“My darlings” caught my eye with the gorgeous book cover giving moody autumn vibes. This is a dark twisty indie debut featuring a sadistic housewife i“My darlings” caught my eye with the gorgeous book cover giving moody autumn vibes. This is a dark twisty indie debut featuring a sadistic housewife in suburbian hell.
This is a fast paced read you can definitely finish in one sitting if you so desire.
The plot follows a sociopathic serial killer disguised as an everyday unassuming housewife. Eloise is completely devoid of emotion, empathy or any feelings required to be a human being. This eery component to her character gives you the sense of the unexpected, anything can happen at any time.
Thank you to rising action publishing, Marie still and NetGalley for the EARC!
“The hotel maid” is a twisty thriller with lots of mystery, shocks and darker subject matter.
Nobody really thinks about or considers hotel maids. They“The hotel maid” is a twisty thriller with lots of mystery, shocks and darker subject matter.
Nobody really thinks about or considers hotel maids. They are integral to the smooth running of a hotel and yet they very much go unnoticed and unobserved.
When a child is reported missing from the hotel, one of the maids finds herself swept up in the dramas and mysteries surrounding the disappearance. It turns out she may just know more about her guests than they would care to realize.
A fun fast paced read with lots of twists, this one is slightly darker themed so if you are sensitive to certain topics perhaps check your triggers.
Thank you to storm publishing, Michelle dunne and NetGalley for the EARC!
“Ghost camera” is a re-release of the novella combined with other short stories with similarly eery and spooky subject matter.
This was a refreshing r“Ghost camera” is a re-release of the novella combined with other short stories with similarly eery and spooky subject matter.
This was a refreshing read, the combination of several short stories made for a very quick read allowing time for a pause or a rest throughout the reading journey.
I enjoyed the haunting themes throughout and definitely got the creeps a few times! Each story ranges from mildly disturbing to downright terrifying so there’s definitely a selection for all tastes here.
Thank you to Darcy Coates, Poisened Pen Press and NetGalley for the EARC!
“Haunt sweet home” is a shorter length paranormal story featuring ghosts of all kinds, pretend and real.
The plot follows Mara who is experiencing lack“Haunt sweet home” is a shorter length paranormal story featuring ghosts of all kinds, pretend and real.
The plot follows Mara who is experiencing lack luster, college doesn’t seem to be working out and she can’t find a job she is interested in.
When her successful cousin offers her a night shift spot on the crew of his cable TV show about haunted homes, she initially joins the team with apathy and as time goes on and events take place she finds her eyes opening to a different world all together.
Themes and tropes include: Ghostly hauntings, paranormal, reality tv, coming of age, character development and personal growth.
This is a quick read that didn’t quite hit the mark for me, I wasn’t able to connect with the characters on a personal level. I did enjoy the paranormal themes and there were parts to the plot that caught my interest.
Thank you to Tor Publishing, Sarah Pinsker and NetGalley for the EARC!
“Zetas till we die” is a who dunnit style mystery thriller that follows the entangled lives of multiple women who are connected by their past experien“Zetas till we die” is a who dunnit style mystery thriller that follows the entangled lives of multiple women who are connected by their past experiences of being Zeta sorority sisters at uni together where a murder occured.
The majority of the plot is set in present day where all the women are grown and leading adult lives and thrown back into the past when the so called ‘murderer’ is released from prison.
I was a fan of the main character, I enjoyed the side plot about her career in couples therapy and how this interlaced with her own relationships in present day.
I enjoy the themes of sisterhood and loyalties, taking secrets to the grave to protect your people whilst battling with the opposite of the spectrum, deceit and betrayal. I found that the characters had depth and potential for growth which gave the plot a touch of relatability.
Thank you to Amber & Danielle Brown, HTP and Netgalley for the EARC!
“Ghost mother” is a modern gothic thriller that follows Lilly and Jack as they purchase a run down mansion in Wisconsin.
