"Little Monsters" Book Review

My Rating:  ★★★★☆ 4 Stars

It’s the cover. Something about that darn cover reeled me in; I can’t put my finger on it because it’s such a simple piece of art! But reeled me in it did and I am glad that (sometimes) I judge a book by its cover.

Kacey is the new girl who has recently moved to Broken Falls – to a charming life with her father’s family; one that has proven to be much different from the one she had led up to that point. 

Broken Falls is the kind of town where everyone is nice and welcoming. To her surprise, Kacey is inducted into a petite circle of two – meet Bailey and Jude.
The duo makes Kacey feel included in everything that they do – sneaking out at night, parties etc. however, Kacey is left out of one of the biggest parties of the year, causing her to feel completely left out. She wants answers, she wants to know why they are all so suddenly acting strangely distant toward her but Kacey will never be able to ask Bailey why because Bailey doesn’t return home that night. 

Awesome premise. Equally awesome delivery.

Little Monsters was a deliciously, mystery-laden book you can’t help but love because of the page-turner plot. The plot and execution was inherently satisfying due to its puzzle feel. I wouldn’t refer to this little gem as compelling, but it was sure gripping! 

I could feel the near-splitting tension, the back and forth speculation of whether Kacey played a part in the disappearance of Bailey. Whether Bailey was truly missing or just seeking attention. Whether Andrew was the killer. Whether Whether Whether.

No matter how many conclusions I came to, I did not arrive at the conclusion that the author presented. I did not foresee the twist until the author began the big reveal. 

And THAT, is what I love about books – the unpredictability, the guessing, the rollercoaster ride, the complexity of twists to the point where you give up guessing. 
I found myself speed reading to get to the end of many scenes; I haven’t speed-read in a while! 

A note those out there: Be careful who you call your friends.

Digital copy received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

"The Red" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars

I am not a fan of the genre, but its always good to expand your literary horizon. 

I presume erotic books are meant to transport you into another world and render you completely oblivious to the real world while you’re engaged in reading. I also believe it is written to be so far from reality that you can’t help but forget about your problems and stressors; that being said, someone who loves this genre would absolutely love this book. 

It is “action” packed and not exactly plot-driven. If you’re expecting to read a solid plot filled with rich character development then this isn’t the book. 

The Red is truly an erotic piece written for the sole purpose of transporting its reader into a salacious fantasy. 


Digital copy received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

"One Of Us Is Lying" Book Review

My Rating:   ★★★★★ 5 Stars

I was highly astounded after finding out that this is a debut novel. 
Debut Novel you say? Why yes!

The author seems to be a well-established writer with a few published novels out there already. But I digress; let’s get into the review of the actual book and not how surprised I am by the quality of the writing.

One of Us Is Lying has a brilliant plot with enough twists to make the ride a dizzy journey. 
The “Bayview Four”, as individuals, were the quintessential, most popular cliques found in any given high school, much like we’ve seen in the Breakfast Club. 
We had the jock, the princess, the straight ‘A’ student and the delinquent; and as the author said, One of Us is Lying was initially inspired by The Breakfast Club. 
The characters were, in no way, superficial. They all had depth and dark secrets which influenced their actions. I appreciated how they weren’t one-dimensional and how the author put time into creating solid characters. 
The peripheral characters were also interesting and had me wondering if they were involved in the death of the victim. I found myself taking notes and trying to solve the mystery before the big reveal, which I kind of did. 

The relationship between the characters genuinely grew. It didn’t feel forced even though the characters were, in a sense, forced to gravitate toward each other because of the situation they were in. 
I could feel when things started changing and when they began getting closer, not just because they were all murder suspects, but because they realized that they did have something else in common. 
Naturally, I felt more of a connection toward Bronwyn, it could be because she was the first character’s POV which showed up, or it could be that I identified with her the most. In turn, I also felt a connection toward Nate, and thus, their relationship and POV held my attention more than the others. I ended up looking forward to reading their stories and seeing their relationship grow. 

