I thought it'd be funny, but it was boring as heck and I didn't care for the characters.
Pretty Albanian maid escapesWhy did I attempt to read this?!
I thought it'd be funny, but it was boring as heck and I didn't care for the characters.
Pretty Albanian maid escapes sex trafficking without being touched (so she's still a pure Virgin) only to be creeped on by her Mister who she cleans for and is a crappy dude. YAWNNNNN...more
You Have A Very Soft Voice Susan is a true story and the story was so bizarre that I kept shaking my head and thinking, "whatt?This book was so weird!
You Have A Very Soft Voice Susan is a true story and the story was so bizarre that I kept shaking my head and thinking, "whatt?!" The beginning of the book was a struggle to get through as you must read through all this background that doesn't add much to the story and just tries to build suspense by telling you soon the story will get wild ... "like a carnival of cracked mirrors with a quicksand floor with phantoms reflected in the glass" ...okayyyy. There's a ton of just boring day to day stuff, blah blah Susan really wishes her dad wasn't a fuckup, blah blah she really likes her job, etc. And I just wanted to get to the creepy stuff already!
Finally, it gets creepy as fuck really fast about 70% through the book. More descriptive writing happens.... "I was like a bull who had stumbled into a shuttered, cobwebbed china shop. Every step I took knocked over some precariously placed urn."
What happened to Susan is freaky, but I kept thinking "damn lady, don't you know how the internet works?!" and "geeez, stop being so nice!" And then she had to go and describe people as "sex ghouls" and "geisha goth" and I couldn't help but laugh and picture Susan looking like that 'Can I speak to your manager' meme.
Everything wasn't as shocking as I hoped, but it was a fascinating story and good for a laugh....more
I loved the introduction to this book! I believed I'd find engaging stories about women/ people who are nonbinary or identify as women and their relatI loved the introduction to this book! I believed I'd find engaging stories about women/ people who are nonbinary or identify as women and their relationships around food and power struggles with their gender identity, but the majority of the stories missed the mark for me. They were too food-focused for me and read like food fetish porn.
I really appreciate a collection put together featuring only female, non-binary, marginalized sex or gender identities though and really hope they continue doing this!...more
**spoiler alert** There's 71 chapters in this book and I'm giving up on chapter 45. There's so much going on and the weird vulgar detective subplot is**spoiler alert** There's 71 chapters in this book and I'm giving up on chapter 45. There's so much going on and the weird vulgar detective subplot is overtaking the main murdery plot and I don't like it! . . . . . . .. some spoilers ahead .. . . .. ... .... ...... ....... ........ ............ .......... ......... ...... ..... ... .. . . . Typing out those dots was honestly more exciting than this book to me.🤷🏻♀️ I loved the author's first book, but As Long As We Both Should Live fell flat for me. Frankly, I was bored and confused, but too bored to want to to continue-- even after Marie isn't the dead one! Matt is supposed to be the bad guy and yeah, he's a cheater so he sucks yada yada, but surprise surprise Marie is more clever than him. Some people should just get over it already and get divorced and this book would have been more interesting to me if it was all about his first wife faking her death. The back and forth of the chapters from wife to wife was confusing enough and then suddenly there's this foul mouthed detective and his weird subplot about murdering someone maybe once?!? Wtf. I didn't sign up for that bullshit! I had no idea it was going to verge into detective against detective water cooler chat stuff and I wasn't into it and it didn't grab my attention. 💅🏻
I was gifted a free copy of this book by the author in return a review.
Osgood As Gone sounds like a book I would be into; ghosts, unreliable narratorI was gifted a free copy of this book by the author in return a review.
