Stopped reading a few chapters in because it hadn't grabbed me and also I apparently didn't read the plot heavily relied on mental illness and a baby.Stopped reading a few chapters in because it hadn't grabbed me and also I apparently didn't read the plot heavily relied on mental illness and a baby. eeeep, not good reading for this preggo....more
This book started off atmospheric and creepy and then just got straight up weird and annoying. I got up to 70% before deciding to set this aside.
It's This book started off atmospheric and creepy and then just got straight up weird and annoying. I got up to 70% before deciding to set this aside.
It's not a thriller or a horror, but more of a suspense/drama with some light supernatural cliché elements. As a former Wiccan the witch and Wiccan parts were super frustrating to read. I know this is fiction, but geeeez way to completely not research anything and stick to misconceptions.
There's a heavy dose of fat phobia throughout the whole book around one character that wasn't necessary and was just gross. This dude also goes on for pages about women's nipples and it added nothing to the story....more
I thought this would be a fun popcorn Thriller, but it was a melodramatic soap opera-style mess.
Basically, you've got Ward, a 40 something lady wUgh.
I thought this would be a fun popcorn Thriller, but it was a melodramatic soap opera-style mess.
Basically, you've got Ward, a 40 something lady who's a wealthy famous author who enjoys her book tours until her teen daughter is abducted and killed and then she's a shut-in who can't write.
Then, you've got Bree, a 4o something upper middle class divorcée who's slumming it working for the local paper trying to write about Ward. Oh, and she has a teen daughter who is spoiled and hates her.
Add in some attractive mysterious men for Bree and Ward, some fatphobia and clichés and stereotypical upper middle class white lady shit and you've got Perfectly Famous.
There's a shocking ending--true, but it's bad B movie shocking and made me laugh. Oops.
I picked this up on Netgalley and had no idea it was the 3rd book in a series, but now that I know it makes so much more sense!
It's basically a mysterI picked this up on Netgalley and had no idea it was the 3rd book in a series, but now that I know it makes so much more sense!
It's basically a mystery surrounding a mysterious death in a resort at an isolated castle.
The main character doesn't get much of a backstory, but lots is alluded too...like I said it makes more sense knowing this is the third in a series. The mystery read like an Agatha Christie mixed with Shakespeare and was interesting enough, but I was so caught up wondering who everybody was....more
I enjoyed C. J. Tudor's other books and expected THE OTHER PEOPLE to be a little more Horror-like even though they are marketing it as a Mystery/ThrilI enjoyed C. J. Tudor's other books and expected THE OTHER PEOPLE to be a little more Horror-like even though they are marketing it as a Mystery/Thriller. Well, it's definitely a Mystery, by not really a Thriller.
The story is convoluted and switches narrators and points of view a lot, which took some getting used too. The Other People aren't mentioned until almost halfway through and then they are never full explained besides being a type of vigilante website on the dark web. The writing is still really good, but the missing child story just seems overdone and wasn't interesting to me. There are some really good lines and it's still worth a read, but the ending was too neatly tied up and I was kinda bored throughout the story.
There was such hype and praise for this book and the cover is so lovely!
And then there's the book itself. Elisabeth's sister disappeared when she wasThere was such hype and praise for this book and the cover is so lovely!
And then there's the book itself. Elisabeth's sister disappeared when she was a child and she's thought of her ever since. She lives in rural Alaska and by the way it's 1941 for some reason. One-day a visitor arrives subing in for their usual mail delivery man and he's a weirdo. Alfred, the weirdo commits a crime and then writes to Elisabeth claiming to have information about her sister. Elisabeth's a big dummy and plays along. None of that is spoilers because it's all on the flap in the description.
However, that's it. The whole fucking story leads to a very lackluster ending. And geeez, this author sucks at writing women. There's a part where Elisabeth is writing Alfred a letter and he asked for a photo of her, so of course not only does she find one, but she also thinks 'hmm, bet this creep wants to smell my pussy' and then there's this scene:
"Pulling up the side of her skirt and then pulling aside her underwear, Elisabeth stuffed the photograph between her legs, and she rubbed it against herself like a piece of bath tissue."
YEUUUUCK. For some reason I kept reading after that part and it just got worse. She tries to "whore herself out" to Alfred as a plea for information and when it goes badly she grabs his dick and kisses him. You know, like any woman would do. ...more
This book thinks really highly of itself but fell flat for me.
