Book Review: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

Title: The Husband's Secret
Author: Liane Moriarty
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 396
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My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died...

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

The Husband’s Secret is another hit thriller by Liane Moriarty. The book starts with Cecilia Fitzpatrick who stumbled across a letter addressed to her by her husband to be opened after his death. Cecilia has a decision to make: to honor her husband’s wishes and wait to open the letter or to go with her curiosity and open it now; to open and read a letter that could change the trajectory of their entire lives by revealing her husband’s deepest, darkest, harrowing secret. This book is told from three points of view: Cecilia, Rachel, and Tess. Even though they don’t know each other well, their lives unexpectedly intertwine, and the repercussions of John-Paul Fitzpatrick’s actions create an avalanche that no one can stop.

My favorite character in this book was Cecilia. She felt like the most three-dimensional character to me. She had so much depth that others couldn’t even begin to imagine, and I also found myself empathizing with her the most. As always, Moriarty’s characters felt real to me. This was also yet another book that keeps you guessing. I found myself not even wanting to sleep because I wanted to reach the end of the book while simultaneously wanting more to the story. My favorite part of this book was the climax. Seeing everything come together was as pleasurable as biting into a triple layer fudge cake. This book made me laugh at times, but I didn’t find myself wanting to cry even though it did get emotional.

The only thing I disliked about this book was Rachel. Without spoiling anything, all I can say is she was one-dimensional to me, and she was also just extremely annoying. I found myself wanting to throw my book across the room, and then I got mad because I it was a library book so I couldn’t. She was an overbearing grandmother, a lackluster parent, a terrible mother-in-law, and she tended to see what she wanted to see and to ignore what she didn’t want to see. For many reasons I found it difficult to care about Rachel.

This book was another amazing five star read for me and I would DEFINITELY recommend it to others!

Book Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Title: Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Publication Date: July 29, 2014
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books
Pages: 458
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Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal...

A murder . . . a tragic accident . . . or just parents behaving badly?
What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.
But who did what?

Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

This was my second Liane Moriarty book but my first Moriarty mystery book. Big Little Lies starts off with a murder. The reader doesn’t know who died or who killed them, all they know is that someone died at an elementary school’s parents’ trivia night.

The story has three points of view – Madeline, Celeste, and Jane. Madeline is a spitfire with a strong personality and she’s the first one to try to right an injustice no matter how big or small. Celeste has the kind of beauty and wealth that makes people stop and stare on the street and makes women who know her jealous. To the outside world, she and her life were perfect, but no one ever knows what happens behind closed doors. Jane is the newest and youngest mom on the block. Just 24, she and her son Ziggy moved to a new town. Madeline, Celeste, and Jane all had kids in the same kindergarten class. On the tip of the iceberg, this book is about elementary school parents and the cliques they separate themselves into. Under the surface, however, this book tackles issues such as bullying, eating disorders, sexual assault, and others.

My favorite character in this book was Celeste. She was the only character I found myself completely enjoying no matter what happened to her. Each of these characters felt extremely real to me. I had to constantly remind myself that they weren’t real people to keep from crying. This story continuously kept my guessing. I’m usually good at guessing how stories will end but there was so much of this book that I didn’t see coming. My favorite part of this book was the climax. I literally found it impossible to put the book down once I reached it. The only thing I disliked about this book was my attempt at watching the HBO series based on it. I didn’t even make it five minutes into the show before I had to turn it off.

This book was a five-star read for me and I would definitely recommend it to others. There are some disturbing topics in this book talking about sexual assault, domestic abuse, and bullying so I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who cannot handle these topics, but if you can handle these topics and you love drama, intrigue, and mystery, this is the book for you! 

Book Review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Title: The Family Upstairs
Author: Lisa Jewell
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
Publisher: Atria Books 
Pages: 340
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Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.

She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.

The can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.

After Libby Jones turned twenty-five years old, she went home from work to discover a letter waiting for her. This wasn’t just any letter; it was the letter that would tell her where she came from. As an adoptee, this letter was gold to her. The contents of the letter not only gave her the names of her birth parents, but it also informed her that she was the sole inheritor of the mansion her birth family used to live in. However, Libby wasn’t the only one waiting for her to turn twenty-five. 

Throughout this book, we are given the story of the past and the present through the points of view of Libby, Lucy, and Henry. Both Lucy and Henry grew up in the mansion at 16 Cheyne Walk, where Libby was found in her crib as an infant while three dead bodies lay downstairs. Libby and Lucy’s stories are both told in the present tense and Henry point of view tells us the story of the past.