Lilly is struggling to have a“Ghost mother” is a modern gothic thriller that follows Lilly and Jack as they purchase a run down mansion in Wisconsin.
Lilly is struggling to have a baby and is convinced this is the home she needs to get pregnant. Jack begrudgingly agrees to take on this home project but soon regrets his decision as things begin to crumble around them.
Lilly soon finds out their new home was the site of a triple homicide in the 1950s and things go from bad to worse when she starts to believe the house is haunting and she is seeing things. This puts a large stressor on their already damaged relationship as events reach a climax.
This book is sufficiently spooky with all the interesting components you would wish for in a potentially haunted house thriller.
There is lots of creepy events and aesthetics throughout leaving plenty to the readers imagination. Is Lilly really being haunted or is she losing it?
Triggers: Lots of discussion based on infertility topics. Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Kelly Dwyer and Netgalley for the ALC!
For those who associated a creepy unknown with attacks and basements.
The opening chapter shows Anya relaxing in the bathtub with a glass of wine. The For those who associated a creepy unknown with attacks and basements.
The opening chapter shows Anya relaxing in the bathtub with a glass of wine. The next second she sees the attic hatch drop open, and out climbs a strange masked man. Within seconds she’s dead.
Moving forward Jules and her family move from USA to their new home in a gated community in Dublin.
The children aren’t thrilled to be leaving their home and friends, and even less thrilled when they find TikTok videos of a strange man walking through their home.
Jules is convinced it is someone editing videos to look like they are originating from the house, but when other weird unexplainable things begin to happen, she starts to wonder if somebody really is breaking in after all. Her son is convinced there is a man living in their attic who comes out to watch him sleep in the middle of the night.
I enjoyed the creepy premise of this plot, I feel the author could have leaned into the scary aspects more if she wanted to but segued more into the mystery / thriller components than horror. This still worked well because we got a lot of back story about Jules and her friends, as well as getting to know her new neighbours and the secrets they were harbouring.
This is my first book by this author and I will be looking forward to more of her work :)
Thank you to NetGalley, Andrea Mara and Penguin Random House Canada for the EARC.
Despite the fact that I guessed the plot twist at the very beginning of the book, I still found myself enjoying the book.
Imogen chur3.5⭐️ rounded up.
Despite the fact that I guessed the plot twist at the very beginning of the book, I still found myself enjoying the book.
Imogen church did a fantastic job of audio narration. I found myself connected to the main character and willing her to figure things out quicker for her own safety and well being.
I do wish there was more closure surrounded her childhood relationship, however I feel the main character found her strength enough to finally move on from the past and create a happy future for herself. ...more
To start with we have a dual timeline situation. In the past There are four girl friends at summer camp whI have such mixed feelings about this one..
To start with we have a dual timeline situation. In the past There are four girl friends at summer camp who tell a lie that spirals out of control into extreme consequences.
Flash forward to the future, the girls have all grown up into adults who are living separate lives, who find themselves reuniting under the pretence of receiving a letter implicating them in their past involvement in said lie.
First let me mention to check your triggers before reading as the book contains dark subject matter such as SA of a minor, non graphic attempted harm of infants, eating disorders, murder and castration.
The plot itself has potential to be really good. I liked the pretence under which the girls find themselves reunited as adults and then the reveal as to why they’re really there. I feel if the author stuck to that story line she could have gone great places with it.
What I had a problem with:
Firstly I feel the author googled eating disorders and ran with it. I feel like it was completely unnecessary and irrelevant to the overall plot and there wasn’t enough time spent getting educated on this subject, the characters experience felt inauthentic.
Secondly one of the girls exhibited extremely dark behaviour but I don’t think we get any real background information as to how and why she came to be this way, other than she did it because she could.
Thirdly the ending felt incomplete. We got a vague explanation as to the twist unfolding itself and yet we didn’t get a follow up on what happened to any of the characters themselves. I understand leaving an open ending for readers interpretation but this didn’t feel like that, it felt like the author decided to just close her laptop and stop writing.
