I was enjoying this and it would have been a 4 or 5 star read for me up until the last 50 pages or so. The ending didn't ruin the book, but felt like I was enjoying this and it would have been a 4 or 5 star read for me up until the last 50 pages or so. The ending didn't ruin the book, but felt like a bit of a let down and knocked it down to 3 stars. I really liked the concept of this book, but the execution was a little lacking.
I'd say this was a big improvement over Hide. Kiersten White continues to come up with good concepts for stories, and the biggest problem for me has been execution. As long as I continue to see improvement, I'll probably keep reading books by White. I absolutely think there's a horror masterpiece waiting to get out. ...more
I don't really know what I just read, but I really, really liked it. I think Neil Sharpson has made my must read list for any new books.I don't really know what I just read, but I really, really liked it. I think Neil Sharpson has made my must read list for any new books....more
I liked it, but this was a completely unnecessary sequel that was missing all the fun of the previous books. If it weren't for Grayson's sister, this I liked it, but this was a completely unnecessary sequel that was missing all the fun of the previous books. If it weren't for Grayson's sister, this book would have been a real slog.
This feels more like the beginning of a new trilogy than the continuation of the old one; the ending leaves no doubt that there will be more to come. I think if it was marketed that way, it might have changed my expectations going in, probably for the better....more
I loved the first two books in the series, but this one took a bit of a nosedive. The first part was a little tedious and a lot annoying, but it was sI loved the first two books in the series, but this one took a bit of a nosedive. The first part was a little tedious and a lot annoying, but it was still okay, even if there was a bit of retconning Andie. The second part was just dumb and everything was out of character and poor decisions. I kind of wish I'd skipped this book in the series. It wasn't a bad book and would have been fine as a stand alone; it just didn't really work for me as the finale to the series....more
I'm really enjoying this series. The first one was probably better, but this was still a worthy sequel. I think this was a bit more predictable, but tI'm really enjoying this series. The first one was probably better, but this was still a worthy sequel. I think this was a bit more predictable, but that might just be increasing familiarity with how the author writes.
My only real gripe is that almost everything in the book is important. There needs to be more false clues or ultimately unimportant details to throw things off. After writing that, this book did have some, but I feel like I saw thru them pretty quickly....more
This ended up being an interesting read. Yes, it's the book Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is based on, but unlike the current trend, the original book was This ended up being an interesting read. Yes, it's the book Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is based on, but unlike the current trend, the original book was the dark and gritty version. While a lot of the characters show up in both versions, the movie and the book have completely different plots.
There are some other differences between the book and movie worlds. In the book, Toons mainly work in comics and not cartoons. They speak with speech bubbles that float above their heads, probably explaining the comic thing. In the book, Toons aren't nearly indestructible, like in the movie; they can die as easily as humans. The catch is that they can create limited time doppelgangers to serve as their stunt doubles like Loki in the MCU. Another big difference is that some humanoid toons like Jessica Rabbit are so realistic that they can almost pass as human. In universe conspiracy theories are centered around famous people really being toons.
The book plays the story pretty straight, for the most part. It's a hard-boiled detective story that just happens to take place in a world with Toons. I liked the mystery, but I wasn't a huge fan of the very ending. I was floating between 3 and 4 stars, and the ending settled it for me. I still think it's worth a read if you're a hard-boiled mystery fan or liked the movie. Being familiar with one won't ruin the other.
There are more Roger Rabbit books, but it sounds like they're a direct sequel to the movie and retcon this book. Sounds like I'll probably skip them....more
This is probably a 3.5, but I'm rounding up since it was a pretty good debut novel. Based on the blurb and the first chapter, I went into this expectiThis is probably a 3.5, but I'm rounding up since it was a pretty good debut novel. Based on the blurb and the first chapter, I went into this expecting something like if Douglas Adams wrote a book about hell, or maybe something like Good Omens, but that wasn't to be. There was a bit of humor, but nothing like what I was hoping for.
I don't really have any complaints on this one. Around the halfway mark, it started to drag a bit, but not too bad. A few tweaks might have helped the very ending, but thats more of a preference on my part due to the characters I wanted more of. I'm curious why a certain person didn't ask for a deal. It would have negated the whole book, but I feel it needs to be explained why a deal didn't happen.