There was an underlying theme which I won't mention which becomes quite prominent toward the end. The author was brilliant and creative in the way she presented this theme, yet it was heartbreaking in its truth. Social media plays such a great part in our lives these days and can connect us to others who share our interests, all the good, as well as the destructive interests that we may have; and teenagers are so easily influenced by others, especially when they seek acceptance from others. I was angry at a peripheral character in particular, knowing that she could have prevented something from happening if only she had spoken to someone. 

I know this was just a fictional book but it presented us with a sad reality that needs to be addressed. Some teenagers/Young adults around the world do not seem to fully understand the severity of situations and thus consequences occur which cannot be reversed (in many cases). 
My wish is that if this book is read by a high school student, or a college student who is experiencing something similar to what went on in the book that he/she will do something, speak up, get help.


I really did enjoy this book and I am looking forward to reading more from this author. 

Digital Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

"The Stepmother" Book Review

My Rating ★★☆☆☆ 2.5 Stars 


Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Stepmother is the first book I've read by the author - Claire Seeber. The premise was highly intriguing, reviews posted have been in the 4-5 star range and so I went against my better judgement and read this book with high expectations.

Jeanie, newly married to her prince charming Matthew King, feels like she has been given the opportunity to live a fairy-tale life. From his previous marriage, Matthew has two 15-year old teenagers who are fraternal twins while Jeanie has a son. Although it can be hard when families are joined through marriage, Jeanie is determined to make it work even when Matthew's daughter openly resents her and is often times hostile toward her. Matthew's ex-wife - Kaye King - is still very much in the picture which isn't making things easier and to make it worse, someone is trying to shatter Jeanie's new fairy-tale life by letting out a secret that may very well destroy her reputation and marriage.

In a house where the walls whisper, dead animals appear, blood pools on the floor and a grey lady in the mirror terrifies her, Jeanie corresponds with her sister Marlena and tries her hardest to save her marriage while maintaining her sanity.

The set up was so perfect, all it needed was the substance to carry it through yet that's what the story lacked. I couldn't take it seriously because of how "thin" this story was, there was no depth to it. From Matthew and Jeanie's quick marriage to their mounting, unresolved, trivial marital/family problems, it was utterly unbelievable and purely superficial.

The beginning of the book seemed tolerable until I got to the many mysteries which were dealt with so annoyingly. I understand that this is a thriller, it is bound to have its fair share of mysteries embedded in there which will later be explained, but it was written in such a way that all I kept thinking was "spit it out!". Give me something to hold on to, to whet my appetite so I can be gripped. Unfortunately all the twists, and there were many, turned out to be pretty anticlimactic in the end.

Many things were left unexplained, such as Matthew's behaviour/demeanor, Scarlett's reason for treating Jeanie the way she did, Jeanie's ex-boyfriend etc.

I think this would be so much better if each person's story went more in-depth, I'd have felt the full impact of the twists and revelations.

"The Summer That Melted Everything" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★★ 5 Stars

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I strongly recommend.

Let it be known by all who read this review and by all wondering if they should read this book that I tried to write a review which would do justice to this masterpiece.

The Summer That Melted Everything was just that- a dark, emotionally-charged masterpiece, as beautifully written as it was beautifully heart-breaking. 

It is the summer of 1984 and an invitation by Autopsy Bliss, posted in the local newspaper, has been extended to the devil. 

“Dear Mr. Devil, Sir Satan, Lord Lucifer, and all other crosses you bear,

I cordially invite you to Breathed, Ohio. Land of hills and hay bales, of sinners and forgivers.

May you come in peace.

With great faith,

Autopsy Bliss”.

The one who answers this invitation is a thirteen year old boy, dressed in dirty, threadbare overalls, accompanied by a raging heat; he is far from the menacing devil that one would expect. Fielding Bliss, the son of Autopsy Bliss, takes him home to his family and introduces him as The Devil. The sheriff believes him to be a runaway from a nearby town and begins his investigation to prove that this is simply a missing person’s case; but when strange things start happening in the small town of Breathed, Ohio, the community believes that the devil, disguised as a thirteen year old boy, truly walks among them. 