Osgood As Gone sounds like a book I would be into; ghosts, unreliable narrator down on their luck, drama between friends and a mystery that rivals a Scooby-Doo episode! Fun stuff! However, I couldn't get into the story. The writing was confusing and messy and Pru was all over the place like the author was trying to combine a bunch of characters together to please everyone all in one person! That's a long sentence just to say I didn't like them, or the other characters. I liked Zach, the tech nerd, but he felt like a facsimile of every nerdy foil anywhere. Pru was the too-cool-for-school alcoholic too, BUT don't forget she's also queer and maybe trans?!IDK, it was nice to see nonstraight folk represented in a book, but can they be good people ?! I was also turned off at the repeated mentions of dildos. Like, I get it Pru likes to fuck and use dildos; cool, whatever, but the constant mentioning of them just chilling around felt like a bad sitcom playing a laugh track. This was in the first two chapters and I want you to know because I had to know. Also, WTF is up with the em dash use?! It's cool and all, but does almost every paragraph have to end with one?! Let these people finish their damn thoughts!
I got 45% through this story because I hate to be that bitch who writes a review for a book without reading it, and I want my time back.
Firstly, I got this book off NetGalley and didn't realize it was the 4th in a series! You definitely don't need to read the previous books to understaFirstly, I got this book off NetGalley and didn't realize it was the 4th in a series! You definitely don't need to read the previous books to understand We Were Killers Once (I didn't), but it probably helps.
I assume the previous books also feature Carlos (Brigid's husband who was a priest once) and that's why he figures so heavily in this book?! Honestly, his character annoyed me and I rushed through his parts to get back to Brigid! Brigid is a former FBI agent who is retired but cannot help involving herself in mysterious people or nosing about when something might involve an infamous crime. Everything came together very nicely and conveniently which made me a little bored and peeved because I feel like that's rather unusual in the real world, but hey, what do I know?!
Having read In Cold Blood I appreciated all the "what-ifs" and talk about Truman Capote fictionalizing his famous book and I did find myself thinking back to In Cold Blood after reading chapters in We Were Killers Once and going, "OH, that's plausible actually! Hmmm" so it did its job. It just did the job sporadically and bounced all around different viewpoints while telling it and never fully explained Jerry's connections.
Overall, I enjoyed the plot and I loved Brigid's parts, but the rest draggggged and it wasn't until I was 30% into the story that I actually became engaged!...more
I wanted to like The Woman in the Dark. A new women author writing gothic horror with a psychological thriller twist? That sounds like everything I loI wanted to like The Woman in the Dark. A new women author writing gothic horror with a psychological thriller twist? That sounds like everything I love. Unfortunately, I was let down somewhere in the middle of the novel when I realized they were really going to play out two of my least favorite tropes; the manipulative bastard trope and the mysterious dead baby. I don't mind when the husband/boyfriend/lover is a manipulative bastard as long as the main character dealing with the bullshit grows into a strong badass, but that didn't really happen here. Instead, Sarah remained a "woman in the dark" up until the almost very end. And I hate hate hate hate when books drag out a dead child (real or fake) for no real reason other than to shock., but that's probably just me with my complicated feelings about dead kids because I have one.🤷🤷🤷 Anyways, the writing was very descriptive and the setting was atmospheric and spooky, but it never really came fully around to be scary or creepy or thrilling. It was like a watered down daytime soap opera on the disney channel (because there's no gore or sex or excitement). "It's not me, it's you. Oh wait maybe it is me, but it might be you too" 🙄
For a debut, I thought the writing was expressive and there was a good idea there. I will read the author's next book because I'm a sucker for books with the gothic feel and I think she's only going to get better....more
I almost DNF this book, but I was bored on a plane so I kept reading and honestly, I should have just stopped. Evie wakes up groggy and can't rememberI almost DNF this book, but I was bored on a plane so I kept reading and honestly, I should have just stopped. Evie wakes up groggy and can't remember what happened and is told by Jim (who says he's her Uncle, but she's not sure about that) that she did something really bad and the police are after her, so they are in hiding. He makes her take pills and gets angry if she asks too many questions and calls her Kate, but refers to her as Evie in public. Sounds interesting--right? Unfortunately, I was so fucking bored and annoyed by everyone in the book. They dance around what Evie may have done so much and then it's revealed and I thought, "that's it?!" I didn't like any of the characters because they all felt flat and not put together well. The author seemed to want to write like other popular thrillers (A Woman in the Window, comes to mind) but didn't do it as well and everything felt half-formed. This book might work better for young teenagers (14-15) because it was too childlike and eye-rolling for me. The end was so uneventful after all the lead up and I got a wisp of what the author was trying to do, but this felt like a first draft.