I really don't know what to classify this book as; it's part fantasy, part mystery, part family drama. At times, it felt like two different novels interwoven together. It felt a little long, but since it was more or less two books, the length was probably about right.
This was one of the better debut novels I've read in awhile. There were some minor pacing issues, but the writing and character development were well done. I'll most likely be reading whatever Claudia Lux writes next. This looks like the start of a promising career....more
In the end, I really liked this book and it might be my favorite Holly story. In the beginning though, it was really hard to get into. It's still too In the end, I really liked this book and it might be my favorite Holly story. In the beginning though, it was really hard to get into. It's still too soon for me to really enjoy a story where COVID plays a major role. Maybe in ten years or so it might make for some interesting... whatever the opposite of nostalgia is, reading. That coupled with the constant Trump references early on made my favorite escape from reality feel more like being locked in a room with the monsters. If not for that, this would have been an easy five stars....more
I'm giving this a generous three stars; it's better than the last two Sager books, but not by a lot. The story is set in the 80's, apparently exclusivI'm giving this a generous three stars; it's better than the last two Sager books, but not by a lot. The story is set in the 80's, apparently exclusively for the lack of cell phones and the internet. A bit of 80's nostalgia might have helped make this book a bit more fun, but the only true 80's references seem to be the names of a couple songs and one character that wears Madonna style bracelets.
The book seemed to lack the typical red herrings associated with Riley Sager books. I think I had the big twist figured out before we even met one of the main characters. There's another twist at the end that I didn't see coming, but that's because there were zero clues that it was going to happen or was a possibility. After the reveal, you can flip back and see that it was planned all along, but there was nothing to give it away to the reader. There was one minor red herring about who the killer might be, but it was never actually referenced or acted upon in the book, instead, the MC jumps to a bonkers conclusion out of nowhere based on wild speculation and zero evidence and even less common sense.
This is Sager's third strike from me. I might read his future books, but won't be in any rush to get them. I'm starting to think the good books were the fluke and the bad books are the norm. ...more
I normally like C.J. Tudor, but this one just didn't do it for me. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't one of my favorites from Tudor. On paper, I should havI normally like C.J. Tudor, but this one just didn't do it for me. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't one of my favorites from Tudor. On paper, I should have loved this one; it's three locked room mysteries set during an apocalyptic pandemic. Unfortunately, the story never really grabbed my attention and I ended up forcing my way through it.
My first issue was too many characters. There are essentially three stories being told by three viewpoint characters. Each of these stories has another five or so characters heavily involved. Each story starts in the middle of the action, so there's not much build up or introduction to the characters; they're just all there at once. All of this adds up to me having a really hard time keeping everyone straight. It didn't help that I didn't have a lot of reading time when I started this book, so I'd read three or four chapters, then come back the next day and have to review the previous chapters trying to remember what was happening to who and where.
A minor issue was I didn't really buy most of the characters' motivations; no one really seemed to have that great of a reason for their actions. The ones who did, it just felt unearned because there was too much telling about relationships and not enough showing. It makes it hard to care about someone's loss when most of it happened off the page and we're just seeing the bitter shells they've become.
After thinking on this for a few days, I think the real disconnect for me was that the story focused too much on the mysteries and not on the apocalypse. The book starts off with some background on the virus and then you find out the survivors become little more than zombies. Then, as the story goes on you find out that the Whistlers might be more intelligent than was initially revealed. This is the story I wanted to read more about, but the plague ended up being a deux ex machina to put the characters where we needed them and to keep them from getting outside help.
This book is probably better than I'm making it out to be. I have a strong suspicion that it was a case of I was the problem more than the book. It's worth a read if you're a Tudor fan. It would have probably been more enjoyable if I'd had more time to read it when I first started.
My ranking of C.J. Tudor books: 1) The Other People - 5 stars 2) The Burning Girls - 5 stars 3) A Sliver of Darkness - 5 stars 4) The Drift - 3 stars 5) The Chalk Man - 3 stars...more
What happened to Riley Sager? He went from being one of my favorite authors that consistently wrote good, if not great books, to being laughably bad. What happened to Riley Sager? He went from being one of my favorite authors that consistently wrote good, if not great books, to being laughably bad. This one isn't as awful as Survive the Night, but it's still pretty bad. He's following the same career trajectory as M. Night Shyamalan; start with some good stories with surprise twists, then keep making the twists bigger and bigger to keep the audience on their toes, up until the twists become so outrageous that they become laughable.
