Book Review: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

Title: In Five Years
Author: Rebecca Serle
Publication Date: March 10, 2020
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 255
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Where do you see yourself in five years?

When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.

But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.

After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.

In Five Years is another case of “bookstagram made me buy it”. After seeing this book flood instagram this past year, I just knew it had to be one of my last books of 2020. I don’t read book reviews and I also try not to read book summaries. I don’t like to have preconceptions about the book I’m about to dive into, so I went into this book blind.

Dannie is a woman who lives her life by the numbers. You date someone for 24 months before moving in with them. You get engaged at 28. You get married by 30. She is a meticulous, Type-A person who knows what she wants in her life. After acing the job interview at the law firm of her dreams and accepting the marriage proposal from her boyfriend, she goes to sleep knowing she is right on track.

When Dannie wakes up from her sleep, she is somehow exactly five years in the future. She’s in a beautiful apartment with a man she’s never seen before and she gets the briefest glimpse of what her life will be in the future. When she wakes up again, she’s back in her apartment with her fiance and she spends the next few years trying to ignore the hour she spent in 2025, until she meets the man from her vision four-and-a-half years later and he’s dating her best friend, Bella.

It takes a lot for a book to surprise me. I’ve read so many books and watched so much television that I can usually predict how something will turn out at the end, but I still enjoy the journey of getting there. That’s what I thought I had with this book; I thought I had it figured out by the middle of the book, but I’m happy to admit I was wrong.

This isn’t the romance novel I thought it would be. I was expecting love triangles and betrayal and heartbreak but we didn’t really get that, not completely. To me, it’s overall a book about love and self discovery. It’s about the love between two childhood and lifelong best friends. It’s about Dannie’s journey of self discovery. It’s about the little choices we make every single day that make up our life’s story. It’s about the impact that we and our love have on those around us. For me, my favorite part of this book was Dannie and Bella’s friendship. I’m 26-years-old and I still have childhood friends in my life so their friendship and the love they have for each other really hit home for me.

I know that a lot of people don’t believe in soul mates, but I do. And I don’t think they’re necessarily always romantic. To me, Dannie and Bella are soul mates. They have a bond that goes deeper than simply love, friendship, or even sisterhood. They have a soul tie that can never be broken.

It is a heartbreakingly, moving, beautiful tearjerker. It is also a quick read that can be finished in a day. Overall, this was a 3.5 star read for me. The first half of the book was better for me than the second half. I found myself getting lost and confused in some parts and having to re-read them. I also found myself reaching a part of the book where I just wanted to hurry up and get it over with which is extremely rare for me.

Would I read this book again? Absolutely not. Would I recommend this book? I would! We all interpret books differently and after reading a few reviews, it is clear that this was one of those hit-or-miss books for people and for me, I would consider it a hit.

Mini Thriller Reviews: Kimberly Belle, Ruth Ware, & Alyssa Cole

Title: The Marriage Lie
Author: Kimberly Belle
Publication Date: December 27, 2016
Publisher: Mira
Pages: 334
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Even the perfect marriage has its dark side…

Iris and Will's marriage is as close to perfect as it can be: a large house in a nice Atlanta neighborhood, rewarding careers and the excitement of trying for their first baby. But on the morning Will leaves for a business trip to Orlando, Iris's happy world comes to an abrupt halt. Another plane headed for Seattle has crashed into a field, killing everyone on board, and according to the airline, Will was one of the passengers on this plane.

Grief-stricken and confused, Iris is convinced it all must be a huge misunderstanding. But as time passes and there is still no sign of Will, she reluctantly accepts that he is gone. Still, Iris needs answers. Why did Will lie about where he was going? What is in Seattle? And what else has he lied about? As Iris sets off on a desperate quest to find out what her husband was keeping from her, the answers she receives will shock her to her very core. 

The Marriage Lie kicks off when Iris receives the horrible news that her husband was onboard a plane that crashed, only he shouldn't have been. This sets Iris down an obsessive path of finding out exactly why her husband was on that plane and not the one he was supposed to have boarded. She can't accept that he lied to her, although all the evidence points to it.

Although this was a quick read that successfully built suspense, it was also fairly predictable. My favorite thing in a book is a great twist and, while the author did set one up, I guessed it pretty early on. That's not to say this wasn't an enjoyable read, because I still had a great time on the journey! Thankfully, there were still some reveals I didn't see comins! Iris was a sympathetic character who I quickly identified with and other supporting characters were equally well written. This was my first Kimberly Belle read, but I definitely plan to read more by her!

Title: Dear Wife
Author: Kimberly Belle
Publication Date: June 25, 2019
Publisher: Park Row
Pages: 336
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Beth Murphy is on the run...

