mystery as compelling as the first. I also had trouble distinguishing the characters from each other in the final reveal, as there are so many of them with similar names!

While Strange Houses is an intriguing short mystery, it just didn’t engage me as much as the first book.

3.25/5 stars rounded down

Note: “Uketsu’s real name and identity are unknown. He only ever appears online, wearing a mask and speaking through a voice changer. His innovative mysteries challenge readers to discover the hidden clues in a series of sinister drawings.�

Expected publication date: 6/3/25

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for the ARC of Strange Houses in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 211003716
A historic hotel long past its prime and huddled along The Cut, a questionable Lake Erie beach, isn’t Sadie Miles� ideal place to raise a toddler while also navigating her second pregnancy. After finally fleeing her abusive ex-fiancé, though, Sadie’s new housekeeping position and free room at L’Arpin Hotel are the best she can manage.

On her first night, Sadie runs to help a guest struggling in the hotel’s pool only to find the water calm and empty when she gets there, leaving her with a lingering unease. When a guest then goes missing and her manager insists they simply left without checking out, Sadie suspects he’s covering up darker goings-on in the hotel.

After her ex, Sadie won't let anyone convince her that what she’s experiencing isn’t real again. So, she keeps digging, quickly uncovering suspicious interactions with the staff, mysteriously vanishing security cameras, more missing guests, and things that go bump in the night...and drip in the walls, slither in the tub, and squirm in the halls. Everything isn't as it seems within the dim hallways of L’Arpin. Sadie has nowhere to go and nowhere to hide; she'll need to keep her wits about her to survive and keep her toddler and unborn child safe from whatever lurks nearby.]]> 304 C.J. Dotson 1250335442 JaymeO 2
This plot was preposterous. If I was not reviewing this book for NetGalley and Edelweiss it would have been a DNF. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Jenn Lee while following along with the Ebook. While I enjoyed the narration, this very slow burn horror story is predictable, ridiculous, and contains huge plot holes.

After just finding out she is pregnant, Sadie flees a physically abusive relationship with her toddler daughter and takes a job as a housekeeper at the L’Arpin Hotel on Lake Erie. She meets an old woman named Gertie who is a long term resident of the hotel, and instantly gives this complete stranger the job of babysitting her daughter while she works. Sadie begins to see mysterious puddles of water around the hotel as well as slimy creatures, but no one believes her. When guests go missing and the staff deny any foul play, Sadie begins to investigate.

Nothing happens in this book until 80% and I’m still confused about so many parts of the plot.

I’ll leave you with this…Sadie has a smart phone and does not turn off her location finder. Why does her ex-boyfriend keep leaving her voicemails but is unable to find her? Hmmm�.not buying it.

2.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 4/8/25

Thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Cut in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.22
author: C.J. Dotson
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.22
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
Skip it.

This plot was preposterous. If I was not reviewing this book for NetGalley and Edelweiss it would have been a DNF. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Jenn Lee while following along with the Ebook. While I enjoyed the narration, this very slow burn horror story is predictable, ridiculous, and contains huge plot holes.

After just finding out she is pregnant, Sadie flees a physically abusive relationship with her toddler daughter and takes a job as a housekeeper at the L’Arpin Hotel on Lake Erie. She meets an old woman named Gertie who is a long term resident of the hotel, and instantly gives this complete stranger the job of babysitting her daughter while she works. Sadie begins to see mysterious puddles of water around the hotel as well as slimy creatures, but no one believes her. When guests go missing and the staff deny any foul play, Sadie begins to investigate.

Nothing happens in this book until 80% and I’m still confused about so many parts of the plot.

I’ll leave you with this…Sadie has a smart phone and does not turn off her location finder. Why does her ex-boyfriend keep leaving her voicemails but is unable to find her? Hmmm�.not buying it.

2.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 4/8/25

Thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Cut in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 209203198
But these things happen only when Emily is alone, so are they happening at all? She is still medically fragile. Her post-sepsis condition can cause hallucinatory side effects, which means she cannot fully trust her senses. Freddie does not notice anything odd and is happy with their chance at a fresh start. She, however, starts to believe the house is haunted by someone who had been murdered in it even though she can find no evidence of a wrongful death. As bizarre events pile up and her marriage starts to crumble, Emily becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about Larkin Lodge. But just as the house has secrets so do Emily and her husband.]]> Sarah Pinborough JaymeO 0 currently-reading 4.33 2025
author: Sarah Pinborough
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 222818694
Then her vibrant sister Sybil, an influencer turned wellness consultant at an exclusive health retreat, leaves her a series of distressing messages that contain hidden cries for help…and a voucher for a free stay. Determined to find her sister, Jaimie finds herself chartering a tugboat across the frigid winter sea to the black-sand shores of Creag Dhubh, the tiny island that houses the elite Saoghal Spa and its enigmatic founder, Cyan Blache.

Searching for her sister under the premise of being a regular guest, Jaimie is pushed far out of her comfort zone, both physically and mentally, by the group healing activities and luxurious treatments. As time wears on and Sybil is nowhere to be found, Jaimie is shocked to find herself feeling�better. There is something at Saoghal, in the treatments and tinctures and the black mud itself, that has her chronic fatigue and pain melting away. And as she gets closer to the people around her, including the ethereal Cyan Blache, whose perfection seems to defy reality, she finds herself with more questions than answers.

But everything comes at a price, and transformation, it seems, requires sacrifice. When Jaimie’s investigation leads her to discover that something darker than mud baths and salt scrubs is twisting the residents of Creag Dhubh into something more than themselves, she must face an evil beyond reckoning in order to escape with her life.

]]> 336 Dawn Kurtagich 1525809938 JaymeO 0 to-read 0.0
author: Dawn Kurtagich
name: JaymeO
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219401075 Four strangers time travel to the past and find themselves stuck on the day all their lives were changed in this stunning speculative mystery from award-winning film and television producer Dete Meserve, perfect for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Wrong Place Wrong Time and The Paradox Hotel.

What would you do if you could spend an hour in your past? Four strangers in the beach town of Ventura, California are about to find out.Ěý

Elizabeth aches for one more precious hour with her son who died in a senseless accident. Andy is desperate to find his first love who vanished after a whirlwind romance. Logan craves the rush of surfing and mountain climbing, yearning to reclaim the freedom he lost after a misstepĚýlanded him in a wheelchair. Brooke is looking for an hour of relief from the guilt of an unforgivable mistake.

Enter Aeon Expeditions, the groundbreaking time travelĚýinvention of Mark Saunders—which allowsĚýsome lucky clientsĚý the chanceĚýto spend an hour in their past. Even though Aeon’s technology ensures time travel can’t alter the future, all four clients,Ěýincluding Mark’s ex-wife Elizabeth,Ěýyearn to revisit the hour that changed their lives forever.Ěý

But when their “hour� extends beyond sixty minutes, they find themselves stranded in the past. As their paths intertwine unexpectedly, they unearth shocking secrets hidden in the shadows of their shared All their lives were shattered the same night on a secluded highway by the beach. As they delve into the hidden truths of that pivotal hour, a startling revelation emerges. They were not alone. Someone else was present, harboring deadly intentions.

The Memory Collectors is a heart-wrenching, genre-bending novel brimming with hope, grief and second chances.

]]> 336 Dete Meserve JaymeO 4
What if we could revisit our past? How would we be changed by our experience? The Memory Collectors is a speculative science fiction mystery that attempts to answer these questions.

Aeon Expeditions allows four people the privilege of jumping to the past. Although the jumps are supposed to only last an hour on a random date, all four individuals jump to the same date and are stranded for five days in the past. They take advantage of their time to relive memories and to solve an interconnected mystery.

If you enjoyed Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister or are a fan of Blake Crouch, this book will hit the spot!

I immediately found myself engrossed in this character driven mystery. Told through multiple points of view, this captivating plot is very thought provoking and I didn’t want to put it down! Meserve explores themes of grief, loss, and forgiveness. This would have been a 5 star read, but I was left with a few lingering questions at the end.

Highly recommend!

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 5/20/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC of The Memory Collectors in exchange for an honest review.]]> 4.21 2025
author: Dete Meserve
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves:
review:
“Everything good begins with a maybe.�

What if we could revisit our past? How would we be changed by our experience? The Memory Collectors is a speculative science fiction mystery that attempts to answer these questions.

Aeon Expeditions allows four people the privilege of jumping to the past. Although the jumps are supposed to only last an hour on a random date, all four individuals jump to the same date and are stranded for five days in the past. They take advantage of their time to relive memories and to solve an interconnected mystery.

If you enjoyed Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister or are a fan of Blake Crouch, this book will hit the spot!

I immediately found myself engrossed in this character driven mystery. Told through multiple points of view, this captivating plot is very thought provoking and I didn’t want to put it down! Meserve explores themes of grief, loss, and forgiveness. This would have been a 5 star read, but I was left with a few lingering questions at the end.

Highly recommend!

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 5/20/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC of The Memory Collectors in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 213570812 "I'm in your blood, and you are in mine�"

The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.

Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behavior takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angryâ€� and hungry.Ěý

Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth, or risk losing her forever.]]> 368 Johanna van Veen 1728281571 JaymeO 3
I had super high hopes for Blood on Her Tongue, as My Darling Dreadful Thing was one of my favorite five-star reads of 2024. It was such a fantastic Gothic debut that I really hoped van Veen would write another stunner.

Unfortunately, while Blood on Her Tongue is a fast-paced read, it suffers from mediocrity. Even the author admits in the afterward that she struggled with this book more than her first, by constantly rewriting it.

While not a fan of the vampire plot, I recently read Dawn Kurtagich’s The Madness, which I really enjoyed despite its subject matter. I decided to read Blood on Her Tongue because I really hoped that I could enjoy it as much as the former vampire themed book.

Unfortunately, there is nothing new here except that the author uses the term “parasite� to explain Sarah’s affliction instead of “vampire.� While the book takes place in 1887, the characters use more current language that feels like anachronisms. The plot is also very similar to other books in this genre and lacks originality.

Perhaps I had too high of hopes for this book considering her debut was off the charts fantastic. Regardless, I am still a fan of van Veen and will gladly read her next offering.

Trigger Warning: Be prepared for a lot of gore (blood, eyeball popping, and cannibalism).

3.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected Publication Date: 3/25/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of Blood on Her Tongue in exchange for an honest review.]]> 4.04 2025
author: Johanna van Veen
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:
A bloody mess!

I had super high hopes for Blood on Her Tongue, as My Darling Dreadful Thing was one of my favorite five-star reads of 2024. It was such a fantastic Gothic debut that I really hoped van Veen would write another stunner.

Unfortunately, while Blood on Her Tongue is a fast-paced read, it suffers from mediocrity. Even the author admits in the afterward that she struggled with this book more than her first, by constantly rewriting it.

While not a fan of the vampire plot, I recently read Dawn Kurtagich’s The Madness, which I really enjoyed despite its subject matter. I decided to read Blood on Her Tongue because I really hoped that I could enjoy it as much as the former vampire themed book.

Unfortunately, there is nothing new here except that the author uses the term “parasite� to explain Sarah’s affliction instead of “vampire.� While the book takes place in 1887, the characters use more current language that feels like anachronisms. The plot is also very similar to other books in this genre and lacks originality.

Perhaps I had too high of hopes for this book considering her debut was off the charts fantastic. Regardless, I am still a fan of van Veen and will gladly read her next offering.

Trigger Warning: Be prepared for a lot of gore (blood, eyeball popping, and cannibalism).

3.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected Publication Date: 3/25/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of Blood on Her Tongue in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 217387839 From the author of the beloved novel Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder comes another quirky and irresistible new crime novel

Strange things are happening behind the bright pink facade of Bayside’s premier laundromat, Joyful Suds; home to Joy Moody and her twin daughters.

For much of their lives, Joy has been lying to Cassie and Andie. What started as a colorful tale to explain how the twins came to live with her grew over the years and was always something she meant to set straight. Joy really did think she had more time. Worse still, Joy is struggling to define the truth from the lies.

The girls have long believed they are vital to the future and must stay hidden to stay safe. Joy has told them that their impending 21st birthday is significant; they will step into their roles as daughters of the future revolution and life as they know it will change. Joy was right - everything will change, just not in the way the expected. On Andie and Cassie’s birthday, Joy Moody is found dead and her girls face a world they are not prepared for without their mother. Joy Moody is out of time� in more ways than one.]]> 352 Kerryn Mayne 1250340500 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.73 2024
author: Kerryn Mayne
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 223843463 370 Jo Kaplan 1960988808 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.50
author: Jo Kaplan
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 153708894 A restaurateur lured by pandemic-era incentives moves her family to a seemingly idyllic town in Georgia.

The email message that lands in Billie Hope’s inbox seems like a gift from the universe. For $100 she can purchase a spacious Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia, a small town eager to boost its economy in the wake of the pandemic. She can leave behind her cramped New York City rental and some painful memories. Plus she’ll get a business grant to open a new restaurant in a charming riverside community laden with opportunity.

After some phone calls and one hurried visit, Billie and her husband and daughter are officially part of the "Juliana Initiative." The town is everything promised, and between settling into her lavish home and starting a new restaurant, Billie is busy enough to dismiss misgivings.

Yet those misgivings grow. There’s something about Juliana, something off-kilter and menacing beneath its famous Southern hospitality. No matter how much Billie longed for her family to come here, she’s starting to wonder how, and whether, they’ll ever leave. Ěý]]> Emily Carpenter JaymeO 3
Nope, this is not a creepy gothic tale similar to Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery or Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects as the publisher suggests. What lies inside is no more than a dark cozy mystery.

Have you ever heard the saying, “If something is too good to be true, then it usually is?�

If you saw an advertisement for a town’s initiative that was offering $100 houses and $30,000 business grants just to move there wouldn’t you be suspicious?

Not Bille! Despite her mother recently falling prey to a cult (SMH), she takes the bait and moves from Manhattan to Julianna, Georgia with her husband Peter and young daughter Mere in search of post-pandemic freedom. She longs for a new start, country air, more space, and wants to re-open her award winning restaurant.

It turns out that Julianna Georgia is not the picture perfect town that was advertised. The townspeople are hiding dark secrets spanning generations and no one is safe. Is their house haunted? They are all having similar nightmares and Peter is not acting like himself.

Billie soon learns that when residents come to live in Julianna, they cannot leave�

I really enjoyed Carpenter’s Every Single Secret so I was excited to read her new Gothic thriller. Unfortunately, Billie is not a very sympathetic FMC. She is self-centered, a terrible wife, and she leaves her six year old daughter for days! It takes her way too long to realize that something isn’t right in Julianna, as she is too busy worrying about herself.

There is virtually no scare factor here and it mostly reads like a cozy mystery. The reader is told in detail what actually happened in Julianna at the beginning of the book so there is no element of surprise.

This book did not live up to its comparisons and left me disappointed.

Trigger Warning: cults

2.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 3/25/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington publishing for the ARC of Gothictown in exchange for an honest review,]]> 4.35
author: Emily Carpenter
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:
I’ve been deceived by an ominous title and a disturbing book cover!

Nope, this is not a creepy gothic tale similar to Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery or Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects as the publisher suggests. What lies inside is no more than a dark cozy mystery.

Have you ever heard the saying, “If something is too good to be true, then it usually is?�

If you saw an advertisement for a town’s initiative that was offering $100 houses and $30,000 business grants just to move there wouldn’t you be suspicious?

Not Bille! Despite her mother recently falling prey to a cult (SMH), she takes the bait and moves from Manhattan to Julianna, Georgia with her husband Peter and young daughter Mere in search of post-pandemic freedom. She longs for a new start, country air, more space, and wants to re-open her award winning restaurant.

It turns out that Julianna Georgia is not the picture perfect town that was advertised. The townspeople are hiding dark secrets spanning generations and no one is safe. Is their house haunted? They are all having similar nightmares and Peter is not acting like himself.

Billie soon learns that when residents come to live in Julianna, they cannot leave�

I really enjoyed Carpenter’s Every Single Secret so I was excited to read her new Gothic thriller. Unfortunately, Billie is not a very sympathetic FMC. She is self-centered, a terrible wife, and she leaves her six year old daughter for days! It takes her way too long to realize that something isn’t right in Julianna, as she is too busy worrying about herself.

There is virtually no scare factor here and it mostly reads like a cozy mystery. The reader is told in detail what actually happened in Julianna at the beginning of the book so there is no element of surprise.

This book did not live up to its comparisons and left me disappointed.

Trigger Warning: cults

2.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 3/25/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington publishing for the ARC of Gothictown in exchange for an honest review,
]]> 222139733 From the author ofĚýWild and Wicked Things comes a dark gothic fantasy about two young women struggling to find the freedom of choice in a world where their path feels predetermined. Turning to each other, they soon find themselves sinking deeper into a world of beauty, poison, and the insatiable quest for knowledge.Ěý

Thora Grieve finds herself destitute and an outcast after the sudden death of her husband only a few weeks into their marriage, but a glimmer of hope arrives when a family friend offers her spot at a university to study botany under a famed professor. Once at the university Thora becomes entranced by a mysterious young woman, Olea, who emerges each night to tend to the plants in the professor's private garden.
Ěý
Thora soon that a mysterious illness prevents Olea from leaving the garden. Hungry for connection, Thora befriends Olea through the garden gate and their relationship quickly and intensely blossoms. The visceral connection between Thora and Olea unlocks an obsessive desire in Thora as she throws herself into finding a cure for Olea's ailment. But is this really love or is it merely lustful intoxication? Thora's finally found the freedom to pursue her deepest desires, but at what cost?]]> 432 Francesca May 0316287539 JaymeO 0 to-read 5.00 2025
author: Francesca May
name: JaymeO
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 223522543
Recently separated, with her children going off the rails and her psychology career hanging by a thread, Clara begins to obsess over one of her patients as a means of escape. When the patient vanishes on a remote hiking trail, Clara feels strangely compelled to hike the trail as well. She may find her missing patient, and even if not, it could be a great bonding experience for her and her teens, right?

Once in the woods, though, violent visions plague her dreams and begin to bleed into reality. When a close encounter with a malevolent spirit leaves the family scattered, Clara finds herself lost, stomach empty and boots sinking into mud after days of rain. A sea of forest stretches out around her on every side, and somewhere in there are her girls. She must finally take responsibility and find the strength to outsmart what prowls the forest before the force that lurks there destroys them all.