What starts out as "omg is my husband having an affair"...stays that way and I never wasThis book thinks really highly of itself but fell flat for me.
What starts out as "omg is my husband having an affair"...stays that way and I never was thrilled with anything. The characters keep making choices that no one in real life would make and the police are dumb and don't really seem to care about the murder at all. Not at all the thrilling story, I was promised, just dull and predictable....more
This book certainly isn't for everyone and I've struggled with how to rate it. .
The characters are right out of an 80's slasher film. There's Nick, theThis book certainly isn't for everyone and I've struggled with how to rate it. .
The characters are right out of an 80's slasher film. There's Nick, the escaped mental patient who has "a pale emotionless face with eyes that look like black pits that lead to the gates of hell." Betsy, the sweet, stuttering, religious Daddy's girl. Kathleen: she's large and in charge and nothing can stop her... except maybe the cyst she has on her ass. And then David, the sassy gay sidekick who just might have what it takes to become a main character.
Nick is just trying to return to his childhood home and mayybeee finish the murders he started years ago, but he gets caught between the drama of Betsy and Kathleen and everyone knows there's no greater drama than that of two high school girls. Especially when there's a boy involved.
Sounds intriguing and it definitely was, but it also was just plain gross. Felt like I was back in high school again hanging out with those people who try too hard to be funny and can somehow only tell jokes involving shit. If you can get past reading about this giant cyst on Kathleen's ass and the constant fart mentions (whyyyy?) you might be able to enjoy the ridiculousness of the story. Just be warned there's a lot of fatphobic parts (I get that Kathleen is supposed to be comfortable and empowering, but calling herself an obese cunt and whatnot is a bit much). Then there's a part where a male character is basically sexually assaulted... his penis is grabbed and jerked off as he flinches...right after she calls him a "giant retard."
There are also a lot of pop culture references that I had to google (lol I'm lame I guess?) and overly worded confusing descriptions like the author found a thesaurus and wanted to also be really clever. And then there were things described as looking or sounding or smelling like things that I had no clue how to imagine...like a guy's shoe smelling like "a bucket of clits." So overall 2.5 stars from me. I wanted to immerse myself in the story and enjoy it, but it eneded up being too disgusting and yet I pushed through anyway. I'm going to donate this to my local Little Free Library and hope someone else can find it funny....more
The domestic thriller market lately is all about wealthy women with cheating spouses and the same old twists and thrills. AWhy do I do this to myself?
The domestic thriller market lately is all about wealthy women with cheating spouses and the same old twists and thrills. And yet, I keep wanting to be surprised by a unique idea.
The First Mistake wasn't that. It was an entertaining beachy fluff read, but the entire middle section with a different narrator seemed like filler for the backstory that didn't need to be there. The kids weren't fully developed to me and the end was a classic mic drop type of ending.
If you don't read a lot of women fiction thrillers you'll enjoy this, but otherwise you'll be disappointed....more
This book was way too long for what it was. I feel like it would have packed more punch as a short story because so much of the beginning was just unnThis book was way too long for what it was. I feel like it would have packed more punch as a short story because so much of the beginning was just unnecessary and boring.
Veronica is bored as fuck in her loveless marriage to her high school sweetheart Johnny, who she married after finding out she was pregnant and then later found out Johnny is a narcissist. It's been ten years and she's literally counting the days until her daughter is old enough to "handle" them divorcing. *eye roll* As a child of divorce myself I hate when people think it fucks up the kids....it's more fucked up to stay together and your kids totally can see that! Anyways, apparently her daughter was really messed up over Veronica's parent's divorce, but they never really explain why or how and so we are left to wonder. The kid is just a side note who seems sheltered and annoying tbh. Veronica has daddy-issues and wonders to herself about them frequently.
Johnny is a personal trainer who happens to discover a missing child of a wealthy family on a hike one day and then omg the press are out in full force to make him into a hero and Veronica is very much not into it and wants it all to go away because she's a grump and also keeping a typical secret form her hubby. Hubby is keeping secrets of his own and wow the kid being discovered wasn't so random after all.
I expected so much more after reading and loving Jane Doe, but this was such a run-of-the-mill thriller with a predictable plot that I yawned my way through it waiting and wanting more than it provided. False Step? More like False Start....more
We Went to the Woods says it's similar to The Secret History and The Immortalists, two books I really enjoyed and so I thought I'd like this one. SpoiWe Went to the Woods says it's similar to The Secret History and The Immortalists, two books I really enjoyed and so I thought I'd like this one. Spoiler alert: I was let down.