One good constant is that I don't have any issues with Sager's writing style. There's something about it that let's me easily slide into the story whether it's good or bad. I've never had issues getting immersed into his story telling. It can get repetitive at times, but not to the point that it takes me out of the book.
That's about the only good I have to say about this one. The first half of the book sucks. To the point that I almost quit reading a couple of times, but I heard some people say it gets better in the second half, so stuck it out. It does get better (would have been hard to get worse), but not enough to save it.
It reads more like a satire of the genre than something serious. If you've seen the Woman Across the House From the Girl in the Window with Kristen Bell on Netflix, the first half of the book and the main character are crazily close to that (the book Kristen Bell's character reads is called the Woman Across the Lake). The character isn't overly sympathetic and the story just drags and drags and drags. No twists or surprises (or much of anything else) happen until past the halfway point. When they do, they end up feeling a bit like a cheat because they're pretty far out there (to the point that we've changed genres) and the unreliable narrator is basically lying for good sections of the story. I like an unreliable narrator to a point (drunk, drugged, or otherwise mentally impaired are okay with me, but just lying is right up there with the "it was all a dream" in my book).
I don't want to get spoilery, but I wasn't a fan of the big twist. If this were a new author or the blurb gave more info on what was going to happen, I might have liked it more. Being a Riley Sager book, I'm expecting a mystery with twists, not what we ended up getting. The whole thing kind of felt like a cop out. I understand why it happened and why Sager needed to do it (the quarterback option doesn't work if you don't establish the run and he's been faking the run a lot), but it really didn't work for me.
This is another book that needed some editing to make it better. It could have been a three or four star book if a lot of the fluff and filler were cut out of it. There's no reason it took 200 pages to get to the meat of the story. You could cut fifty pages without breaking a sweat and 100 pages wouldn't be a whole lot tougher to do.
I'm not ready to give up on Sager yet, but I'm pretty close. I usually stick to three strikes and you're out (what's with all the sports metaphors in this review?) and we're sitting at two strikes. The next book is going to need to be pretty good to get me back on the Sager train....more
First things first...if you're anything like me, you're going to want to quit reading this book in the beginning. It probably took about 40 pages to pFirst things first...if you're anything like me, you're going to want to quit reading this book in the beginning. It probably took about 40 pages to pique my interest enough to keep going and that was AFTER similar warnings from friends' reviews that got me to keep reading that far. The story didn't really get me hooked until about 100 pages in.
I'm still sorting out how I feel about this one. I didn't really like any of the characters, so that's always a negative for me. By the end, I understood why they made some of the choices they made, but still feel like there were better options they could have pursued. At multiple points in the book, I really wanted to line up all the characters and shake the hell out of them while asking what the hell they're thinking and/or doing. Maybe I'm being pessimistic, Some of those bad decisions seem to have been made solely as a setup for twists later on.
Speaking of twists, I actually did see most of them coming. Part of this is that me and Catriona Ward apparently think along the same wavelengths for where stories could go. I saw most of the twists coming for Last House on Needless Street, too, despite some of them being pretty far out there, so I'm not sure what that says about me. Another factor was a lot of people are talking about all of the twists that they didn't see coming, so that helped me to eliminate anything that seemed too obvious and had me on high alert. Kind of reminds me how everyone who saw the Sixth Sense right after it came out was blown away, but everyone who watched it later on figured it out since everyone was talking about the crazy twist. Knowing the twists ahead of time doesn't ruin anything for me and there's still the anticipation of seeing if you're right or not, so this isn't really a very big negative.
The rough beginning ended up knocking a star off of the review for me. The other star comes off from the ending. All the dominos have fallen into place towards the end of the book and it's on the verge of redeeming itself for the rough start. Then you flip the page and the book is over. I literally flipped back and forth a couple times because I thought my Kindle skipped a page. The book just cuts off before we find out what happened. I almost want to go start a petition to get Catriona Ward to finish writing the damn book. I'm not a fan of ambiguous endings and they usually ruin a book for me. This one isn't quite as bad as most since there are two ways the ending can go, and one of them is a LOT more likely than the other. Due to that, I'm only knocking off 1 star since the intended ending seems fairly clear....more
This is a typical Karen McManus young adult mystery. She's found her niche and she does it consistently well. I can understand for some people if it'sThis is a typical Karen McManus young adult mystery. She's found her niche and she does it consistently well. I can understand for some people if it's getting old, but it still works for me. There's something comforting about going into a new book and generally knowing what to expect. As long as the mysteries change and the twists stay fresh, I'm good.