There didn’t seem to be any closure for any of the characters including the tennis teachers wife or her sons.
This book was just a bit bizarre for me. I’m not sure if the author tried to include many twists and Different character POV and failed to merge them cohesively together but there was just something off about this book. I feel it could have benefited from a lot more editing.
To end on a positive, I thought that the audiobook narrators did a good job on the narration.
Publish date: July 23rd 2024
Thank you to Brilliance Publishing and Lucinda Berry for the ALC!
Narrated by - Narrated by Bailey Carr; Stephanie Nemeth-Parker; Susannah Jones; Jane Oppenheimer; Carly Robins...more
“Broken bayou” is an atmospheric, slow burn mystery / thriller. . This was a great debut, the characters were written with depth, there was a dense scen“Broken bayou” is an atmospheric, slow burn mystery / thriller. . This was a great debut, the characters were written with depth, there was a dense scenic ambience to the location setting and lots of tension.
The plot follows Willa who finds herself revisiting a place from her past after her work life comes crashing down. She finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation as a potential suspect when bodies start surfacing in a local lake.
Although it doesn’t seem like she has any involvement in these suspicious deaths there is a lot to unravel as we find out what really happened.
Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, Jennifer Moorhead and NetGalley for the EARC!
“You can’t hurt me” follows the lives of two women and the story of how their lives collide.
Eva has a unique medical condition in which she is unable“You can’t hurt me” follows the lives of two women and the story of how their lives collide.
Eva has a unique medical condition in which she is unable to feel pain. This leads her to meet her husband Nate who is a neuroscientist. There is a mystery surrounding Eva as she has since passed away and nobody really knows what happened between getting married and her cause of death.
Anna is in present day as a ghost writer for Nate’s memoir. She feels a responsibility to found out what really happened to Eva and give her a voice from beyond the grave.
Although the plot follows the lives of two women, we hear all of the story told from Anna’s POV which leads the question is she always telling the truth and being unbiased or correct in her information.
I enjoyed getting to see more depth to the characters as the story progresses. Overall I enjoyed this book.
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the EARC!
“Midnight in the Orchard by the Lake” is a thriller packed with urban legends, eco horror and recommended for fans of “twin peaks” and “castle rock”.
T“Midnight in the Orchard by the Lake” is a thriller packed with urban legends, eco horror and recommended for fans of “twin peaks” and “castle rock”.
The plot follows two women whose lives intersect; and offers multiple POV and timeline cross overs through alternate chapters.
Abigail has moved to Soap Lake in support of her husband. She is left alone when he is away travelling for work and out of boredom she begins to explore, leading her to find a mysterious young boy running through the desert. She is intrigued enough to investigate the history and secrets of this unusual town.
Esme is a Soap Lake local who is obsessed with the legend of Treetop, she intends to leave the town in her rear view mirror but events lead to her return.
There is mystery, conspiracy, legends, paranormal feel. This is definitely a book outside of my usual genre that offered lots of intrigue.
Thank you to HTP, Matthew Sullivan and NetGalley for the EARC!
I don’t know what it is about Lisa Ungers last two books but I have absolutely devoured them and loved every second!
“Close your eyes and count to tenI don’t know what it is about Lisa Ungers last two books but I have absolutely devoured them and loved every second!
“Close your eyes and count to ten” is absolutely my favourite book Lisa has ever written!! I was fully enraptured by the plot and the characters.
The chapters alternate between multiple POV, sometimes when books have more than 2 POV I can find them to be confusing, but this was done beautifully and I knew exactly who was who and also felt there was enough background information given on each persona that I felt I had an in-depth understanding of each character and how they came to be in present day.
The plot revolves around an intense online streaming platform with real life real contestant challenges. The face behind “Extreme” is Maverick who got his following by doing extreme sports. Now with his tech team he hosts contest for other social media influencers, the current contest is “Extreme hide and seek” where contestants are flown to a remote island and have to hide in a run down abandoned hotel and brave the natural elements as a big storm hits the island.