For nearly a year, Beth has been planning for this day. A day some people might call any other Wednesday, but Beth prefers to see it as her new beginning--one with a new look, new name and new city. Beth has given her plan significant thought, because one small slip and her violent husband will find her.

Sabine Hardison is missing...

A couple hundred miles away, Jeffrey returns home from a work trip to find his wife, Sabine, is missing. Wherever she is, she's taken almost nothing with her. Her abandoned car is the only evidence the police have, and all signs point to foul play.

As the police search for leads, the case becomes more and more convoluted. Sabine's carefully laid plans for her future indicate trouble at home, and a husband who would be better off with her gone. The detective on the case will stop at nothing to find out what happened and bring this missing woman home. Where is Sabine? And who is Beth? The only thing that's certain is that someone is lying and the truth won't stay buried for long.

My second Kimberly Belle read of my thriller binge was Dear Wife. This time the story follows Beth, a woman who has escaped an abusive husband and is on the run. Meanwhile, Sabine's husband is desperately searching for his missing wife. This book definitely kept me guessing! This was hard to read at times, having known someone who survived a very abusive relationship, but I feel like Beth's character was well written and I loved watching her outsmart her abusive partner.

Like I didn't figure this one out right away, which made it much more enjoyable. There was a sense of unease and waiting for the other shoe to drop from the beginning. Still, it wasn't a perfect mystery. Some things were a bit unbelievable and the entire premise was over the top. It did drag a bit in the middle, but overall I definitely enjoyed it and plan to read more of this author in the future!

Title: The Turn of the Key
Author: Ruth Ware
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
Publisher: Scout Press
Pages: 337
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When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unravelling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, The Turn of the Key is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time. 

The Turn of the Key was not my first Ruth Ware book, although it was the first one I've thoroughly enjoyed! The protagonist of this story is Rowan, a nanny who has taken a job working for a rich family at a house that can't seem to keep one employed. She's told about supposed supernatural occurrences, but doesn't believe them or care if they're true. As soon as she moves into the house things begin to spiral and a feeling of dread begins and doesn't let up until the end.

This is probably the most genuinely creepy thriller I've read recently because there was no real way to be sure whether Rowan was really seeing and hearing what she thought she was. Everything seems to be just a bit off from the start and I quickly blew through this book to figure out exactly how a child ended up dead, landing Rowan in prison.

Rowan wasn't a perfect character, but she was a sympathetic one. The children though... yikes. What a bunch of little nightmares! I did really enjoy the way this story was written, although the letter format didn't quite fit all the time. I can't wait to try another Ruth Ware book and hope it's just as good!

Title: When No One Is Watching
Author: Alyssa Cole
Publication Date: September 1, 2020
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 368
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Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block—her neighbor Theo.

But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.

When does coincidence become conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other—or themselves—long enough to find out before they too disappear?

I've seen a LOT of people compare this book to Get Out and, while I can see the comparison, it really didn't hit the same high for me. I went into When No One Is Watching expecting a thriller, but what I got was more of a suspenseful romance novel. There are often side romances in thrillers, but in this book the romance definitely overtook the mystery.

Speaking of mystery, it really didn't pick up until very late in the book. Much of this story reads like contemporary romance, but when the thrills did happen, they were definitely suspenseful! Things did get a bit over the top by the end, but it was enjoyable and made for a quick last few pages. And let's be honest, I'm here for over the top, weird stories. While contemporary romance isn't my genre, I'll be picking up Alyssa Cole's next thriller if she does publish another!

Title: One By One
Author: Ruth Ware
Publication Date: September 8, 2020
Publisher: Scout Press
Pages: 384
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Getting snowed in at a beautiful, rustic mountain chalet doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world, especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a cozy fire, and company to keep you warm. But what happens when that company is eight of your coworkers…and you can’t trust any of them?

When an off-site company retreat meant to promote mindfulness and collaboration goes utterly wrong when an avalanche hits, the corporate food chain becomes irrelevant and survival trumps togetherness. Come Monday morning, how many members short will the team be?

I found out about One By One when I saw the gorgeous Waterstone's exclusive edition. Luckily, I didn't preorder it because this did not turn out to be the book for me. It follows a large group of executives from an app called Snoop. The very concept of Snoop was really bizarre and I can't imagine anyone actually using it, but I digress.

This book suffered from a few things. One of them was the very large cast that really wasn't fleshed out enough to keep them separate. It also really dragged once the avalanche happened with all the characters stuck together. There was a lot of talking, a lot of sleeping, and eating, but not much suspense. The villain also really didn't make any sense to me, although I've seen a lot of people calling it predictable.

This wasn't a bad book, it just didn't live up to the high I just came off of with The Turn of the Key. I want more of that from Ruth Ware and less of whatever this is.