For readers who enjoy Wonderland by Zoje Stage, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King, and Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough.]]> 256 Amanda Casile 074431206X JaymeO 0 to-read 5.00
author: Amanda Casile
name: JaymeO
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214151420 From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing.

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.

Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.�

For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.� No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.]]> 320 Shari Franke 1668065398 JaymeO 4
Shari Frank’s is the eldest daughter of Ruby and Kevin Franke, and reluctant cast member of the hit YouTube show �8 Passengers.� The reality show that provided a glimpse into an LDS family living in Utah quickly gained 2.5 million subscribers. However, when Ruby joined ConneXions, the brain child of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, viewers noticed that a very harsh disciplinary regime was enacted on the Franke children. Were viewers watching child abuse in real time? Shari exposes the truth behind Hildebrandt’s dangerous influence on her family and her quest to free them from a religious cult.

Having never heard of this case or the popular YouTube series before I read Shari’s memoir, I went into reading this book blind. Shari is an extremely intelligent 22 year old with incredible courage. As the eldest sibling, she attended college while her siblings were stuck at home in a nightmare. While completely abandoned by her family due to questioning Ruby’s behavior, she struggles to find her own way while also taking down Ruby and Jodi. As a newbie to this story, I didn’t learn very much about the actual YouTube show and felt compelled to watch an episode. Can you believe it’s still on YouTube?! I think my experience with the memoir would have been different if I had watched the show prior to reading it. However, the memoir is harrowing and extremely well-written for someone so young.

I listened to the audiobook which is read by the author. I highly recommend this format.

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Trigger warnings: child abuse, cults, grooming]]> 4.44 2025
author: Shari Franke
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves:
review:
Insightful, disturbing, heartbreaking and raw!

Shari Frank’s is the eldest daughter of Ruby and Kevin Franke, and reluctant cast member of the hit YouTube show �8 Passengers.� The reality show that provided a glimpse into an LDS family living in Utah quickly gained 2.5 million subscribers. However, when Ruby joined ConneXions, the brain child of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, viewers noticed that a very harsh disciplinary regime was enacted on the Franke children. Were viewers watching child abuse in real time? Shari exposes the truth behind Hildebrandt’s dangerous influence on her family and her quest to free them from a religious cult.

Having never heard of this case or the popular YouTube series before I read Shari’s memoir, I went into reading this book blind. Shari is an extremely intelligent 22 year old with incredible courage. As the eldest sibling, she attended college while her siblings were stuck at home in a nightmare. While completely abandoned by her family due to questioning Ruby’s behavior, she struggles to find her own way while also taking down Ruby and Jodi. As a newbie to this story, I didn’t learn very much about the actual YouTube show and felt compelled to watch an episode. Can you believe it’s still on YouTube?! I think my experience with the memoir would have been different if I had watched the show prior to reading it. However, the memoir is harrowing and extremely well-written for someone so young.

I listened to the audiobook which is read by the author. I highly recommend this format.

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Trigger warnings: child abuse, cults, grooming
]]> 211004028 From the author of White Horse (“Twisty and electric.� �The New York Times Book Review) comes a terrifying and resonant novel about a woman who uses her unique gift to learn the truth about her sister’s death.

Olivia Becente was never supposed to have the gift. The ability to commune with the dead was the specialty of her sister, Naiche. But when Naiche dies unexpectedly and under strange circumstances, somehow Olivia suddenly can’t stop seeing and hearing from spirits.

A few years later, she’s the most in-demand paranormal investigator in Denver. She’s good at her job, but the loss of Naiche haunts her. That’s when she hears from the Brown Palace, a landmark Denver hotel. The owner can’t explain it, but every few years, a girl is found dead in room 904, no matter what room she checked into the night before. As Olivia tries to understand these disturbing deaths, the past and the present collide as Olivia’s investigation forces her to confront a mysterious and possibly dangerous cult, a vindictive journalist, betrayal by her friends, and shocking revelations about her sister’s secret life.

The Haunting of Room 904 is a paranormal thriller that is as edgy as it is heartfelt and simmers with intensity and longing. Erika T. Wurth lives up to her reputation as “a gritty new punkish outsider voice in American horror.”]]> 320 Erika T. Wurth 1250908590 JaymeO 2
But, the premise is fantastic. Paranormal investigator, Olivia Becente investigates her sister’s mysterious suicide in the Brown Hotel. Every five years, a woman dies in room 904. She checks into a different room and is found dead in room 904 three weeks after her stay. She appears in the room the night she checks in, and then she reappears, only to die. What is the mystery of room 904? Can Olivia stop the mysterious cycle of suicide?

Here’s the thing. There is so much that I love about what the author is trying to accomplish with this book, but the execution is disjointed, choppy, and sounds like it is written by a child.

I’m not sure if it is because I read an ARC, but the writing really needs editing and cleaning up. It is missing transitions and makes awkward jumps in time without explanation. I never usually comment on this aspect of ARCs because they haven’t been published yet, but this one really affected my reading experience.

This is the first book I have read from Wurth, and I hope that it gets the rework it deserves before publication.

2.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 3/18/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and Flatiron books for the ARC of The Haunting of Room 904 in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.36 2025
author: Erika T. Wurth
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves:
review:
This. Was. Not. Good.

But, the premise is fantastic. Paranormal investigator, Olivia Becente investigates her sister’s mysterious suicide in the Brown Hotel. Every five years, a woman dies in room 904. She checks into a different room and is found dead in room 904 three weeks after her stay. She appears in the room the night she checks in, and then she reappears, only to die. What is the mystery of room 904? Can Olivia stop the mysterious cycle of suicide?

Here’s the thing. There is so much that I love about what the author is trying to accomplish with this book, but the execution is disjointed, choppy, and sounds like it is written by a child.

I’m not sure if it is because I read an ARC, but the writing really needs editing and cleaning up. It is missing transitions and makes awkward jumps in time without explanation. I never usually comment on this aspect of ARCs because they haven’t been published yet, but this one really affected my reading experience.

This is the first book I have read from Wurth, and I hope that it gets the rework it deserves before publication.

2.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 3/18/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and Flatiron books for the ARC of The Haunting of Room 904 in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 211004175
A mind is a terrible thing to erase...

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.

Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers—just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.

Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor—and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting—knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work—and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…]]> 112 Olivia Waite 1250342244 JaymeO 4
The interstellar passenger liner the HMS Fairweather has been traveling for over 300 years. One night, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in someone else’s body just as another passenger is murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, she learns that not only is someone killing bodies, but also deleting minds from the Library. If one desires rest between lifetimes, their mind is carefully reserved in glass on the Library shelf. Unfortunately, the ship’s mind “Ferry� is unable to provide her with any information since it is drunk from a magnetic storm. Dorothy must use the body she woke up in to solve the murder.

The premise of this cozy sci-fi novella is super clever. While I would have enjoyed more time getting to know the characters, the mystery is solved quickly by a sapphic aunt who loves to knit. Need I say more? It appears this novella will become a series and I am definitely here for it. I enjoyed this quirky murder mystery!

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 3/18/25

Thank you to Tordotcom publishing and Edelweiss for the ARC of Murder by Memory in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.82 2025
author: Olivia Waite
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

The interstellar passenger liner the HMS Fairweather has been traveling for over 300 years. One night, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in someone else’s body just as another passenger is murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, she learns that not only is someone killing bodies, but also deleting minds from the Library. If one desires rest between lifetimes, their mind is carefully reserved in glass on the Library shelf. Unfortunately, the ship’s mind “Ferry� is unable to provide her with any information since it is drunk from a magnetic storm. Dorothy must use the body she woke up in to solve the murder.

The premise of this cozy sci-fi novella is super clever. While I would have enjoyed more time getting to know the characters, the mystery is solved quickly by a sapphic aunt who loves to knit. Need I say more? It appears this novella will become a series and I am definitely here for it. I enjoyed this quirky murder mystery!

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 3/18/25

Thank you to Tordotcom publishing and Edelweiss for the ARC of Murder by Memory in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 217388211 A hilarious and heartfelt novel about how loves and lives are never truly lost, for fans of Rebecca Serle and Taylor Jenkins Reid.

With a leading role on a hit TV show and a relationship with Hollywood's latest heartthrob, Meg Bryan appears to have everything she ever wanted. But underneath the layers of makeup and hairspray, her happiness is as fake as her stage name, Lana Lord. Following a small breakdown at her thirtieth birthday party, she books an impromptu trip where she knows the grass is greener: Ireland. Specifically, the quaint little village where she and her best friend Aimee always dreamt of moving—a dream that fell apart when an accident claimed Aimee’s life a decade ago.

When Meg arrives, the people in town are so nice, treating her not as a stranger, but a friend. Except for the (extremely hot) bartender giving her the cold shoulder. Meg writes it all off as jetlag until she looks in the mirror. Her hair is no longer bleached within an inch of its life, her skin has a few natural fine lines, and her nose looks like� well, her old nose. Her real nose.

Her phone reveals hundreds of pictures of her life in this little town: with an adorable dog she doesn’t know; with the bartender who might be her (ex?) boyfriend; and at a retail job unrelated to acting. Eventually, she comes to accept that she somehow made a quantum slide into an alternate version of her life. But the most shocking realization of all? In this life, her best friend Aimee is alive and well…but wants nothing to do with Meg.

Despite her bewilderment, Meg is clear-eyed about one thing: this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reconnect with her friend and repair what she broke. She finagles an opportunity to act in the play Aimee is writing and directing and as the project unfolds, Meg realizes that events as she remembers them may not be the only truth, and that an impossible choice looms before her.]]> 320 Paige Harbison 1250358078 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.46 2025
author: Paige Harbison
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214974578
Sydney finds a sometimes-ally in the estate's butler, an ex-adventurer who ran aground on the island years ago. But when a mysterious man washes ashore with a stunning surprise that upsets everything, Sydney must prove she has inherited the late master's brilliance as well as his property--or someone else will.]]> 400 Joanna Davidson Politano 0800742982 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.68 2025
author: Joanna Davidson Politano
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.68
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221490938 Three courses. Seven guests. One card. It's a deadly evening they'll never forget.Ěý

Seven strangers meet for an anonymously hosted dinner party. As the evening winds down, seven cards appear, one in front of each of the guests. On each card is a number - the age at which the guest will die. Spooked but skeptical, the guests disperse into the rainy night with the hope of forgetting the morbid turn of events.Ěý

Two weeks later, one guest is dead. At exactly the age the card predicted.Ěý

More guests begin to die as the years go on, each one dead at the same age as their card. It soon becomes clear that something much more sinister is abound. Now, it's up to the quickly dwindling group of dinner guests to figure out who (or what) was behind that fateful dinner party all those years ago, before their numbers catch up with them too.Ěý

Told from the perspectives of each of the seven guests, which span from hilarious to hateful, Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests is a spellbinding and mysterious exploration of mortality, begging the how would you live your life if you knew your number was up?]]> 352 K.J. Whittle 1464242402 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.21 2025
author: K.J. Whittle
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> 220160455 In this delightfully funny and heartfelt new novel from the author of the “bittersweet page-turner� (The New York Times) The Last Book Party, an American woman travels to the English countryside when she discovers tickets her late mother had purchased for a murder mystery simulation in a small British town.

When thirty-four-year-old Cath loses her mostly absentee mother, she is ambivalent. With days of quiet, unassuming routine in Buffalo, New York, Cath consciously avoids the impulsive, thrill-seeking lifestyle that her mother once led. But when she’s forced to go through her mother’s things one afternoon, Cath is perplexed to find tickets for an upcoming “murder week� in England’s Peak. A whole town has come together to stage a fake murder mystery to attract tourism to their quaint hamlet. Baffled but helplessly intrigued by her mother’s secret purchase, Cath decides to go on the trip herself—and begins a journey she never could have anticipated.

Teaming up with her two cottage-mates, both ardent mystery lovers—Wyatt Green, forty, who works unhappily in his husband’s birding store, and Amity Clark, fifty, a divorced romance writer struggling with her novels—Cath sets about solving the “crime� and begins to unravel shocking truths about her mother along the way. Amidst a fling—or something more—with the handsome local maker of artisanal gin, Cath and her irresistibly charming fellow sleuths will find this week of fake murder may help them face up to a very real crossroads in their own lives.

Witty, wise, and deliciously escapist, Welcome to Murder Week is a fresh, inventive twist on the murder mystery and a touching portrayal of one daughter’s reckoning with her grief, her past—and her own budding sense of adventure.]]> 304 Karen Dukess 1668079771 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.40 2025
author: Karen Dukess
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> 220160578 A terrifying new novel from bestselling #HorrorBookTok sensation Ania Ahlborn—the acclaimed author of the modern classic Brother.

Hailed as a writer of “some of the most promising horror I’ve encountered in years� (Seanan McGuire, author of the Ghost Roads series), Ania Ahlborn delivers a novel that pushes the boundaries of horror into a new realm.

Isla Hansen, a mother reeling from a devastating loss, is beside herself when a mysteriously orphaned child appears on the outskirts of the Hansens� secluded Colorado property. Although strange and unexplainable, the child’s presence breathes new life into Isla. But as the child settles in, Isla’s husband, Luke, and their five children notice peculiarities that hint at something far beyond the ordinary—anomalies that challenge the very fabric of reality itself. The tension within the Hansen household grows, and with it, the sense that there is something very wrong with the new kid in the house.

The Unseen is a haunting tale that walks the line between the familiar and the unknown, drawing us into a chilling narrative where reality itself feels just out of reach.]]> 368 Ania Ahlborn 1668057662 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.10
author: Ania Ahlborn
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> 217387953 Lucky Day is the newest novel of terror from Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Bury Your Gays, where one woman must go up against the most horrifying concept of all: nothing.

Vera is a survivor of a global catastrophe known as the Low Probability Event, but she definitely isn't thriving. Once a passionate professor of statistics, she no longer finds meaning in anything at all.

But when problematic government agent Layne knocks on her door, she's the only one who can help him uncover the connection between deadly spates of absurdity and an improbably lucky casino. What's happening in Vegas isn't staying there, and the world is at risk of another disaster.

When it comes to Chuck Tingle, the only thing more terrifying than a serious horror novel is an absurd one...]]> 240 Chuck Tingle 1250398657 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.83 2025
author: Chuck Tingle
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.83
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> 218171590
When a mysterious, charming bachelor wanders into their small town, bizarre events begin to plague its wealthiest citizens. Like blood dripping from dogwood blossoms, flocks of birds crashing into windows of their homes, and faces in paintings morphing into distortion. Hollis knows these are the omens her grandfather warned about, announcing the devil’s return. Despite Cain Landry’s eerie presence and the plague that has followed him, his handsome face and wicked charm win over the townsfolk. Even Hollis falls under his spell as they grow closer.

That is, until lies about the town’s past start to surface. The grave birds begin to show Hollis the dead’s ugly past from some twenty-five years ago. And she learns all about the horrible things these noble families did to gain their wealth. Hollis can’t decide if Cain is some immortal hand of God, there to expose their sins. Or if he’s a devil there to ruin them all. Either way, she’s determined to save her town and the people in it, whatever she has to do.]]> 320 Dana Elmendorf 077838747X JaymeO 0 to-read 4.73
author: Dana Elmendorf
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.73
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214151379 Gen X icon Ione Skye bares all in an achingly vulnerable coming-of-age memoir about chasing fame, desire, and true love in the shadow of her famous, absent father.

In 1987, sixteen-year-old Ione Skye landed the breakout role of Diane Court, the dream girl who inspires John Cusack’s iconic boombox serenade in the hit Cameron Crowe film, Say Anything. While Skye seemed perfectly typecast as an aloof valedictorian, she was anything but.

Deserted by her dad, the folk singer legend Donovan, Skye was a ninth-grade dropout who sought solace and validation in the eyes of audiences and dreamy costars like Keanu Reeves, River Phoenix, Matthew Perry, John Cusack, and Robert Downey Jr. But like her sixties It Girl mom, Skye’s greatest weakness was musicians.

On the heels of a toxic relationship with the Red Hot Chili Peppers� Anthony Kiedis, which began when she was just sixteen and he was twenty-four, the actress leapt into wedded bliss with her first great love, Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz.

But marriage was not the magical hall pass to adulthood Skye had imagined. Awakening to her bisexuality and desperately insecure, she risked her fairytale marriage for a string of affairs with gorgeous nineties “bad girls.� The dream marriage imploded, and Skye’s trust in herself and her future along with it.

Set against a backdrop of rock royalty compounds, supermodel cliques, and classic late-century films like River’s Edge, Gas Food Lodging, and Wayne’s World, Say Everything is a wild ride of Hollywood thrills as well as a lyrical reflection on ambition, intimacy, and a messy, sexy, unconventional life.]]> 304 Ione Skye 1668048264 JaymeO 4
Who remembers when John Cusack held up a boombox while In Your Eyes blasted from the speakers? ]]> 4.13
author: Ione Skye
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:
“I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.� - Lloyd Dobler

Who remembers when John Cusack held up a boombox while In Your Eyes blasted from the speakers?
]]> 126918023
Within hours of arriving in their seedy casino hotel, it becomes clear their rescue mission is going to be a bust. Javi’s kidnapper, Marco, refuses to negotiate, demanding payment in full in exchange for Javi’s life. But that’s not all―he insists on knowing the whereabouts of his missing nephew, Ike, who mysteriously disappeared. Unable to confess what really happened to Ike, Finlay and Vero are forced to come up with a new plan: sleuth out the location of Javi and the Aston Martin, then steal them both back.

But when they sneak into the loan shark’s suite to search for clues, they find more than they bargained for―Marco's already dead. They don’t have a clue who murdered him, only that they themselves have a very convincing motive. Then four members of the police department unexpectedly show up in town, also looking for Ike―and after Finlay's night with hot cop Nick at the police academy, he’s a little too eager to keep her close to his side.

If Finlay can juggle a jealous ex-husband, two precocious kids, her mother’s marital issues, a decomposing loan shark, and find Vero’s missing boyfriend, she might get out of Atlantic City in one piece. But will she fold under the pressure and come clean about the things she’s done, or be forced to double down?]]> 315 Elle Cosimano 1250846013 JaymeO 2 to-read
I LOVED Finlay Donovan is Killing It. I enjoyed it so much that I was dying to read the upcoming books in the series, even though I don’t usually read books in a series.