To sum it up: a bunch of pretentious twenty-somethings decide they are fed up with our society and they believe they can do better creating their own society. We know they are doomed to fail because the prologue tells us so and are supposed to be compelled enough to find out what happened. I was intrigued and kept reading but it was roughhhhhh! All of the characters are unlikeable as fuck and none of them know much about homesteading, but they've read Walden by Thoreau and so they think they can do it. They spend lots of time pulling weeds and wandering about reading Thoreau, drinking their homemade mead and fucking eachother and lamenting about how much better off they are for this experience. La di da. Very slow pacing and I was bored and hating everyone, but I skim read a bunch because I wanted to find out what "bad thing" the main character did on a reality Tv show that made her want to seclude herself in the woods. Well, finally it was revealed and yup, she's fucking awful and she sort of knows it. Then they slowly get a bit more involved in the other local commune (this is in the Ithaca area of New York, so it's all wine snobs, communes and hippies wanting to be in communes) and some eco-terrorism and everything goes to hell as you'd expect. I give this book a shrug. It was okay and I liked how characters from the author's previous book Dead Letters are also in this book, but other than that I hated everyone and i rolled my eyes a lot. Solidly 2.5 ish stars....more
Why do men insist on writing as female characters? So many things about this book bothered me and it almost took me a whole month to read because I wanWhy do men insist on writing as female characters? So many things about this book bothered me and it almost took me a whole month to read because I wanted to DNF, but it was a NetGalley read so I pushed onwards. More coming soon....more
Raven Lane was a trip! I went through a whole myriad of emotions while reading this book. I started off curious about the comings and goings of the faRaven Lane was a trip! I went through a whole myriad of emotions while reading this book. I started off curious about the comings and goings of the fancy folk who live in the perfect little cul-de-sac called Raven Lane. It seems it's a lovely little suburbia where everyone knows everyone else's business and there's always a party to be had---basically my hell. Right off the bat, things seem a bit off with Esme and her husband Benedict and then almost immediately into the book he accidentally hits a neighbor with his car and everything gets twisty. Surprise! Suburbia isn't perfect!
It took me almost a full month to read Raven Lane because I didn't care about any of the characters; they are all awful people (with maybe the exception being Esme's daughter Zoe, but we didn't get to know her) who do nasty things for no real reason other than to feel stuff. I feel like you're supposed to like Esme and feel bad for her as more of her background is revealed, but I just found myself annoyed with her.
Occasionally parts of the book cutaway to a book within the book written by one of the characters. These parts were confusing at best and maybe it's just my ARC, but it was hard to determine when they were starting and ending. They had a Lovecraftian type of vibe going on and I wanted more of them and less of annoying Esme.
However, my main problem with Raven Lane was the bad taste it left in my mouth after reading about Esme (a straight white woman) being seduced by Torn (a younger, gay guy). We, the reader are supposed to believe that Torn was such a fan of Esme's one movie role that he suddenly is a bisexual who finds her irresistible and wants to bang her. *eyeroll* Like, okay maaayyybeeee, but it seemed really weird and dishonest to the LGBTQ community. Oh and they have such good sex together that was cringy as fuck to read about.
I don't really know what this book brings that is worth reading about. I would read more by this author to give her a second chance, but what i really want is a full-length book of The Call....more
I thought it'd be funny, but it was boring as heck and I didn't care for the characters.
Pretty Albanian maid escapes Why 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
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 narrator 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 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.
I gave into the hype. After trying to read Miracle Creek for 3 days now and I'm setting it aside as a DNF because it's just not doing it for me. ThingsI gave into the hype. After trying to read Miracle Creek for 3 days now and I'm setting it aside as a DNF because it's just not doing it for me. Things that didn't work for me: . 🔸There's so many characters I feel like I need too take notes on who's who and why they are relevant. The chapters switch POV and it's confusing. 🔸I was expecting a thriller and this is definitely more of a courtroom drama. There's a lot of dialogue and back and forth "she said and then she said" and it's boring me.🤷🏼♀️ 🔸I haven't finished the book, so correct me if I'm wrong, but the reader is supposed to hate protestors for wanting people to love their children as they are and not think of autism as a burden?!...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
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