ARC Review: Bright Raven Skies by Kristina Pérez

Title: Bright Raven Skies (Sweet Black Waves #3)
Author: Kristina Pérez
Publication Date: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Imprint
Pages: 464
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Reviews for book 1 & book 2

To save the kingdom, Branwen embraced the darkest aspects of her magic. But she may have lost herself––and the two people she loves most.

Tristan and Eseult are missing. As Branwen searches for them, she must hide the truth surrounding their disappearance from both the king and her lover. Above all, she must find the Queen and her Champion first.

New and old enemies circle Branwen, clamoring for power and revenge, and threatening to destroy the fragile peace that she has sacrificed everything to secure. 

Sweet Black Waves and Wild Savage Stars are two of my favorite YA fantasy books of all time. Both were incredible reads for me, full of magic, romance, and heartbreak. I was very impatient to read Bright Raven Skies so I could find out the ending to Branwen's story and was SO grateful when I had the chance to read it early!

Bright Raven Skies picks up immediately after Wild Savage Stars, with Eseult and Tristan missing, and Branwen angry at them both. Despite her part in their betrayal, Branwen is unable to forgive. Still, she owes it to her aunt to keep Eseult and the alliance between the kingdoms in tact and, as usual, puts others above herself. Usually I get fed up with characters who constantly self-sacrifice, but my love for Branwen is undying. Her love for her family and country is hard not to root for and I read this wanting nothing more than a happy ending for her after so much heartbreak.

There was a lot to wrap up in this trilogy and I think Bright Raven Skies did a good job of it, although there were things I would have liked to end differently. Knowing the original tale of Tristan and Eseult, I knew some of what to expect, but this still managed to fall a little short. My main issue was that a lot of the book was overly drawn out. The political aspects of the story overtook the relationships and the plot went to several places I didn't care much about. There was an entire side plot that seemed to come out of nowhere and took up a huge chunk of the story.

Despite all that, I still enjoyed this finale! I loved the relationship between Branwen and Eseult and even found myself loving Tristan again by the end. There was so much done right about this trilogy, I just wish the final installment had packed a bit more punch. If you like tragic love stories and want a YA fantasy that's a little different, I still definitely recommend giving this series a try!

ARC Review: Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

Title: Burn Our Bodies Down 
Author: Rory Power
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 352
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Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot’s questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of. Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along.

But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for.

Margot’s mother left for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or was it to protect Margot from what’s still there?

The only thing Margot knows for sure is there’s poison in their family tree, and their roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she’s there, she might never escape.

Last year, Wilder Girls became one of my unexpected favorite books of all time. I am obsessed with weird horror books and Wilder Girls certainly fit the bill. When I saw that Rory Power was writing a new horror novel, I couldn't wait to grab a copy and dive in!

Burn Our Bodies Down follows Margot on her quest to find family outside of her mother, the only relative she's known. As luck would have it, Margot stumbles upon a clue to help her get there and follows it to Phalene, where she finds her grandmother and a town that's wary of her. At first, Margot is thrilled to have found what she's been searching for, but things gradually become more strange as she realizes there's something sinister about her grandmother and their home. 

My favorite thing about Burn Our Bodies Down, like with Wilder Girls, is the incredible world building. Rory Power knows how to craft a world that draws you in and makes you feel uneasy from the very start. Even before Margot found her way to Phalene, I was already feeling that creeping sense of dread this author is so great at creating. 

While this book did a great job at building tension and creating an incredibly atmospheric world, I couldn't help but feel like it was missing something. The horror aspect I expected took way too long to show up and things were a bit too slow for my taste. I am always here for the super weird, but the delivery of this just didn't hit the same way as Wilder Girls. I think part of my issue is that much of this book feels like your standard contemporary fiction, which isn't something I usually care for. 

Still, Burn Our Bodies Down had some wild twists at the end and I definitely enjoyed the creepy farm setting. There were lots of unique ideas here and I'm eager to see what Rory Power writes next! 

ARC Review: Girls With Razor Hearts by Suzanne Young

Title: Girls With Razor Hearts (Girls With Sharp Sticks #2)
Author: Suzanne Young
Publication Date: March 17, 2020
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 400
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Review for book 1

It’s time to fight back in this second novel in a thrilling, subversive near future series from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young about a girls-only private high school that is far more than it appears to be.

Make me a girl with a razor heart…

It’s been weeks since Mena and the other girls of Innovations Academy escaped their elite boarding school. Although traumatized by the violence and experimentations that occurred there, Mena quickly discovers that the outside world can be just as unwelcoming and cruel. With no one else to turn to, the girls only have each other—and the revenge-fueled desire to shut down the corporation that imprisoned them.