Libby can’t open the door to her future until she closes the door to her past, so while Henry is telling us the past, Libby is in the present investigating what really happened at 16 Cheyne Walk. Why was she left in her crib happily cooing? What happened with and to the three dead people found on the floor? What happened to the children who reportedly lived in the house? Why didn’t any of the other children claim the house when they turned twenty-five?

This book was a 4-star read for me. The story was amazing and the build up to the ending of the story was a page-turner. However, there were just too many times that I was so confused I had to ask myself, “what the heck did I just read?” This confusion mostly happened when I read Lucy or Henry’s chapters. Also, the book is called “The Family Upstairs,” but there is no family upstairs. I was picturing a Flowers in the Attic type book sans the horripilation my arms suffered from the incest shudders. I was picturing a family being trapped in the attic or something, but no. Instead, there are people who slowly move into the mansion and take over it; they were an invasive species.

Also, the book was filled with family dysfunction and none of the issues it caused in Lucy and Henry was resolved by the end of the book. That was kind of a let down because they had no growth which I always look for at the end of a book, especially one like this.

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.

Audiobook Review: Sadie by Courtney Summers

Title: Sadie
Author: Courtney Summers
Publication Date: September 4, 2018
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 308
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A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she's left behind. And an ending you won't be able to stop talking about.

Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.

If you know me then you know I love podcasts. In fact, sometimes it's hard to break away from my favorite podcasts long enough to listen to whatever audiobook I have checked out of the library! So when I heard that Sadie was partially in the form of a true crime podcast investigating a missing person, I knew I had to pick it up!

Sadie does indeed follow a podcast host, West McCray, but that was a smaller part of the book than I'd hoped. The majority of this book follows Sadie on her journey to find the man who she thinks is responsible for her sister's death. I did find Sadie to be a great character and admired her dedication to bringing her sister's murderer to justice. Her story was heartbreaking and hard to read at times, and I was constantly rooting for her to get what she wanted, although her methods were questionable.

Unfortunately, this part of the book really wasn't for me simply because I don't enjoy contemporary fiction. So much of the story was about Sadie going from place to place, meeting different people, and getting to her goal that very little time was about the mystery. It took awhile to get going and there was definitely a lot of repetition in her travels. I definitely hoped for more of the true crime feel and the podcast and investigative journalism portions of the book were the standout.

Sadie should definitely come with trigger warnings for pretty much everything you can imagine - this is a book some readers will need to approach with caution. Overall, I did enjoy Sadie and most of my issues with it were simply because I'm not much of a contemporary reader and expected more mystery. Still, it's worth picking up if you enjoy podcasts and can handle the gritty nature of this story.

Blog Tour ARC Review: Songs From the Deep

Title: Songs From the Deep
Author: Kelly Powell
Publication Date: November 5, 2019
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 304
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//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

A girl searches for a killer on an island where deadly sirens lurk just beneath the waves in this gripping, atmospheric debut novel.

The sea holds many secrets.

Moira Alexander has always been fascinated by the deadly sirens who lurk along the shores of her island town. Even though their haunting songs can lure anyone to a swift and watery grave, she gets as close to them as she can, playing her violin on the edge of the enchanted sea. When a young boy is found dead on the beach, the islanders assume that he's one of the sirens’ victims. Moira isn’t so sure.

Certain that someone has framed the boy’s death as a siren attack, Moira convinces her childhood friend, the lighthouse keeper Jude Osric, to help her find the real killer, rekindling their friendship in the process. With townspeople itching to hunt the sirens down, and their own secrets threatening to unravel their fragile new alliance, Moira and Jude must race against time to stop the killer before it’s too late—for humans and sirens alike. 

Songs from the Deep caught my eye with its gorgeous cover and the promise of sirens pulled me in completely. This book is a fascinating combination of historical fiction, fantasy, and mystery. I loved the way the author wove sirens into a story that seems so firmly rooted in reality without going fully into the world of magical fantasy. I'm not sure I've ever read a book entirely like it.

Moira is the heroine of this story. She prefers to play her violin on the cliffside where she can see the sirens so many others fear. When one of her students is found dead, supposedly at the hands of the sirens, she is the only one who feels something isn't quite right. Moira was such an interesting, strong character. I loved how she stood up to the authorities to fight for what she believed was right.