Basically, a man and his wife inherit a cute little cottage in a quiet mountain village from the man's kinda weird and distant Uncle. They are delightBasically, a man and his wife inherit a cute little cottage in a quiet mountain village from the man's kinda weird and distant Uncle. They are delighted and think the cottage will be the perfect place to raise their young son. There is a catch though: the Uncle's will states they must lovingly care for his pet cormorant if they want the cottage. And the bird is finicky as come-all and possibly evil. . 🦆 . The story is told in a dark, haunting, lyrical style reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe, with lines like: "The cat was quivering with surprise. And the cormorant picked itself up, straightened its ruffled feathers with a few deft movements of its beak, stretching out its tattered, black wings and shaking them, like an elderly clergyman flapping the dust from his gown." You can picture that perfectly--right?! . 🦆 . However beautifully worded this book was there was a part that ruined it for me. If you've read this you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't read this it involves a bathtub and an incestuous child scene that repulsed me. I get why the author included this scene, but I wish he'd found another way to show the evilness and possession. I enjoyed the rest of the book, but that scene left me with a bad taste in my mouth and kinda ruined the story for me. 😥 . ⭐🌠/5 for this slowly creepy book. .
This was the most disappointing book. 🐾 🐾 . It started to feel familiar halfway through and I realized I had attempted to read this book five years ago anThis was the most disappointing book. 🐾 🐾 . It started to feel familiar halfway through and I realized I had attempted to read this book five years ago and DNF'd it. I pushed this time and finished it and I'm mad I bothered and wasted time on it! The writing was so strange; the book is co-authored by two women and the writing reflected that-- it didn't flow. Almost every paragraph started with, "I (verb) and then I" which was tedious. Random paragraphs went on describing past events that didn't relate to the story at all. All of the characters were not developed! Even the dogs felt flat! Also, one of the authors helps run two dog rescues and yet chose to depict bully breeds in a bad light. SHAME ON YOU AMY HEMPEL! Sure, there's some light talk of it being learned behavior and the breed not being bad, but then the book ends... * *SPOILER ALERT* * * * * * * ...with two Dogo Argentinos viciously killing someone. They were trained attacked dogs and the main character just got a bad feeling off them. My Bubs is a Pit Dogo mix and I resented the portrayal of both breeds so much! Books like this are why I want to start my own rescue and why I snuggly my Bubs so close at night (he was on the kill list at a shelter before we got him). 💕🐾💕 . I should have listened to my past self and thrown this book across the room and never looked back at the pretty cover.🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ . ⭐🌠1.5 /5 . Anyone else read this? Am I being too severe? I get vicious when it comes to dogs, especially pitties....more
I was excited to read this book, but I found it over hyped!
I've read a few Peter Swanson books and honestly, if you've read one you've read them all.🤷I was excited to read this book, but I found it over hyped!
I've read a few Peter Swanson books and honestly, if you've read one you've read them all.🤷🏼♀️
Before She Knew Him started out promising with Hen seeing an object in her new neighbors home that ties him to a murder, but then it fizzled out into a mess. The twists were predictable and also confusing because there were parts that never matched up to anything or were ever explained.🤔 Overall, I was let down and I'm mad I spent a day pushing through this! It dragged a bit in the beginning And I kept reading because I thought it had to improve, but alas, sloppy writing and plot.
I didn't like The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Yes, the story was intricately plotted and a puzzle wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in an enigma, butI didn't like The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Yes, the story was intricately plotted and a puzzle wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in an enigma, but I felt it dragged on in parts and I was bored.🤷🏻♀️ The main character hops around into different 'host' bodies to get various viewpoints so he can solve a murder. I found all of his hosts to be despicable and the twists in the story weren't twisty enough for my liking. There's also a huge amount of fatphobia in the story that has no reason to be there or be so pronounced. I feel like I'm in the minority here because I've seen such love for this book, but let me know if you agree with me! ...more
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