The girls enroll in Stoneridge Prep, a private school with suspect connections to Innovations, to identify the son of an investor and take down the corporation from the inside. But with pressure from Leandra, who revealed herself to be a double-agent, and Winston Weeks, an academy investor gone rogue, Mena wonders if she and her friends are simply trading one form of control for another. Not to mention the woman who is quite literally invading Mena’s thoughts—a woman with extreme ideas that both frighten and intrigue Mena.

And as the girls fight for freedom from their past—and freedom for the girls still at Innovations—they must also face new questions about their existence…and what it means to be girls with razor hearts.

Last year, Girls With Sharp Sticks became one of my unanticipated favorite reads! The mystery and dystopian aspects were enough to keep me constantly on the edge of my seat. I was so excited when I found out there would be a sequel that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and I jumped right in!

Girls With Razor Hearts picks up immediately after the events of the first book. Mena and the other girls have escaped the school and have plans to bring down the corporation. This book was set entirely away from the school and, since the big mystery has already been found out, it had an entirely different feel.

Where Girls With Sharp Sticks kept me constantly engaged, this one was a bit less my speed. A big reason for this is the setting. Most of the book takes place in an average public school with two of the girls attending high school and navigating every day life. Mena doesn't understand why sexism is so prevalent in the school and immediately goes to work trying to change it.

On the one hand I really enjoyed this and probably would have even more as a teen. On the other, it was extremely on the nose. Nearly every man the characters come in contact with is essentially evil and it quickly became exhausting. As a woman who worked in a male dominated field for several years and, you know, exists in the world, I have encountered my fair share of misogyny and harassment. However, it was coming from literally every angle in Mena's world and it was a bit much.

While two of the girls are in school, the rest spend their time researching ways to bring down Innovations Academy. Although the huge reveal of the girls being AI has already come out, there are still a couple enjoyable twists and turns in this book. I do wish that a bit more was learned and more progress was made, but this was by no means a bad read.

If you enjoyed Girls With Sharp Sticks, you'll probably enjoy this one too. You'll enjoy it even more if contemporary YA is your genre! I'm excited to see what happens in the final book!

Audiobook Review: Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

Title: Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe #2)
Author: Neal Shusterman
Publication Date: January 9, 2018
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 504
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Review for book 1

Rowan has gone rogue, and has taken it upon himself to put the Scythedom through a trial by fire. Literally. In the year since Winter Conclave, he has gone off-grid, and has been striking out against corrupt scythes—not only in MidMerica, but across the entire continent. He is a dark folk hero now—“Scythe Lucifer”—a vigilante taking down corrupt scythes in flames.

Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline?

I read Scythe back in 2018 and really enjoyed it, even if I did find it a bit slow at times. I loved the characters and found the world of Scythes and the Thunderhead fascinating. Still, I wasn't super eager to dive back into this world because it really is just a lot. Finally, I got my hands on the audiobook and decided to give it a go... and somehow finished it in three days.

This book picks back up with Rowan, now Scythe Lucifer, ending corrupt scythes. Citra, along with Scythe Curie are worried about the New Order and try everything they can to figure out how to defeat them and their corruption. Also enter a new character, Grayson, who is set on a path unlike any he'd ever expected working in his own way to maintain order with the Thunderhead.

I loved the addition of Grayson. I enjoyed seeing him embrace every role he was thrown into. The Thunderhead also really grew on me, reminding me a bit of AIDEN from The Illuminae Files. The character growth in Citra and Rowan was fantastic - I love their relationship, doomed as it is. The New Order scythes were terrifying antagonists. The corruption of their power was scary to see and I can't imagine how that will look in the next book, but I can't wait to find out!

One thing I do really enjoy about this series is the politics of it. I'm sure it's no mistake that certain themes and situations seem to resonate so much. There are times that this book is downright scary in how easily I could see things reflected in our current environment. That's one of my favorite things about dystopia, even if it is a little terrifying.

All that being said, this book was A LOT. There is so much going on in this story that it's hard to keep up with at times. The Scythes, the Tonists, the New Order, the different Scythe factions, multiple islands and secrets and new characters - I can see why this book was over 500 pages. I do enjoy this series so much, but I did find it a bit overwhelming at times. And again, like the first book, I somehow found myself bored in places. If I had tried to read this instead of listening it probably would have taken me weeks to finish.

If you enjoyed Scythe, you'll definitely like this one too! I'm really hoping that now that all the pieces are in play, The Toll will be a bit more fast paced and less dense, even though it's quite a bit longer. I definitely can't wait to see how Citra and Rowan's story ends!

Book Review: Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Capturing the Devil (Stalking Jack the Ripper #4)
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publication Date: September 10, 2019
Publisher: JIMMY Patterson
Pages: 453
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Reviews for book 1, book 2, & book 3

In the shocking finale to the bestselling series that began with Stalking Jack the Ripper, Audrey Rose and Thomas are on the hunt for the depraved, elusive killer known as the White City Devil. A deadly game of cat-and-mouse has them fighting to stay one step ahead of the brilliant serial killer---or see their fateful romance cut short by unspeakable tragedy.

