Lisa
It's always hard finishing a book like this, one that was so special. I've heard glowing reviews about this, but just never got around to it. I thought this would be more of a fast-paced intense thriller, but instead found an incredible character study. I ADORED Ruby. She was so perfectly flawed, and you couldn't help rooting for her. She felt like such a real character, and I loved getting to know her throughout her life. The plot was perfectly woven through Ruby's past, with a great ended. I loved this so much
Loved the first 1/4 of the book. Related to Louise as a “never good enough” big sister to her younger brother Mark. It went downhill slightly when Pupkin was introduced. Some of the scenes were creepy, but the puppet/doll trope just doesn't work for me. It reminded me of a grown up Goosebumps.
I don't think this book is for me. I didn't expect so much crime, as in following a police investigation and amateur detectives trying to solve a case. There were some creepy and unsettling parts but I wish it committed to either Supernatural or Crime. Probably my least favorite of her books.
This book was so strange, and I almost DNF'd it. The characters were so unlikeable, but that was the point. The timeline was confusing. One perspective would tell their story, and the other would go back to the start, ending at the same point. In a way, it was interesting to see how certain plot points connected between the two perspectives. I really liked “Demi's” character, and how she just stumbled on a whole new life. I did want to see what happened at the end, and I was satisfied but I feel like it was rushed.
Could not tell what was happening because it kept switching randomly from past to present and I didn't know where I was in the timeline.
Loved the vibes, but the ending gave me whiplash with the number of twists. I LOVE twists, but a few of them left me a little confused and felt like Sager was throwing ideas at a wall or couldn't decide which twist he liked best so just did them all. Still, the atmosphere was great, very vivid and I loved the typewriter aspect. I also enjoyed the final final letter, it tied everything together nicely. Can't decide if I like this or Home Before Dark more, but similar gothic haunted-house trope and is the formula I think Riley Sager does best!
Lately I've been loving the hated books, and hating the loved books. The hype or lack thereof really impacts my rating. Went in with really low expectations because of the awful things I've heard about this, and once again left the pleasantly surprised similar to Survive the Night. I read this all in a day and really enjoyed it. Yes, the constant mentioning of Casey's drinking problem was annoying. Yes, the book felt very tropey. Yes, the twist was stupid. But still, it was not expected. I've learned to just go along with the ride and don't take Riley Sager books too seriously. They always blow me away. I pictured this as a dumb Blumhouse movie, and in movie form this would be a dark comedy it's exactly like grown-up Freaky set at a lake house! It was mysterious, and I loved the lake vibes. While it wasn't my favorite of his, Riley Sager has yet to miss for me.
I found this very boring. I liked the idea of it, and the mixed media posts were exciting, but it took too long to get to any type of conflict. By the time I got there I just didn't care anymore. Also I kept getting the women and their husbands/children mixed up. Everyone read similar.
A compulsively readable beautiful story about a father/daughter relationship and the hunger of being the best. I am not interested in tennis at all, but this book kept me really intrigued because it was so well paced. Loved the different matches also broken up with mixed media through articles and interviews. I didn't love Carrie's character, but looking back on it, she reminds me of herself. Her father's death had me sobbing, and he reminded me so much of my dad. I normally love a romance but this one could not hold a candle to the father/daughter relationship. Loved the full circle ending of her becoming a coach TJR really knows how to create such realistic and rich characters.
A slow start but once it picked up, I couldn't stop flipping the pages. Loved the games the family played, I only wish there were more. This felt like Ready or Not and was so much FUN!
This book was awful. To think this is the same author who wrote one of my favorite books, The Hunting Wives, is absolutely wild. It doesn't even sound similar at all to the May Cobb I knew. The dialogue and thoughts of the characters was so unrealistic and forced. The characters in the book were all so stupid with the decisions they made, and I was rolling my eyes through the entire book. I saw the ending a mile away, and the grand reveal was just SO ridiculously over the top. I love domestic thrillers about catty & rich women, but this was so jokingly bad I couldn't stand it.
I should have trusted the low reviews. This was so surprising because I have LOVED all of Samantha Downing's books. This was nothing like the others, I kept thinking it was written by a ghostwriter. All of the characters were unlikeable. The characters made dumb decisions, and the “romance” plot was awful. I didn't like how the perspective would just randomly change in the middle of the chapter, and there were so many minor characters with pointless side plots. Hated the detective perspective, and it went nowhere. the whole obsession Karen had about finding out what happened to a car years ago was so stupid. It made no sense. At the end of the book all of these random side characters and thinly laid plots came out, and I had no idea what was going on and didn't care. I'm just so disappointed at this flop.
Was a great book, just not in the mood for this type of read. Will definitely revisit as some point!
It was due at the library and wasn't committed enough to keep reading. I really liked learning about some of the topics though!
Was so different from the movie, but I think I prefer the movie better. This book and the changing dialogue/imagined Jack situations confused me. I liked the different additions of the topiaries and the wasp nest.
Maybe I'm being too critical, but I really didn't like this one. I had super high expectations going in, which didn't help, because I loved The Sun-Down Motel. This one was so slow until the middle part. Usually I love a dual timeline, and this one wasn't the best. There's not really a whodunnit but a whydunnit. I didn't like who was the murderer either. I think this would be much better in movie format. The atmosphere, haunted house, and creepy kid vibes were great.
Part 1 was so good!!! You can tell the author did her research on SNL to make TNO. I loved reading what goes on behind the scenes of a show like SNL. Parts 2 and 3 were not as good, and really felt like they were part of a different book. It was interesting to read how COVID shook up the story, but was really unnecessary. I didn't care for the love story between Sally and Noah and really just wanted to read more about writing for TNO.
This book was so much more than I thought it would be! There were so many layers and so many secrets. I loved the multiple narrators and multiple timelines. It just felt a little too long, but the twists were good!
I don't think this book was for me. I loved the beginning. Part one was slow in the set up, but the writing style was so beautiful and I wanted to highlight so much. With each part it got more weird, and near the end I didn't understand anything that was happening. I was frustrated at how confused I was. I understand that could be compared to the spiraling feelings of grief that the main character was experiencing, it just wasn't for me.