Bia

It took me such a long time to get to this play simply because I didn't want a cursed child 2.0 experience. But in the end, I'm so glad that I gave fantastic beasts a shot because it was simply amazing. If you are hesitant to pick it up because you are still traumatized by the disaster known as cursed child, don't be because trust me you will love it with all your heart.

Reasons as to why I loved this play so much:

- The characters were all wonderful in their own special way. I must admit though, I wasn't fond of Queenie at first but then she grew on me in the end. I loved how they incorporated a no-maj (I mean muggle) in the whole mess because his reactions to magic was very entertaining to read.

- The fact that it was set in New York City and we got a glimpse of how the American wizards are in comparison to the beloved British wizards that we all know was so awesome to read. I genuinely thought every Wizard used the same terminology, but apparently they don't. It was so weird reading no-maj instead of muggle, and it got me curious on how other wizards from other parts of the world call non magic folks. It was also interesting to read the different rules (ex: american wizards can't marry muggles), granted that the setting was during the 1920s so not sure if the laws are still the same.

- I loved how we got introduced to new magic spells (or at least the once mentioned I've never heard of before), learned about obscurus which I found pretty interesting and got an insight of how MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) is like.

- I knew about a little less than halfway throughout the play that Credence was the cause of the obscurus, however I did not see the whole Graves really being Grindelwald because of polyjuice potion plot twist. I didn't notice him drinking or carrying around any polyjuice potion, maybe I missed it, so when that was revealed I was so taken aback. But I did not like Graves and found him a slime ball, so him being Grindelwald did make sense.

- The plot was super fast paced and extremely entertaining. I loved Newt as a main character and loved learning bits and pieces about his magical creatures.

- I wish the ending carried out a little bit longer because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the characters. There was so much I wanted to learn about them. I wanted to know more about Queenie and Tina's life, about the whole relationship between Newt and Leta Lestrange (I had to read on Wikia to know what happened between them and why Newt got kicked out of Hogwarts). But hopefully we will see them again in the future.

All in all this play was a very quick, very fun and it got me out of my book slump. I can't wait until I watch the movie and see how the story plays out on screen. I'm hoping it will be just as good as the play.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! When it comes to YA I can be a little hesitant because I feel like the tropes and plotlines are all the same so I went into this one with caution. There are gossip girl and get out elements but it's also its own story (I was worried it was going to be a copy and paste of those two).We follow our two main characters Devon and Chiamaka while they are trying to figure out who in their private school is trying to ruin their lives. For YA it was pretty thrilling, and I found it hard to put down. It has really important discussions on racism and classism, and it was very frustrating to read at times. It was pretty well written and enjoyed the reveal and how everything wrapped up. However, it did get a little over the top at times. I recommend if you're a fan of YA thrillers/mysteries.

SPOILERS AHEAD: in case you want to know what happens in this book


Turns out Aces isn't just one person but the entire school. The school was created after the civil war and every 10 years they let 2 black students attend just to ruin their lives by the time they reach senior year. The goal here is to have the bullying be bad enough that they either drop out or they don't get into universities. It's beyond fucked up if you asked me. The reason for this you may ask? Well to make their confederate ancestors proud... and continue their legacy basically. Also this doesn't just happen in this school but in many others and there are also even news outlets that protect these vile people. Devon and Chiamaka manage to get out and still have successful lives and they create an organization that finds schools like these and try to protect students from going through the same things they did. The best part: Chiamaka becomes a doctor and one of the patients she is caring for because they are on the brink of death turns out to be her old headmaster..ahh I love a sweet revenge.

TW: suicide, alcoholism

This would have been a 5 star read if i wasn't for the ending... It has so many elements that I loved: the gloomy atmosphere chef's kiss. The characters are stuck in the house with a murder on the loose and clues/messages keep mysteriously appearing, which was very fun. Flashbacks (told through Daisy's POV) that slowly but surely reveal family secrets and helps us the reader understand more of their dynamic with one another (this family is highly dysfunctional). There are short little poems thrown in about each family member that hint at how they may or may not die. It's very “and then there were none” inspired, so if you enjoyed that book and you like the elements I mentioned then I say pick it up! But I must warn you that the ending may not be for everyone.


SPOILERS AHEAD: in case you want to know what happens in this book:




It turns out that Daisy Darker has been dead this whole time. I have a few issues with this. It did clear up why her family members kept ignoring her (even though I didn't really notice it that much). It also explains why Daisy never really helped move any bodies and why no one asked for her help when she was standing right there. However, there were two instances where it didn't really make sense. The first was when Daisy was in her room alone with Conner (the neighbor), she says something to him and he replies and has a full on small conversation with her. Was it maybe him just talking out loud? Not sure.. In another scene, Daisy, her sister Rose and her niece Trixie where in a room hiding from the murderer when Rose straight up asks “Daisy are you doing this?”, Daisy replies no and just the exchange felt like they were actually talking to each other. It's just very weird.. Rose knows her sister is dead why would she all of a sudden be asking this?