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell have landed in America, a bold, brash land unlike the genteel streets of London they knew. But like London, the city of Chicago hides its dark secrets well. When the two attend the spectacular World's Fair, they find the once-in-a-lifetime event tainted with reports of missing people and unsolved murders.

Determined to help, Audrey Rose and Thomas begin their investigations, only to find themselves facing a serial killer unlike any they've heard of before. Identifying him is one thing, but capturing him---and getting dangerously lost in the infamous Murder Hotel he constructed as a terrifying torture device---is another.

Will Audrey Rose and Thomas see their last mystery to the end---together and in love---or will their fortunes finally run out when their most depraved adversary makes one final, devastating kill?

Stalking Jack the Ripper has been an odd series for me. I thought book one was just okay, really liked book two, and liked book three enough to keep reading. Capturing the Devil was also a mixed bag for me. I was so excited for this one because it focused on H.H. Holmes, but that was also kind of its downfall.

Right off the bat, the fourth book in this series is the most romance-heavy by far. The first half of Capturing the Devil revolves almost entirely around Audrey Rose and Cresswell's relationship and potential marriage. While I do really love the relationship between these two, it was strange that a series that has been so mystery focused so far would spend such a huge page count on romance. That being said, I did enjoy them together! I was a bit surprised by Audrey Rose being in such a hurry to marry given her character. (I also didn't realize they'd only known each other five months!)

Aside from the romance, the White City Devil was a blast to read about, to an extent. Although H.H. Holmes is my favorite serial killer (in the most non-morbid way possible), the fact that I knew so much about him made this a bit difficult to read. It was blatantly obvious who the killer was very early on and I knew who victims would be before they were found dead. Knowing a bit about the true story this was based on also made accepting many of the details given by Maniscalco hard to accept. In particular, the timeline was drastically off in a way that made the killer's actions much too unlikely.

I have really enjoyed the murder mysteries in all the previous books in this series, but I think basing this off of a serial killer who we know so much about was a mistake. In real life Jack the Ripper was never caught and the stories in Hunting Prince Dracula and Escaping From Houdini were mostly fictional. There are just too many things to compare this one too and I had a hard time suspending my disbelief.

Despite all my issues, I did still have a lot of fun reading Capturing the Devil! I loved seeing Audrey Rose, Cresswell, and Company in America and at the World's Fair. I also really enjoyed the romance and the banter between the two, even though it took up a bit more of the book than I feel it should have.

If you're in this series for the romance, you will LOVE this book! If you're in it for the murder mystery, well, there isn't much of a mystery if you know anything at all about Holmes.

Book Review: One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Title: One of Us Is Lying (One of Us Is Lying #1) 
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publication Date: May 30, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 361
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The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

I've recently been in the mood to read YA mysteries. I have no idea where this desire came from. I'm usually a YA fantasy or adult horor kind of girl. But when I decided to search out a good mystery to start with, One of Us Is Lying was on every single "best of" list I looked at and I knew I needed to read it!

Five high school students go into detention together, but one never makes it out alive. While in detention, something outside the window distracts Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper, and the teacher long enough for something terrible to happen to Simon and everyone is a suspect.

I immediately worried that I'd have trouble telling the characters apart, but the author actually did a pretty good job of making them all distinct. Admittedly, it took me until halfway through the book to be sure of who was who, but it's possible I wasn't paying close enough attention.

The characters, while distinct, were my least favorite part of this book. I didn't care much for Addy or Cooper. There was a bit of a romance between Bronwyn and Nate which I did grow to like, but honestly the story would have been fine without it. Nate was by far my favorite character even without the romance. Bronwyn was fine, but I probably would have been much more bored if she hadn't had the relationship with Nate.

Of course the mystery is the most important thing in a mystery novel and I definitely didn't guess the ending! I'm sure the clues were there for a better sleuth to pick up on, but I was surprised by who actually killed Simon. Every character was a suspect and I was suspicious of (almost) all of them at least once.

Overall, while One of Us Is Lying did have an interesting mystery that kept me guessing, I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that it's contemporary YA in a high school setting and that's just not my genre. If you don't mind contemporary YA romance and are in search of a good mystery, this is definitely the book for you!

Audiobook Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Fangirl 
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 438
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Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan..

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

I feel like I've said this quite a bit lately, but I rarely read contemporary fiction, especially YA contemporary. I mainly picked this up because A) everyone I've ever met in my life has told me to read it, and B) I knew that fake Harry Potter fanfic was a supposed huge part of it.