Fear, rage and the unbearable heat consume the town’s people and slowly melt away their common sense so much so that Sal is the blame of every mishap that summer and becomes a target.

The writing is of lyrical prose, exquisitely poetic, reminding me of the works of Alice Hoffman with a touch of magic realism in the metaphors used. This is one of those books that almost every line is a memorable quote; it is thought-provoking and is to be savoured because it has such deep meaning. I had to control my highlighting lest I end up highlighting the entire book.

“Gone was the perfect temperature. The breeze. All replaced by an almost violent heat that turned your bones into volcanoes, your blood into the lava that yelled their eruptions.”

“You can tell a lot about a man by what he does with a snake… A snake that could harm you, you don’t have much choice to kill. You wouldn’t be able to leave a cobra in your sock drawer. But a snake that is no threat will greatly define the man who decides to kill it anyways.”

The characters were so strong in their personalities. Each had their unique, necessary stories which would push the plot forward. The Bliss family had an intense, unconditional love for each other that I have not seen in any other book - the love between a husband and wife, especially the one between the two brothers – Grant and Fielding – left me wanting to experience more of their shared loved.

I felt an instant connection to each of the members of the Bliss family, including Sal.

“And I smiled, as in love with my older brother as any young boy would be”

I felt anger when the characters I cared about felt anger; I felt their joy, hope, love. And I cried when they cried, I even cried when there were no sad parts; I simply cried because the writing was just too beautiful to not appreciate, and the only way to truly show appreciation was to shed a tear.

Everyone spoke so philosophical, and while it bothered me for a while that they all spoke the same, my appreciation for the writing style and love for the overall plot and characters overshadowed it. 

I've never liked TFIOS, I still don't, but I hate it a little less because this book reminded me of one quote, "That’s the thing about pain, it demands to be felt". 

That's what I kept thinking throughout this book - this pain in the book demands to be felt. Hell, the book demands to be felt. I don't know if anyone can read this and not feel that consuming pain and heartache. 

I didn't want the book to end. I had 1 minute left and I let that minute drag out. I took a water break, bathroom break and then I came back. I almost didn't read the last 2 pages, because if I didn't read it, somehow that meant it didn’t have an ending.  

I certainly didn't want it to have an end because how am I supposed to move on from it? How am I supposed to pick up another book without seeing all its flaws because it isn’t nearly as well-written and memorable as this one?

This book will surely be remembered for the rest of this year and I will recommend it to all my reading friends like my life depended on it. I can’t wait to read it again.

"The Last One" Book Review

   My Rating   ★★★★☆ 4.5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher Penguin UK – Michael Joseph – and Net Galley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.     

  

I promise you - this is a hauntingly superb read once you understand how the book is written/presented.

Let’s start with this cover – a grimy face peering out of the shadows, scoping the area, or at least that’s how I see it. There’s only one thing I love more than oxygen and that’s reading post-apocalyptic books which test the mental, emotional and physical limits of the characters. By simply looking at this cover I somehow knew I was in for some survivalist action.

Zoo, a moniker of the protagonist, is at the point in her life where she is about to have a life changing event. She wants one last adventure before she settles into motherhood; her chosen adventure – take part in a TV reality show which promises to test the endurance of twelve contestants. Challenges are given. The physically, emotionally and mentally strong will persevere while the weak get left behind (quit) but when strange things start happening, Zoo simply thinks the creators are making things harder for the contestants. She continually reminds herself throughout the journey that this is a game, none of it is real and that there’s a finish line. But is the game she’s playing still a game? Or is it her new reality within a game gone wrong?

Remember my previous statement?-The one about the presentation of the book? Well the thing is it might be a bit difficult to follow when you’ve just started reading but keep at it and it becomes tolerable; you’ll be rewarded (with a great plot). The point of view and time alternates between two narrators with each chapter; comments from a thread related to the TV show are thrown in there at the end of a few chapters. Chapter one begins with a general narrator, this unspecified gender gives a sort of play by play commentary of In The Dark challenges, behind the scenes, confessions of characters, camera angles, things that will happen in a few minutes from the now etc.; it basically follows the happenings of every character in the book. I was able to envision this as a real TV show, like I was watching it on a screen.