Anyway, you're probably wondering who the killer is and the answer is....Trixie, the 15 year old niece. With the help of 80 year old Nana, yes the first one to be “murdered”. I know you are confused but bare with me, let's go back to the beginning of the storyline. Daisy has a heart condition, so her life expectancy was very low. Because of this she wasn't allowed to do anything, because her parents were worried it would kill her. But don't be fooled, her parents are very wishy washy with their feelings and mainly don't seem to really care about anyone but themselves. Parents divorce, drama and mess ensue blah blah. Point is, that Daisy only really has her sisters for company and even then not really because Rose and Lily are assholes, especially Lily. I hate Lily with all my soul, to say she is an entitled brat is an understatement. So naturally Daisy loved going to her grandma's because Nana truly was the only one who loved her.

To make a long story short we will fast forward to what I will call “the accident”. It is implied that something bad happened between Daisy, Rose, Lily and Conner because after whatever it was, no one has spoken to Daisy and things were tense. When Daisy was 13 she snuck out to a halloween party because she was tired of not being able to be like a normal person. Her sisters and Conner (who were at the party) find her and let her stay. It's important to mention that the rest were between 17-18 years old and Rose and Conner were dating, and Lily was very jealous of that. Daisy ends up catching Lily and Conner having sex after Conner and Rose got into a fight. Daisy tells Rose but she doesn't believe her and Lily and Conner gaslight so Daisy gets mad and starts running back to the grandma's house. Somehow Rose, Lily and Conner end up in the car driving back home as well (the pacing here is a bit weird). Conner is drunk driving and ends up hitting Daisy without even noticing until they all get out. They are naturally freaking out and Conner convinces the sisters to throw Daisy down the cliff to make it look like she fell. So they do and midair Daisy revives, while all three are looking in shock horror realizing that their sister was actually alive and they have now murdered her twice. She dies, the police investigate and since the car belonged to Conners dad and he was back to being an alcoholic, he thought that he accidentally did it but didn't remember it during his drunken state. He commit's suicide mainly due to guilt.

Eventually, the mom finds out because Lily tells her (she is the mom's favorite) so to protect her daughter she keeps her secret. I believe the dad also found out and he too kept his mouth shut. Basically everyone knew except Nana. Trixie was born, Lily's daughter (we find out towards the end Conner is the father), and she too had the same heart condition as Daisy. One day she dies for a few minutes and that's how she see's Daisy for the first time. After that she constantly see's her and that's how she finds out the real story behind her death. Her mom Lily is very upset about this and forbids her to talk about her dead sister. Nana notices that Trixie is telling the truth because she has seen things move around. So when Nana finds out the truth, she gets extremely angry because Daisy was her favorite so she makes this plan as an act of revenge and is hoping it will also help Daisy move to the afterlife. The mom, dad, sisters and Conner die and Nana commits suicide to be able to see her granddaughter for the last time. Apparently people only see Daisy when they are dying. Daisy also forgets she is dead and apparently this reveal has been done many times before. Instead of being an adult women, she is still 13 and in the same outfit that she died in. So yeah... Trixie is basically left alone and is apparently totally fine with that because they all put her in a bubble just like they did with Daisy and she just wants to live her life. It ends with Daisy writing a book about the “real daisy darker” in order to move on because she can still somehow interact with the physical world.

I would have LOVED if Daisy was actually alive and the killer because there are so many time she mentions that “maybe killing is worth keeping secrets” and other comments that made it seem like her being the killer was being foreshadowed. Based on how awful everyone (except the niece and Nana) were to her it would have made so much sense. Sure, it would be a “been there done that” type of ending but in my opinion sometimes simple is better and it would have been such a better revenge story. So I was disappointed.

TW: (posible spoilers): Sexual assault, kidnapping, physical abuse, drug use, alcoholism, suicide, hints that either incest occurred and where never confirmed or Robert at least had inappropriate thoughts about his daughter based on his actions towards girls who looked like her...

Originally I gave this four stars but after a few days I think 3 is more aligned with how I actually feel about this book. Don't get me wrong I had a lot of fun reading it, it's told through interviews with some emails and newspaper clippings thrown in there. Plot wise there is a lot that goes on and I honestly had no idea how this book was going to end, I doubted everyone at some point and even wondered if the murderer would be someone outside the main cast of characters. But the reason for the 3 stars is that I wasn't a fan of the reveal and thought the ending was super rushed. We spend so much time on building up the tension of the reveal and then when it happens it's like a couple of pages and that was that. We do get a where are they now wrap up but I would have liked an interview with the others to get their thoughts on the aftermath.

I don't recommend this to people who don't enjoy interview style of story, and those who don't like lots characters and plots being introduced only to be used as red herrings and in the end not even being fully explained/solved (examples of these in the spoiler section).

I guess this book is supposed to mimic real life and play out as if it were a real murder case, so in that way it's understandable that some elements are pointless, dead ends, unsolved etc. but I'm someone who likes reading a murder mystery that has everything solved/explained at the end. So somethings didn't work for me. But that's a me problem and not the books problem, so if you are like me you may not enjoy it as much. But I still do recommend because the journey was at least fun.