The first thing that's worth pointing out is that, while this is labeled as YA, Cath is actually in college. I know that's in the synopsis, but I somehow completely missed it. Even though I'm way past college, I felt like I was able to relate to Cath a lot more than when I read contemporary fiction about high school students. I really liked Cath because she was such an introvert. I've seen people say that they didn't like how she was written because introverts don't completely avoid social situations, but I'm an introvert and that's basically me, so... I liked her.

In addition to Cath, her twin sister Wren, roommate Reagan, and her not-boyfriend Levi. While I did really enjoy them all, I think I loved Levi the best (maybe not surprisingly). I found Reagan to be a bit one dimensional, but I did like that she helped pull Cath out of her comfort zone. The romance was cute and, while there was a tiny hint of a love triangle, I'm happy to say it didn't last very long.

I'm shocked to say that one of my biggest issues with Fangirl was, well, the fangirl herself. I loved Cath, but I was honestly annoyed by the whole fanfiction plot. I went into this book expecting to love Simon Snow and hate the college bits, but it was the exact opposite. There wasn't enough of Simon Snow for me to care about him so he seemed to be wasting pages when he did show up. I was also really confused by the inclusion of Harry Potter in this world. How do these two nearly identical stories exist together?

Something else that surprised me about this book was that there wasn't much of a plot. There was no real issue for Cath to solve other than exist at college for a semester. She went to classes, went to parties, hung out with guys, ate lunch, called her dad... I mean, I've basically done all of this too. I'm used to my books presenting some kind of unusual situation, or at least one I've never found myself in, so it was weird to read a book about a college student meandering through a semester of school.

Fangirl really wasn't what I expected it to be at all and I ended up disliking the part I expected to love, but I still really enjoyed it. I really doubt I'll read any of Rainbow Rowell's other books, though. I still am not a fan of contemporary fiction, but this wasn't a bad one to take a detour with.

Audiobook Review: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Letters to the Lost (Letters to the Lost #1)
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages: 391
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Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart. 

You may be wondering how I ended up reading a YA contemporary romance novel since we all know this isn't my normal kind of read. Last month I went to my first ever book club meeting. The first month we read a YA fantasy, which is right up my alley. This month the club selected Letters to the Lost and here we are.

Letters to the Lost is about Juliet, a teenager whose mom died tragically in a car accident on her way home from a work trip. Juliet has always blamed herself for begging her mom to return early and continues to cope by writing letters and leaving them at her mom's grave. One day there's a response to one of her letters and, after a brief period of anger over her privacy being intruded upon, Juliet begins to write to the mysterious person known only as The Dark.

Of course, the mysterious other person is the romantic interest, also known as Declan. Declan has his own issues after his sister died and his father went to jail. Basically, they both have stuff to work through. But Declan has a reputation for being a bad guy at school and that's all Juliet can see him as. As they write to each other anonymously, they being to catch feelings, drama ensues, etc.

Juliet was a great character who was super easy to sympathize with! I could totally understand her actions and how she could blame herself. I can't imagine losing my mom, especially if I felt like it could be my fault in some way. I also understood the difficulty Juliet had with taking up hobbies she'd previously enjoyed. I think the author did a great job of painting a picture of a young girl who was grieving.

Declan was also a sympathetic character, but I did have a hard time with his obvious anger issues and the way that no one seemed to go out of their way to help him work through his issues. I hated the way that he treated people and had no desire to be anything other than what everyone expected. I can understand why he had the anger issues that he did, but I have a difficult time with characters who are so aggressive all the time. I was glad that he was eventually able to let down some walls.

The mystery pen pal storyline was definitely intriguing and I think it's why I was able to enjoy this book when I really am not a fan of contemporary romance. I liked the added level of non-angsty drama and how the anonymous connection allowed two people who would never have been friends get to know each other. I didn't care for how it started to drag out a bit near the end, though.

Although the direction the book ended up going was a bit predictable, I did still enjoy it and I kept listening, wanting to know how things would wrap up. Speaking of which, I really did want there to be a bit more resolution to both these characters' stories. The ending was fine, I guess, but after such a long book, I'd hope for a bit more... something. I did see that there's a second book in the series, but I haven't decided whether to pick it up yet.

Overall, I did enjoy this YA contemporary romance that I never, ever would have read without a book club forcing me to do it. I did find it a bit predictable and drawn out, and I never really fell in love with Declan, although it seems like everyone else swoons over him. Still, if I had to read a contemporary romance, I'm glad it was this one!

Blog Tour ARC Review: White Stag by Kara Barbieri

Title: White Stag (Permafrost #1)
Author: Kara Barbieri
Publication Date: January 8, 2019
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 386
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//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. While her sisters were becoming wives and mothers, she was taught to hunt, track, and fight. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren.