Jude is the keeper of the lighthouse and an old friend of Moira's. The death of Moira's student brings them back together and their relationship begins to grow into something a bit more and I was here for all of it! I loved the dynamic between these two. Moira was definitely the more headstrong of the two, while Jude was a bit more calm and collected. Their relationship was so organic and sweet, although not always easy, and I loved them.

The atmosphere of Songs from the Deep was wonderfully crafted and made me feel like I was on this little island that's haunted by sirens right along with the characters. The writing is lyrical and, while it was a bit slow at times, it did grow on me and I loved the mood the author brought to the story. It was the perfect environment for a murder mystery.

Speaking of mystery, this one certainly kept me guessing! I had some suspicions right away, but there were plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I loved that the sirens were not automatically the big bad in this book. Still, I did wish there had been a bit more of the murdery sirens that are mentioned so often on the page.

Overall, I really liked Songs from the Deep! I loved the characters and their romance and the mystery kept me guessing. I did wish there had been a bit more sirens and it was a bit more slow-paced than I'm used to, but that wasn't enough to detract from my enjoyment! I'll definitely be watching for what this author does next.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelly Powell writes fantasy for young adults and currently lives in Ontario, Canada. She has a bachelor’s degree in history and book & media studies from the University of Toronto.

Her YA debut, SONGS FROM THE DEEP, will release from Simon & Schuster in November 2019.

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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: Dreams Come to Life by Adrienne Kress

Title: Dreams Come to Life (Bendy & the Ink Machine #1)
Author: Adrienne Kress
Publication Date: September 3, 2019
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 304
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Seventeen-year-old Buddy has spent most of his life trying to escape the Lower East Side slums of New York City. Working as a delivery boy to support his family, Buddy wants to become an artist, a dream he's sure will never be realized. But that all changes when a delivery job puts him face-to-face with Mister Joey Drew, the eccentric owner of an animation studio.

Mister Drew takes Buddy under his wing as an apprentice, thrusting him into a world unlike anything Buddy has ever seen before. There's the colorful cast of the studio, from the cranky, yet driven composer Sammy Lawrence to Dot, the writing intern and Buddy's counterpart. Working for Mister Drew, Buddy starts to think that maybe it's really as simple as Mister Drew says: Dreams do come true. But not everything at the studio is as picture-perfect as it seems . . .

Something is going bump in the night at Joey Drew Studios, something that leaves behind trails of thick, dark ink. While the studio frantically works toward their latest deadline, Buddy and Dot team up to find out just what is tormenting the studio after-hours, even if it means tracking the trail to Mister Drew himself.

Don't miss this official, original, pulse-pounding story from award-winning author Adrienne Kress, developed with theMeatly, Mike Mood, and Bookpast!

I first saw Bendy and the Ink machine at Target. It was a Bendy doll and I had no idea what it was, but I had a hunch that he was from a video game. I googled it and ended up watching a full playthrough on YouTube, which is my preferred method of (not) gaming. I love seeing the story and gameplay, but I suck at playing the games myself. Bendy quickly became one of my favorites of all time so I couldn't wait to read this book!

Dreams Come to Life is a prequel to the game and revolves around Buddy. Buddy hates his job as a delivery boy but desperately needs the money, so when he's given the opportunity to work for Joey Drew Studios for double the salary he jumps at the chance. It doesn't take long before things start to seem a little off and continue to spiral from there.

I really enjoyed Buddy's character and experiencing the studio through his eyes before its demise. I also loved his relationship with Dot and found her to be a fun original character. Joey Drew was also a lot like how I imagined him from the video game, although a bit less sinister than I expected. Honestly, everyone in the studio made me feel just the right amount of uneasy, sometimes for no reason I could put my finger on.

Obviously, the best part of this book was seeing the studio from a different angle before it was covered in ink. I loved following Buddy around as he found each location from the game and figured out what was really happening. Dreams Come to Life definitely maintains the same creepy atmosphere you'd expect from Bendy and the Ink Machine.

Although this is a media tie in I do think it could be enjoyed by someone who's never played (or watched) the game. This is a super creepy mystery set in an animation studio that's reminiscent of Walt Disney Studios and anyone who is into horror or mystery would be able to enjoy it for those elements. It could also be a really fun introduction to the world for someone who might decide to delve deeper later. I'm not sure if more books are planned in this series but I really hope there are!

Audiobook Review & Giveaway: The First Time I Died by Jo Macgregor

Title: The First Time I Died (Garnet McGee #1)
Author: Jo Macgregor
Publication Date: October 8, 2018
Publisher: Jo Macgregor
Pages: 320
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The first time I died, I didn’t come back alone.