In this one, she sticks to two viewpoint characters, so that makes things easier to follow. I wouldn't have been mad to see one or two other characters have some POV chapters to change it up a bit, but they weren't really necessary. My only real complaint is that the characters are starting to feel a bit recycled from other books. It isn't ideal, but as long as the stories stay fresh, I can deal with it.
If you've liked other McManus books, then you'll probably like this one, too. I'd call this one probably middle of the road for McManus. There are a couple of shout outs to other McManus books, cementing that they all happen in the same universe. I can't recall if that's happened in past books or not....more
I've not had the best of luck with the third book in trilogies, but this one has bucked the trend. It felt like a fitting conclusion for the Bayview cI've not had the best of luck with the third book in trilogies, but this one has bucked the trend. It felt like a fitting conclusion for the Bayview crew, but there's still room for more if McManus decides to bring us back....more
There's nothing wrong with this book, it's just not for me. Since it didn't sound like it was about a senior citizen solving crimes in betDNF at 24%.
There's nothing wrong with this book, it's just not for me. Since it didn't sound like it was about a senior citizen solving crimes in between baking contests, with the help of their adorable pets, I didn't realize it was a "cozy" mystery, so that was Strike 1.
Strike 2 was that the MC appears to be somewhere on the autism scale and has a difficult time reading social cues. It was becoming pretty apparent that misinterpreting what people say and mean was going to be a major plot driver for this book, so that's a hard pass from me.
Strike 3 is a spoiler, but the final nail was finding out about Molly's ex and her response (or complete lack of) to the "breakup"....more
Okay, first things first. Can we all come to an agreement on what is a horror novel and what is a mystery/thriller? Most of the horror novels I've reaOkay, first things first. Can we all come to an agreement on what is a horror novel and what is a mystery/thriller? Most of the horror novels I've read this year have definitely not been horror. Let's make this easy. If a killer is hunting the MC, then we'll go ahead and call that a horror. If the MC is hunting a killer, we'll call that a mystery/thriller, unless the killer turns out to be some kind of monster, then we're back to horror. There's going to be exceptions, but a horror novel should be scary, or at least scary adjacent.
Now, on to the actual book. As a mystery, this one was really, really good. I'm really close to giving it 5 stars, but going to stick with 4, for now. I really like how the mystery unraveled as Aaron tried to figure out what secret his wife was keeping, discovering the secret and becoming just as obsessed with it as his wife had been and following thru to the end.
Had the book ended ten pages sooner and the author just stuck to the mystery aspect, this would have easily been 5 stars. Instead, there's some paranormal/metaphysical stuff kind of shoehorned into the book. For me, it added nothing and just distracted from the main story. There wasn't a ton of it and it was spread throughout the book in snippets, other than those last few pages, but it just felt really unnecessary.
In the end, I'm mostly nitpicking. If you're into mysteries, then I'd definitely say check this one out....more
I really don't know how to rate this one. In all honesty, I really didn't like it for the first 75% and almost gave up multiple times. I figured out tI really don't know how to rate this one. In all honesty, I really didn't like it for the first 75% and almost gave up multiple times. I figured out the "twist" pretty quickly, I really struggled with suspending my disbelief and I didn't really care for any of the characters. Even knowing the twist, a lot of things didn't make much sense. I like unreliable narrators, but there is such a thing as *too* unreliable.
I did actually enjoy the writing style. It made it very easy to slip back into the story whenever I picked the book back up. That was probably the only thing that kept this from going to a DNF shelf.
I normally read two or three books a week, but I've been on this one for a couple weeks now. Part of that was me being busy, but only part. I'll sacrifice a few hours of sleep for a good book, but I didn't care enough to make the time to read this one. The final 25% of the book managed to save the whole thing, I just wish it had come a lot sooner. If I were to re-read this right away, knowing the end, I would probably give it 4-4.5 stars. This is a book that needs to be read in just a few sittings, not a few pages here and there over a few weeks.
