Skylar

This book has some pretty powerful comparisons to rl. I do feel like there was over explanations and a lack of varying perspectives/character depth but outside of that I really enjoyed it. The epilogue did leave me wanting more. I know more books aren't planned but hopefully we get a little something

4.5 ⭐

3.5 ⭐

It was kind of a slow start for me as all the characters were extremely unlikeable. The second half went very quickly as I became more engrossed in the web of lies and drama being spun

Some parts of this book were incredibly dull. Almost like I was reading a text book. Overall, the subject matter was interesting just dense.

Somewhere between a 3.5-4 ⭐

This book was just as over the top ridiculous and funny as the first one. It had a bit of a slower start, but quickly picked up pace as you read on. If you're looking for a mystery but don't want it to be dark, this is your book

Merged review:

Somewhere between a 3.5-4 ⭐

This book was just as over the top ridiculous and funny as the first one. It had a bit of a slower start, but quickly picked up pace as you read on. If you're looking for a mystery but don't want it to be dark, this is your book

Fast paced but predictable. The ending was kind of over the top

Less smut than the first book, but imo story was higher stakes or more messy

This book is essentially grey's anatomy. I'm not going to lie that kind of turned me off to it... Don't mess with the original. Also, had nothing to do with my rating, but I feel like the author kind of missed the mark with the last line of the book

Pretty terrible book but was a decent listen to get me through catching up on cleaning

3.5 ⭐

Very cute nature-y book witg beautiful illustrations

Wow. This book was so heartbreaking. I could not put it down. I cannot believe that I never heard of the 1989 revolution until this book. It has me wanting to devour history books to learn everything I can about it. This book did its job well in that aspect I guess.

This book ended up being slower than anticipated for an action-y book. I think my main problem centers around it being a translation. I definitely felt like we spent a lot of time being talked in circles.

My other gripe was there was a lack of motivation for why the kid is the way he is

2.5 stars

There were quite a few problematic things in this book. To start, the first 150 pgs or so were incredibly dull. I appreciated the backstory later in the book however trying to read through it was like nails on a chalkboard for me. Throughout the book, the main character had many flashback to what happened with her brother, Sam. This was quickly dismissed after Elin found out what actually happened. To me, this was a little odd as the author spend so much time building this up in the beginning of the book.

Elin also made horrible decisions and did not seem to be great at her detective work. They seem to elude to the fact that she had been on leave, but this isn't something that should just be completely foreign to you when you need to do it again after a short(ish) leave. She just seemed to have everything so wrong after being absolutely sure she had it right fairly often.

I felt like reasoning behind these killings were sort of anticlimactic and didn't make much sense. Only one of the murders did I feel like really had a reason before it almost turned into more of a political statement. I was also incredibly surprised when the killer was revealed. Elin repeatedly referred to the killer as being big and strong which was a very good red herring as I would have never guessed who it ended up being partially because of this.

The last thing that really seemed to bother me was the epilogue. I understand who the author is making it seem like is stalking her, but what I don't understand is why. Maybe thats something I'll understand better if/when the sequel is written, however, seems odd that after getting away he would seek her out. Just my opinion on that, but I guess I'm also not in his situation.

I feel like this book could have gone in so many different ways and would have been a lot better. However, I do think the author did a really good job at creating the spooky atmosphere for this book in the beginning, but it just quickly fizzled once everything was revealed.

4.5⭐ rounded down because I feel parts of this book were incredibly repetitive. It took awhile to get to the point of the sudden shift in the book which obviously all made sense with the reveal, but a different writing style might have suited this book. The reveal was kind of predictable however I do think the author did a great job portraying the hold an abusive relationship can have over someone. I have never been in a cult, but this fear mongering and controlling behavior from the leader could explain the more violent cult behavior.

Not sure if this was a wrong book at the wrong time issue. I could not get this book to hold my attention. The parts that I did like I really liked but those parts weren't often enough

Reminded me of a book I just listened to Back in the Burbs. Had a cute happily ever after style end but I won't be rushing to recommend

I listened to this one. It was informative and engaging. Similar to a podcast

This book was just not my cup of tea. I found it just as boring as the characters within it. If you want a book where something happens this is not the book for you.

This could have been redeeming had I given any f's about the characters. Their conversations seemed forced and unnatural and their personalities had no depth.

3.5 ⭐ cute book. Nothing too memorable happens but I enjoyed the time I spent reading it. Overall, would read more in the series.

It's crazy to me that this author is roughly my age but grew up in what felt like a completely different America. Glad I finally got around to reading this book it was eye opening for sure.

I'm finding that, though I am not really into the bachelor or reality tv, I am super into books that feature that. Idk I can't explain it.my guilty pleasure stories in “book” format.

3.5 ⭐

I feel like this book was not very thriller-y. It was a good book that definitely made me cry at the end, but I was bracing myself for something more the whole time

I liked the story, but man was this a slow read for me. Bonedog ftw

3.5 ⭐

This book starts out slow and probably could have been avoided completely had the main character been honest from the get go.

I feel like this book could have been a little better had they put more of an emphasis on some of the things that make how things were being revealed was indeed creepy.

In the end, the reason things happened the way they did seemed a little anticlimactic. Everything also kind of wrapped up into a neat bow at the end. This book seemed to messy and rushed at the end for such a neat ending.