I made my way through Finlay Donovan Knocks �Em Dead feeling like some of the original magic was gone. My rating went from 4 stars to 3.5 stars rounded up. Not wanting to quit, I read Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, and my rating fell to 3.5 stars rounded down. I am not a quitter…I listened to Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank and felt that the novella didn’t work without Finlay. Finally, I attempted to read Finaly Donovan Rolls the Dice and just couldn’t connect with these characters anymore.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ARC, but I have decided to part ways with this literary duo. This is my brutally honest review.
2/5 stars]]> 4.00 2024
author: Elle Cosimano
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:
It pains me to write this review.

I LOVED Finlay Donovan is Killing It. I enjoyed it so much that I was dying to read the upcoming books in the series, even though I don’t usually read books in a series.

I made my way through Finlay Donovan Knocks �Em Dead feeling like some of the original magic was gone. My rating went from 4 stars to 3.5 stars rounded up. Not wanting to quit, I read Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, and my rating fell to 3.5 stars rounded down. I am not a quitter…I listened to Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank and felt that the novella didn’t work without Finlay. Finally, I attempted to read Finaly Donovan Rolls the Dice and just couldn’t connect with these characters anymore.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ARC, but I have decided to part ways with this literary duo. This is my brutally honest review.
2/5 stars
]]> 220458596 An eerie, hypnotic debut about friendship, desire, and memory set against the sultry backdrop of Florida’s swamplands

It's been years since Ingrid has heard from her childhood best friend, Mayra, a fearless rebel who fled their hometown of Hialeah, a Cuban neighborhood just west of Miami, for college in the Northeast. But when Mayra calls out of the blue to invite Ingrid to a weekend getaway at a house in the Everglades, she impulsively accepts.

From the moment Ingrid sets out for the house, danger looms: The directions are difficult, she’s out of reach of cell service, and as she drives deeper into the Everglades, the wet maw of the swamp threatens to swallow her whole. But once Ingrid arrives, Mayra is, in many ways, just as she remembers—with her sharp tongue and effortless, seductive beauty, still thumbing her nose at the world.

Before they can fully settle into the familiar intimacy of each other's company, their reunion is spoiled by the reemergence of past disagreements and the unexpected presence of Mayra's new boyfriend, Benji. The trio spend their hours eating lavish meals and exploring the labyrinthine house, which holds as much mystery and danger as the swamp itself. Indoors and on the grounds, time itself seems to expand, and Ingrid begins to lose a sense of the outside world, and herself.

Against this disquieting setting, where lizards dart in and out of porches and alligators peek up from dark waters, Gonzalez weaves a surreal, unforgettable story about the dizzying power of early friendship and the lengths we'll go to earn love and acceptance—even at the risk of losing ourselves entirely.]]> 240 Nicky Gonzalez 0593731557 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.71
author: Nicky Gonzalez
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.71
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 60784525 The next gut-punching, compulsively readable Kate McLaughlin novel, about a girl finding strength in not being alone.

When eighteen-year-old Dylan wakes up, she’s in an apartment she doesn’t recognize. The other people there seem to know her, but she doesn't know them � not even the pretty, chiseled boy who tells her his name is Connor. A voice inside her head keeps saying that everything is okay, but Dylan can’t help but freak out. Especially when she borrows Connor’s phone to call home and realizes she’s been missing for three days.

Dylan has lost time before, but never like this.

Soon after, Dylan is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and must grapple not only with the many people currently crammed inside her head, but that a secret from her past so terrible she’s blocked it out has put them there. Her only distraction is a budding new relationship with Connor. But as she gets closer to finding out the truth, Dylan wonders: will it heal her or fracture her further?]]> 368 Kate McLaughlin 1250264340 JaymeO 3
The book is definitely well-researched, but there are several aspects about it that are super unrealistic. Dylan’s love interest is way too nice and supportive for someone who she just met. Are there really guys like this out there?

The book also wraps up Dylan’s ability to cope with DID and outs her abuser within a few months. This process would likely take years to process and might not even happen.

It also seemed like the author researched DID and then wrote about a fictional character by plugging in her findings to a superficial plot. In other words, there’s nothing really outstanding about the mystery here. However it might appeal to those new to books about DID and a younger audience.

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla and recommend this format.

3.5/5 stars rounded down]]> 4.05 2023
author: Kate McLaughlin
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves:
review:
In my quest to read/listen to books about DID, I came across this YA novel on Hoopla. While I typically don’t enjoy YA, the high rating convinced me to give it a try.

The book is definitely well-researched, but there are several aspects about it that are super unrealistic. Dylan’s love interest is way too nice and supportive for someone who she just met. Are there really guys like this out there?

The book also wraps up Dylan’s ability to cope with DID and outs her abuser within a few months. This process would likely take years to process and might not even happen.

It also seemed like the author researched DID and then wrote about a fictional character by plugging in her findings to a superficial plot. In other words, there’s nothing really outstanding about the mystery here. However it might appeal to those new to books about DID and a younger audience.

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla and recommend this format.

3.5/5 stars rounded down
]]> 60567943
This place is shrouded in folklore—old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who was not quite a child.

Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed.

Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something.

Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live in the grounds—and together they begin to unpick the secrets of this place.

As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew—and risk what she holds most dear.]]> 408 C.J. Cooke 0008515905 JaymeO 4 3.93 2022
author: C.J. Cooke
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
Why are there so many…books about fungi?
]]> 176443112 The author of Good Neighbors, “one of the creepiest, most unnerving deconstructions of American suburbia I’ve ever read,� (NPR), returns with a cunning, out-of-the-box satirical thriller about a family’s odyssey into an exclusive enclave for the wealthy that might not be as ideal as it seems.

You’ll be safe here. That’s what the greasy tour guide tells the Farmer-Bowens when they visit Plymouth Valley, a walled-off company town with clean air, pantries that never go empty, and blue-ribbon schools. On a very trial basis, the company offers to hire Linda Farmer’s husband, a numbers genius, and relocate her whole family to this bucolic paradise for the .0001%. Though Linda will have to sacrifice her medical career back home, the family jumps at the opportunity. They’d be crazy not to take it. With the outside world literally falling apart, this might be the Farmer-Bowens last chance.

But fitting in takes work. The pampered locals distrust outsiders, cruelly snubbing Linda, Russell, and their teen twins. And the residents fervently adhere to a group of customs and beliefs called Hollow . . . but what exactly is Hollow?

It’s Linda who brokers acceptance by volunteering her medical skills to the most powerful people in town with their pet charity, ActHollow. In the months afterward, everything seems fine. Sure, Russell starts hyperventilating through a paper bag in the middle of the night, and the kids have drifted like bridgeless islands, but living here’s worth sacrificing their family’s closeness, isn’t it? At least they’ll survive. The trouble is, the locals never say what they think. They seem scared. And Hollow’s ominous culminating event, the Plymouth Valley Winter Festival, is coming.

Linda’s warned by her husband and her powerful new friends to stop asking questions. But the more she learns, the more frightened she becomes. Should the Farmer-Bowens be fighting to stay, or fighting to get out?

Sarah Langan’s latest novel A Better World is gleefully ruthless in its dissection of wealth, power, and privilege, timely in its depiction of a self-destructing world—and it is a prescient warning to us all.

Sarah Langan, a Columbia MFA graduate and three-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award, is the author of several novels including A Better World and Good Neighbors. She grew up on Long Island and she currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughters.]]> 368 Sarah Langan 1982191066 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.58 2024
author: Sarah Langan
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 223120401 Murder disrupts the peaceful, predictable daily routine of life for four quirky librarians who must protect their life-altering secrets in the first contemporary mystery from USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas.

Sometimes a workplace isn’t just a workplace but a place of safety, understanding, and acceptance. And sometimes murder threatens the sanctity of that beloved refuge....

In the leafy suburbs of Austin, Texas, a small branch library welcomes the public every day of the week. But the patrons who love the helpful, unobtrusive staff and leave rave reviews on Yelp don’t always realize that their librarians are human, too.

Hazel flees halfway across the world for what she hopes will be a new beginning. Jonathan, a six-foot-four former college football player, has never fit in anywhere else. Astrid tries to forget her heartbreak by immersing herself in work, but the man who ghosted her six months ago is back, promising trouble. AndĚýSophie, who has the most to lose, maintains a careful and respectful distance from her coworkers, but soon that won't be enough anymore.

When two patrons turn up dead after the library’s inaugural murder mystery–themed game night, the librarians� quiet routines come crashing down. Something sinister has stirred, something that threatens every single one of them. And the only way the librarians can save the library—and themselves—is to let go of their secrets, trust one another, and band together....

All in a day’s work.]]> 368 Sherry Thomas 0593640454 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Sherry Thomas
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> 211003724
At a passing glance, County Road 951 is an entirely unremarkable stretch of blacktop, a two-lane scar across the Cascade foothills of Central Oregon.

But the road is known by another name, coined by those who’ve had to clean up after all those scenic detours went horribly wrong: The Devil’s Driveway.

When Livia and her long-time friends take the Driveway as a shortcut to a much-needed weekend getaway, what begins as a morning joyride quickly becomes anything but. Soon, they’re driving for their lives, pursued by a horror beyond anything they ever imagined.

The Devil’s Driveway might be only 15 miles long, but with danger at every turn, it will take the four women to the very limits of their friendships and their sanity.

And there’s no telling what else lies in wait just beyond the bend.]]> 368 K.C. Jones 1250792711 JaymeO 1
K.C. Jones� debut Black Tide was a standout for me last year earning a 5 star rating, so I was super excited to read White Line Fever. I tried reading the print ARC, then listening to the audiobook, but neither engaged me…like at all. Maybe it’s me, but I could NOT get into this one. I’m not even sure how the same author wrote both of these books. One was super slow and the other had me on the edge of my seat from the first paragraph. Very disappointing!

1/5 stars

Expected publication date: 3/18/25

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and MacMillan Audio for the ARC of White Line Fever in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.53 2025
author: K.C. Jones
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2025
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:
DNF at 30%.

K.C. Jones� debut Black Tide was a standout for me last year earning a 5 star rating, so I was super excited to read White Line Fever. I tried reading the print ARC, then listening to the audiobook, but neither engaged me…like at all. Maybe it’s me, but I could NOT get into this one. I’m not even sure how the same author wrote both of these books. One was super slow and the other had me on the edge of my seat from the first paragraph. Very disappointing!

1/5 stars

Expected publication date: 3/18/25

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and MacMillan Audio for the ARC of White Line Fever in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 223673607 The mysteries of a remote estate lead a young woman down a twisted path in this gripping gothic thriller from the Edgar Award–winning author of Or Else.

After a car accident took the lives of both her parents, Mira Caine's transition to adulthood was hard and fast. Solely responsible for the welfare of her intellectually disabled younger brother, she's searching for a better life for them both when she's approached by an enigmatic woman with an offer that seems like the answer to their problems. Allison Wyndclyffe, the young heir to an enormous fortune who's suffered her own trauma, is in need of a mentor and companion.

Isolated on an island in the St. Lawrence River lies the Wyndclyffe estate—beautiful but possessing a dark and complicated legacy. As Mira settles in and befriends her troubled charge, she quickly learns her new home is full of questions that no one wants to answer. What caused Allison's father to murder his wife and almost kill his daughter? How is the tragedy connected to the arcane writings Mira stumbles across? And why do parts of the island feel strangely familiar to her?

As more of the sprawling manor's secrets are revealed through Allison's damaged psyche, Mira's sense of time and self begin to erode. Before long she will come face-to-face with the unspeakable truth at the heart of Wyndclyffe, and not everyone will make it off the island alive.

Perfect for fans of Karen M. McManus's The Cousins and Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Edgar Award–winning and Wall Street Journal–bestselling author Joe Hart's Wyndclyffe is a taut, multilayered mystery that pulls you in and won't let go.]]> 272 Joe Hart 1039490026 JaymeO 0 to-read 0.0
author: Joe Hart
name: JaymeO
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> 220160908 From internationally bestselling author Daniel Kalla, whose thrillers are “impossible to put down� (Amy Stuart, #1 bestselling author of Death at the Party), comes a razor-sharp psychological thriller about a CEO whose carefully curated life is falling apart. His wife is cheating, someone is stealing from his AI company, and he’s just been handed a fatal diagnosis. He’d end it all, if only he could trust his own reality.

Liam Hirsch has it all—a loving family, a thriving career as CEO of an AI company, financial security, and a bright future. But when he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness, just weeks after discovering his wife’s infidelity, his perfect life unravels. As he grapples with his fate, he prepares to face his final days on his own terms.

However, unexplained events inside his company make him question everything—including his diagnosis. In a world of deepfake videos, synthetic voices, and digital deception, couldn’t these technologies be weaponized against him? What if nothing is as it seems?

With time running out, Liam turns to Andrea DeWalt, a private investigator contending with her own feelings of betrayal, to help him uncover a conspiracy that threatens his life, his family, and their future. In a world where nothing is as it seems and every digital footprint can be manipulated, who can Liam trust?]]> 304 Daniel Kalla 1668032538 JaymeO 0 to-read 5.00
author: Daniel Kalla
name: JaymeO
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> 224109727 A desperate woman fights to escape captivity in this gripping thriller from the New York Times -bestselling author of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things.

Beatrice is about to lose everything when a kind stranger offers her a cup of coffee and a job. It seems like a promise of a better life . . . until she wakes up under lock and key in an isolated mansion in the woods.

On orders from a shadowy criminal organization, armed jailers make the rules for their captives, enforcing them with unflinching violence. Beatrice has always been a "nice girl," but that won't save her now. Nobody helped her when she lost her job, her car, and her home, and nobody's coming to give back her freedom. The only person she can rely on is herself. And now, several child hostages are relying on her too.

When the situation gets more dire—deadly even—Beatrice has to become the hero she and her fellow prisoners need. To escape she'll have to outsmart her captors and do terrible things that would horrify her former self. If she succeeds, there's no telling who she'll be when the ordeal comes to an end.]]> 336 Bryn Greenwood JaymeO 0 to-read 5.00
author: Bryn Greenwood
name: JaymeO
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 228162989 Trapped in a house where the walls whisper, and secrets fester beneath the garden soil, Willow Hawthorne teeters on the edge of reality and delusion.

In this haunting psychological horror, Willow’s life has become a fever dream, her days lost in a twisted loop where time no longer flows as it should. Is she held captive by her husband Liam’s iron rules—or by the insidious darkness of her own mind?

Her only connection to the world beyond her walls is a young girl named Sarah, whose unexpected visits to Willow’s garden spark a glimmer of hope. But as cracks form in her carefully controlled existence, horrifying truths seep through, twisting the familiar into something sinister. The floral wallpaper peels back to reveal haunting messages carved into the walls, and the house itself pulses with malevolent life.

When Sarah suddenly vanishes, Willow is forced to confront the dark shadows of her past and the horrors lurking within her fractured psyche. The question remains: is Willow truly a prisoner of her home, or of her own mind?

Some doors, once opened, can never be closed. And some truths are better left buried in the garden.]]> 304 Marie Still JaymeO 0 to-read 4.67 2025
author: Marie Still
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219968614
On a tiny, isolated island off the southern Alaskan coast, three girls have vanished without a trace, and Audra’s close friend—the island’s therapist—has been found murdered. A recent storm has severed all communication with the outside world, leaving Audra, the town's lead detective, trapped and at the head of a very personal case.

Her lead suspect, Valorie, the daughter of a notorious cult leader and the town's outcast, was discovered blood-covered and dazed at the crime scene. Valorie’s memory is a gaping void, a dark well hiding traumatic secrets, including the truth about the teenage kidnappings that haunt the island.

As Audra digs deeper into the town's twisted history, it becomes clear other murders on the island, dating back decades, might be connected. The clock is ticking for the missing girls, and every clue leads Audra to question even those she's known her whole life.

Valorie must confront the horrors of her past while Audra’s investigation becomes a descent into madness. On this cursed island, the line between neighbor and nightmare blurs, revealing that true horror often wears a familiar face.]]> 400 Monique Asher 1998076016 JaymeO 0 to-read 5.00
author: Monique Asher
name: JaymeO
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221035861
He is soon approached by a mysterious woman who has purchased the supposedly haunted, but previously off-limits to paranormal sleuths, Morsley Manor. To drum up publicity about the house, she hires Eric to perform and host a paranormal investigation on the premises.

As he ventures over to England to uncover the darkness bleeding through the veins of Morsley, horrors begin to spring from every corner and Eric soon begins to realise that not all is as it seems…]]> 340 George Morris De'Ath 1998076660 JaymeO 0 to-read 0.0
author: George Morris De'Ath
name: JaymeO
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212375021 Three women. Three smouldering secrets. Who will make it out alive?

It’s 5 November, and a woman awakens to a nightmare. Bound and gagged, she lies trapped in the heart of a towering bonfire. As the smoke thickens, panic sets in � she’s moments away from being engulfed in flames. How did it come to this?

Rewind eleven months: Margot, a faded TV star, and her long-suffering friend Anna watch as glamorous Liv and her flawless family move into their street. The three women soon fabricate the perfect pretence of friendship, but each harbours her own deadly secret � and newcomer Liv senses something is terribly wrong beneath the polished exteriors.

As cracks widen in the veneer of perfection and lies escalate out of control, tension ignites. Bonfire Night is approaching and someone is set to burn…But who will it be?]]> 399 John Marrs 166250649X JaymeO 3
Once again, I am on outlier island! ]]> 4.02 2025
author: John Marrs
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

Once again, I am on outlier island!
]]> 213570811
At Thornleigh, Gilly is dazzled by the family's faded grandeur, and above all by Violet's beguiling older sisters who seem to accept her as one of their own. But following a terrible accident in the house's grounds, Gilly begins to realise the Claybourne sisters aren't quite what she thought they were. And if she's to survive in their world, she may have to become just like them . . .

A captivating novel of family secrets, desperate ambition and deepest betrayal, set against the winter of 1938, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is the irresistible new mystery from the acclaimed author of One Puzzling Afternoon.]]> 400 Emily Critchley 1728287197 JaymeO 4
“�Nos contra mundam,� I whispered back. Us against the world.�

Despite including a full cast of unsavory characters, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne shines with its fantastic character driven plot highlighting hidden family secrets and evil betrayals.

In 1938, Gillian Larkin is enamored by her new posh boarding school roommate, Violet Claybourne. When she is invited to spend Christmas break at her family’s estate in Oxfordshire, Gillian can’t believe her good luck.

Gillian is dazzled by the fading grandeur of the family estate and Violet’s two older sisters who accept her as one of their own.

