Suzi

I was hesitant to pick up books by this author as the hype was SO high, however I eventually caved and I'm so glad I did.

I absolutely loved this from start to finish!

I'm a sucker for a small town romance, and this had all the things I love about them - friends, found family, cute animals, and a history to the place. And Daniel?! Is he just the most perfect man? 💕

I also really loved the inclusion of the heavier, more serious topics of domestic abuse, escaping abuse cycles, familial expectation and finding your own purpose in life.

Definitely one of my favourites of the year and I'd already bought the next 2 books before I'd finished this one! 😊

This was a great sequel to The Rise of the Ranger, and expanded on everything so well.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of Tauren and the Owls, as well as the other newly introduced characters.

The first half of this did feel a bit slower than the second half, but that second half was so intense and action packed it was worth it.

I listened to this one on audio, and I actually don't think that is the format for me with this series. The narrator was okay but was a little flat so I did feel a bit disconnected at times. So I think I'll just carry on with the series on Kindle.

I can safely say the last ~40% was outstanding, everything from Vorgossos onwards was impossible to stop reading/listening to.

If the whole book had been that gripping this would have been an easy 5 stars, however I did struggle a bit with the first half of the book. The pace was much slower and sloggy, and I felt disconnected with the story after the large time jump after EoS.

I've read other reviews/posts saying the second half of the book is indicative of the rest of the series, so I'll definitely be continuing but I did unfortunately struggle with a lot of this one.

So good! Dark and twisted until the end.

I was absolutely not expecting the emotional roller coaster of this book!!

So much was fun and full of banter then the heavy parts really hit and I cried so much! 😭

I switched to audio half way through this and the 2 narrators (Corvin King and Erin Mallon) were amazing!! Absolute perfection 💕

12 books into a series and each one is just as good as the last, in fact this was one of my favourites so far.

Will and Sara are married and on their honeymoon but of course it won't go to plan. Soon enough, there's a body and everyone at the remote, isolated lodge is a suspect.

The characters in these books are always nasty but the McAlpine family take it to another level, they are despicable humans and treat Mercy like sh*t. Every twist just made them worse, and there were plenty of twists.

One of my favourite things about Karin Slaughter's books is the weaving and layers of storylines, the books are quite long for thrillers but we need the time for all of the groundwork to be laid and lead up to the ending. It's always just so well done.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration by Kathleen Early was amazing, as always. 100% recommend the audio for these.

Excellent as always! Looking forward to more installments.

I love all of Slaughter's books so far but this one lacked the pace of the previous ones. I still enjoyed it and liked finding out some of the back story to Jeffrey but due to the switching between the two time lines, I felt like the suspense wasn't as consistent as all of the other books. Still a good read though! :)

The first time I read this, I read from morning until night and finished it in one day. Now I think ‘How did I have a whole day to just read?!' but I could honestly sit and read the whole thing in one go again if I didn't have things to do! It's totally compelling and very difficult to stop reading when you start.

I have mixed feelings about this book, I got a bit bored of the first half as it didn't seem to be going very far but then it completed changed in the second half of the book and I read it in a matter of hours! Definitely not one for those who don't like gory detail, but it will certainly catch you and keep you gripped until the end.

I'm completely torn about how to rate this book - whilst I did enjoy it, it did take me over 2 months to read it!

The story is enjoyable and interesting but some sections just drag and are so over detailed that they seem unnecessary. I love Claire as a main character, she is just excellent to follow as the narrator and her one liners are brilliant.

I have books 2 and 3 in the series but might wait a while before attempting those, maybe when I've got another 2 months to spare!

While the books are fairly short we are starting to get a bit more background to the characters, most of which I find likeable and enjoy learning more about. Will certainly be continuing with the series!

A little slow in places but well written and an enjoyable read. Agree with others that this is an original theme, so worth a read!

I read a lot of dark stories but this one is right up there with one of the darkest I've read.

It's been many years since I read book 1 in this series but I went into book 2 and didn't really feel like I was missing anything. Jack is such a brilliant, flawed character to follow and I flew through this in a few days as I just couldn't stop, even with such a disturbing subject.

I can't give this a full 5 stars as reading this in 2024, the age really shows due to the very dated stereotypes, language used and dialogue. I also really disliked Jack and Rebecca's toxic relationship, I get she's healing from her own trauma but I hated how she was written and the things she did.

I find it hard to rate police procedurals like it as they are all fairly similar and formulaic but yet I still really enjoy them! Patterson writes well, it's fast paced, interesting and will keep you turning the pages. This one had a good storyline and good pace, however I would like to see a bit more depth and development to the characters. I found everything very surface level but know this is a longer series so hope we explore more with the characters as we progress.

I'm a bit torn with this book - on one hand I did enjoy the writing and the bulk of story with multiple POVs, but I did feel that it slowed down at the end which made it drag.

The writing is very atmospheric and visceral, making you feel what the characters were feeling and tasting and smelling. This alone made the book quite different, as I don't think I've read a story with quite such evocative writing.

