Tanya
This book was an epic disappointment. Plot holes abound, the characters were forgettable and interchangeable, and there are some pretty questionable (read racist and misogynistic) comments made by characters that border on feeling like author commentary. I'm willing to suspend disbelief to a certain extent but expecting anyone to believe that young adults will turn to murder and chaos because their phones don't work.
This was a great story and I love the “book about a book” premise. The book gives us three somewhat unreliable narrators; not unreliable in the sense that they're untrustworthy but rather that they have their own secrets, biases, and goals that don't always align with what's going on during the investigation. With constantly changing perspectives, I was always reevaluating the characters - whether they could be trusted, whether they were involved in the murder, and just what their intentions were. The plot was complex and layered, with new information being uncovered constantly. Claire's diary entries and snippets of R.M. Holland's story, The Stranger, are sprinkled throughout the book, adding additional layers of interest. I absolutely loved that we got The Stranger in full at the end of the book and enjoyed it in its own right. I'll definitely be picking up more by Griffiths in the future.
(Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advance copy of the book for review.)
I'm glad this is not the first book by Jen Lancaster that I read or else I might have decided that she's an awful human being that I never wanted to read a book by again. That being said, I have read a much later book of hers and she's much different in that one, so I'm looking forward to reading about her transformation from a snobby, rude person to the kind person she was in her later books.
All of that aside, I did mostly enjoy this story of Lancaster having a high paying job in the financial market that she lost post-9/11 and how she and her husband Fletcher learned to live like most of the rest of the world. Her realizations at the end of it that her relationship with her husband, her dogs, and the little things like functioning air conditioning are what really make us happy, not her $700 highlights and constant Nieman Marcus shoe department shopping trips.
I struggle with short story collections and this one was no different. There were a few stories that resonated with me, including The Husband Stitch, Eight Bites, and Difficult at Parties. However, most of the stories left me feeling confused and convinced that I missed something important, particularly the story Especially Heinous - a 50-page long short story that is a series of Law and Order: SVU episode synopses. I think this book is probably really good but just not for me.
After looking at the reviews for this, it seems to be a “love it or hate it” kind of book. I very much fall into the “love it” category. Donohue is talented at building up a creepy atmosphere without going overboard. It has the feel of a Japanese horror novel - the very wrong and scary existing in a very real and familiar everyday kind of world. Some complaints say that it's not scary and I'd agree - the monsters are not the scariest part of the novel. What Donohue does, though, is build up the tension between the characters and with their surrounding. A run of the mill New England snowfall is made terrifying when two people are left alone in the house and one doesn't trust the mental stability of the other, as an example. The last page contained such a gasp-out-loud realization for me that I had to go back and re-read the final lines to be sure I wasn't misunderstanding what happened. I was blown away and it was a brilliant twist I didn't see coming. (Disclaimer: other readers said they did, though, so maybe I'm just dull when it comes to foreshadowing?) This is a great read to pick up in the fall and even in the winter, on a snowy day when you can't leave the house.
I picked up this book based on only what the blurb told me because it ticked a few boxes - unreliable narrator, obsessive relationship, and psychological suspense. Because this is the kind of book that is best read when you know very little, I'm not going to summarize the plot, but I'll say that if you liked books like [b:You 20821614 You (You, #1) Caroline Kepnes https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1411958102s/20821614.jpg 39913517] by Caroline Kepness or [b:Best Day Ever 34007977 Best Day Ever Kaira Rouda https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496783181s/34007977.jpg 55005136] by Kaira Rouda, this might a book for you.The thing that sets this book apart for me is how it touches on how the media often treats women unfairly in cases of relationships gone wrong. As the author notes in her acknowledgements, this book is “a mad spurt of anger at the continued injustices perpetrated against women in our so-called civilized society.” The trial scenes in the second part of the novel are when the book really picked up the pace for me and I found myself unable to put the book down. Also, Hall keeps you guessing through an incredibly manipulative writing style, so that you don't really know what the truth is until the end. Even in the final chapters I was only pretty sure I knew what was happening. This book won't be for everyone, but if you like being in the head of obsessive creepers, I highly recommend it!
I'm obviously in the minority with this rating but I absolutely hated this book.
First, when you compare something to The Talented Mr Ripley, you're basically giving away the plot from the get-go. For readers like me, who loved that book, it might not make a difference because we'll read it anyway, but then you need to write a book that stands up to the original. Unfortunately, for me, this one was not successful in that regard.