When a terrible accident happens on the estate, Gillian begins to realize that the Claybourne sisters aren’t as perfect as she thought they were. But, if she wants to survive, she must become just like them.

“Maybe it really was all over. I had proved my loyalty, gained Emmeline and Laura’s trust. I was part of the family now, blind forever to the sisters by the secret we shared. I was Cousin Gilly. I was somebody.�

This is my 1000th book that I have read after creating my Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ account in 2013 and I am happy that this milestone is celebrated with a standout!

This dark family drama calls attention to the hypocrisy of social class hierarchy and the ill treatment of mental health during the 1930s. The very lonely, vulnerable, and damaged characters demonstrate that appearances can be deceiving. The dysfunctional Claybourne family are dreadful, but you will feel compelled to keep reading. I loved the clever twists!

This is my first time reading this author and I can't wait to check out her other books!

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 3/4/25

Trigger warning: suicide

Thank you to Edelweiss and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of The Undoing of Violet Claybourne in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.97 2024
author: Emily Critchley
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

“�Nos contra mundam,� I whispered back. Us against the world.�

Despite including a full cast of unsavory characters, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne shines with its fantastic character driven plot highlighting hidden family secrets and evil betrayals.

In 1938, Gillian Larkin is enamored by her new posh boarding school roommate, Violet Claybourne. When she is invited to spend Christmas break at her family’s estate in Oxfordshire, Gillian can’t believe her good luck.

Gillian is dazzled by the fading grandeur of the family estate and Violet’s two older sisters who accept her as one of their own.

When a terrible accident happens on the estate, Gillian begins to realize that the Claybourne sisters aren’t as perfect as she thought they were. But, if she wants to survive, she must become just like them.

“Maybe it really was all over. I had proved my loyalty, gained Emmeline and Laura’s trust. I was part of the family now, blind forever to the sisters by the secret we shared. I was Cousin Gilly. I was somebody.�

This is my 1000th book that I have read after creating my Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ account in 2013 and I am happy that this milestone is celebrated with a standout!

This dark family drama calls attention to the hypocrisy of social class hierarchy and the ill treatment of mental health during the 1930s. The very lonely, vulnerable, and damaged characters demonstrate that appearances can be deceiving. The dysfunctional Claybourne family are dreadful, but you will feel compelled to keep reading. I loved the clever twists!

This is my first time reading this author and I can't wait to check out her other books!

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 3/4/25

Trigger warning: suicide

Thank you to Edelweiss and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of The Undoing of Violet Claybourne in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 223025750 A novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.

The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.]]> 336 Laila Lalami JaymeO 3
What would you be willing to risk in order to sleep well?

In the near future, the American government creates the Crime Prevention Act in order to prevent future crimes and murders. The Risk Assessment Administration has been monitoring citizens for twenty years, determining if they are at risk to cause harm to others. With the help of the new Dreamsaver device, not only will people be able to be well rested in a short period of time, but the government will be able to track their dreams.

When new mom of twins Sara Hussein is returning home from a work trip abroad, she is flagged at the airport as a risk by government agents. Her risk assessment score has risen above 500 and therefore deemed a threat. She learns that her new Dreamsaver device has elevated her score due to her violent behavior in her dreams and is considered a high risk to kill her own husband! She purchased a Dreamsaver because she wanted to be able to sleep less and be more productive during the day as a working new mom. She is retained at Madison, a forensic observation facility for 21 days.

When 21 days turn into almost a year, Sara must figure out how to break free from a system that is stacked against her.

The premise of this book reminds me of Minority Report…only minus Tom Cruise and ALL of the action! It is labeled as a thriller on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ, but is definitely lacking all thrills! The theme of the human cost of technical surveillance is explored as well as racism and immigration. I found the book to be repetitive, extremely slow, and better suited to the literary fiction genre.

The plot is very intriguing, but I was expecting way more from the ending. I feel like I’ve been duped and am very disappointed in this Pulitzer Prize finalist.

2.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 3/4/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon publishing for the ARC of The Dream Hotel in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.83 2025
author: Laila Lalami
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

What would you be willing to risk in order to sleep well?

In the near future, the American government creates the Crime Prevention Act in order to prevent future crimes and murders. The Risk Assessment Administration has been monitoring citizens for twenty years, determining if they are at risk to cause harm to others. With the help of the new Dreamsaver device, not only will people be able to be well rested in a short period of time, but the government will be able to track their dreams.

When new mom of twins Sara Hussein is returning home from a work trip abroad, she is flagged at the airport as a risk by government agents. Her risk assessment score has risen above 500 and therefore deemed a threat. She learns that her new Dreamsaver device has elevated her score due to her violent behavior in her dreams and is considered a high risk to kill her own husband! She purchased a Dreamsaver because she wanted to be able to sleep less and be more productive during the day as a working new mom. She is retained at Madison, a forensic observation facility for 21 days.

When 21 days turn into almost a year, Sara must figure out how to break free from a system that is stacked against her.

The premise of this book reminds me of Minority Report…only minus Tom Cruise and ALL of the action! It is labeled as a thriller on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ, but is definitely lacking all thrills! The theme of the human cost of technical surveillance is explored as well as racism and immigration. I found the book to be repetitive, extremely slow, and better suited to the literary fiction genre.

The plot is very intriguing, but I was expecting way more from the ending. I feel like I’ve been duped and am very disappointed in this Pulitzer Prize finalist.

2.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 3/4/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon publishing for the ARC of The Dream Hotel in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 215177041 I have one thing to do before I die.
And time is running out.

I had it all: a fantastic husband, two great kids, an exciting career. And then, at the age of forty-three, I found out I would be dead before my next birthday.

My mother also died at forty-three. I was seventeen, and she warned me that women would flock to my suddenly single father like stray cats to an overturned milk truck. They did. And one absolutely evil woman practically destroyed his life, mine, and my sister’s.

I am not letting that happen to my family.

I have three months, and I plan to spend every waking minute searching for the perfect woman to take my place as Alex’s wife, and mother to Kevin and Katie.

You’re probably thinking, she’ll never do it. Did I mention that in high school I was voted “Most Likely to Kill Someone to Get What She Wants�?

From thriller writer Marshall Karp (cocreator with James Patterson of the #1 New York Times bestselling NYPD Red series), and rich with Karp’s deft array of three-dimensional characters and his signature biting humor, Don’t Tell Me How to Die has so many twists and turns, you’d swear he wrote it with a corkscrew.]]> 336 Marshall Karp JaymeO 4
“�Cause, baby, now we got bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look what you've done
'Cause baby, now we got bad blood (hey!)� - Taylor Swift

Let me preface this review by saying that I don’t usually enjoy reading anything that will make me sad or cry. I read ONLY for entertainment. So, I hesitated to request this book considering the fact that most of the early reviewers said that they were balling their eyes out after the first half.

But, two factors drove me to pull the trigger despite never having read Marshall Karp’s books…January LaVoy’s narration and the promise of an earth shattering twist. Can you blame me for wanting to give it a shot?

Maggie Dunn’s mother is dying from a rare blood disease and only has a short time to live. Her dying wish is for her two teenage daughters to watch out for the female predators who will swoop in and take advantage of her grieving husband. THEY must be the ones to choose the next Mrs. Dunn.

25 years later, Maggie is diagnosed with the same fatal blood disease that killed her mother. Now it is her turn to prepare her children for her death.

I am intentionally stopping there with the plot summary in order to avoid spoilers (the Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ blurb gives too much away!)

I would classify this book as more of a domestic suspense novel, not a thriller. It takes a very long time to figure out where the plot is going and by the end of the first half I was deeply invested in the characters and CRYING. But…I was right about January LaVoy! Her fantastic narration made me want to keep on reading! If I hadn’t been listening to this book I probably would not have finished it.

The second half flew by and despite its predictability, I wound up enjoying the ending. As a very female character driven novel, I was surprised that it was written by man! Overall, I give the narration 5+ stars and the writing 3.75 stars.

I am intrigued to read more from this author!

4/5 stars

Expected publication date: 3/4/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone publishing for the ARC of Don’t Tell Me How to Die in exchange for an honest review.]]> 4.30 2025
author: Marshall Karp
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

“�Cause, baby, now we got bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look what you've done
'Cause baby, now we got bad blood (hey!)� - Taylor Swift

Let me preface this review by saying that I don’t usually enjoy reading anything that will make me sad or cry. I read ONLY for entertainment. So, I hesitated to request this book considering the fact that most of the early reviewers said that they were balling their eyes out after the first half.

But, two factors drove me to pull the trigger despite never having read Marshall Karp’s books…January LaVoy’s narration and the promise of an earth shattering twist. Can you blame me for wanting to give it a shot?

Maggie Dunn’s mother is dying from a rare blood disease and only has a short time to live. Her dying wish is for her two teenage daughters to watch out for the female predators who will swoop in and take advantage of her grieving husband. THEY must be the ones to choose the next Mrs. Dunn.

25 years later, Maggie is diagnosed with the same fatal blood disease that killed her mother. Now it is her turn to prepare her children for her death.

I am intentionally stopping there with the plot summary in order to avoid spoilers (the Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ blurb gives too much away!)

I would classify this book as more of a domestic suspense novel, not a thriller. It takes a very long time to figure out where the plot is going and by the end of the first half I was deeply invested in the characters and CRYING. But…I was right about January LaVoy! Her fantastic narration made me want to keep on reading! If I hadn’t been listening to this book I probably would not have finished it.

The second half flew by and despite its predictability, I wound up enjoying the ending. As a very female character driven novel, I was surprised that it was written by man! Overall, I give the narration 5+ stars and the writing 3.75 stars.

I am intrigued to read more from this author!

4/5 stars

Expected publication date: 3/4/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone publishing for the ARC of Don’t Tell Me How to Die in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 215003803 From critically acclaimed author Jon Bassoff, The Memory Ward is a haunting Russian doll of a novel about one man’s attempt to discover what’s real and what isn’t �

They say it’s always beautiful in Bethlam, Nevada. No place you’d rather live. The people are friendly, if a little nosy, and there’s no crime to speak of. Life is pretty perfect.

But postal worker Hank Davies has started to suspect something is off in this idyllic little town. And he’s certain of that when he realizes the letters he’s been delivering are just blank pages.

Hank isn’t the only one who’s noticed the oddities in Bethlam. One such person knocks on his window in the middle of the night, urging him to investigate his bedroom wall. When Hank pulls back the wallpaper, he discovers dozens of sheets of paper, full of a story that is either complete madness or unbelievable truth. As he begins looking beyond the veneer of his smiling neighbors and their white picket fences, Hank is drawn further and further into a disturbing new reality �

Told in Bassoff’s lyrical and evocative style, The Memory Ward is a disquieting page-turner that examines the nature of identity, trauma, and what it means to be human.]]> 256 Jon Bassoff JaymeO 4
“I know who you are.�

Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets The Stepford Wives.

In Bethlam, Nevada, life is perfect. Each day, Hank Davies delivers the mail and returns home to his beautiful wife. What more could a guy ask for?

“That’s a good way of living, I think. Too much knowledge can be dangerous.�

When Hank realizes the letters he delivers are blank, he begins to question everything. Then, a neighbor instructs him to look behind the wallpaper in his room and he learns that Bethlam is not as perfect as it seems.

What really happened on October 23rd, 2011?

I became of fan of Bassoff after really enjoying his last thriller, Beneath Cruel Waters. After rereading my review of that book, I realize that I have similar things to say about The Memory Ward.

In The Memory Ward, the plot revolves around themes of identity and trauma. Split into five sections, the three different characters� stories merge and evolve into an intricate plot, but leave the reader with an open ending. I enjoyed the fast-paced writing, but felt a little underwhelmed by the twists, as they lack originality. However, Bassoff’s characters are well-rounded and believable. Readers of Blake Crouch will surely enjoy this thriller.

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Trigger Warning: Domestic abuse, talk of rape

Expected publication day: 3/4/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone publishing in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.74
author: Jon Bassoff
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.74
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

“I know who you are.�

Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets The Stepford Wives.

In Bethlam, Nevada, life is perfect. Each day, Hank Davies delivers the mail and returns home to his beautiful wife. What more could a guy ask for?

“That’s a good way of living, I think. Too much knowledge can be dangerous.�

When Hank realizes the letters he delivers are blank, he begins to question everything. Then, a neighbor instructs him to look behind the wallpaper in his room and he learns that Bethlam is not as perfect as it seems.

What really happened on October 23rd, 2011?

I became of fan of Bassoff after really enjoying his last thriller, Beneath Cruel Waters. After rereading my review of that book, I realize that I have similar things to say about The Memory Ward.

In The Memory Ward, the plot revolves around themes of identity and trauma. Split into five sections, the three different characters� stories merge and evolve into an intricate plot, but leave the reader with an open ending. I enjoyed the fast-paced writing, but felt a little underwhelmed by the twists, as they lack originality. However, Bassoff’s characters are well-rounded and believable. Readers of Blake Crouch will surely enjoy this thriller.

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Trigger Warning: Domestic abuse, talk of rape

Expected publication day: 3/4/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone publishing in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 43260355
What happens to ordinary families into whose midst a child serial killer is born? This is the question at the center of William March's classic thriller. After its initial publication in 1954, the book went on to become a million–copy bestseller, a wildly successful Broadway show, and a Warner Brothers film. The spine–tingling tale of little Rhoda Penmark had a tremendous impact on the thriller genre and generated a whole perdurable crop of creepy kids. Today, The Bad Seed remains a masterpiece of suspense that's as chilling, intelligent, and timely as ever before.]]> 8 William March 1977321127 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.82 1954
author: William March
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1954
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 176443476
For a sixteen-year-old, a summer internship working for a private investigator seems like a dream come true—particularly since the PI is investigating the most shocking crime to hit Bloomington, Indiana, in decades. A local woman has vanished, and the last time anyone saw her, she was in the backseat of a police car driven by a man impersonating an officer.

Marshall Miller’s internship puts him at the center of the action, a position he relishes until a terrifying moment that turns public praise for his sharp observations and uncanny memory into accusations of lying and imperiling the case. His detective mentor withdraws, friends and family worry and whisper, and Marshall alone understands that the darkness visiting his town this summer goes far beyond a single crime. Now his task is to explain it—and himself.

Lost Man's Lane is a coming-of-age tale of terror.]]> 516 Scott Carson 1982191457 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.15 2024
author: Scott Carson
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210680099
From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman.

What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says...

Famous Last Words is the story of a crime, a marriage, and more secrets than Camilla ever could have imagined. This novel cements Gillian McAllister’s reputation as “the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations.� (Emily Henry)]]> 402 Gillian McAllister 1405957328 JaymeO 3 It’s been so lovely with you both. Lx�

Gillian McAllister is a phenomenal writer and I have really enjoyed several of her thrillers. Unfortunately, Famous Last Words was a bit of a let down for me.

New mother Camilla wakes up one day to find her husband Luke is missing. After locating a cryptic note he left her, she learns that he has taken two hostages at gunpoint. Does Camilla really know her husband?

The book is separated into four sections. The first introduces the hostage situation, grabbed my interest immediately, and drew me into Camilla’s story. However, the middle really dragged and was such a slow burn that I really struggled to get through it. The third section picked up a bit, but I found the twist predictable and really had to suspend my belief.

This character driven novel successfully emotes palpable grief. The two love stories are the best parts of the plot, but that is where I got bored. I don’t really enjoy reading romance novels, and this book relied heavily on those storylines. I can understand why it might resonate with some readers, but coupled with the easily predictable twists, it quickly fizzled for me.

3.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 2/25/25

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow publishing for the ARC of Famous Last Words in exchange for an honest review.]]> 4.10 2025
author: Gillian McAllister
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/16
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:
“If anythingĚý.Ěý.Ěý.
It’s been so lovely with you both. Lx�

Gillian McAllister is a phenomenal writer and I have really enjoyed several of her thrillers. Unfortunately, Famous Last Words was a bit of a let down for me.

New mother Camilla wakes up one day to find her husband Luke is missing. After locating a cryptic note he left her, she learns that he has taken two hostages at gunpoint. Does Camilla really know her husband?

The book is separated into four sections. The first introduces the hostage situation, grabbed my interest immediately, and drew me into Camilla’s story. However, the middle really dragged and was such a slow burn that I really struggled to get through it. The third section picked up a bit, but I found the twist predictable and really had to suspend my belief.

This character driven novel successfully emotes palpable grief. The two love stories are the best parts of the plot, but that is where I got bored. I don’t really enjoy reading romance novels, and this book relied heavily on those storylines. I can understand why it might resonate with some readers, but coupled with the easily predictable twists, it quickly fizzled for me.

3.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 2/25/25

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow publishing for the ARC of Famous Last Words in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 211004350
Then she meets journalist Sam Hunter at the grief group one day, and he has a proposition for her: Thirteen-year-old Alice Webber claims a witch is haunting her. Living with her family in the remote village of Banathel, Alice finds her symptoms are getting increasingly disturbing. Taking this job will give Mina some experience and much-needed money; Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime; and Alice will get better—Mina is sure of it.

But instead of improving, Alice’s behavior becomes inexplicable and intense. The town of Banathel has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world. They believe there are ways of…dealing with it. And they don’t expect outsiders to understand.]]> 304 Daisy Pearce 1250334381 JaymeO 4
Atmospheric, claustrophobic, and incredibly creepy, this modern day witch hunt oozes with palpable tension.

Still grieving from her brother’s death five years ago, Mina attends a support group meeting. There, she makes a connection with Sam, who has recently lost his young daughter to illness. He calls a few days later with a proposition to help with an investigative story he is working on for the newspaper. A thirteen year old girl is suspected of witchcraft in a small town and the family wants to prove her innocence. As a recent psychology graduate, Mina is eager to gain some experience and get some time away from her cheating fiancé. Sam will get his story and she will prescribe treatment for the girl.

However, Mina soon learns that this small town has a history of superstition, witchcraft, and doesn’t like outsiders. Will Mina uncover the truth before her own secret is used against her?

“It’s tradition, Mina. You can’t outlast it. Best you can do is outrun it.�

Something in the Walls is a frightening, yet compulsively readable folk horror novel. Pearce expertly creates a suffocating heat wave, allowing the setting to enhance the mounting hysteria. Answers are not always supplied, but rather left to the reader to question. The cult-like mythology is reminiscent of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible� and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.� I was gripped from the beginning to the end, and see a promising future for this writer in the horror genre.