My issues with the book are more about the plot - the story is based on the true crime of the Borden murders but as this is a fictionalised story there could have been so much more done with it! The few basic facts were there (and repeated!) but the story could have been expanded on to make this an excellent book. Another issue was the POV of Benjamin, who seemed to only be in the story to be able to fill in the later pages with the trial. He seemed so completely out of place that I just switched off at that point, after that chapter my attention was lost.

I liked the inclusion of the timeline at the end but would have thought there would be a note on the historical events and how she researched them. Maybe that's just me though.

I think this was a 3.5 star book but I'm rounding up to 4 as Goodreads still doesn't do halves!

Anyway, all in all this was a good book. I read it in about 2 sittings so it certainly kept me interested and gripped enough, however as it was fairly short I did feel some aspects were lacking a bit of explanation or background. I also didn't really connect with any of the characters so wasn't particularly bothered by some events which impacted them.

Finally, the ending didn't really provide any closure which I suppose the author was going for as the whole book seemed to be more of a snapshot of the ongoing situation. Whilst I don't think there is really an opportunity for a sequel, I don't think he meant to give us closure. We are left wondering if the future is that bleak.

As said, all in all I did enjoy this quick and enthralling read, I think I would have just preferred a few more details to have been fleshed out more.

It's been years since I read the previous book in this series but I don't think they necessarily need to be read back to back.

This had a great premise and I liked how the different storylines intertwined by the end. Rizzoli and Isles are great characters but I wish Maura would ditch the priest.

My issue with this is the overdone writing, it's quite long for a thriller and a lot of the description and exposition seems unnecessary, it could probably be trimmed down by 100 pages and still work well.

4.5 stars! Oh wow, this book is fantastic!! It's such an exciting read and I felt like I was on edge most of the time, like in certain scenes where Phoenix is running through the city avoiding the tribes. So tense! Wilson is a fantastic author and this is a very impressive debut. Very much looking forward to the next instalment.

I generally like the Katie Maguire series, they're fairly well written, interesting, fast paced, etc. however this one just missed the mark for me. I cannot deal with cruelty to animals, even in a fictional story. It just upsets me to no end, so despite this novel involving a few linked story lines that one just didn't sit well with me and I did not enjoy it much for that reason.

Ah this book is a rollercoaster of emotions! It's tense, it's sad at times, it's got some great twists and I genuinely cried happy tears too.

This is not your standard “mystery thriller”, it's got a deeper level of emotion, family, grief, pain and hope.

Looking at the characters, I really liked Maggie and her friendship with Jim, it just touched my heart so much, and the sisterhood between Emma and Steph was so strong despite how the story unfolded.

My only criticism can't really be fully explained because of spoliers but I felt one of the characters wasn't portrayed consistently throughout. I understand this may be deliberate to reflect his mental state but it came off as disjointed and out of place, but it didn't distract much from the story.

I would definitely recommend this to fans of mysteries with a bit more substance.

This was one of those random 2 for 1 deal books you find a supermarket and think it'll just be your average run of the mill thriller, but this was so good!!

I thought it was very well written with great characters and a suspenseful plot. There are a couple of cases ongoing throughout with some other sub-plots weaving in and out of the story, it's a well crafted narrative that keeps you turning the pages well into the night.

I enjoyed the friendship forming between Luc and Ava, it's great to see two people becomes friends over what seems a natural span of time and we can already see the potential for a romantic relationship, but it wasn't insta-love and didn't overpower the plot which I thought was a good choice.

I'm very pleased to see this is the start of a series and I will certainly be looking into continuing.

Thumbs up for Renée Ahdieh, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Adam Silvera and Andrew Smith's stories. Skipped/skimmed most of the rest though. Shame as I thought I would really enjoy this!

Yet another brilliant book from this author, I've very quickly become obsessed with this series and have all of the remaining books on my Kindle ready to read! 😊

This one is as gruesome and violent as the others but this time follows the investigation of the murders of artists in varying methods of brutality.

As always I love the way Robert Hunter's mind works, the speed he makes connections and the way he can pick up on the slightest clue is just brilliant and never ceases to impress me. Garcia is a wonderful partner and perfect balance to Hunter, I really enjoy their dynamics as a team.

My one teeny negative is Captain Blake and her attitude to the detectives, she's slow on the uptake and I end up rolling my eyes when she needs things explained over and over. C'mon love, keep up!!

I'm always surprised by the twists at the end of these books, I've not guessed one yet and I don't imagine I will with the future ones!

I've just finished this on Christmas morning and it was perfect timing! Now I'm all happy and warm and feeling so festive!

This follows Poppy whose boyfriend sort of proposes 12 days before Christmas then goes to Spain to visit his mother leaving her to decide. Back at home Poppy has dreamt of setting up her own catering company and receives an offer she can't refuse to cook for a family at a log cabin over Christmas.

This is just a wonderful story about friendship, relationships, Christmas and warmth. I was expecting this to be completely surface level and fluffy (and wouldn't have been mad at it!) but it actually had a little depth to be interesting. A nice surprise!

Yes it's completely cheesey at times but it's a festive romance so of course it will be!