Louise, the “Ripley” character in this book, is not only obnoxiously unlikable but isn't at all sympathetic. She leaves home for unknown reasons and refuses to go back for unknown reasons, so she does whatever is necessary to stay in NYC, despite seeming to hate her life there. She meets Lavinia, a spoiled rich girl who seems to have endless amounts of money and no adult supervision or responsibilities. Fine - that's easy enough to believe. All of the characters, however, seem to live in this pseudo-Gastsby-esque world of drugs, drinking, and parties without any explanation as to why they are doing what they do. There's no motivation given for these characters, just their endless whirl of parties and operas and new dresses and expensive drinks. Everyone says they hate their parents but no reason is given for hating their parents. Everyone says they hate their friends but no reason is given for hating their friends. As a reader you're forced to take everything at face value but it's hard to do when you don't trust any of them and you hate all of them. At the end I found myself not caring much about what happened to anyone. Live...die...move to California and live on a commune...I did not care one whit.
The writing style made it difficult to read as well. It was a slowly paced book that consisted almost entirely of one drug-fueled outing after another (again, think Gatsby here), but with nothing interesting happening or substantive character development occurring in between, so the book dragged on endlessly. However, the narrative was almost entirely Louise's thoughts in a stream-of-consciousness form and it was frenzied in style, with endless run on sentences and abrupt changes in topic. It was just a deeply uncomfortable book to read without a clear reason to be that way. It took too much work and didn't feel worth it in the end.
The only interesting thing happening in this book is the author's use of social media to keep the plot moving, but in the end it wasn't enough to rescue this book from itself. It was an ambitious novel that just fell short for me.
(Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.)
This was a fun little cozy mystery, with interesting characters, tons of tongue-in-cheek humor, and a dash of 80s nostalgia. The plot was just convoluted enough that I didn't guess the outcome but not so complicated that it was hard to follow. I appreciate that Sykes didn't pull out any last minute cheats to fool the reader. I'm looking forward to the next installment.
Fierce Kingdom is a fast-paced novel that drops you directly into the action right at the start of the book. While at the zoo one afternoon with her young son, Joan sees something at the exit that causes her to retreat back into the zoo (a pretty obvious something). She spends the next three hours hiding in the zoo until the action-packed ending. This was a straight forward book with no twists but was certainly tense. Unfortunately, I never got into it. Joan does things that are nonsensical at times, like throwing her phone as a distraction to the...erm...something...that she's hiding from. She had been using this phone to keep in contact with her husband and, through him, the police. Being in an animal enclosure, one would assume she could have found a rock or something less important in her bag to throw. Then, about two-thirds of the way through the novel, the novel suddenly introduces two new characters in the form of other zoo guests hiding from danger. It shifts from first to third person perspective and we are now expected to care about these other people for whom we have no backstory or history. Surprisingly, they are more interesting and are more well-written than Joan is, but we're shortly back to Joan and her narration until the ending which, while action packed, is too ambiguous to be satisfying.
(Thank you to NetGalley and Viking for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
This book was a roller coaster ride for me, starting out strong and then proceeding to go all over the place before ending at a bit of a low point. I didn't feel any connection to the characters and much of the plot felt contrived. I kept guessing what was going on just before our protagonist did which got frustrating after a while - I found myself yelling “GET ON WITH IT ALREADY” several times as she proceeded to stay in the dark about several obvious clues. This was made all the more frustrating because we're told over and over again that she's a fantastic detective, except she's slow to figure out what's going on and does several stupid things that end up hindering her own investigation. The flashbacks to her childhood were strangely intrusive in the beginning, though they became less so as the novel progressed, and I did end up liking her in the end. By then, however, it was too late to salvage the disinterest I felt toward her as a character and the ending was so unbelievable that I was just glad the book was over.
(Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
This book was a disappointment. I liked the first 100 pages or so and it started out with an interesting premise. A couple move into a house they bought for a steal with the condition that they have to clear out the previous owners belongings. As they do this, a “disturbing discovery” in made in the attic by Jack (the boyfriend) who decides to not tell his girlfriend for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, Syd (the girlfriend) befriends in a very odd way the little girl that lives in the house behind theirs who seems to be hiding something. As the book progresses the perspective shifts from Jack to Syd as you discover they're writing their “versions” of what happens (you find out why later) and that's where the story fell apart for me. The synopsis gave me a strong suspense vibe, maybe even horror, but turned out to be more sad than anything else. There was a “who dun it” (sorta) but the twist was predictable and underwhelming by the time it finally came around. The only real positive I can give this book is that it's a fast read, so at least you won't waste too much time on it if you're as disappointed as I was with the plot.
(Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
Despite somehow having managed to read the first book and now the latest book in this series, I'm loving it. Bowen paints a lovely (and fairly realistic) picture of the time period and I am enjoying seeing Georgie become more self-assured and confident in her abilities. The portrayal of the Crown Prince and the horrid Mrs. Simpson was fantastic and I very much enjoyed meeting the new characters. I also am looking forward to seeing her relationship with Darcy progress. I can't wait for the next book (while I go back and play catch up with the series!).
(Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
A Stranger in the House was fast paced and plot driven with little character development, much like Lapena's previous book The Couple Next Door . The amnesia-driven plot has been overdone in the genre and this book unfortunately didn't execute it well enough to make up for it. There was a very small cast of characters which would have worked if the characters were more interesting or likable. As it was the husband was insufferable - he comes home to dinner on the stove, his wife nowhere to be found, her keys and bag on the counter, and he's annoyed that she didn't tell him she was leaving because he'd had a bad day and looking forward to seeing her. After she's found and is being questioned in connection to a murder he says “he's surprised he can still love her when he doesn't trust her.” All after a single, strange incident. The one character I was excited to see make a return was Detective Rasbach, who made his first appearance in Lapena's first novel. Overall the book was compulsively readable but not particularly memorable.
(Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Viking for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
The story starts with a bang, as 18-year-old Cass Tanner knocks on her family's front door late one night. Cass has been missing and presumed dead, along with her older sister Emma, after they both disappeared one night three years prior. As family and investigators gather around her to hear her account of what happened that night, Cass begins to tell her story – a story that involves a baby and an escape from an island where she and Emma were being held captive. The forensic psychologist assigned to the case of the missing sisters, Dr. Abby Winter, is suspicious of how polished Cass' story seems to be, as she has long believed something else was going on in the Tanner household when the girls disappeared. In alternating chapters, Cass tells investigators how to find her sister while Abby seeks to discover what, if anything, Cass feels she still needs to hide.
The multiple POV style seems to be gaining popularity in the genre and sometimes it feels overused but here it was executed perfectly. You get to hear Cass' inner thoughts as she narrates her story for her audience, all the while following Abby as she becomes increasingly emotionally invested in the case and begins to see herself and her family in Cass'. As the book goes on both characters become less reliable, leaving you on unstable footing as a reader. For a less talented writer this could cause the characters to seem inauthentic or less sympathetic, but in Walker's skilled hand this feels more like two sincere people who cannot both possibly be telling the truth. The narration unspools like this gradually until you suddenly realize that you don't know what has been the truth and what has been a lie. Small revelations appear at just the right time, hinting at something larger that dances just out of view of the reader. When the truth comes out, it's jaw dropping. In most of my reading I can say that I saw bits of the ending coming even if I didn't actually guess the entirety of the outcome. With this one I was completely blindsided and couldn't have been happier to have been so surprised. It was entirely satisfying, especially because the book stayed strongly character driven throughout.
My only real criticism of this novel is that some of the mental illness suffered by the characters was dealt with in a heavy-handed way. I think most readers would recognize the problems this family was facing without it being spelled out so directly and it felt a bit like a “tell” rather than a “show” by the author. However it was such a small problem that the rest of the novel's strengths more than made up for this flaw.
To find a thriller that examines mental illness and it's devastating effects on a family while also maintaining a strong pace and compelling characters is a treat. This is a novel I highly recommend.
(Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.)
Are You Sleeping? is based on an interesting premise - does our society's obsession with true crime help keep our justice system accountable or unnecessarily upset and intrude upon a family's private grief? Unfortunately the inclusion of a true crime podcast and social media responses (via tweets, Reddit feeds, and transcripts of the podcast itself) were the most interesting part of this novel for me. The characters, while not entirely unbelievable, fell flat for me. I was massively annoyed with the one-sided relationship the protagonist, Josie, had with her significant other, Caleb. It quickly became tiresome listening to her complain that “he's too good” and “she never understood what he saw in her.” It all got a bit schmaltzy for me and after a while I started to hope they'd split up just so I wouldn't have to listen to her talk about how little she deserved him. This book wasn't particularly dark and was more mystery than suspense with no graphic violence. Overall it's a decent debut with an interesting story line that had some unique aspects.
(Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.)
Despite this being the story of the famous Borden ax murders, at it's heart it's really the story of a terribly dysfunctional family. Sarah Schmidt's novel paints a fabulously unsettling picture of the Borden family - a family ruled by a tyrannical, miserly patriarch, an addled stepmother, codependent and unstable sisters, and poor Bridget the maid, who sees everything but is powerless to intervene or escape.
Lizzie is an unreliable narrator (as is to be expected, I suppose) and the narration in the chapters told from her perspective is dizzying in it's erratic and piecemeal presentation. Her thoughts jump around, concentrating heavily on sensation - what she felt, saw, heard, tasted - and she focuses on seemingly unimportant details (these details would prove to be important later, of course). I am delighted, however, to see that the other characters in the story are very well fleshed out and were what grounded the novel when Lizzie's narration took a fantastical turn. Schmidt's ability to write the characters in such a believable fashion serves to highlight just how unbalanced Lizzie was.