4/5 stars

Expected Publication Date: 2/25/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and MacMillan publishing for the ARC of Something in the Walls in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.41 2025
author: Daisy Pearce
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:
“bE Not afrAId�

Atmospheric, claustrophobic, and incredibly creepy, this modern day witch hunt oozes with palpable tension.

Still grieving from her brother’s death five years ago, Mina attends a support group meeting. There, she makes a connection with Sam, who has recently lost his young daughter to illness. He calls a few days later with a proposition to help with an investigative story he is working on for the newspaper. A thirteen year old girl is suspected of witchcraft in a small town and the family wants to prove her innocence. As a recent psychology graduate, Mina is eager to gain some experience and get some time away from her cheating fiancé. Sam will get his story and she will prescribe treatment for the girl.

However, Mina soon learns that this small town has a history of superstition, witchcraft, and doesn’t like outsiders. Will Mina uncover the truth before her own secret is used against her?

“It’s tradition, Mina. You can’t outlast it. Best you can do is outrun it.�

Something in the Walls is a frightening, yet compulsively readable folk horror novel. Pearce expertly creates a suffocating heat wave, allowing the setting to enhance the mounting hysteria. Answers are not always supplied, but rather left to the reader to question. The cult-like mythology is reminiscent of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible� and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.� I was gripped from the beginning to the end, and see a promising future for this writer in the horror genre.

4/5 stars

Expected Publication Date: 2/25/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and MacMillan publishing for the ARC of Something in the Walls in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 213870076
In the first year after her child is born, Jane suffers a series of strange episodes: amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations, and an inexplicable sense of dread. As her psychiatrist struggles to solve the mystery of what is happening to Jane’s mind, she suddenly goes missing. A day later she is found unconscious in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, in the midst of what seems to be an episode of dissociative fugue; when she comes to, she has no memory of what has happened to her.

Are Jane’s strange experiences related to the overwhelm of single motherhood, or are they the manifestation of a long-buried trauma from her past? Why is she having visions of a young man who died twenty years ago, who warns her of a disaster ahead? Jane’s symptoms lead her psychiatrist ever-deeper into the furthest reaches of her mind, and cause him to question everything he thought he knew about so-called reality—including events in his own life.

Karen Thompson Walker’s profound and beautifully written novel is a speculative mystery about memory, identity, and fate, a mesmerizing story about the bonds of love between a mother and child, a man and a woman, and those who we’ve lost but may still be alive among us.]]> 288 Karen Thompson Walker 1984853945 JaymeO 4
Psychiatrist Dr. Byrd is struggling to diagnose his newest patient, Jane O. She is unlike any other patient that he has treated before, as her symptoms include episodes of amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations, and a strong sense of dread. Jane soon begins to experience blackouts where she goes missing for days at a time and seems to have no memory of what happened. Unfortunately, the police aren’t buying her story and she finds herself the center of an investigation. In order to figure out what is really happening within Jane’s mind, Dr. Byrd must question his knowledge of reality.

Through this mind-bending journey, Thompson Walker explores themes of memory, identity, fate, loneliness, and loss. It is obvious that the book is well-researched and her characters are wonderfully flawed. However, the plot includes sci-fi elements that feel a bit rushed at the end. It would have been helpful if these were explained in a bit more detail.

This book really intrigued me the entire way through, so I highly recommend it to those who enjoy speculative fiction.

4/5 stars

Expected publication date: 2/25/25

Trigger Warning: suicide, talk of pandemic

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House publishing group for the ARC of The Strange Case of Jane O. in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.94 2025
author: Karen Thompson Walker
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed Karen Thompson Walker’s The Age of Miracles so I was thrilled to find out that she had written a new speculative fiction book!

Psychiatrist Dr. Byrd is struggling to diagnose his newest patient, Jane O. She is unlike any other patient that he has treated before, as her symptoms include episodes of amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations, and a strong sense of dread. Jane soon begins to experience blackouts where she goes missing for days at a time and seems to have no memory of what happened. Unfortunately, the police aren’t buying her story and she finds herself the center of an investigation. In order to figure out what is really happening within Jane’s mind, Dr. Byrd must question his knowledge of reality.

Through this mind-bending journey, Thompson Walker explores themes of memory, identity, fate, loneliness, and loss. It is obvious that the book is well-researched and her characters are wonderfully flawed. However, the plot includes sci-fi elements that feel a bit rushed at the end. It would have been helpful if these were explained in a bit more detail.

This book really intrigued me the entire way through, so I highly recommend it to those who enjoy speculative fiction.

4/5 stars

Expected publication date: 2/25/25

Trigger Warning: suicide, talk of pandemic

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House publishing group for the ARC of The Strange Case of Jane O. in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 220161384 An English professor’s deadly past comes back to haunt her in this chilling and sexy thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Vi Keeland.

As a college English professor, Elizabeth looks forward to the start of each new semester teaching her creative writing seminar. At least until she reads chapter one of The Reckoning, a tale about a high school senior who has an affair with her teacher. To anyone else it would be the beginning of a great page-turner, but to Elizabeth it is the beginning of the end.

She knows this story. It’s all familiar because she lived it. The girl in the story was her best friend Jocelyn, and Elizabeth knows exactly how the story will end—with the professor dead. Because she was the one who killed him.

Someone knows what Elizabeth did twenty years ago and her secret is about to be exposed, but who is the mystery student submitting the chapters? In an effort to find out, Elizabeth returns to her Louisiana hometown where it soon becomes clear that no matter how many years have gone by, she can’t escape her past.]]> 288 Vi Keeland 1668047497 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.26 2025
author: Vi Keeland
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221251788 In this electric horror novel from the author of The Insatiable Volt Sisters, an exhausted mother thinks her newborn might be a monster. She’s right.

Thea’s third pregnancy was her easiest. She wasn’t consumed with anxiety about the baby. She wasn’t convinced it was going to be born green, or have a third eye, or have tentacles sprouting from its torso. Thea was fine. Her baby would be fine.Ěý

But when the nurses handed Lucia to her, Thea just knew. Her baby girl was a monster. Not only was Lucia born with a full set of teeth and a devilish glint in her eye, but she’s always hungry. Indiscriminately so. One day Lucia pointed at her baby brother, looked Thea dead in the eye and said, “I eat.�

Thea doesn’t know whether to be terrified or proud of her rapacious baby girl. And as Lucia starts growing faster and talking more, dark memories bubble to the surface--flashes from Thea’s childhood that won’t release their hooks from her heart. Lucia wants to eat the world. Thea might just let her.

Crackling with originality and dark humor, Rachel Eve Moulton’s Tantrum is a provocative exploration of familial debt, duty, and the darker side of motherhood.]]> 192 Rachel Eve Moulton 0593854608 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.15 2025
author: Rachel Eve Moulton
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220604291 The Virgin Suicides meets I Have Some Questions For You in a dual timeline suspense following one woman as she begins to uncover the truth of the death of her estranged best friend and the Sylvia Plath adoring sad girls they attended college with decades ago, all while holding a secret that will slowly unravel her new, suburban dream life.

Some stories refuse to stay buried.

For best friends Nikki and Sadie, college was supposed to be a fresh start, a way to blast Courtney Love from car speakers and leave their youth behind. But along with sadness-obsessed girls and intrusive professors, a dark story plagues their small all-women’s school: the Sylvia Club, a campus legend surrounding the deaths of multiple Sylvia Plath-adoring students, all written off as suicides. Aspiring writer Nikki finds herself drawn to the tragic tales, so much so that dead girls begin to haunt her dark imagination. As she digs deeper, Nikki soon suspects there's much more to the story - a suspicion that will lead to a tragedy of its own, one that will tear her and Sadie apart.

It’s been nearly twenty years since Sadie last saw her estranged friend. Now, Nikki is dead, and when Sadie ends up pregnant by Nikki’s grieving husband not long after the funeral, she finds herself stepping into her ex-best friend’s seemingly perfect life. But the longer Sadie lives in Nikki’s eerily preserved home, the more she sees her appear and soon, she’s convinced that Nikki is sending her clues from beyond the grave. Because it seems Nikki never stopped looking for answers about what happened to the girls of the Sylvia Club, and she may have been its latest victim.

Told in a dual timeline, Doll Parts is an evocative and irresistible debut, at once an exploration of the dark chasms that break apart friendships, an ode to the aching beauty of girlhood, and a sharp portrayal of grief that can physically haunt you.]]> Penny Zang 1464228159 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.57 2025
author: Penny Zang
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210827823
When Abigail agreed to move to Soap Lake, Washington, for her husband’s research, she expected old-growth forests and craft beer, folksy neighbors and the world’s largest lava lamp. Instead, after her husband jets off to Poland for a research trip, she finds herself alone, in a town surrounded by sand and haunted by its own urban legends.

But when a young boy runs through the desert into Abigail’s arms, her life becomes entwined with his and the questions surrounding the death of his mother, Esme. In Abigail’s search for answers, she enlists the help of a recovering addict turned librarian, a grieving brother, a broken motel owner and a mentally shattered conspiracy theorist to unearth Esme’s tragic past, the town’s violent history and the secret magic locked in the lake her husband was sent there to study.

As she gets closer to the answers, past and present crimes begin to collide, and Abigail finds herself gaining the unwelcome attention of the town’s unofficial mascot, the rubber-suited orchard stalker known as TreeTop, a specter who seems to be lurking in every dark shadow and around every shady corner.

A sweeping, decade-spanning mystery brimming with quirky characters and puzzle-hunt scenarios, Midnight in Soap Lake is a modern-day Twin Peaks—a rich, expansive universe that readers will enter and never forget.]]> 416 Matthew J. Sullivan 1335041796 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.02 2025
author: Matthew J. Sullivan
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 32620349
But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore’s upper room, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely, uncared for man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?

As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left.]]> 328 Matthew J. Sullivan 1501116843 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.77 2017
author: Matthew J. Sullivan
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 1391817
Out of control of his actions, Billy Milligan was a man tormented by twenty-four distinct personalities battling for supremacy over his body—a battle that culminated when he awoke in jail, arrested for the kidnap and rape of three women. In a landmark trial, Billy was acquitted of his crimes by reason of insanity caused by multiple personality—the first such court decision in history—bringing to public light the most remarkable and harrowing case of multiple personality ever recorded.

Twenty-four people live inside Billy Milligan. Philip, a petty criminal; Kevin, who dealt drugs and masterminded a drugstore robbery; April, whose only ambition was to kill Billy's stepfather; Adalana, the shy, lonely, affection-starved lesbian who “used� Billy's body in the rapes that led to his arrest; David, the eight-year-old “keeper of pain�; and all of the others, including men, women, several children, both boys and girls, and the Teacher, the only one who can put them all together. You will meet each in this often shocking true story. And you will be drawn deeply into the mind of this tortured young man and his splintered, terrifying world.]]> 374 Daniel Keyes 0394519434 JaymeO 4
While it remains in the DSM 5-TR, the newest version of the diagnostic manual of psychiatric disorders, there is much skepticism about this diagnosis. Mainly, this is due to the rarity of patients presenting with these symptoms and how difficult it is to prove.

However, in 1973, the only widely publicized case of DID was that of Shirley A. Mason whose life story gained notoriety in the book and movie titled “Sybil.� Later, it was revealed that Mason admitted that she made up the personalities in order to gain attention from her psychiatrist Dr. Connie Wilbur. Despite knowing that Mason invented the personalities, Dr. Wilbur was too invested in her theory at that point and still went through with the publication of her book. It later went on to sell over six million copies.

In 1979, a man named Billy Milligan is arrested for theft and the rape three college students in Athens, OH. After examination by Dr. Wilbur, it is determined that Billy is suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder and pleads not guilty due to insanity. This was a controversial ruling, as it’s virtually never granted. Did Milligan lie to get out of jail? A judge accepts this reasoning and he is sent to a psychiatric hospital to receive treatment.

During his journey through multiple hospitals, he is allowed to meet with “the writer,� Daniel Keyes, whom he selected to write his story into a book. The Minds of Billy Milligan is the product of thousands of hours of meetings, phone calls, and letters written by Milligan and his alters. Milligan and his alters also gain notoriety from their artwork. Their paintings demonstrate incredible talent and help Billy earn income while institutionalized. He even created the cover for this book!

While the book is a work of non-fiction, Milligan’s story is so fantastical that it creates an air of fiction. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by Roger Wayne. I really enjoyed this format and highly recommend it. However, the book is overly detailed and could be edited down from its 15 hours quite a bit.

The book was written in 1981 with an afterward written in 1982. Milligan remained institutionalized until 1988 and died in 2014, so there is a lot of his life not included. However, you can check out the Netflix documentary “The Monster Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan� (2021) for more current updates.

So, do I believe Milligan suffered from DID? Keyes� incredibly detailed biography and Billy’s consistent behavior make quite a convincing case!

4/5 stars]]> 4.26 1981
author: Daniel Keyes
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1981
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:
Is DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) a real psychiatric illness?

While it remains in the DSM 5-TR, the newest version of the diagnostic manual of psychiatric disorders, there is much skepticism about this diagnosis. Mainly, this is due to the rarity of patients presenting with these symptoms and how difficult it is to prove.

However, in 1973, the only widely publicized case of DID was that of Shirley A. Mason whose life story gained notoriety in the book and movie titled “Sybil.� Later, it was revealed that Mason admitted that she made up the personalities in order to gain attention from her psychiatrist Dr. Connie Wilbur. Despite knowing that Mason invented the personalities, Dr. Wilbur was too invested in her theory at that point and still went through with the publication of her book. It later went on to sell over six million copies.

In 1979, a man named Billy Milligan is arrested for theft and the rape three college students in Athens, OH. After examination by Dr. Wilbur, it is determined that Billy is suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder and pleads not guilty due to insanity. This was a controversial ruling, as it’s virtually never granted. Did Milligan lie to get out of jail? A judge accepts this reasoning and he is sent to a psychiatric hospital to receive treatment.

During his journey through multiple hospitals, he is allowed to meet with “the writer,� Daniel Keyes, whom he selected to write his story into a book. The Minds of Billy Milligan is the product of thousands of hours of meetings, phone calls, and letters written by Milligan and his alters. Milligan and his alters also gain notoriety from their artwork. Their paintings demonstrate incredible talent and help Billy earn income while institutionalized. He even created the cover for this book!

While the book is a work of non-fiction, Milligan’s story is so fantastical that it creates an air of fiction. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by Roger Wayne. I really enjoyed this format and highly recommend it. However, the book is overly detailed and could be edited down from its 15 hours quite a bit.

The book was written in 1981 with an afterward written in 1982. Milligan remained institutionalized until 1988 and died in 2014, so there is a lot of his life not included. However, you can check out the Netflix documentary “The Monster Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan� (2021) for more current updates.

So, do I believe Milligan suffered from DID? Keyes� incredibly detailed biography and Billy’s consistent behavior make quite a convincing case!

4/5 stars
]]> 216246722 A unique locked-room debut with a memorable intergenerational relationship and gaming angle,Ěýabout a grandmother and granddaughter who are snowed in at a lavish party at a mansion where the host has been murdered, and the unlikely sleuthing pair must draw on a unique skillset to navigate a dangerous game together

Widow Mimi lives on idyllic Mackinac Island where cars are not allowed and a Gibson with three onions at the witching hour is compulsory. Her granddaughter, Addie, is getting over the heartbreak of her fiancé, Brian, dumping her and cutting her out of the deal for the brilliantly successful video game, Murderscape, they invented together (with Addie doing most of the heavy lifting).

When Mimi gets an invitation from local socialite Jane Ireland--a seventysomething narcissist who is having an affair with her son-in-law--to a charity auction, it is the perfect excuse to get Addie to join her for the weekend. What Mimi isn’t telling Addie is that a blackmail threat from Jane looms over the party’s invitation.

In case the scene wasn’t already set for a turbulent weekend, a big storm rolls in, trapping everyone in the mansion. And then, Jane’s body is found. Soon Mimi and Addie are caught in a dangerous game, relying on their skills (Mimi loves a crossword puzzle, and Addie is a brilliant game designer, after all) to narrow down the suspects. When another body turns up, the sleuthing pair realize someone else is playing a deadly game, and they might not survive the night. . . .]]> 319 Kelly Mullen 0593854489 JaymeO 3
I usually choose my cozy mysteries very carefully, as this is not my favorite genre. But after reading the enticing synopsis of This is Not a Game, I thought I would give this debut a try.

When Rosemary (Mimi) is invited (blackmailed) to attend an auction by the Mackinac island socialite Jane Ireland, she asks her estranged granddaughter Addie to attend with her. During the event, a snowstorm ensues and the power goes out, leaving them trapped in an Agatha Christie style locked room mystery. When Jane is murdered, everyone is a suspect. It is up to Mimi and Addie to find the killer before more partygoers turn up dead. Thankfully, Addie is the co-creater of the successful video game Murderscape and knows how to solve complicated murder mysteries.

This is Not a Game is an atmospheric mystery with a sense of humor. From Mimi’s snowmobile named Joan Rivers, to her Mary Poppins style carryall bag, she embodies the quirky old lady stereotype. But don’t underestimate this seventy-seven year old crossword and Gibson loving grandma. She is a force to be reckoned with, despite the fact that she is hiding her own secret. However, I didn’t find Addie to be as intriguing. The reader is constantly reminded about the video game she helped create through her comparisons to the current mystery she is solving. This becomes tiresome and irritating instead of adding depth to the story. It also feels as if the chemistry is missing from this sleuthing duo.

Overall, This is Not a Game is a promising debut for Mullen, but not quite a home run.

3.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 4/8/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group - Dutton for the ARC of This is Not a Game in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.71 2025
author: Kelly Mullen
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves:
review:
A cozy debut!

I usually choose my cozy mysteries very carefully, as this is not my favorite genre. But after reading the enticing synopsis of This is Not a Game, I thought I would give this debut a try.

When Rosemary (Mimi) is invited (blackmailed) to attend an auction by the Mackinac island socialite Jane Ireland, she asks her estranged granddaughter Addie to attend with her. During the event, a snowstorm ensues and the power goes out, leaving them trapped in an Agatha Christie style locked room mystery. When Jane is murdered, everyone is a suspect. It is up to Mimi and Addie to find the killer before more partygoers turn up dead. Thankfully, Addie is the co-creater of the successful video game Murderscape and knows how to solve complicated murder mysteries.