Janneke’s survival in the court of merciless monsters has come at the cost of her connection to the human world. And when the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses an opportunity for her to finally fully accept the ways of the brutal Permafrost. But every action he takes to bring her deeper into his world only shows him that a little humanity isn’t bad—especially when it comes to those you care about.

Through every battle they survive, Janneke’s loyalty to Soren deepens. After dangerous truths are revealed, Janneke must choose between holding on or letting go of her last connections to a world she no longer belongs to. She must make the right choice to save the only thing keeping both worlds from crumbling.

White Stag has been one of my most anticipated 2019 reads since I first saw the cover. I'm a sucker for anything goblin related. (The tall, handsome kind, of course.) This book ended up leaving me with extreme mixed feelings. On one hand, magic and goblins and romance! On the other hand, there were definitely some issues.

The most important thing that needs to be mentioned before anything else is that this book contains a ton of abuse including rape. It is discussed at length and is a major source of the main character's development. If these are not topics you are comfortable reading about, this book is not for you. I've noticed this subject matter coming up in YA fantasy more often in the last couple years and, while I understand that it's a real-world issue, I do wish it could be toned down just a bit.

Moving on.

Janneke is the MC of this story, a human who has been given unnaturally long life. She has been living in the Permafrost for an extremely long time, essentially as a slave to the goblins. I thought she was a likeable character who was easy to sympathize with. She was also a very strong heroine who continued fighting from the start of the story until the very end, despite all that was thrown at her. And it was a lot.

The first goblin to enslave Janneke is Lydian, the absolute worst villain I think I've read about in awhile. He has not a single redeeming quality. Usually even the worst villains are able to make you remember something about them fondly, but not this one. This one is solely responsible for the aforementioned abuse. Janneke is then passed to Soren, Lydian's nephew, who does treat her much better, but is still her captor at the end of the day.

Soren and Janneke together were difficult for me to wrap my head around. I did like Soren as a character, mostly because he's the type weird goblin character I enjoy, but it took him far too long to give Janneke the agency she deserved. Characters who make decisions for another person based on what they think is best are one of my biggest pet peeves and Soren fit that mold for sure. It was also very strange to see characters who had known each other for a century act like total strangers. I did warm up to them eventually, but I felt that their relationship could have been better tackled.

My other main gripe is the overabundance of deus ex machina. While I am able to suspend my disbelief a great deal for a fantasy novel, especially ones about beautiful goblins, there were just too many instances of characters being saved in the nick of time through absolutely ridiculous means. I want my main characters to save themselves because they're badasses, not because they have to stay alive by any means necessary for the sake of the plot.

Now for what I loved about White Stag: the world. In the world of the Permafrost, the Erlking (Goblin King) lives in a palace until he's killed, and the white stag disappears, thus starting the hunt which will determine the next Erlking. I am SO here for this kind of magical, frosty fantasy world full of magical creatures and beasts. The white stag itself was a fascinating bit of mythology. I loved the uniqueness of the hunt and the passing on of power. Janneke and Soren's journey was filled with fantastic places and creatures, battles and excitement.

Overall, I did enjoy White Stag! It certainly had its issues, but it was also a pretty unique fantasy novel with an amazing world and really cool creatures. I also really enjoyed the two main characters even if they took awhile to win me over as a couple. If you enjoy goblin books and fantasy, you will probably like this one!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kara Barbieri is a writer living in the tiny town of Hayward, Wisconsin. An avid fantasy fan, she began writing White Stag at eighteen and posting it to Wattpad soon after under the name of ‘Pandean’. When she’s not writing, you can find her marathoning Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reviving gothic fashion, and jamming to synthpop. You can visit Kara on Twitter @PandeanPanic or follow her on Goodreads.

Fraterfest 2018 Mini Reviews: The Merciless IV, Asylum, Wytches Vol. 1, & Rosemary's Baby

Title: The Merciless IV: Last Rites 
Author: Danielle Vega
Publication Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 290
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Reviews for book 1 & book 3

The fourth book of the scream-worthy cult series The Merciless combines Stephen King level terror with true crime stories like the Amanda Knox case.

The ropes tighten on Berkley Hubbard's wrists. Blood drips down her fingers and lands with a smack on the cold floor of the church basement. She's trapped, bound, and petrified by fear. A knife punctures her fragile skin as Berkley's captors search for the mark of the devil on her body. They say they want to save her--drive the devil away and cleanse her soul--but will she make it out alive?

When Berkley arrived in Italy a week ago, the last thing she expected was that she'd end up fighting for her life. After spending six months at the Institute, confined to a room with the dangerous-yet-alluring Sofia Flores, Berkley was certain that a vacation in Italy with her two best friends would be the perfect getaway. But Berkley is hiding a terrible secret, one that threatens to undo everything. As she's forced to face her wicked past, she learns that the devil is always watching, and no one is coming to save her. 