The gruesome nature of the crimes lends itself to a few death scenes in the novel which are handled in an understated but deeply unsettling way. The reactions of each person to the bodies are entirely in line with their characters. For those with squeamish stomachs, I advise avoiding food while reading. Also perhaps food after reading as well considering how food is also handled in the book (the MUTTON STEW! ).
This book is dark, haunting, unsettling, but also beautiful in it's style. Schmidt's expert combination of historical accuracy and creepy storytelling makes for a superb and fresh retelling of a well-known American murder.
(Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic Press for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.)
This and other reviews can be found at www.wearebooked.blog.
Final Girls attempts to turn the horror trope of the “final girl” - the blood-stained heroine who makes it out alive at the end of a slasher-horror flick - on it's head, with great success.
Our heroine, Quincy, is one of three “final girls” but is trying desperately to move on with her life. Between her baking blog and her fiance, she's making a good start. The police officer who saved her life contacts her to let her know that the first “final girl”, Lisa, has been found dead in her home of a suicide. The other final girl, Sam, shows up at her apartment out of the blue, and the news hits that Lisa's death might not have been at her own hands.
For anyone who is a fan of the slasher horror genre, this book is a treat. As I was reading it reminded me so much of Scream that I could almost picture the scenes in my head. This book is not a wink-and-nudge commentary on the genre, though. It takes itself very seriously and, as a result, does a better job translating into a proper suspense-thriller than it might have had it attempted any level of camp. Watching Quincy's perfect facade crumble under the strain of Lisa's death and Sam's arrival was cringe-worthy, and I found myself shouting at her to just go back to baking! The flashbacks Sager used to fill us in on exactly what happened the night of the massacre Quincy survived were well executed and were a nice way to show, rather than tell, the reader about that night. Sager successfully juggles several red herrings that lead up to a twist that, I'm happy to report, I didn't see coming in the least. (Others have said they did correctly predict the ending, so perhaps I should have as well. I was just having so much fun I clearly wasn't paying close attention!)
This book is pure entertainment and a ton of fun. It's entirely suitable, though, for someone who stays away from horror but might want to dip their toes into something that will leave them up late at night with the lights on. :) (Does that classify a horror-lite?)
* Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.*
Madeline is a fixture at Pirriwee Public School, having sent her 14-year-old daughter Abigail through already. Now, on her daughter Chloe's kindergarten orientation day, she is confident that the day will be business as usual. It is, until a stumble in the street brings her into contact with Jane, a new mom in town. Madeline introduces Jane to her friend Celeste and the three are fast friends. By the time orientation is over Jane's son has been accused of hurting a young girl in his class, Jane defends her son when he says he didn't do it, Madeline defends Jane from the girl's angry mother, and battle lines have been drawn. The book takes off from there, touching on school bullying, helicopter parenting, sexual violence, domestic abuse, self-confidence, single parenting, money, blended families, the pressure of keeping up appearances, and the dangers of gossip until racing toward a final stunning murder during the school's Trivia Night fundraiser.
Sending your children to school is not unlike going back to school yourself and Moriarty captures that with biting accuracy. The “Blonde Bobs” (known for their similar fashionable haircuts) are the Type-A moms of Pirriwee Public, running committees and signing petitions. Moriarty perfectly captures these women and the children they pass off as trophies. One parent quips that a Blonde Bob is lucky that her child is both gifted and has a mild peanut allergy, proving that motherhood is often viewed as a competition and to have more of a struggle is seen as a badge of honor and a sign of dedication. There's also a quiet rivalry brewing between the “career moms” and the “stay at homes” that any mother would probably recognize on some level. As a mother with a child in elementary school, I do not find these characterizations to hit far from their mark.
Moriarty peppers the novel with police interview tidbits from the other parents at the school that serve as a Greek chorus, commenting (usually with a delicious bit of snark) about the goings-on at the school. Their insight into the dynamics of the school community were a great insight into how much gossip and social alliances can color the reputations of others. They were often some of the funniest, laugh-out-loud moments in the book.
“Mrs. Lipmann: Look, I'd rather not say anything further. We deserve to be left in peace. A parent is dead. The whole school community is grieving. Gabrielle: Hmmm, I wouldn't say the entire school community is grieving. That might be a stretch. “
The characterization was perfect, with each woman, husband, and child having a unique voice and well-developed persona. The infuriating voice of Madeline's teen daughter was even spot-on, projecting just the right balance of self-absorption, self-righteousness, and naiveté all at once. When you can accurately capture how infuriating and adorable a 14 year old girl can be, you know you've done something right.
There were no wasted scenes and no points at which the book dragged. All of the subplots converged and were resolved at just the right time and the ending was satisfyingly believable, despite being (at least for me) a possibility I never once considered. In the end, Big Little Lies showcased just what kind of lies we tell ourselves and other and the disastrous consequences those lies can have.