This is Not a Game is an atmospheric mystery with a sense of humor. From Mimi’s snowmobile named Joan Rivers, to her Mary Poppins style carryall bag, she embodies the quirky old lady stereotype. But don’t underestimate this seventy-seven year old crossword and Gibson loving grandma. She is a force to be reckoned with, despite the fact that she is hiding her own secret. However, I didn’t find Addie to be as intriguing. The reader is constantly reminded about the video game she helped create through her comparisons to the current mystery she is solving. This becomes tiresome and irritating instead of adding depth to the story. It also feels as if the chemistry is missing from this sleuthing duo.

Overall, This is Not a Game is a promising debut for Mullen, but not quite a home run.

3.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 4/8/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group - Dutton for the ARC of This is Not a Game in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 221583320
In the early '60s, in a seemingly more "innocent" time, a group of teenagers were lured into a supposedly haunted house. The place on Sycamore Lane has a morbid history, but that's just hearsay and rumor, isn't it?

THE HOME

His name was Robbie Miller, and he was a killer. Driven mad by the THING that lived in The Home, he now exists to serve. He'll do whatever the creature that calls itself Mr. Friendlyman asks . . . He'll even become a ghost . . .

THE HOME

Now, decades later and much older, they are returning to The Home. A retired fantasy writer, A doting grandfather, and a mysterious old woman who seems to know things she should not . . .

THE HOME

A dark storm is brewing over this wicked house. A storm that will break down the very fabric of reality. A storm that demands blood and sacrifice, and feeds on the ghosts of anyone who dies within it's premises.]]> 254 Judith Sonnet 1955745919 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.89
author: Judith Sonnet
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219090404 Elijah is a boy who adores all things spooky, a boy who spends the bulk of his time alone, his single mother juggling jobs to keep a roof overhead and food in their bellies. Eli occupies his days, hanging out at the home across the street with his uncle/pal, Tierny, one of Mr. Allenwood's many carers as well as Allenwood himself. Afternoons filled with cheesy scary movies and the old man's recollective stories (while he is still able to tell them).
Then a change comes to the little town on Cordry. The killings are vicious and devoid of pattern, almost. When Elijah tells Ken about them, the old man grows fearful and decides to use his unreliable windows of focus to help his friends figure out what is going on and who or what is behind the murders.
A monster has come to roost in their midst. A creature that craves blood and possibly much more, inheritance of a sort, acknowledgment. A monster from the very dark recesses of Allenwood's mind, a horror very old and very bitter. The things we create have a tenacity, a stubborn strength and a very vicious bite. And no debt glares harder than one owed the heart.]]> 140 John Boden 1639512055 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.00
author: John Boden
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214389597 0 Marian Thurm 1953002579 JaymeO 0 to-read 0.0
author: Marian Thurm
name: JaymeO
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222376946 Misery meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers in this genre-bending, claustrophobic hospital gothic from the bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence.

Margaret lives with a rare autoimmune condition that has destroyed her life, leaving her isolated. It has no cure, but she’s making do as best she can—until she’s offered a fully paid-for spot in an experimental medical trial at Graceview Memorial.

The conditions are simple, if grueling; she will live at the hospital as a full-time patient, subjecting herself to the near-total destruction of her immune system and its subsequent regeneration. The trial will essentially kill most of, but not all of her. But as the treatment progresses and her body begins to fail, she stumbles upon something sinister living and spreading within the hospital.

Unsure of what's real and what is just medication-induced delusion, Margaret struggles to find a way out as her body and mind succumb further to the darkness lurking throughout Graceview's halls.]]> 304 Caitlin Starling 1250340756 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.11 2025
author: Caitlin Starling
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221711793 WITH OVER 1.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD . . .

Chevy Stevens has garnered acclaim from literary giants,
including Stephen King who called THOSE GIRLS “incredibly scary and suspenseful� and Gillian Flynn who called STILL MISSING “utterly absorbing.�

With THE HITCHHIKERS, she forges new ground with a novel that will both terrify you and break your heart.

On the remote Canadian highways in 1976, Tom and Alice set out to heal their fractured marriage.
An RV, a new beginning, and the hope of recovery after a devastating tragedy.
Then they meet two young hitchhikers,
Ocean and Blue—a seemingly innocent couple who aren’t who they seem. . . .
They are Jenny and Simon.
And they have left a trail of blood, destruction, and madness behind them.
Now Tom and Alice are trapped—prisoners in a deadly game, with nowhere to turn.
But as the tension builds and the lines blur,
the question becomes, In whose heart does evil truly lie?

A chilling, twist-laden ride to the final page—THE HITCHHIKERS is a master class in suspense and shock.]]> Chevy Stevens JaymeO 0 to-read 4.07 2025
author: Chevy Stevens
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214523976
1 art residency.

1 chance to leave alive.

Art is pain. Or so they say.

As a struggling artist in New York City, Ira is desperate to get her shot at the big time. When an invitation to a week long art residency on a private island in the Bahamas drops in her inbox, she leaps at the chance.

But something is off about Turquoise Bay and its owner, The Curator.
When Ira and seven other artists end up locked in an underground bunker, the only way out is to play the Curator's games.

Will they survive?

Or will they die for their art?

For fans of Puzzle House and the Saw franchise]]> 183 Kayla Frederick JaymeO 0 to-read 4.04
author: Kayla Frederick
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203931803 A powerful memoir that reckons with mental health as well as the insidious ways men impact the lives of women.

In early 2021, popular artist Anna Marie Tendler checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression and self-harm. Over two weeks, she underwent myriad psychological tests, participated in numerous therapy sessions, connected with fellow patients and experienced profound breakthroughs, such as when a doctor noted, “There is a you inside that feels invisible to those looking at you from the outside.�

In Men Have Called Her Crazy, Tendler recounts her hospital experience as well as pivotal moments in her life that preceded and followed. As the title suggests, many of these moments are impacted by men: unrequited love in high school; the twenty-eight-year-old she lost her virginity to when she was sixteen; the frustrations and absurdities of dating in her mid-thirties; and her decision to freeze her eggs as all her friends were starting families.

This stunning literary self-portrait examines the unreasonable expectations and pressures women face in the 21st century. Yet overwhelming and despairing as that can feel, Tendler ultimately offers a message hope. Early in her stay in the hospital, she says, “My wish for myself is that one day I’ll reach a place where I can face hardship without trying to destroy myself.� By the end of the book, she fulfills that wish.]]> 304 Anna Marie Tendler 1668032341 JaymeO 3
The subject of Anna Marie Tendler’s memoir intrigued me, but I hesitated to read it due to the lower ratings. Memoirs are deeply personal, so I generally give these authors the benefit of the doubt. So why have reviewers been so critical of this woman’s personal experience with mental health?

Who is Anna Marie Tendler? Well, I knew her as the ex-wife of comedian John Mulaney. This wound up being my first criticism of the book. How can someone write a memoir and never speak about the most important relationship she had with a man? I realize that she probably omitted it due to fear of legal repercussions, but with a title like Men Have Called Her Crazy, the book felt like it was missing an important interlude in her life.

The second glaring issue is that she never explains WHY she hates men. She spends so much time exploring dates she goes on and relationships she forms with men that the reader doesn’t get a sense that she is afraid of them or even dislikes them. She is even called a misandrist and she denies that definition!

While Tendler does get the help she needs for anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and disordered eating, she doesn’t do very much self-reflection, and instead blames everyone else for her unhappiness.

I also can’t help but feel that I still don’t really know and understand Tendler, even after reading her memoir. So much seems to have been omitted, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that it feels slightly dishonest and inauthentic. In the last chapter, she refutes the doctors� assessments of her while she was in treatment. This comes off as defensive and like she still hasn’t grown from her life experiences.

I really connected to the chapter dedicated to the death of her beloved dog, Petunia. This is the one truly honest section of the book and I even found myself tearing up.

I listened to the audiobook read by the author, and enjoyed this format.

3.5/5 stars rounded down]]> 3.42 2024
author: Anna Marie Tendler
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves:
review:
“Men have judged me and men have called me crazy trusting in their own neutrality, but when neutrality is only accepted by the one who has created it, it is an illusion.�

The subject of Anna Marie Tendler’s memoir intrigued me, but I hesitated to read it due to the lower ratings. Memoirs are deeply personal, so I generally give these authors the benefit of the doubt. So why have reviewers been so critical of this woman’s personal experience with mental health?

Who is Anna Marie Tendler? Well, I knew her as the ex-wife of comedian John Mulaney. This wound up being my first criticism of the book. How can someone write a memoir and never speak about the most important relationship she had with a man? I realize that she probably omitted it due to fear of legal repercussions, but with a title like Men Have Called Her Crazy, the book felt like it was missing an important interlude in her life.

The second glaring issue is that she never explains WHY she hates men. She spends so much time exploring dates she goes on and relationships she forms with men that the reader doesn’t get a sense that she is afraid of them or even dislikes them. She is even called a misandrist and she denies that definition!

While Tendler does get the help she needs for anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and disordered eating, she doesn’t do very much self-reflection, and instead blames everyone else for her unhappiness.

I also can’t help but feel that I still don’t really know and understand Tendler, even after reading her memoir. So much seems to have been omitted, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that it feels slightly dishonest and inauthentic. In the last chapter, she refutes the doctors� assessments of her while she was in treatment. This comes off as defensive and like she still hasn’t grown from her life experiences.

I really connected to the chapter dedicated to the death of her beloved dog, Petunia. This is the one truly honest section of the book and I even found myself tearing up.

I listened to the audiobook read by the author, and enjoyed this format.

3.5/5 stars rounded down
]]> 216522745 Four strangers are brought together to participate in an experimental treatment designed to heal broken hearts in this surprising and heartfelt debut novel from author Amelia Ireland.

In a perfectly ordinary building, four strangers who couldn't be more different meet for the first time. Their skepticism of this new kind of grief therapy—and the unnervingly perceptive group leader—means they're all wary, but as the weeks go by, they find themselves returning again and again, pulled to work toward healing, even if it means first facing the pain head-on.

A sharp-tongued lawyer who has no intention of letting down her walls, a fragile young woman looking for a place to belong, a musician at the top of his game who's one drink away from losing it all, and an interior designer facing the crumbling of her picture-perfect life—this unlikely group slowly opens up, not only to the possibility of a happier future but to friendship, change, and even romance.

When a shocking revelation reveals the real reason they were chosen for this group, it shakes the very foundation of what they thought they knew. What began as a journey designed to heal turns out to be a much greater test of friendship, strength, and love as they realize happiness is just outside the door...if they're brave enough to seek it.]]> 368 Amelia Ireland 0593952634 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.14 2025
author: Amelia Ireland
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211741985
But Mama’s want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her own bid for freedom.

With this gothic coming-of-age tale, novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire, and animal instincts—and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.]]> 336 Lucy Rose 0063374625 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.94 2025
author: Lucy Rose
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211708762 It's time to put the past to rest�

Ben Packard was just a boy when his older brother disappeared. Ben watched him walk out the back door of their grandparents' house and into the cold night.Ěý

His brother was never seen again.Ěý

Decades later, Deputy Packard finds himself with too much time on his hands. A shooting has him on leave and under investigation, and for the first time in years, new information about his brother has surfaced that may lead them to the location of a body.

The midwinter ground is frozen solid. Worse, Packard is cut off from department resources. As he strikes out to finally uncover the truth behind his brother's disappearance, he stumbles on a separate, suspicious death. A tenuous connection exists between the two cases, and as Packard starts to dig, he meets fierce resistance from friends and foes alike who want him to stand down.ĚýĚý

The winter is long and cold. By the end of it, Packard will risk everything to catch a killer and reveal the shocking truth about his brother.]]> 336 Joshua Moehling 1728279003 JaymeO 3
I enjoyed the first two books in the Ben Packard series so I was excited to read the latest installment. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite book so far.

Deputy Ben Packard has been relegated to courthouse security guard, where he shoots a man on duty and is put on leave during the investigation. With time on his hands, he investigates his older brother’s decades old cold case of his mysterious disappearance. When he comes across a suspicious death that leads him to a dead body, he must risk everything to catch the killer and finally uncover the truth about his brother.

The problem for me was with this book was my lack of interest in this particular case. The writing was great, and I enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Linda Jones, but I struggled to connect all of the characters involved in the investigation. I also found the reveal of the truth about his brother’s disappearance predictable and not worthy of the three book buildup.

I am definitely in the minority, so please check out other reviews.

3/5 stars]]> 4.22 2025
author: Joshua Moehling
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:
Outlier alert!

I enjoyed the first two books in the Ben Packard series so I was excited to read the latest installment. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite book so far.

Deputy Ben Packard has been relegated to courthouse security guard, where he shoots a man on duty and is put on leave during the investigation. With time on his hands, he investigates his older brother’s decades old cold case of his mysterious disappearance. When he comes across a suspicious death that leads him to a dead body, he must risk everything to catch the killer and finally uncover the truth about his brother.

The problem for me was with this book was my lack of interest in this particular case. The writing was great, and I enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Linda Jones, but I struggled to connect all of the characters involved in the investigation. I also found the reveal of the truth about his brother’s disappearance predictable and not worthy of the three book buildup.

I am definitely in the minority, so please check out other reviews.

3/5 stars
]]> 211004203 The Girl in the Creek by Hugo Award winner Wendy N. Wagner is an atmospheric and eerie story about a Pacific Northwest forest that seems to be devouring all who enter. A perfect read for fans of T. Kingfisher and Jeff VanderMeer’s cli-fi cosmic horror.

The Clackamas National Forest has always been a sanctuary for evil—human and alien. The shadows of looming trees and long-abandoned mines shelter poachers and serial killers alike. Then there’s the ruined hotel on the outskirts of picturesque small town Faraday, Oregon, nestled in the foothills of Mt. Hood. The one drowning in mushrooms and fungus not even the local expert can identify. Not to mention the stacks of missing persons cases. Freelance writer Erin Harper arrives in Faraday to find out what happened to her brother, whose disappearance in the forest has haunted her for years. But someone else has gone missing. And when Erin finds her in the creek, the girl vanishes again � this time from the morgue, and days later her fingerprints show up at a murder scene. Maybe it’s a serial killer, or maybe it’s the spores infecting the forest and those lost inside. Erin must find answers quickly, before anyone else goes missing. But she might be next�

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 272 Wendy N. Wagner 1250908647 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.52 2025
author: Wendy N. Wagner
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218218740 An American expat�s startling discovery plunges her into the glamorous but deadly world of Amsterdam’s diamond industry.

Following a nasty divorce, Rayna Dumont came to Amsterdam for a fresh start. She’s never been the type for a one-night stand, but this move is all about adventure, and Xander is handsome and successful and more than willing to go along for the ride. Until the morning after, when Rayna finds him dead on the shower floor and millions of dollars� worth of diamonds missing from his safe.

From her lavish home in the heart of the city, Willow Prins is captivated by the news. Her husband is Xander’s former boss and heir to a diamond house, and the scandal strains their already-rocky marriage. As the house comes under scrutiny, Willow wonders if her life is about to implode—and how much of the blame she can place on Rayna. Soon, Willow and Rayna are dragged into the dark and dangerous underbelly of the diamond market, where they’ll have to uncover the truth to survive. Who killed Xander? Where are the missing diamonds? And who can you trust in a strange and unfamiliar city thousands of miles from home?]]> 313 Kimberly Belle 0369748433 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.33
author: Kimberly Belle
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004079 A woman invited to her wealthy fiance’s family retreat realizes they are hiding a terrible secret—and that she’s been there before, by the bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods.

A whirlwind romance.
When Theodora Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family—she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives.

Stay away from Connor Dalton.
Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood.

I’ve been here before.
Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.]]> 291 Kate Alice Marshall 1250343054 JaymeO 3
Outlier alert!

Maybe it’s just because I have read so many of these types of thrillers, but A Killing Cold failed to engage me. I really enjoyed What Lies in the Woods, but No One Can Know was not very memorable. Unfortunately, my reading of A Killing Cold was similar to Marshall’s second adult thriller.

What happened?

This is the same tired old plot where characters are trapped on a cold, secluded retreat and find themselves in danger from themselves. The OTT plot is so far fetched that you really need to believe in fate for it to work. The one dimensional characters failed to keep my interest, and I never really cared about any of them. You WILL find plenty of twists in this book, but they felt a bit gratuitous.

I am considering parting ways with this author for now. Plenty of other reviewers have enjoyed this book, so please check out their reviews as well!

3/5 stars

Expected publication date: 2/4/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and Flat Iron books for the ARC of A Killing Cold in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.80 2025
author: Kate Alice Marshall
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

Outlier alert!

Maybe it’s just because I have read so many of these types of thrillers, but A Killing Cold failed to engage me. I really enjoyed What Lies in the Woods, but No One Can Know was not very memorable. Unfortunately, my reading of A Killing Cold was similar to Marshall’s second adult thriller.

What happened?

This is the same tired old plot where characters are trapped on a cold, secluded retreat and find themselves in danger from themselves. The OTT plot is so far fetched that you really need to believe in fate for it to work. The one dimensional characters failed to keep my interest, and I never really cared about any of them. You WILL find plenty of twists in this book, but they felt a bit gratuitous.

I am considering parting ways with this author for now. Plenty of other reviewers have enjoyed this book, so please check out their reviews as well!

3/5 stars

Expected publication date: 2/4/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and Flat Iron books for the ARC of A Killing Cold in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 213395480 From the acclaimed author of Mrs. March comes the riveting tale of a bloodthirsty governess who learns the true meaning of vengeance.

Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess—she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate’s dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family—Mr. Pounds can’t keep his eyes off Winifred’s chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband’s wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . .

Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.]]> 208 Virginia Feito 1631498630 JaymeO 5
“It is early fall, the cold is beginning to descend, and in three months everyone in this house will be dead.�

Virginia Feito has done it again! This darkly humorous gothic novella is deeply unsettling and grotesquely macabre.

Winifred Notty has been hired as the new governess of Ensor House, charged with overseeing the education of the Pound children, Andrew and Drusilla. Winifred “Fred� is not your typical Mary Poppins. Instead, she is slowly succumbing to madness, revealing a terrible secret and unleashing a visceral violence that will take everyone by surprise.

“Sometimes evil is born in one of the Lord’s creatures and there’s nowt to do about it, nowt at all.�

This character driven gothic horror plot is absolutely bonkers! If you thought Mrs. March was mad, you need to meet Winifred! This psychopathic antiheroine will have readers furiously flipping the pages to reach the gory conclusion.

Steeped in Victorian feminism, this gripping novella is not to be missed! Feito has achieved auto-request status with this reader!