Another issue I had is that this is classified as horror every time I see it and it is absolutely NOT a horror story. I kept waiting for something horrorish to happen, but it never did. I read plenty of non-horror, but I started reading this because I was in the mood for a scary book. If someone promises me cake, then by god, there better be some fucking cake! The cake was a lie! I'd probably call this one a mystery or thriller, but those aren't the best fit, either.
If you're going to read this one, I'll just tell you that everything will become clear by the end, you just have to wade thru a mish-mash of stuff until that point. You will be confused. A lot of things won't make sense. No, you didn't accidently skip a chapter. You're not remembering that thing wrong from a couple chapters ago. That's just how this book goes. ...more
I liked this one, but not as much as Sundown Motel. This was a lot more low stakes than Sundown; this book was almost all mystery and no thriller. TheI liked this one, but not as much as Sundown Motel. This was a lot more low stakes than Sundown; this book was almost all mystery and no thriller. The mystery was pretty straight forward and instead of twists, we had gentle curves in the plot.
Like Sundown Motel, there is a paranormal element to this story. In Sundown, the ghosts seemed to nudge the characters in the right direction. In this book, the ghosts do their not-so-gentle nudging with a battering ram. We kind of had the gist of what happened, but a lot of the details are provided thru ghost interactions. I'd have preferred those details come from flashbacks and research, since those were much stronger parts of the story. The ghost aspect felt more like a cheat code in this book.
My biggest issue, besides the ghosts, was how the ending was handled. Personally, I felt one of the characters deserved a ticker tape parade and instead they got a criminal investigation. I'm not sure what the point of that would even be since the case would be doomed if it went in front of a jury....more
Damn, this one was a fun read (as much fun as you can have reading about a serial killer that targets children, anyway). It's not a perfect book by anDamn, this one was a fun read (as much fun as you can have reading about a serial killer that targets children, anyway). It's not a perfect book by any means, but it was definitely entertaining; it's popcorn fiction, but it's popcorn fiction done well. It feels almost like the official novelization of a movie that doesn't exist (but one I'd go see). It was a pretty quick read due to the rapid fire pace of the novel. The authors don't waste much time with unnecessary information, side-plots, or character development.
At this point, if you've read some of my other reviews, you're probably thinking I'm fickle as hell. I complain A LOT about lack of/bad character development. Most of those books are character driven stories or a mix of character and plot. You really need to empathize or understand the characters' motivations for the story to work.
I'm okay with the lack of development in this case for a couple reasons. First, this was absolutely a plot driven book and the characters don't particularly matter. For the main character, she needed to 1) be a member of the jury, 2) be a psychologist/psychiatrist and 3) be a mother. Anything beyond that isn't really important to the character. The characters are cliche enough that you can pretty much fill in the rest of the details on your own. Second, the book doesn't take itself too seriously. Murray and Wearmouth know they're writing popcorn fiction and they fully embrace that. It may be a weak excuse, but it's all I got. I'm not going to hold a Fast & the Furious movie up to the same level of scrutiny as I would an Oscar contender.
I probably wrote a similar version of this review on all 3 books in the Awakened trilogy written by the same authors. This book isn't going to win any esteemed literary awards. It would make a great popcorn flick on the big screen. This book isn't going to change your life, but it's a good way to pass a few hours....more
I glanced at some of the other reviews, and wow, I did not realize there was that big of a fan focus on the love trianI'm just here for the puzzles...
I glanced at some of the other reviews, and wow, I did not realize there was that big of a fan focus on the love triangle in this series, (especially Team Grayson) since most of the romance seemed kind of forced. The second and third books do a bit more to build some chemistry between the characters, but it still seemed more like a case of proximity infatuation rather than true love.
I thought this was a pretty good conclusion to a good series. The puzzles in this one seemed a lot easier for the characters to solve than the ones in previous books, but I still had fun. The book felt a bit more rushed than the previous installments. Part of that is probably due to the slow start of the book that doesn't do anything to advance the plot. If I were the editor, there were definitely some sections where I'd make heavy cuts for pacing and develop some other parts a bit more.
The author did some weird things with Grayson's character development that seemed way out of line with how he normally acts. It's explained in book, but still not sure I'm buying it. It's been a while since I've read the first two books, so not sure if some of the flashbacks happened in book two or happened between books two and three.
In the end, this is a satisfying conclusion to the series. If you read and enjoyed the first two, then you should like this one as well. Maybe. I guess it depends on which side of the love triangle you're on and whether your "team" won....more
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