The Merciless series is one of my absolute favorite horror series with book 1 being my favorite, followed by 3, now book 4, and finally 2. These books are always good for a bit of anxiety filled horror reading, but this book was quite a bit different than the others in the series and not in a bad way.

The Merciless IV follows Berkley to Italy on a vacation with her best friends. She has recently been released from a mental institution and is just looking for a fun summer trip. Unfortunately, her "friends" think she's crazy and handle her with kid gloves. This becomes even more unfortunate when it means her friends don't believe her when she tells them things are going wrong.

This book took quite awhile to get to the horror, but I did enjoy following Berkley around Italy and her summer fling boyfriend was definitely swoon-worthy. Honestly I would read a whole book about their summer romance. There was a twist I did NOT see coming, which is exactly what I've come to expect from Vega. I know this is called Last Rites, but I really hope there are more Merciless books to come!

Title: Asylum (Afterlife Investigations #1)
Author: Ambrose Ibsen
Publication Date: June 4, 2017
Publisher: Independently Published
Pages: 232
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What lurks within Chaythe Asylum?

College professor Stephen Barlow needs cash. Badly. When a student asks him to head a new campus organization that centers around paranormal research, he puts his skepticism aside and signs on in the hopes of scoring a fat bonus.

Enter Chaythe Asylum—a long-shuttered and controversial institution where patients were allegedly subjected to unethical experiments. Closed in 1989 after a series of grisly murders, Stephen deems the old building as good a place as any to explore the possibility of the supernatural and arranges to take a tour with his students.

But it turns out that the asylum is not as abandoned as it seems. There is something sinister in the building. It has watched and waited for nearly three decades, and when Stephen and his students enter, they find themselves at the center of a nightmare 28 years in the making. 

While gearing up for Fraterfest I was searching for a good, scary ghost story to read and came across Asylum. It's no secret that Grave Encounters is one of my all-time favorite horror movies, so Asylum seemed right up my alley!

Stephen is the protagonist of this story. He's a college professor and a skeptic who takes on a paranormal research student club as a means to a few extra bucks. He agrees to spend an evening exploring Chaythe Asylum, which is rumored to be haunted, and finds more than he bargained for.

Although I really didn't find Asylum to be a very frightening read, the asylum setting was definitely creepy and enjoyable as a Halloween read. I didn't care much for the other characters, but Stephen was interesting and I'd be curious to see what he gets up to in future books. Since the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, I may have to pick it up soon!

Title: Wytches, Volume 1
Author: Scott Snyder 
Publication Date: June 24, 2015
Publisher: Image Comics
Pages: 192
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Everything you thought you knew about witches is wrong. They are much darker, and they are much more horrifying. Wytches takes the mythology of witches to a far creepier, bone-chilling place than readers have dared venture before. When the Rooks family moves to the remote town of Litchfield, NH to escape a haunting trauma, they're hopeful about starting over. But something evil is waiting for them in the woods just beyond town. Watching from the trees. Ancient...and hungry.

Well this was different. I don't read many comics, but when I do they're in the horror or fantasy genres. I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into Wytches, but I was not disappointed!

This story is not about anything you'd ever think of related to witches. It's about a creepy small town doing creepy small town things and the evil that resides in the woods nearby. When Sailor moves to town with her family and starts behaving weirdly, her parents initially brush her off and realize too late that something very strange is happening.

The art in this graphic novel is dark and creepy and disturbing and exactly what I want in a horror story! I loved the original ideas and I'm extremely disappointed that no others were published in this series. I definitely think it's still worth the read.

Title: Rosemary's Baby
Author: Ira Levin
Publication Date: March 12, 1967
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Pages: 256
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Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, an ordinary young couple, settle into a New York City apartment, unaware that the elderly neighbors and their bizarre group of friends have taken a disturbing interest in them. But by the time Rosemary discovers the horrifying truth, it may be far too late!

For my last read of Fraterfest, I decided to run a poll between two horror classics and Rosemary's Baby won. I had absolutely no idea what this book was about having somehow remained under a rock for my entire life.

Rosemary's Baby is about Rosemary and her husband Guy who move into a fancy new apartment building despite their friend's protestations. They quickly make friends with an elderly couple next door and shortly after that Rosemary becomes pregnant with the baby she's always wanted. Things become really weird and take a dark, sinister turn.

Like I said, I had no idea what to expect with this one and I was not prepared! This was a whole different level of creepy than I'd thought it would be and I loved how different it was than most horror books. I was terrified, but for different reasons than normal. The ending was absolutely amazing! If you've never read this and are as sheltered as I was about the story, I definitely recommend picking it up this Halloween.