SPOILERS AHEAD: if you want to know what happens in this book:



Basically the murderer is Finton, zoeys “friend”, turns out that they didn't even know each other nor spent time with each other and he didn't even attend the university. Finton isn't even his real name it's actually Connor he legally changed it because he had a sexual assault charge. Having two ID's made it easy to conceal his identity. I wonder if in real life it would have been that easy to hide your real name from the police because with a case this big wouldn't they take their finger prints or something? and also wouldn't you changing your legal name be on record somewhere? Surely the police would do a background check on all those involved in Zoey's life. Not sure though so I'm not going to be too critical on that.

I'm going to be honest with you guys, I finished this book a few days ago and already forgot a lot of things because there are so many different plot lines. Like at one point Kim (zoeys twin sister) mentions that she gets kidnapped (before Zoeys disappearance) then gets let go because she lied about having this metal plate on her knees and thinks those same people were responsible for Zoeys disappearance. In the end they had nothing to do with it but with another murder that took place in France. Then we had comments from people saying how Zoey was really close with her tutor etc. etc. but turns out that she never went to class and that tutor didn't even know her...and so no one knew what Zoey was up to during the day when she was supposed to be in class and it never gets revealed either. They didn't even find her body nor do we find out the reasons as to why Finton took a special interest in Zoey because he ended up killing himself. Honestly we would be here all day if I tried to explain every side plot, every twist so I'm not even going to bother because the only relevant thing to know is that Finton did it and he hid himself so well. Especially since he ended up helping Zoeys dad with a charity to raise awareness for her disappearance, and it ended up being this huge organization that helped other young women with scholarships to the uni Zoey attended.

Also Zoey's dad is possibly the worst character out of all the them, he was such a pig and sexually assaulted all these women who looked like/reminded him of his daughter. A disgusting human being and I hated him so so so much. Not only was he a predator but also treated everyone so horribly then had the audacity to act as a victim.

I was kind of hoping the murderer would be Liu Mae (roommate/friend of zoey's) because I found that the way she was throwing everyone under the bus and never keeping focus on herself and low-key obsessed with Zoey to be very suspicious. It was disappointing that she wasn't or didn't contribute in some way because it just made her really pointless to the story. Well I guess she served as a red herring but meh.

I was so disappointed with this one, after enjoying the guest list so much I thought this was also going to be a 5 star read, but unfortunately it was not. It was fast paced, and the atmosphere was superb, but those were the only positives I managed to find. I guessed some of the reveals (which rarely happens as I am horrible at figuring things out), and even the ones I didn't see coming did not shock me one bit. I appreciate it trying to be more complex and not a straight forward mystery, but it just did not work for me. I can't really pinpoint what about it didn't work for me, I'm not sure if its because to me it felt very telenovela at times, or because the characters were so unlikable, or maybe I'm the problem. I'm not sure, but it wasn't a fun reading experience. I still can't get over Ben as a character, I've met my few share of overly charismatic people but I still couldn't help but roll my eyes when Ben once again was able to charm another person. He felt very mary sue and Jess felt like “im not like other girls” type of character which took me out of the story several times. If you end up picking this one up I'd recommend reading it on a cold gloomy/rainy day to really set the mood.

Spoiler of what happens in this book:
Turns out that Nick, Mimi, Sophie, Jaques (the husband), are a family (also add Nick and Mimi's other violent brother, who I can't for the life of me remember his name). But wait, there's more. This family is rich because of their supposed wine business left behind by Jaques first wife after she passed away. She is also the biological mother of Nick and the violent brother, making Sophie the step mother of those two. Ben actually finds out that this wine business is actually a front for this sex slave ring, where immigrant women are forced to dance and do sexual acts on gross rich men. Each wine represents a type of girl that a man wants to purchase, either for the evening or forever.Sophie is not actually a high born french woman but actually from Russia and was originally one of the women in this sex ring. Jaques took an interest in her and bought her out so she could become his wife. The concierge's daughter ended up being one of these girls and ended up getting pregnant, but dies while giving birth. Sophie really wanting children of her own ends up taking this baby and with the help of Jaques forges documents so 'legally' this child is theirs. Who is this child you may ask? Mimi. Ben charms his way to living in this apartment because Nick fell in love with him during this European trip and thought having him around would be like old times. Then he charms his way to becoming BFF's with Jaques, and even Sophie who loathed him ends up sleeping with him, multiple times. Mimi also ends up becoming enamored with him and believes he feels the same way about her. Basically, this is entire family, minus violent brother is in love with Ben. But Ben is only interested in finding out more about their dark secret to expose them and become the amazing journalist he thrives to be. Jaques finds out that Ben knows and is obviously pissed so he comes to his apartment and starts beating him up and I believe he stabs him as well. Mimi who sees this through her window decides to stop her dad because she loves Ben. When she arrives she ends up killing her own dad to save Ben. Sophie walks in on this and to protect her daughter ends up masking Jaques body and making her step sons believe it's actually Ben, so they bury him. Sophie puts Ben's body up in the attic where she tries to take care of him because he was in critical condition. Everyone eventually finds out about everything and Jess takes her brother to the hospital because somehow he was still alive even after all these months. She exposes this family but lets Sophie escape to a different country because she felt bad for her. Oh and the concierge you may ask? Violent brother pushed her down the stairs and she dies from the impact. Violent brother also commits suicide after the exposé. Things turn out fine for Jess and Ben. Mimi goes to a boarding school to escape this mess and Nick well truthfully I don't remember and it doesn't really matter. And that's all.

