Heather

I really enjoyed the dual timelines in the book and the story was a really fun ride. The two characters were a bit too similar though which sometimes made me get confused what storyline was what at times. I wouldn't really call this horror, as it was just a bit of creepy added in - that honestly wasn't necessary. However as a thriller alone it was a fun ride, even if the twists could have been a little more dramatic. 

Very entertaining, interesting premise. Nothing revolutionary but fun!

This book is terribly slow, with unneeded vocabulary to I guess make it sound more intelligent? The plot seems good but I feel like I'm back in school trying to make it through a book from the 1700s for no reason.

 
 This book is so fabulous and so imaginative. Definitely read it!!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC. 

Honestly this book I had to start twice and almost DNF-ed but I'm so glad I didn't. 

Why did I almost quit? I couldn't tell the difference between Shelby and Mack most of the time. So when it was on the chapters I always seemed to forget who was talking. I was reading on Kindle, so I couldn't easily flip back to see. 

So why did I come back? I could not let go the residents of the Oleander. They brought me back needing to know what happened. They were charming, hysterical, and such great characters. Honestly the whole book could have been them as the characters and I think it would have been 5 stars. Definitely gave Only Murders In The Building vibe but with an assisted living going broke instead of Upper Eastsiders. 

Overall this was refreshing and I really enjoyed it. 

I absolutely LOVED this book. I was getting a bit of series fatigue with this, especially with 2 more coming out... I wasn't sure what else was to be said. However I loved hearing from Jameson and Graysons perspective. The story was very interesting & I loved the new journey. And the TWIST... Oh My God. Did not see that coming. This sparked my excitement so much for the next two books!

This started a little slow but WOW I loved it by the end. I think the adventures of book 1 & 2 just were so good that's why I thought it was slow. Plus there was a time jump that I am never a fan of filling in the gaps. By the end the twists and turns were great. And I loved the ending! I'm usually one to hate an ending. Half of my favorite series have 1 star endings. So bravo on wrapping up this trilogy before we go on to the next stories. 

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

This was a really beautiful and unique survival story. It's much less a mystery or thriller as most are, I would peg this as literary fiction. In the end it's a beautiful story about humanity I feel like. 

It's definitely a slow burn story and there are twists but I saw them coming early. I don't think that matters though as this was definitely a book of the journey. 

I thought this was one of the better uses of COVID in book format since the pandemic too. It made sense and added well to the story. 

I really loved the mixed media way of telling the story as well. The multiple POV are really unique since some are interviews, some are journals, and some are just a POV. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book, I can't quite peg what didn't make it a 5 star read other than I questioned a few times if I liked it. In the end the characters were the story and were truly beautiful characters. 

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ARC.

I saw this was a Freida McFadden recommended book and with the spooky cover I knew I wanted to check it out. It was billed as a horror thriller too. 

Unfortunately this fell flat and was a normal thriller with no real spooky vibes like the covered conveyed. 

It wasn't an awful story and I didn't guess the twist. However I only didn't guess the twist because I wasn't trying. I was too busy yelling at the characters and their silly mistakes they kept making. Like the DUMBEST mistakes. 

Plus, I just didn't get the sisters! I get I am an only child so maybe that's why. But the sisters weren't close at all but we're close enough to literally bury a body? Very confusing. 

So many details were fleshed out and made no sense. The flashback was pointless, Benny didn't make sense including (though was one of the best characters), Eugene didn't really have a point. It seemed like way too much was trying to be done and none of it was fleshed out. 

It wasn't the worst thing I've read, it was a fast read & a run of the mill thriller. However I wouldn't suggest this over countless others. Honestly the Epilogue was the best blip of the whole story. 

2.5/5.00

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for the ARC of this book!

This book hooked me immediately and was a fun twisty thriller. I was so invested in it until about the last 1/4 and then it kind of fell flat. There were too many suspects and in the end it was pretty predictable. 

I also never connected with most of the characters and I didn't love another unreliable narrator, as the MC was the only one I connected with. I feel like that's been overdone to the point I can't trust anyone and therefore can't find anyone loveable. 

Overall though it was a solid debut thriller and I did enjoy it. I'm excited to see where this author goes next. 

Loved this! So glad it was as good as the first one!! Plus it tied in Creators a little which I really loved & hope #3 does too. Really can't wait for the 3rd, hope we get to know the Wastland a little better!!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I've read some of Kelley Armstrong's series back in highschool and college & loved them. 

When I saw this one as an adult horror, I knew I had to read it for spooky season.  

I really enjoyed the journey and it was an actual horror, which I feel like is hard to find. I loved the dual timelines and the mystery. I did figure out the twist but not until the very end. 

Overall this was a very spooky and fast read I really enjoyed! 

I love this series and hate to rate it less than a 5. It was pretty slow in the beginning and therefore took me a year to finally actually read it. It was great though I just wish less time was spent in the beginning and more on the world after. It just didn't draw me in quite as much as there other 2 but I still loved it!

This book was fine... It wasn't bad or not worth reading but it was also not a book I would recommend either. 

The premise being said to be like Yellow jackets, the description, the cover it all caught my attention. 

The book though was flat and disjointed. There was a slow mysterious build up I loved and then it was just a rushed ending to pull it all together. 