5/5 stars

Trigger warnings: violence toward children and animal cruelty

Expected publication date: 2/4/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and W.W. Norton publishing for the ARC of Victorian Psycho in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.63 2025
author: Virginia Feito
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

“It is early fall, the cold is beginning to descend, and in three months everyone in this house will be dead.�

Virginia Feito has done it again! This darkly humorous gothic novella is deeply unsettling and grotesquely macabre.

Winifred Notty has been hired as the new governess of Ensor House, charged with overseeing the education of the Pound children, Andrew and Drusilla. Winifred “Fred� is not your typical Mary Poppins. Instead, she is slowly succumbing to madness, revealing a terrible secret and unleashing a visceral violence that will take everyone by surprise.

“Sometimes evil is born in one of the Lord’s creatures and there’s nowt to do about it, nowt at all.�

This character driven gothic horror plot is absolutely bonkers! If you thought Mrs. March was mad, you need to meet Winifred! This psychopathic antiheroine will have readers furiously flipping the pages to reach the gory conclusion.

Steeped in Victorian feminism, this gripping novella is not to be missed! Feito has achieved auto-request status with this reader!

5/5 stars

Trigger warnings: violence toward children and animal cruelty

Expected publication date: 2/4/25

Thank you to Edelweiss and W.W. Norton publishing for the ARC of Victorian Psycho in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 220998855 When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.

Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildingsĚýandĚýabandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the siteĚýbefore the renovationĚýbegins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.

When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick toĚýclose the investigation.ĚýBut AubreyĚýfeels unsettledĚýby locals who claim he was murdered and that it’s not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed.ĚýAs she digs deeper intoĚýthe property’sĚýdark history (and its origins as an asylum)Ěýas well asĚýDimitri’s professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case. ĚýBut someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth—at any cost.]]> Juliet Blackwell 0593638255 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Juliet Blackwell
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214195254 She has his dead wife’s heart; the one she wants is his. The author of The Family Plot brings her signature prose to a twisty novel about a heart transplant patient who becomes romantically obsessed with her donor’s husband.

Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One.

A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents� bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together.

As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie’s keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death? And can Rosie’s heart sustain another break—or is she next?]]> 317 Megan Collins JaymeO 3 I cry a lot but I am so productive, it's an art
You know you're good when you can even do it
With a broken heart� - Taylor Swift

This is my second book review in two weeks that begins with a Taylor Swift lyrics. She really has taken over everything…even my book reviews!

Swift seems to have also been the inspiration behind Megan Collin’s latest domestic suspense thriller.

Pink haired Rosie just got dumped in the most horrible way by her boyfriend Brad, and she is recovering by listening to Taylor Swift songs. But when the pain in her heart is determined to be due to a medical issue, she becomes the young recipient of a heart transplant.

So, what’s a girl recovering from a heart transplant and bad break up to do but contact the famous writer/widow of her heart donor. She forms a connection with Morgan through their anonymous correspondence on the donor website. But when she learns that he may have been responsible for his wife’s death, she begins to investigate.

Then he is murdered by a woman with pink hair. Who killed Morgan?

I’m quickly learning that when a book is over-hyped, I usually find myself disappointed. I wish I could have listened to the audiobook through Rosie colored glasses (this phrase is used ad-nauseum in the book), but unfortunately it didn’t wow me. I really didn’t care for Gail Shalan’s narration because the voice she used for the male characters sounded odd, forced, and inauthentic. Chris Andrew Ciulla does an admirable job, but his voice only appears in the first half of the book.

Cross My Heart is a popcorn thriller…not my favorite genre, as they tend to include OTT twists that are difficult to believe. While it does include some intriguing twists, I had no problem uncovering the murderer very early on. While this book is better than The Family Plot, it still didn’t win me over.

3.5/5 stars rounded down]]> 3.69 2025
author: Megan Collins
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves:
review:
“I'm so obsessed with him but he avoids me like the plague
I cry a lot but I am so productive, it's an art
You know you're good when you can even do it
With a broken heart� - Taylor Swift

This is my second book review in two weeks that begins with a Taylor Swift lyrics. She really has taken over everything…even my book reviews!

Swift seems to have also been the inspiration behind Megan Collin’s latest domestic suspense thriller.

Pink haired Rosie just got dumped in the most horrible way by her boyfriend Brad, and she is recovering by listening to Taylor Swift songs. But when the pain in her heart is determined to be due to a medical issue, she becomes the young recipient of a heart transplant.

So, what’s a girl recovering from a heart transplant and bad break up to do but contact the famous writer/widow of her heart donor. She forms a connection with Morgan through their anonymous correspondence on the donor website. But when she learns that he may have been responsible for his wife’s death, she begins to investigate.

Then he is murdered by a woman with pink hair. Who killed Morgan?

I’m quickly learning that when a book is over-hyped, I usually find myself disappointed. I wish I could have listened to the audiobook through Rosie colored glasses (this phrase is used ad-nauseum in the book), but unfortunately it didn’t wow me. I really didn’t care for Gail Shalan’s narration because the voice she used for the male characters sounded odd, forced, and inauthentic. Chris Andrew Ciulla does an admirable job, but his voice only appears in the first half of the book.

Cross My Heart is a popcorn thriller…not my favorite genre, as they tend to include OTT twists that are difficult to believe. While it does include some intriguing twists, I had no problem uncovering the murderer very early on. While this book is better than The Family Plot, it still didn’t win me over.

3.5/5 stars rounded down
]]> 23453099 So here we are. My name was Eileen Dunlop. Now you know me. I was twenty-four years old then, and had a job that paid fifty-seven dollars a week as a kind of secretary at a private juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys. I think of it now as what it really was for all intents and purposes—a prison for boys. I will call it Moorehead. Delvin Moorehead was a terrible landlord I had years later, and so to use his name for such a place feels appropriate. In a week, I would run away from home and never go back.

This is the story of how I disappeared.

The Christmas season offers little cheer for Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman trapped between her role as her alcoholic father’s caretaker in a home whose squalor is the talk of the neighborhood and a day job as a secretary at the boys� prison, filled with its own quotidian horrors. Consumed by resentment and self-loathing, Eileen tempers her dreary days with perverse fantasies and dreams of escaping to the big city. In the meantime, she fills her nights and weekends with shoplifting, stalking a buff prison guard named Randy, and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father’s messes. When the bright, beautiful, and cheery Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counselor at Moorehead, Eileen is enchanted and proves unable to resist what appears at first to be a miraculously budding friendship. In a Hitchcockian twist, her affection for Rebecca ultimately pulls her into complicity in a crime that surpasses her wildest imaginings.

Played out against the snowy landscape of coastal New England in the days leading up to Christmas, young Eileen’s story is told from the gimlet-eyed perspective of the now much older narrator. Creepy, mesmerizing, and sublimely funny, in the tradition of Shirley Jackson and early Vladimir Nabokov, this powerful debut novel enthralls and shocks, and introduces one of the most original new voices in contemporary literature. Ottessa Moshfegh is also the author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Homesick for Another World: Stories, and McGlue.]]> 260 Ottessa Moshfegh 1594206627 JaymeO 4
This is the story of how a twenty-four year old prison secretary Eileen Dunlop ran away from home in 1964 and disappeared without a trace. Told through reflective remembrance, the older Eileen recalls the week that led up to her escape to NYC from her filthy childhood home, where she felt trapped and used by her abusive alcoholic father. She passes her days feeling invisible and amuses herself by shoplifting and stalking Randy the prison guard. Full of resentment and self-loathing, the very disturbed Eileen is befriended by Harvard graduate and counselor Rebecca St. John, who leads her into committing a crime.

Creepy and Hitchcockian, Eileen’s story is mesmerizing! I listened to the audiobook expertly read by Alyssa Bresnahan in two sittings. I highly recommend this format! The book deals with dark themes, so please check out the trigger warnings.

Eileen is a very memorable character that I won’t soon forget!

4/5 stars

Trigger warnings: alcoholism, sexual abuse]]> 3.57 2015
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves:
review:
Otessa Moshfegh is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors! I just wish it wouldn’t have taken me so long to find her books!

This is the story of how a twenty-four year old prison secretary Eileen Dunlop ran away from home in 1964 and disappeared without a trace. Told through reflective remembrance, the older Eileen recalls the week that led up to her escape to NYC from her filthy childhood home, where she felt trapped and used by her abusive alcoholic father. She passes her days feeling invisible and amuses herself by shoplifting and stalking Randy the prison guard. Full of resentment and self-loathing, the very disturbed Eileen is befriended by Harvard graduate and counselor Rebecca St. John, who leads her into committing a crime.

Creepy and Hitchcockian, Eileen’s story is mesmerizing! I listened to the audiobook expertly read by Alyssa Bresnahan in two sittings. I highly recommend this format! The book deals with dark themes, so please check out the trigger warnings.

Eileen is a very memorable character that I won’t soon forget!

4/5 stars

Trigger warnings: alcoholism, sexual abuse
]]> 216670080 The spine-tingling bestseller that has taken Japan by storm—an eerie fresh take on horror for fans of Hidden Pictures and Junji Ito, in which a series of seemingly innocent pictures draws you into a disturbing web of unsolved mysteries and shattered psyches.

An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance. . . .

A pregnant woman's sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning.

A child's picture of his home contains a dark secret message.

A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbithole that will reveal a horrifying reality.

Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over-arching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the internationally bestselling debut from mystery horror YouTube sensation Uketsu—an enigmatic masked figure who has become one of Japan's most talked about contemporary authors.]]> 240 Uketsu 0063433087 JaymeO 4
This book is brilliant!

Puzzle your way through a series of murder mysteries/stories all connected by a series of drawings. Through psychologically interpreting the drawings, you will be able to connect the characters and solve the murders.

The clever structure of this book is what really makes it a winner! I couldn’t stop flipping the pages to figure out how the different chapters connected. The pictures seem so innocuous at first, but challenge the reader to think in new ways. It even culminates in a very satisfying ending!

The only issue I had with the book was the stilted writing, but it’s possible that this is a result of the translation into English. However, it didn’t prevent me from enjoying it!

Highly recommend!

4/5 stars]]> 4.05 2022
author: Uketsu
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
Have you been looking for the next Hidden Pictures? Move over Jason Rekulak, Uketsu’s bestselling Japanese novel Strange Pictures has made its way to the United States!

This book is brilliant!

Puzzle your way through a series of murder mysteries/stories all connected by a series of drawings. Through psychologically interpreting the drawings, you will be able to connect the characters and solve the murders.

The clever structure of this book is what really makes it a winner! I couldn’t stop flipping the pages to figure out how the different chapters connected. The pictures seem so innocuous at first, but challenge the reader to think in new ways. It even culminates in a very satisfying ending!

The only issue I had with the book was the stilted writing, but it’s possible that this is a result of the translation into English. However, it didn’t prevent me from enjoying it!

Highly recommend!

4/5 stars
]]> 221509844 From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Things We Do To Our Friends, comes a timely, gripping novel about the dark underbelly of wellness culture

'DARWENT HAS A GREAT CAREER AS A THRILLER WRITER AHEAD OF HER' SUNDAY TIMES

We can fix you.

It's a promise that Betsy has heard far too many times. From the child psychologist, from her husband, and from the wellness trends that scream at her from her screen.

So far, it's been a lie.

But this time, she believes it. Because Betsy has been offered a place at Carn - a luxurious, unorthodox retreat, where healing really is possible. At Carn, she discovers that her imperfections make her unique, not weak. She isn't broken, just special.

All Betsy has to do is follow the rules . . .

---

Praise for Heather Darwent
'Satisfyingly dark, cleverly plotted' Emma Flint, Little Deaths
'Smart, sophisticated, seductive' S J Watson, Before I Go To Sleep
'Startlingly lovely, like a fine, dark silk shivering on your skin' Julia Heaberlin, We Are All the Same in the Dark
'A deeply compelling story of friendships turned rotten' Rosemary Hennigan, The Truth Will Out
'Dark academia and twisted friendships in gothic Edinburgh - what more could you want?' Cailean Steed, Home]]> 271 Heather Darwent 140597446X JaymeO 0 to-read 3.48
author: Heather Darwent
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.48
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 48989372
From growing up in a family of firefighters on Staten Island to commuting three hours a day to high school and “seeing the sights� (like watching a Russian woman throw a stroller off the back of a ferry), to attending Harvard while Facebook was created, Jost shares how he has navigated the world like a slightly smarter Forrest Gump.

You’ll also discover things about Jost that will surprise and confuse you, like how Jimmy Buffett saved his life, how Czech teenagers attacked him with potato salad, how an insect laid eggs inside his legs, and how he competed in a twenty-five-man match at WrestleMania (and almost won). You’ll go behind the scenes at SNL and Weekend Update (where he’s written some of the most memorable sketches and jokes of the past fifteen years). And you’ll experience the life of a touring stand-up comedian—from performing in rural college cafeterias at noon to opening for Dave Chappelle at Radio City Music Hall.

For every accomplishment (hosting the Emmys), there is a setback (hosting the Emmys). And for every absurd moment (watching paramedics give CPR to a raccoon), there is an honest, emotional one (recounting his mother’s experience on the scene of the Twin Towers� collapse on 9/11). Told with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, A Very Punchable Face reveals the brilliant mind behind some of the dumbest sketches on television, and lays bare the heart and humor of a hardworking guy—with a face you can’t help but want to punch.]]> 312 Colin Jost 1101906324 JaymeO 5
The head writer from SNL, host of Weekend Update, and now Pop Culture Jeopardy host Colin Jost recalls his early upbringing in Staten Island, NY as well as his rise to fame. The content for Jost’s memoir alternates between touching chapters that had me tearing up as well as funny ones that had me hysterically laughing.

I listened to the audiobook which is read by the author. I highly recommend this format.

Fun facts: He went to Harvard where he met Mark Zuckerberg and was on the rowing team with the Winklevoss twins.]]> 4.20 2020
author: Colin Jost
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves:
review:
Colin Jost is more lovable than punchable!

The head writer from SNL, host of Weekend Update, and now Pop Culture Jeopardy host Colin Jost recalls his early upbringing in Staten Island, NY as well as his rise to fame. The content for Jost’s memoir alternates between touching chapters that had me tearing up as well as funny ones that had me hysterically laughing.

I listened to the audiobook which is read by the author. I highly recommend this format.

Fun facts: He went to Harvard where he met Mark Zuckerberg and was on the rowing team with the Winklevoss twins.
]]> 224080329 The Homecoming is Zoë Apostolides’s debut novel. Quietly disturbing, it tells the story of Ellen, a young ghost-writer sent to record the memoirs of an elderly woman living in a remote Northumberland manor. Elver House is dilapidated, its faded beauty falling to ruin.

The assignment seems simple enough: Ellen will spend a week conducting interviews at Elver House before returning to London to write Miss Carey’s autobiography. She and her editor know very little about Miss Carey besides her request to be interviewed in person; Ellen’s editor has agreed the dates and gathered scant information, but it’ll be up to Ellen to tease out the story.

The village is remote and rural, and Elver is no quaint country cottage but a wild and sprawling estate. Ellen digs deeper into the history of Elver, preparing to return to London and write her client's book. In doing so, she must confront much more than she bargained for, and realises that Miss Carey is being haunted by more than the past.

Part mystery, part ghost story, this is a story about isolation, memory, spirits and secrets, intergenerational friendship and motherhood.]]> 256 Zoë Apostolides 1784633399 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.57
author: Zoë Apostolides
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222376601
Kinsey has the perfect job as the team lead in a remote research outpost. She loves the solitude, and the way the desert keeps her far away from the temptations teeming out in the civilian world.

When her crew discovers a mysterious specimen buried deep in the sand, Kinsey breaks quarantine and brings it into the hab. But the longer it's inside, the more her carefully controlled life begins to unravel. Temptation has found her after all, and it can't be ignored any longer.

One by one, Kinsey's team realizes the thing they're studying is in search of a new host—and one of them is the perfect candidate....]]> 208 Sarah Gailey 1250387337 JaymeO 0 to-read 5.00 2025
author: Sarah Gailey
name: JaymeO
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218671849 “Terrific.”—ĚýStephen King onĚýWhistle

New York TimesĚýbestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a supernatural chiller in which a woman and her young son move to a small town looking for a fresh start, only to be haunted by disturbing events and strange visions when they find a mysterious train set in a storage shed.

Evil has a one track mind...

Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children’s books she’s built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal.

But Annie’s year is about to get worse.

Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. Annie is glad to see Charlie happy, but there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night—she could swear she hears a train, but there isn’t an active track for miles—and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book.

Grief can do strange things to the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she’s walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying…]]> 464 Linwood Barclay 0063436035 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.07 2025
author: Linwood Barclay
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211003837 For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers to consider whether each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of post-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.]]> 320 Kristin Koval 1250342996 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.70 2025
author: Kristin Koval
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 224070664
For fans of Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and Lisa Taddeo's Animal, Shy Girl is a harrowing tale of girlhood, survival, autonomy, and revenge.]]> 247 Mia Ballard JaymeO 0 to-read 4.09 2025
author: Mia Ballard
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211178725 The woman never goes by the same name.
She never stays in the same place too long.
She never ages. She never dies.
But those around her do.

When two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake's best friend and Mariko's twin brother each died, 6,000 miles apart, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances.

Each encountered a mesmerising, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko - and then disappeared.

Jake, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko's revelations. It's a trail that weaves across continents and centuries, leading back to the many who have died - in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways - and those they left behind: bewildered, disbelieved, yet resolutely sure of what they saw.

And, at the centre of it all, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed, but her purpose has never wavered, and as Jake races to discover who, or what she is, she has already made her next choice.

But will knowing her secret be enough to stop her?]]> 352 Susan Barker 0593718291 JaymeO 4
There is a woman who is always on the move, never ages, or goes by the same name.

If you see her, your body and your life will be in extricably changed.

After meeting fellow passenger Mariko at the Osaka airport, Jake learns that both of them have lost loved ones after encountering the same peculiar woman. She took their photographs and then they slowly lost their minds and lives. Only after an autopsy is performed did they learn that their internal organs had been reversed.

Who is this mysterious woman?

Jake sets out on a journey to find her. Through seven testimonials, individuals from all over the world detail their encounters with this same strange woman.

Can she be stopped?

Susan Barker is a new author to me, and I am impressed with her captivating writing. The chapters are very long, some more than hour, but each story kept me fully invested the entire way through. I really enjoyed how this plot came together, but really needed a few more answers at the end.