This book is composed of 10 short horror stories:

The Head: this one follows a woman who suddenly witnesses a head pop up out of her toilet that starts calling her “mom”. This woman has no idea who this head belongs to and what they want. She then goes on a mission to remove this head from her life, but things don't really go to plan. It is a very gross story, so definitely not one to read while eating. It was in my opinion, very unique and such a strong story to start off with.

The Embodiment: in this story we follow a woman who somehow gets pregnant while being on birth control and the doctors tell her it's because she was on it for “too long”. In order for her baby to be born normal she needs to find a man who will be willing to give her his sperm. This one was very bizarre, and to be honest didn't really understand it (this will be a reoccurring thought...)

Cursed Bunny: there's a family who get paid to create cursed objects. There's a set of rules they have to follow to avoid disaster. The reasoning behind these rules is revealed through the main character's reminiscing grandfather. I really enjoyed this one, loved the message about revenge and how it doesn't just affect the targeted person but innocent people as well.

The Frozen Finger: a woman has woken up in a car that's about to drown, she has no idea where she is and what is happening. The only person there with her is this other woman who tries to help her. But nothing is what it seems. This one was chilling, I think I understood it all but there's a part of me who is still just as confused as this main character. The best part of this one is how atmospheric it is.

Snare: a man find a rabbit wounded in the woods, it isn't the fact that she can talk that drew this mans interest, it's the fact that her blood is made out of gold. How far is this man willing to go in order to maintain his new found riches? Extremely far I'll tell you that. This one is the darkest story of all of them and very fairy tale like. I would have thought this one belonged to the Grim Brother's fairy tale collection if I didn't know any better. By far my favorite of the bunch, even had a nightmare after reading this one.

Goodbye, My Love: ah, now we are getting into what I refer to “the shift” of this short story collection. Our main character work for this robot company and is responsable with turning them on and making sure they work properly. These robots you ask? they are suppose to be human like and basically help their owners. But we all know how these types of stories turn out... very black mirror but without the horror.

Scars: this one I don't even think I can explain, as I didn't quite understand it. A man lives a cave where this things he refers to as “it” comes feed from his body whenever it feels like. He doesn't remember life before the cave, how he got there or what this thing is. It is creepy, but personally I was quite confused. This is the longest story out of all of them and I got bored a bit.

Home Sweet Home: a woman and her family moves into a new building, and are tasked to renovate it. But creepy things keep happening. Another one that I didn't really get, which is why my description of the book is very basic. Not very scary and the story flew over my head. This one was my least favorite.

Ruler of the Winds and Sands: a blind prince is born due to a curse that was placed upon his family. When he becomes of age to marry, his father sets him up with a princess from another kingdom. She falls in love with him and decides to go to the person who was responsable for this cursed to ask him to lift it. This one was more fantasy than horror, as there was 0 horror elements to it. Quite enjoyable though, just wanted more of it as I felt like it ended right when things where getting interesting.

Reunion: I had to go back and check if I had read this one because I couldn't remember what it was about...I think this speaks for itself. A Korean woman moves to Poland where she meets this man who is very troubled. They bond over the fact they can see ghosts and eventually fall for one another. Again, not scary and is heavily focused on trauma. Personally wasn't a huge fan of this one either as it didn't really keep my interest.

As you can see, I really enjoyed the first 5 stories, but from story 6 onwards I felt like the mood of the book shifts from dark, horror, gruesome stories to a sci-fi, fantasy ball of confusion. Maybe I'm too dumb to understand some of the ones from the second half, but I just didn't enjoy them and they put me in a reading slump. I still recommend reading the first 5 stories especially “snare” because my god chef's kiss. If you like fantasy with a bit of horror, you may like the second half, but if you're looking for pure horror, you may be disappointed.

The hype is worth it with this one! I personally rarely pick up memoirs because it never really interests me. But this one was quite the journey. This is such a raw and honest depiction of childhood stardom and the effects fame can have on someone that has been in the public eye since a young age. And also the consequences that a toxic relationship between parent and child can have on said child. It was a hard frustrating read at times but it is so worth it. The writing style was also superb, seriously it's so well written.

But please know that there are a lot of triggering things in this book: TW: eating disorder (bulimia, anorexia), alcoholism, abuse/child abuse (mental, physical), gaslighting, sexual assault, narcissistic parent (mom and grandma), toxic work place environment and relationships.