There was so much promise here but it felt like a TV show that had laid so many clues and then didn't know how to connect them all so it just threw everything at it at once. 

It was good enough I didn't DNF it and I liked some characters. But some of the girls I just didn't either. The romance thrown in didn't fit either, it was just rushed. 

I know it was YA but I've read so many YA that are there, it's one of my favorite genres. All of it was just almost there but not quite unfortunately. 

Thanks NetGalley and Random House Childrens for the ARC to read. 

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this ARC. 

This was definitely a different book and far more gory than I usually read. However, I oddly liked it. It was refreshingly weird and very well written. 

By the description you know you are in for a weird ride for sure and take notes of the trigger warnings, this is dark and this is gory.

Gia definitely took “out crazying, crazy” to heart and this really explores what happens when you lose yourself. Sure, you most likely won't lose yourself this much, but the situation could be translated just as well. 

If you are up for something different and can handle a body horror (think something like the movie Flesh), then give it a try. It's short and it's a quick read. I almost wished it was longer and more fleshed out but then I think it also might have been too much. 

Overall I'm glad I gave something different a chance! 

Really loved this book as well. It gave a LOT of insight into the “dome world”. I really hope maybe somehow the characters get a little tied into the Contributor series (if they are still alive I am not sure how much time has passed, I'm not sure if we do know, or if I forgot). It's a really great book though to explain a lot!! Definitely a must read series! I am going to be DYING for #2!!!!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a fun read and a good palate cleanser from all the psychological thrillers I've read recently. 

This felt more “old school” thriller with a murder than a lot of the super twisty recent thrillers. Because of this I felt it was more of a journey than just waiting for twists. 

This was a really fun journey & I loved the setting. The characters were a lot of fun and I enjoyed the ending a lot. This is not a “revolutionary” book but it's a great read all at the same time!

4.00/5.00

It was too dark and I wanted it to be a magical story. It was just a story of abuse and I didn't want to continue. 

I ended up having to DNF this book. I keep trying to push through because I loved the description but after being almost halfway I just have to call it quits. The writing just seems all over the place and it never captured my attention. The characters are the worst part. I absolutely hate them all. They are miserable and such stereotypes. I also have no concept of the town. Where is everything? What's the layout? What's the vibe? Other than the main characters hate it all and hate everyone in it. Like move? There's a million places to get a promotion to chief than a town you despise. Did I enjoy the creepy parts? Absolutely but I was too infuriated with the characters to care any further.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC to review. 

This is a YA Horror book, which I'm glad to see. There weren't many of these when I was a kid & glad it's starting. 

I really enjoyed the premise and loved learning about Oscarville and Lake Lanier. I had never heard of this but of history in Atlanta and wish the book had delved in even more. 

Why just a 3.5? I was about 65% in when the book finally got to the meat of the story. The build up was very long and I wish we were in the heart of it more. The character development wasn't enough IMO either and felt rushed. I also thought there was a bit too much going on: slashers, ghosts, camp story, lots of characters. For a short book I felt like it should have stuck with a little less so it felt more fleshed out. 

Regardless, I loved the history, I loved the premise, and I am glad I read it. 

I'm not a romance reader so take this with a grain of salt. I read this one because it had a mystery added. This book was fine. It wasn't great, it wasn't bad. I kept forgetting to finish it though because nothing made me want to get to the end. The mystery was shallow for sure. The romance was decent. I may just not be a Tessa Bailey fan but like I said this was just fine. 

Omg I loved this so much! It was absolutely adorable and the perfect Christmas read.

It is part romance, part mystery and it blended perfectly. They definitely need to make this into a Christmas movie. Also Ethan 100% needs to be cast as Glen Powell. 

I loved Ethan, Maggie, and Eleanor so much they were all amazing! The mystery of course wasn't too deep but it felt like an old school Scooby Doo episode of who-dunn-it. Plus it wraps up beautifully!

This was definitely the cozy Christmas book I was hoping it was and more!

The twists totally got me in this book. I did not see them coming at all. This started out slow and felt jumbled but when it all came together I was like WOW what a great book! I don't want to say much to ruin it but this was a great tale of the rich outsiders vs the small town locals. 

*Update January 2023: I hated this book on first read as you can see below. I've now updated to 4/5. It sat with me, I couldn't forget it or let it go. Which means though the end annoyed me the journey stuck & that makes it a winner. Every book doesn't need a purpose and this made me think.

Original 2021 review: 2/5: No purpose, no answers, just a bunch of fancy word jargon on a story. Not a fun one after you felt the world almost ended this year. I'd skip. Honestly just annoyed me to read.

This book reminded me if you combined Dark, Shutter Island, and Severance into a book with a creepy house. 

It was a journey I didn't want to end. Honestly it was much more psychological thriller than horror to me but it was definitely an eerie vibe the whole time reading it. 

I loved the format floating between different documents and the stories. It really was a unique approach. 

It definitely does leave a lot of questions at the end, though I actually liked the ending. These type of stories are impossible to pick an end and if they try and explain everything it just ends up like Lost and a mess. I'm glad a lot was left to the imagination. And honestly it's not supposed to make sense, a lot of weird things and stories don't. 

I can't say much without ruining the book but I really enjoyed this a lot! It will definitely be a story that sticks with me.