Sounds all fun and games, however the last extreme hide and seek they hosted, one of the contestants was never found and is still a missing persons 1 year later.
I enjoyed the focus on the character of Adele and her two children. Adele will be participating in the contest for the 1 million dollar prize. She needs funds as she is surviving the aftermath of her husband’s embezzlement scheme where he is currently on the run from the police and abandoned his family to be shunned by society and penniless.
This book cleverly highlights the downsides to social media and influencers, but instead of focusing entirely on the toxicity we also delve into how and why people find themselves in this career path, and whether they are the problem or if the real problem stems from the viewership.
I loved the ending to this book and was happy with how everything came together, I enjoyed getting a brief flash forward into each of the contestants and hosts lives following the aftermath.
I actually found myself routing for Mav and Angeline and would love to hear more about them. I also still have questions about the mystery surrounding Alex so once you’ve read this please somebody message me to discuss thoughts ...more
I’ve recently discovered Kierstens work and I’m quickly turning into a fan. I just finished reading Hemlock which was an absolute 5⭐️ read for me so II’ve recently discovered Kierstens work and I’m quickly turning into a fan. I just finished reading Hemlock which was an absolute 5⭐️ read for me so I had to snatch this up immediately.
“Bitter House” is giving “Heiress” by Rachel Hawkins vibes so if you enjoyed that book I’d definitely recommend giving this one a try!
Bridget has just inherited the Bitter home from her recently deceased relative, only when she moves in she finds out the house has also been left 50% to her arch nemesis Cole.
Her and Cole grew up together and have bad blood between them, but they are both too stubborn to sell and determined to remain in the home.
When Bridget starts receiving ominous letters containing concerning secrets from an anonymous source, she wonders how much truth they hold.
The story is separated between present day POV and past tales from the recently deceased herself. I enjoy the change in time lines as the secrets and stories unfold.
I enjoyed the premise and mystery to this book as well as the writing format. The only thing I wasn’t sold on was the relationship between the two main characters. They seemed to argue about childish things as full fledged adults, one minute Cole would be complaining that in the past he felt unwelcome in the home growing up and never got anything he wanted, shunned to a small room in the house. And then the next chapter they were discussing how he would be inviting a different girl from school home to hook up with every week, so it didn’t seem like he really had much to complain about after all ...more
If you enjoyed the concept for Laura Dave’s “the last thing he told me”, yet want to dive deeper into more suspenseful, thrilling and surprising waterIf you enjoyed the concept for Laura Dave’s “the last thing he told me”, yet want to dive deeper into more suspenseful, thrilling and surprising waters, definitely give this book a try!
“The day he never came home” begins with the expected, but then takes you on a detour, throws you off course and leaves you questioning your own moral compass.
Read if you enjoy: twists, deceptions, the unexpected
What worked for me: Deep diving into John’s life, seeing how events came to be by going through his past and present.
I enjoyed Reagan’s character and watching her step up to be the bad ass wife and come into her new strengths.
Thank you to Poisened pen press, Andrew DeYoung and Netgalley for the EARC
“Middletide” is an atmospheric, moody summer slow burn debut that focuses on the complexities of a small town and the events following a suspicious de“Middletide” is an atmospheric, moody summer slow burn debut that focuses on the complexities of a small town and the events following a suspicious death of their beloved doctor.
Read if you like: books with lots of layers, subtext, twists and details.
What I enjoyed: Elijah and Nakitas relationship was the most interesting part of this book for me, I found myself invested in these characters and the relationship development between them.
What I didn’t love: The summary to the crime and mystery component of the book felt a little too convenient and rushed for me. There was evidence that didn’t make sense combined with the stereotypical “dumb ignorant small town cops” angle.
Overall the book had an eery, poetic sense to the writing style that I enjoyed. If this is your vibe then definitely give it a try.
Thank you to Atria Books, Sarah Crouch and Netgalley for the EARC.
Loading...