If you've seen the show and loved it I highly recommend this book.

It's great because:
1. there's a glossary for words that are commonly used in the diary and the show. Since I'm not from Ireland, there were some things I didn't fully understand while watching that now makes sense to me. So it was really helpful.

2. Although a lot of the entries refers to events that where shown in the first and second seasons. There are also entries for the days we didn't see, talking about new events or even more detailed explanations of the aftermaths of their shenanigans.

3. The big bowl mystery is revealed.

It reads like a high schooler's diary so don't expect this to be high quality writing (Erin would highly disagree with me on that). It was fun and I laughed out loud a few times, it also had its sweet moments. Over all, I loved having a more in depth look into their lives and personalities.

But be warned, if you find Erin to be annoying or too full of herself in the show, this diary will probably drive you mad.

This books follows a dual time line, one in the 80's focusing on Mick Rivas kids: Nina, Kit, Hud and Jay, and them preparing for Nina's famous end of the summer party. The other time line goes back to the 50s and slowly but surly reaches the “present” 80s timeline. In this one we find out Mick Riva's background story: how he became became famous, we get an insight on his relationship with his wife and kids and lastly, discover how his kids became famous as well.

I was a little disappointed in this one because the way the summary was worded it seemed like something tragic was going to happen at Nina's summer party. So, the build up was very intense and I was gripped from the start, until well.. the “big” thing came and went in a blink of an eye. So to me the ending was very “meh”. One other thing I wasn't a huge fan of, was that during the chapters of Nina's party there were far too many pages dedicated to characters that didn't really interact with the siblings so I didn't really care for them as they were pretty irrelevant to me. So during those parts I was a bit bored, I understand that the maybe the author wanted the party to feel full and wanted to give the reader more insight to the type of people who where there, but I just didn't really care. However, the rest of this book was really great. Loved how it was written, I read this in two days and I'm a very slow reader, but it flowed beautifully. It was surprisingly gripping cos I'm nosy and wanted to know the siblings secrets and what happened in their family dynamic. And boy is there a lot of drama... June, the kids mom, deserved so much better. I swooned with her when she first met Mick, and then my heart also got shattered. I just wanted to go inside this book and give her a hug, and then her kids, especially Nina, a hug as well.

If you've read the seven of husbands of Evelyn Hugo and liked it then chances are you'll like this one as well. It has the same old Hollywood feel that Evelyn Hugo has plus some little easter eggs as well, being that Mick Riva is one of her husbands. As always, the characters feel SO real, I left the book feeling like I have met these characters personally. Also recommend if you like family dramas and reading about famous people with a whole lot of issues. This is a perfect summer read, it's so atmospheric that I felt as if I were on a beach in Malibu under the warm summer sky, even though I read this during cold and rainy days.

This story is told through multiple posts that were shared on a medical forum (kind of like a Reddit) about the case that almost made Parker give up being a psychiatrist. So it starts off with freshly out of medical school and starting his first job at a run down hospital. He quickly learns that there is a patient that the hospital staff keep behind locked doors and almost no one is allowed to talk to him. Only the most veteran staff is allowed to go in to change his sheets, give him food and medicine. They aren't even allowed to use his full name, and only refer to him as “Joe” to prevent newer professionals from researching about him. The only thing our main character knows is that this patient has been there since he was 6 years old and has stayed there for over three decades, he is considered by all incurable but is so dangerous that no doctor can in good conscience let him out. But is he really as evil as they say or is there more to the story? Well that is what Parker tries to find out...

Overall I thought this book was okay. I thought the writing style was great, although very formal for the style of book it was supposed to be. I can't imagine anyone writing on a forum that way even if it is amongst medical students/professionals.

I loved the discussion on mental health practices especially the dark side of it all. I know there are a lot of professionals who go above and beyond but there are many that are like Dr. P who just want to medicate all the patients and call it a day. And the whole hospital being under funded and the effects it has no only on the patients but also the professionals and quality of care, since this a reality for many facilities.

There were two ways this book could have gone and it went in a way I wasn't really fond of. It's hard to talk about without spoiling but it just wasn't a scary read. It felt more mystery/thriller than horror. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to start dipping their toes in horror but is hesitant because they scare easy. Maybe at most the ending could leave you with existential dread but to me it didn't really do much, it was kind of cheesy at times. However, I don't think it was badly done it just wasn't for me.

In the next few paragraphs I'm goin to spoil this book, especially the ending SPOILERS AHEAD.





When Joe first went to the hospital it was due to night terrors. He said he would see this monster at night and when he screamed for his parents this monster would disappear into his walls. The doctor told him it was in his imagination and he could control it because it's a part of him. That night he confronts the monster and after that it is noted by doctores that he started having behavioral issues. Parker goes to his family house to investigate further because the doctors think his dad is the monster and Joe was sexually abused as a child (why no one before him did this is beyond me).