The second chapter has the narrator was Zoo, a couple of weeks ahead of the first narrator. It follows her present, life after team challenges – on the Solo Challenge. The timelines eventually meet near the end of the book, but don’t worry; you get the full story – past, present and the life of other characters in another part of the world.

So one chapter is general narration, the other is Zoo, the next is back to general narration and the other will be Zoo etc. 

I really got into the book at the 25% mark and I didn’t want it to end. Zoo is so determined that she is oblivious to what’s going on around her. I think it was this cluelessness which brought her this far in her journey. If she only knew how much reality had changed since she left she’d have broken down, been disheartened, maybe she would have died. My heart broke for her so many times; I just wanted her to know the truth. She found meaning and hidden clues in places that were not manipulated by the creators; she followed rules till the near end that were useless.

When she finally realized the truth it was even more heart breaking. I think I teared up a bit. I felt immense pain for her after the realization.

Of all the characters, she was a survivor – not knowing game from reality yet she still made it out alive.

I recommend this 100%.         

"Last Seen Leaving" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★☆ 4 stars

Book received from Publisher via Net Galley. You know something's wrong when civilians do a better job at solving mysteries than the police, and it's even worse when its a teenager solving that mystery. Last Seen Leaving was such a pleasant surprise. At one point (to me) it felt a bit similar to Papertowns, a pretentious book I detest and wasted a few precious hours reading; but that's only because I wasn't sure of the direction the book would take, and I was HOPING it didn't follow suit. This held my interest and I found myself speed reading through scenes, needing to find out what happens next. Some characters were likeable, others tolerable, one was necessary for the progress of the plot while one was trivial. All in all a fast-paced read that I totally recommend

"Night Draws In" Book Review

★★★☆☆ 3 Stars e-ARC received in exchange for honest feedback. Thanks to Netgalley for making this title available. Being that I'm a nyctophile, when I first came across this title I was intrigued; and the cover somehow exuded creepiness so naturally I was interested in reading this. There are no reviews on goodreads yet (quite understandable being that this is an unreleased book scheduled to be released later in the year) and I'm a bit hesitant to post my generous 3-star review. So in this review I will be cautious yet constructively critical. This was a story with lots of potential; however, it was poorly executed. There were some positive things that I should point out : 1. At times the writing style was clear. 2. The plot was interesting, sometimes unique. 3. It was short (shy of 300 pages I'd say). Some of the negatives: 1. Certain scenes were drawn out. Others were not thoroughly explained. 2. Key mentions from the synopsis were only seen once throughout the entire book, and mentioned in only one line - dragons etc . 3. Lots of editing needs to be done before this is actually released. Maybe I shouldn't even mention this point seeing as the author might be working on that already.

"Bait and Snitch (Ponderosa Pines Cozy Mystery #4)" Book Review

My Rating ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars Thanks to the publisher – Willow Hill Books - and Netgalley for making this title available in exchange for an honest review. When I first received this title I did not realize it was the fourth book in a series called Ponderosa Pines Cozy Mystery. So, when I began reading I felt like the odd one out. Like someone new to a party which was already in full swing; however, based solely on this book, I can tell that the series is treasured with a range of charming, tolerable, ‘fun’ (by the standard of other humans) and (in a good way) over the top characters. I found the women to be meddling quidnuncs with too much time on their hands. BUT as I said, I started this series on the fourth book, which means I plunged into a well-established fictional world with no connection or solid background information on the main characters. Such a connection would have been forged from the initial book and the subsequent; and said background information would have been provided in Cat Killed a Rat. If you’re a fan of mystery books with a bit of feminine comic relief then I recommend this. If you’re into dark thrillers then this definitely won’t be your cup of tea.