If you enjoy literary horror, you will devour this book!

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 1/28/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin publishing group for the ARC of Old Soul in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.78 2025
author: Susan Barker
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

There is a woman who is always on the move, never ages, or goes by the same name.

If you see her, your body and your life will be in extricably changed.

After meeting fellow passenger Mariko at the Osaka airport, Jake learns that both of them have lost loved ones after encountering the same peculiar woman. She took their photographs and then they slowly lost their minds and lives. Only after an autopsy is performed did they learn that their internal organs had been reversed.

Who is this mysterious woman?

Jake sets out on a journey to find her. Through seven testimonials, individuals from all over the world detail their encounters with this same strange woman.

Can she be stopped?

Susan Barker is a new author to me, and I am impressed with her captivating writing. The chapters are very long, some more than hour, but each story kept me fully invested the entire way through. I really enjoyed how this plot came together, but really needed a few more answers at the end.

If you enjoy literary horror, you will devour this book!

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 1/28/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin publishing group for the ARC of Old Soul in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 211953309 A dazzling debut novel set in 1980s New York, when cocaine is as easy to get as ice cream, about one young woman’s summer of infinite possibility—and looming danger.

It was the summer of 1986, when the girl was found dead in Central Park behind the Metropolitan Museum—half-naked, legs splayed, arms flung over her head. Larynx crushed.

There are two things Nina Jacobs is determined to do over the summer of 1986: avoid her mother’s depression-fueled rages, and lose her virginity before she starts college in the fall. Both are seemingly impossible—when her mother isn’t lying in bed for days, she’s lashing out at Nina over any perceived slight. And after a blowjob gone spectacularly wrong, Nina is the talk of Flanagan’s, the Upper East Side bar where young Manhattan society congregates. It doesn’t help that she’s Jewish, an outsider among the blue-eyed blondes who populate this rarified world. She can fit in, kind of, with enough alcohol and prescription drugs stolen from her parents� medicine cabinet.

Flanagan’s is where she pines for the handsome, preppy, and charismatic Gardner Reed, whom every girl wants to sleep with and every guy wants to be. After she’s introduced to cocaine, Nina plunges headlong into her pursuit of Gardner, oblivious to the warning signs. When a new medication seemingly frees her mother from darkness, and Nina and Gardner grow closer, it seems like Nina might finally get what she wants. But at what cost?

Freud called cocaine “a gorgeous excitement,� but a gorgeous excitement for the wrong guy can be lethal.]]> 368 Cynthia Weiner 0593798848 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.71
author: Cynthia Weiner
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.71
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221731826 From T. Marie Vandelly, author of the acclaimed horror novel Theme Music , An Evil Premise is a mind-bending, thrilling meta-novel about possession, insanity, and the lengths a writer will go to find inspiration.

When a bizarre accident leaves her sister, bestselling author Deidre Baldwin, in a coma and suffering from a grotesque skin malady, Jewel rushes to her bedside. Though the sisters are not close, she is determined to do what she can for Deidre. Staying at her sister’s apartment, Jewel stumbles upon an unfinished manuscript, the one that Deidre was rushing to complete for her publisher. When Deidre’s literary agent calls in a panic, Jewel—a self-published writer herself, desperate for a break—suggests she can finish it by the deadline.

But the story is unsettling. It begins with a writer looking for inspiration, who finds an unclaimed manuscript. But said manuscript is just a series of protagonists who feel compelled to act out their heinous contributions to the grisly plot.

Jewel is determined not to be scared off, but the novel hits a little close to home. She tries to tell herself she’s being paranoid, but swears she can hear someone typing when she’s not at the desk, and somehow the word count of the novel keeps going up. Her skin begins to itch.

Terrified of losing her sanity, but equally terrified of losing her one shot at success, Jewel tries to find a story somewhere in the carnage, even as her rash becomes worse and she starts to have not so neighborly thoughts about her neighbors. Is this what happened to Deidre? Did the manuscript drive her mad? Infect her somehow? Jewel finds herself hoping her sister never wakes up. And fearing what will happen if Deidre does …]]> 1 T. Marie Vandelly JaymeO 0 to-read 4.41
author: T. Marie Vandelly
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.41
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 52878453
While on her normal daily walk with her dog in the forest woods, our protagonist comes across a note, handwritten and carefully pinned to the ground with a frame of stones. "Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body". Our narrator is deeply shaken; she has no idea what to make of this. She is new to area, having moved her from her longtime home after the death of her husband, and she knows very few people. And she's a little shaky even on best days. Her brooding about this note quickly grows into a full-blown obsession, and she begins to devote herself to exploring the possibilities of her conjectures about who this woman was and how she met her fate. Her suppositions begin to find echoes in the real world, and with mounting excitement and dread, the fog of mystery starts to form into a concrete and menacing shape. But as we follow her in her investigation, strange dissonances start to accrue, and our faith in her grip on reality weakens, until finally, just as she seems be facing some of the darkness in her own past with her late husband, we are forced to face the prospect that there is either a more innocent explanation for all this or a much more sinister one - one that strikes closer to home.

A triumphant blend of horror, suspense, and pitch-black comedy, 'Death in Her Hands' asks us to consider how the stories we tell ourselves both guide us closer to the truth and keep us at bay from it. Once again, we are in the hands of a narrator whose unreliability is well earned, only this time the stakes have never been higher.]]> 259 Ottessa Moshfegh 1984879359 JaymeO 3
In Death in Her Hands, 72 year-old widow Vesta Gul and her dog Charlie find a cryptic note on the ground while on their daily walk.

“Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.�

Vesta muses for the entirety of the book about who Magda was and who might have killed her. She concocts a wild story in order to ease her sense of loneliness. Slowly descending into madness after the death of her cruel husband, life seems to have passed Vesta by without warning. She is isolated, angry, grief stricken, and full of regret. Through this unreliable narrator, the reader must determine what is true and what is imagined.

I listened to the audiobook read by Anne Marie Lee and I highly suggest it is the ONLY format you should use to read this book. Lee’s dramatic reading really brings Vesta to life through what is essentially an eight hour monologue]]> 3.25 2020
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves:
review:
Having just read My Year of Rest and Relaxation, I couldn’t wait to read more from Otessa Moshfegh. She has such an unusual and distinct style of writing that will NOT resonate with every reader.

In Death in Her Hands, 72 year-old widow Vesta Gul and her dog Charlie find a cryptic note on the ground while on their daily walk.

“Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.�

Vesta muses for the entirety of the book about who Magda was and who might have killed her. She concocts a wild story in order to ease her sense of loneliness. Slowly descending into madness after the death of her cruel husband, life seems to have passed Vesta by without warning. She is isolated, angry, grief stricken, and full of regret. Through this unreliable narrator, the reader must determine what is true and what is imagined.

I listened to the audiobook read by Anne Marie Lee and I highly suggest it is the ONLY format you should use to read this book. Lee’s dramatic reading really brings Vesta to life through what is essentially an eight hour monologue
]]> 23492624 Brother follows a teenager determined to break from his family’s unconventional—and deeply disturbing—traditions.

Deep in the heart of Appalachia stands a crooked farmhouse miles from any road. The Morrows keep to themselves, and it’s served them well so far. When girls go missing off the side of the highway, the cops don’t knock on their door. Which is a good thing, seeing as to what’s buried in the Morrows� backyard.

But nineteen-year-old Michael Morrow isn’t like the rest of his family. He doesn’t take pleasure in the screams that echo through the trees. Michael pines for normalcy, and he’s sure that someday he’ll see the world beyond West Virginia. When he meets Alice, a pretty girl working at a record shop in the small nearby town of Dahlia, he’s immediately smitten. For a moment, he nearly forgets about the monster he’s become. But his brother, Rebel, is all too eager to remind Michael of his place…]]> 319 Ania Ahlborn 147678373X JaymeO 0 to-read 3.89 2015
author: Ania Ahlborn
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50891570 The refreshingly original debut memoir of a guarded, over-achieving, self-lacerating young lawyer who reluctantly agrees to get psychologically and emotionally naked in a room of six complete strangers—her psychotherapy group—and in turn finds human connection, and herself.

Christie Tate had just been named the top student in her law school class and finally had her eating disorder under control. Why then was she driving through Chicago fantasizing about her own death? Why was she envisioning putting an end to the isolation and sadness that still plagued her in spite of her achievements?

Enter Dr. Rosen, a therapist who calmly assures her that if she joins one of his psychotherapy groups, he can transform her life. All she has to do is show up and be honest. About everything—her eating habits, childhood, sexual history, etc. Christie is skeptical, insisting that that she is defective, beyond cure. But Dr. Rosen issues a nine-word prescription that will change everything: “You don’t need a cure, you need a witness.

So begins her entry into the strange, terrifying, and ultimately life-changing world of group therapy. Christie is initially put off by Dr. Rosen’s outlandish directives, but as her defenses break down and she comes to trust Dr. Rosen and to depend on the sessions and the prescribed nightly phone calls with various group members, she begins to understand what it means to connect.

Group is a deliciously addictive read, and with Christie as our guide—skeptical of her own capacity for connection and intimacy, but hopeful in spite of herself—we are given a front row seat to the daring, exhilarating, painful, and hilarious journey that is group therapy—an under-explored process that breaks you down, and then reassembles you so that all the pieces finally fit.]]> 282 Christie Tate JaymeO 4
After listening to Catherine Gildiner’s Good Morning Monster (which I highly recommend) I remembered a debut memoir published in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that I never got around to reading. One of Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club picks, it’s a story of a 20-something lawyer living in Chicago, a recovering bulimic, who demonstrates suicidal ideation and longs to have a meaningful relationship with a man. She enters Dr. Rosen’s controversial group therapy sessions in search of help.

I listened to the audiobook which is read by the author, Christie Tate. Initially, it took me a while to get into the audiobook, but soon I couldn’t wait to find more time to listen to another chapter.

While I was very skeptical of Dr. Rosen’s possibly unethical therapy techniques and prescriptions, I loved so many things about this book!

I enjoyed watching her personal growth throughout the novel and bearing witness to the evolution of self.

I appreciated her willingness to be vulnerable by sharing intimate details from her sexual relationships as well as that awful story about pin worms!

I also spent my early twenties living downtown Chicago around the same time period near where the author lives and works. It was easy for me to imagine the streets, buildings, and landmarks, and really helped me connect with the author.

While Tate has received some flack for the unusual group therapy that she credits for helping her find a meaningful relationship, it is important to note that she did have a successful experience. It seems that trusting the process really worked for her (although I do see how Dr. Rosen blurs boundaries and may be preying on the vulnerable). Therapists may take issue with his unorthodox methods.

4/5 stars]]> 3.77 2020
author: Christie Tate
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves:
review:
I guess I’m in a psychological memoir phase�.

After listening to Catherine Gildiner’s Good Morning Monster (which I highly recommend) I remembered a debut memoir published in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that I never got around to reading. One of Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club picks, it’s a story of a 20-something lawyer living in Chicago, a recovering bulimic, who demonstrates suicidal ideation and longs to have a meaningful relationship with a man. She enters Dr. Rosen’s controversial group therapy sessions in search of help.

I listened to the audiobook which is read by the author, Christie Tate. Initially, it took me a while to get into the audiobook, but soon I couldn’t wait to find more time to listen to another chapter.

While I was very skeptical of Dr. Rosen’s possibly unethical therapy techniques and prescriptions, I loved so many things about this book!

I enjoyed watching her personal growth throughout the novel and bearing witness to the evolution of self.

I appreciated her willingness to be vulnerable by sharing intimate details from her sexual relationships as well as that awful story about pin worms!

I also spent my early twenties living downtown Chicago around the same time period near where the author lives and works. It was easy for me to imagine the streets, buildings, and landmarks, and really helped me connect with the author.

While Tate has received some flack for the unusual group therapy that she credits for helping her find a meaningful relationship, it is important to note that she did have a successful experience. It seems that trusting the process really worked for her (although I do see how Dr. Rosen blurs boundaries and may be preying on the vulnerable). Therapists may take issue with his unorthodox methods.

4/5 stars
]]> 222683916 A hidden darkness stirs in this locked-room mystery from the author of William.

There are many ways to die on Mars. Only one way to find the truth.

The human crew sent to prepare the first-ever colony on Mars arrives to find their brand new base half-destroyed and the three robots sent to set it up in disarray—the machines have formed alliances, chosen their own names, and picked up some truly disturbing beliefs. Each must be interrogated. Their stories analyzed. But one of them is missing.

In this barren, hostile landscape, even machines have nightmares, and the line between human and artificial intelligence blurs. The astronauts will need to examine their own stories and wrestle their own demons before it’s too late.

In this wicked, taut, one-sitting read, Mason Coile blends science fiction and psychological horror in a story that terrifies and unnerves as it engages some of humanity’s deepest questions.]]> 224 Mason Coile 0593851633 JaymeO 0 to-read 4.04 2025
author: Mason Coile
name: JaymeO
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199392460 "A rager of a psychological mystery about toxic men, murderous women and the art of constructing fake realities." -The New York Times

A gifted new suspense writer makes her sizzling debut with this serpentine tale exploring all the ways in which men enact violence on women, how women try to reclaim their own sense of self, and the lingering effects on their children’s lives.

2019. Stella Parker has the life she’s always wanted: a loving husband, two happy children that she gave up her thriving law career to raise, and a beautiful house in the tony suburbs of Washington, D.C. But when her neighbor Gwen shows up at her door, claiming to know things about her, Stella’s life is thrown into turmoil and she’s forced to reckon with the dark secret upon which she’s built her life.

1987. Julie Waits yearns to be a cheerleader—a gateway to a world of normalcy with best friends and sleepovers, and an escape hatch from life with her widowed mother, the terrible men she attracts, and the upheaval caused by their abrupt and constant moves. But when her mother decides those relationships are over, the past becomes a forbidden subject that Julie can never revisit.

As Stella probes deeper into what brought Gwen to her door, the answer—and who Julie is to her—become increasingly, terrifyingly, clear.

Filled with shocking twists and turns, this is a book that both asks what it means for a woman to be in control of her life while also highlighting the impact of small daily violences upon women, and the connection between physical and psychological harm.]]> 304 Johanna Copeland 0063329689 JaymeO 2
Become a serial killer, of course!

This book DID NOT work for me for so many reasons!

1.Not ALL men are evil. Why does this mother find the most awful men possible? Her motivation is preposterous.

2.The rape of a 13 year-old and the way it was nonchalantly handled.

3.My daughter was an all-star cheerleader for 13 years. Never have I ever heard stunting referred to as “lifts.� This term is used repeatedly. Do your research!

4.It seems like the author felt like she had to over-explain things in order for her readers to buy into the plot. Nope, still don’t buy it.

5.You really need to suspend your belief on so many elements for this book to make sense.

6.The ending felt gratuitous and like an afterthought. Almost as if the author was trying to disguise her own plot holes.

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla read by Megan Turing, Leslie Howard, and Nicol Zanzarella. I did enjoy this format, but feel that Paula’s voice sounded much older than she was supposed to be.

This is an intriguing debut, but it definitely didn’t win me over.

Trigger warnings: domestic violence, child rape, suicide

2.5/5 stars rounded down]]> 3.61 2024
author: Johanna Copeland
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:
What would a mother do to protect her daughters?

Become a serial killer, of course!

This book DID NOT work for me for so many reasons!

1.Not ALL men are evil. Why does this mother find the most awful men possible? Her motivation is preposterous.

2.The rape of a 13 year-old and the way it was nonchalantly handled.

3.My daughter was an all-star cheerleader for 13 years. Never have I ever heard stunting referred to as “lifts.� This term is used repeatedly. Do your research!

4.It seems like the author felt like she had to over-explain things in order for her readers to buy into the plot. Nope, still don’t buy it.

5.You really need to suspend your belief on so many elements for this book to make sense.

6.The ending felt gratuitous and like an afterthought. Almost as if the author was trying to disguise her own plot holes.

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla read by Megan Turing, Leslie Howard, and Nicol Zanzarella. I did enjoy this format, but feel that Paula’s voice sounded much older than she was supposed to be.

This is an intriguing debut, but it definitely didn’t win me over.

Trigger warnings: domestic violence, child rape, suicide

2.5/5 stars rounded down
]]> 217476770 Every woman who has lived on this farm has died. Emily just moved in.

When Emily Hauk's mother dies, it's time for her and her husband, Josh, to finally leave San Francisco. A farm in rural Nebraska is everything they want for a fresh start: clear skies, low costs, and distance from the grief back home.Ěý

They should have asked why the farm was for sale.Ěý

Three years ago a teenage girl went missing from the farm. Soon afterward, the girl's mother mysteriously died. The deeper Emily digs the more stories she uncovers of women connected to her new home who've met their own dark ends.

With each passing day Emily's sanctuary slips further away. The barn seems to move throughout her property as though chasing her. Her mother's favorite music drifts across the cornfield. She swears she saw blood in one of the farmhand's trucks. And the screams that wake her are not fox howls, no matter how many times her husband says they are. If she wants to claim this place as her own she'll have to find out the truth before whatever watches from the cornfield takes her, too.]]> 432 Chelsea Conradt 1464229163 JaymeO 0 to-read 3.65
author: Chelsea Conradt
name: JaymeO
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219520763 From the cult-favorite feminist author of The Princess of 72nd Street, a classic novel about a captive woman who must use unorthodox methods to reclaim her fractured mind

The dimensions of this house have already shaped your response. Did you think you could hide forever from the violence inside you?

This fever dream of a novel features a protagonist who shares the same name as its author. Elaine first enteredĚýthe house as moral support for her friend and fellow schoolteacher, Florence, but now there are no exits in sight. All the inexplicable residents of the space—Florence’s beguiling brother, her inattentive lover, distant mother, wizard father, and even her and Elaine’s school principal—are under the control of the mysterious Madelaine. Elaine knows that Madelaine is out to get her, she just doesn’t know who is colluding with Madelaine as she forces Elaine to commit harmful, evil tasks. As Elaine attempts to regain agency, she begins to remember glimpses from her painful past with her gynecologist husband, causing her to question exactly who and what is binding her in place.

The House of Madelaine revealsĚýthe frenzied mind of a broken poet trying to put herself together again. As Elaine reckons with countless uncanny challenges all taking place under one roof, she begins to rediscover who she truly is.]]> 160 Elaine Kraf 0593731883 JaymeO 0 to-read 0.0 1971
author: Elaine Kraf
name: JaymeO
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1971
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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