There is also a theory that the hospital is making everything up because his parents are rich and funds a lot for the hospital. This is due to the fact that Parker who finally got to talk to Joe sees him as a regular functional man with no violent tendencies.

Anyways, he does to the family home and turns out the dad passed and both parents are actually very loving and really wanted Joe to get better. Parker tears down the wall and find skeletons of a child. Joe is actually dead... hospital Joe is an actual monster. Parker goes to confront him, tells him “he knows he is not human” and watches him transform. Parker is voice recording this interaction and the monster says all these awful things to him etc. when “Joe” goes back to normal he has a worried face and tell him to check the tape. Parker leaves and does, turns out that the things the monster said weren't recorded, you could just hear “Joe” pleading. Next day the hospital had a pipe burst, energy got cut off and “joe” escaped.

The monster shifts into what people say he is. When is called a bad boy, he becomes one, when little Joe said he was a part of him, he becomes him, when people treated him like a human he was stuck, when Parker said “he knew he wasn't human” he was freed. It also feeds off people's biggest fears.

Parker has a girlfriend and shortly after the escape she gets attacked. When he goes check on her at the hospital he notes her “crooked smile” he also described Joe to have a cooked smile...it's heavily implied that the monster became the gf but Parker never realizes even after she changes. In the end Parker has his own private practice and works with kids. The monster implies there are more like him so Parker always wonders if he is dealing with real life kids or one of those things.

I think if it went the route that humans were the bad guys, that the doctors indeed were making it up to help get funds would have been more haunting for me. If Parker who figured it out changed his tune because of the manipulations of the other doctors and somehow harmed Joe in the process thinking he was a monster (he did take an axe with him to confront him, so he could kill the monster he didn't even up doing but imagine he did) and only after he realizes maybe he was right after all. Maybe Joe really only had night terrors that went aways eventually but the hospital didn't want to stop receiving his parents money. It would have been a lot more bleak that's for sure. And would have made the “check the tapes” conversation make a bit more sense. And then Parker had to live his whole life knowing he could not save his patient because he did the one thing he never thought he'd do and that fulfilled his biggest fear all on his own. That would have sent shivers down my spine.

I thought this book was very meh. I was expecting twists and turns to show up but I had a feeling from the beginning how this would end, and I was right. It felt very generic, so I'd only recommend it to people who are very new to mystery books. I enjoyed the camp vibes, but since it's told through mixed media (letters, text messages, witness accounts), I felt very detached from the story and characters. It was a quick read, but it was also a lot of telling and not showing which made it a bit boring at times.

Review is spoiler free!
I was so hesitant to start this book, because it has been so hyped up, but I really enjoyed it. This book follows 4 different characters, Florian, Emilia, Joana and Alfred. Each one of them coming from a different country and having their own hardships and secrets.

Usually, I'm not a fan of multiple point of views because often times it's not done correctly. I always end up having a difficult time differentiating between the voices. However, I felt the multiple POV's really added such a great element to the story. All four characters were so different from one another, and had their own personal story, and the multiple POV allowed me to experience this tragic event from different sides.

There were so many twists and turns through out this book. When I thought I had the characters all figured out, Ruta Sepetys proved me wrong. Even now that I am finished with this book, I feel that there were so much still left unspoken by the characters. The side characters also had so much personality that I found it hard not to care for them too. The shoe poet, Klaus and Ingrid were possibly my favorite side characters, I just wanted to hug them and tell them everything was going to be okay.

I learned a lot about WWII in school, however a lot of the time I just learned the American side of things (apart from the Holocaust). I knew this war affected all of Europe, but I never really knew how much loss and suffering all those poor people had to endure. And, I never knew about the ships and the refugees. When I read a book I put myself into the characters shoes, and I feel as if I'm the one taking the journey. So that being said, I couldn't help but cry, especially towards the end of this book. I knew the ending couldn't be all sunshine and rainbows, because the reality of this situation wasn't for so many, but I'm still so devastated. The ending was definitely bittersweet.

I loved this book, the writing, the characters and how they all became connected, the fast paced plot. Just everything was so well done and I highly recommend this book to everyone. If you often cry in books then I don't recommend reading this book in public and have lots of tissues near you, you will need them.

This was disappointing to say the least. It was sold told me as a horror novel but really it's more magical realism with a touch of spookiness.

The whole house at the bottom of a lake concept intrigued me, and it's what kept me from DNF-ing it. I had so many questions and was hoping to get them answered as the story went along, but in the end I was just left very confused.

I looked up an explanation of this whole book, and I still don't get it. I still don't understand how the house is a metaphor of their relationship... sure, they had insecurities and uncertainties, being that this was their first relationship, and I guess the spookiness of the house is a reflection of that. But what's up with the clay "person", the floating clothes, and everything staying in tact and not floating. What did it all mean? cos honestly I don't know.

This book was not for me. If you like magical realism, and making sense of metaphors, you'll probably like this one.

I've been seeing this book pop up everywhere, and wanted to give it a try after hearing so many good things about it. This book was a very quick read and I was honestly surprised at how raw and personal this book was.

I sat here for a long time struggling to find the right words to explain why this book is worth 4 stars. Its worth the 4 stars, because of how much I saw myself through her words. It's an indescribable feeling when you read a book written by someone else, but their words and feelings are pretty close to your own.

I can see why some people might not enjoy this book. A few didn't like how this book was formatted, however, I didn't mind it at all. Sometimes it changed to correlate with what she was talking about. And to me, that just made it more powerful. At times it did feel like I was reading from a angsty teen's tumblr, but again, that didn't bother me. However, if that doesn't appeal to you, then you may not enjoy it as much as I did.

The reason I didn't give it a 5 stars is because of how messy it was. Amanda Lovelace jumped around a lot from topic to topic. One page she will be talking about her mother, then the next about her body issues, then about a boy then back to her mother. The changes were very abrup and that kind of ruined it a bit for me. Maybe it was intentional, I'm not a poetry reader so maybe I missed the point.

I loved the You section, that was my favorite part of the whole book. I loved seeing her emotions transform from an insecure girl to a more empowered woman.

This book may not be everyone's cup of tea but I do recommend to read it at least once.

I read this a few weeks ago on webtoons and just couldn't put it down. I didn't know much about this story before I picked it up and I'm really glad that I went into it blindly. Since I had zero expectations, I was just blown away by how gripping and fast paced the plot was. My favorite part of this story was definitely the characters and how they weren't one dimensional, I just didn't know who to root for because they all made you hate them and love them all at once. I honestly recommend this story, the twists and plot/character developments were fantastic and really well done.

The way this book was told was pretty interesting, in the first chapter we are following a teacher who is talking to her class about retiring after an incident took place. The other 5 chapters follow that same storyline but with different perspectives. The whole book felt like a puzzle and each chapter was like the missing piece, which kept me interested enough to keep going. However, I wasn't a huge fan of the writing, I felt like it was a lot of saying and not showing, and the dialogue would get pretty over the top at times.

I was debating whether to give this book 3 stars or 4, and ended up deciding on 3. I really enjoyed this book and this series, but this book didn't feel like a conclusion and I felt that so much was missing. I know there is another book coming out called The Shaw's confession, but I wanted everything to be answered and tied up nicely in this 3rd and final book.

If I'm going to be honest, I was pretty disappointed and unsatisfied with the lack of answers in this book. Book 2 was mostly set up for the questions, and I was hoping that by the end of this book everything was going to click, but for me it never really did. They did investigate, and some questions were answered, but there were still questions and plot holes left. I felt that there were so many things that were being kept from Mara and the crew and that was a bit frustrating for me. I really wanted to know more about the professor and hoped that he would interact with them, but he never did. I was hoping that he would just tell them everything, and who he was exactly. He somewhat did in the letters they got, but again I just felt like he was holding back. I don't know if that's just me or if I missed something, but something, I can't pinpoint exactly, was missing.

David, Noah's dad, what was up with him? He was just so nonchalant about everything, it was strange. Then he just disappeared, why didn't the police mention anything about him? It's as if he was never there. I mean didn't the kids tell them? Jude, who was a pretty important villain (misunderstood hero? I don't know), just became completely useless in this book. And was only there for convenience of other characters, and I was kind of sad about that. I was waiting for his villainous monologue/explanation to ensue but it never did, he just stood there, doing nothing.
I am however, really happy that Daniel was told the truth and was there to help them investigate, even if this had nothing to do with him. I was just glad that there was someone in Mara's family that believed and tried to understand her. She deserved it after the hell she went through I was quite sad to see Stella leave and was hoping she was going to come back towards the end. She was a bit annoying but she was still pretty important and I wanted to know what her letter said.

I really liked how action packed this book was, I was never bored and the change in Mara was very interesting to read. It was hard not to back her up and agree with her, especially during the metro scene. I feel that if I were Mara at that moment, I probably would have reacted the same, am I just crazy? Probably.

As a whole I loved this series. I loved the characters, found the plot to be pretty unique and loved the paranormal/creepy factor. However, I just wish that there were more answers than questions, but I guess now I'll have to wait for the The Shaw's confessions (ugh. I need it now!).

When I read the first book, I was pretty disappointed. Everyone kept going on and on about how “scary” and “creepy” the books were, and I didn't find anything creepy about the first book. I love horror, so the creepiness felt a little flat for me. However, this book really stepped up on the creepy/scary factor. I have no words to describe my emotions right now. Honestly, this book was AMAZING! I was so confused, so creeped out and I just didn't know what to think about anything. The entire time I had no idea if I could really trust Mara and her thoughts. I was just waiting for her to wake up at some asylum and find out everything was in her head. But that didn't happen.

So many unanswered questions that I am dying to know. Hopefully the third book covers it, but I'm so impatient, I need to know now! Her grandma, oh my god whats up with those flashbacks in India? Was it really her grandma or Mara in a past life? What went on between her grandma and Noah's real mom? And what about all that crazy shit with Jude and the others that apparently possess their own powers? I could go on and on about all the million questions that I have, but I'll just get super frustrated all over again.

Oh Noah. I refuse to believe that he died. REFUSE. He can't he can't. I'm just waiting for his grand debut in the final book because I'll be devastated if he dies and Jude lives. Ugh, I just wanted to go into this book and smack the crap out of her family members and make them believe Mara. I know that to them she just sounds crazy, and they mean well, but it hurt my heart knowing the truth while her family just stayed in the dark.

And can we talk about Dr. Kells? There's something much more to her, and I have a feeling that Dr. Kells isn't even her real name, I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't even a real doctor. I feel like she might have powers herself, maybe she knew Mara's grandma and Noah's mom, maybe it was a group or cult of some kind. I'm just dying to pick up the third book, but at the same time I don't want to burn out.

This book just tugged at my emotions and I just hope everything will be okay in the end. And I just need some goddamn answers.

This book hooked me from the start and it was impossible to put down. I honestly did not expect to enjoy this one so much. There isn't anything new about the storyline but my god was it done so so well. We are following an orphan boy named Sage who is competing against two other boys to be chosen to pretend to be the long lost son of the king for a really good reason... if you're curious as to why then this is your sign to go read it. If you read fantasy a lot then you will probably see where the plot will go from the beginning like I did, but I still had so much fun and can't recommend it enough. It's fast paced, lots of tension and so well written, I can't wait to pick up the next one.

This is the first time I've read an Agatha Christie book and I am not disappointed. I now understand why this author is so highly talked about. First off, I found the writing of this book really easy to read. Usually when I read a mystery novel, each page is filled with details and the story tends to drag at certain points, but Agatha Christie definitely knows how to get to the point and only include information that really matters to the story line. The story is told through third person which makes it so much better because we get an insight to each person and be able to read their thoughts and feelings towards the situation.

The whole book kept me guessing from start to finish, when I was sure I knew who the murderer was, Agatha Christie proved me wrong time and time again. But my favorite part of this whole book was the fact that we as readers got to see everything, we got to follow these 10 characters from the moment they were on their way to the island up until their deaths. Then, we got to see bits of the detectives trying to figure out who could have possibly murdered 10 people, and see their theories before we get to the letter that was written by the murderer. It's in this letter that we find out who killed everyone, why and how! It was so refreshing getting to read from the murderers perspective and know the details, because normally its some half-assed monologue that only explains bits and pieces of the story. If you haven't read this book I highly recommend it.

Note: This is my very first review so please bear with me, and hopefully I will get better at this.

This was sent to me for review.

Wanting to go into this book a bit blind-sided, I only read the first few lines of the synopsis, but that was all I needed to get hooked in. I'm not going to lie, when I was reading the first 20 or so pages, I truly thought I wasn't going to enjoy the book as much as I had hoped. I figured it would be a book with a simple plot and a lot of romance. But boy was I wrong! This book was such an emotional rollercoaster and I couldn't put it down.

There are so many things that I loved about this book:

1. The pacing is very fast, Alice Rene does not waste any time with unnecessary characters or information. Every single interaction and scene served a purpose, which was so refreshing to read.
The writing style was absolutely wonderful; it made the book such an easy read. It was so simplistic yet so addictive.

2. Not once did I find any of the characters insufferable, aside from Greg (for reasons I won't mention because, spoilers). The story is told from Claire Wagner's point of view and even though there were times she made unwise decisions (what 22-year-old doesn't), she learned from them and constantly tried to improve herself.

3. The family and friendship dynamic in this story was possibly my favorite part. Claire's family may not be perfect, her German mother is more interested in her marrying a man than her being an independent, working woman, and her brother was the cause for a lot of Claire's troubles. However, just like Claire, they both end up growing and learning from one another and from their mistakes. Barb, Claire's best friend, was my favorite character through out this book. They had such a strong friendship, constantly being there for one another and understanding each other's decisions. Differences aside, both family and friend rushed to Claire's side whenever she needed them, which I loved.

4. So much suspense! It comes out of nowhere, just smacks you in the face. One minute I was feeling so happy for Claire and was mesmerized by Greg's charm, then a few chapters later I began feeling scared for Claire and for the people around her. I couldn't put this book down until I knew what would to happen to them.

5. There is romance, but it's not overbearing and not the main focus of the story, instead it's more of a subplot.

6. So many 20th century pop culture references, such as actors, movies, music. etc. It really set the tone of the story and made me feel connected to the time period.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Whenever I put the book down I ended up picking it back up again within a few minutes, because I couldn't shake it off my mind. I highly recommend this book, and if you end up picking it up I hope that you end up enjoying it as much as I did!

There was just one thing I didn't particularly like, I'm posting this at the bottom because it's a spoiler:
I wish that we found out more about Dr. Carleton and how he ended up coping with every thing. I am aware that being around Dr. Carleton could have brought bad memories for Claire, but I felt they could have been really good friends and could have helped each other move on. He helped Claire a lot and I felt like he was important to her, but he ended up being forgotten.