When Garnet McGee returns to her small Vermont hometown for the holidays, she vows to solve the mystery of the murder which shattered her life ten years ago.

But then the unexpected happens — she dies in an accident and gets brought back to life by paramedics.

Now she’s hearing words, seeing visions and experiencing strange sensations. Are these merely symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and an over-active imagination, or is she getting messages from a paranormal presence?

Garnet has always prided herself on being logical and rational, but trying to catch a killer without embracing her shadow self is getting increasingly difficult. And dangerous, because in a town full of secrets, it seems like everybody has a motive for murder.

Lately I have been in the mood for mysteries and, when The First Time I Died popped up as available from my library, I really hoped it would be as amazing as it sounded! Between the murder mystery and the promise of a possible paranormal twist, I couldn't wait to dive in and see what was in store.

Garnet McGee left her town as soon as she could after her high school boyfriend was brutally murdered, hoping never to have to return. Years later she finds herself back in town to help her parents and dies herself after an accident. Thankfully, she's quickly revived, but isn't sure she has come back alone. Afterwards, Garnet decides to spend her time getting to the bottom of what really happened all those years ago and who was responsible.

The First Time I Died was one of the more unique mysteries I've ever read. I loved the paranormal aspects, but I won't say more about those to avoid spoilers. Garnet was such a relatable character and I appreciated the inclusion of a character with PTSD and thought it was well represented. The relationships in this book, both past and present, were really well developed and I found myself even loving some of the side characters!

The worst is when mysteries are easy to figure out from the very beginning, but this one kept me guessing right up to the big reveal! There were a few times when I thought I had it figured out, but I was always wrong. In hindsight, clues were dropped for the true villain all along. The author just did a fantastic job of keeping me in the dark and I love that!

Something I found interesting about this book was that, through the inclusions of flashbacks to Garnet's high school years, it definitely felt like an adult book with YA crossover appeal. I read mostly YA books and I found that reading this wasn't as jarring as some adult books can be.

If you're a fan of mysteries that aren't your typical whodunnit, I definitely recommend The First Time I Died! I can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter of Garnet's story!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When not writing books, Joanne Macgregor is a Counselling Psychologist in private practice and deals mainly with victims of crime and trauma. She consults and writes on alternate days, and in completely different head-spaces and physical environments.
She started her professional life as a high school English Teacher, but has also worked as an IT trainer, a theatre dogsbody, and management consultant. Also as a waitress, an in-store frozen vegetable demonstrator and make-up artist.
Although she lives in the frenetic adrenaline-rush that is the city of Joburg, Joanne has always been in love with nature, and escapes into the mountains and the bush whenever she can. She’s a pretty good cook, grows vegetables, and is addicted to chilies and bulletproof coffee.
Joanne is a bird of many feathers and enjoys writing for different ages.

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GIVEAWAY

Enter to win ebooks of books one and two in this amazing mystery series!

 

Must be 18 or have a parent's permission to enter. No giveaway accounts. Ends 9/19/19.

Winner will be contacted via the email within 3 days after the giveaway ends.

If winner does not respond within 3 days, a new winner will be chosen.

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Second Chance Review: Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Title: Ten
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Publication Date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 296
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It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie are looking forward to two days of boys, booze, and fun-filled luxury. But what starts out as fun turns twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. And things only get worse from there.

With a storm raging outside, the teens are cut off from the outside world . . . so when a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one, there’s no escape. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine? 

I first attempted to read Ten way back in 2015 and I hated it. I ended up DNFing at 34% and cited the romance and teen drama as the cause. I even said the book made me feel like I was growing out of YA! I'm not really sure what I was going through on that particular day, but I was recently in the mood for a mystery/thriller and decided to give this one another try.

Ten is a retelling of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I'm familiar with this story because I've seen the BBC miniseries by the same name multiple times. (It's fantastic - watch it!) This retelling follows the script closely, so if you know the story then you probably have a very good idea of how things will end up, but that doesn't mean you'll have any idea who the killer will be! I was second guessing almost until the reveal, although I admit I guessed correctly near the end.

Meg is the main character of this iteration and she, along with her friend Minnie, have found themselves on a remote island at a party with eight other teens that they know to varying degrees. Of course, there is a romance. I still don't love the way the romance is written, but I do understand the need for it and I did like what it added to the plot. Many of the other characters are honestly interchangeable, but I really wasn't reading this for compelling characters - I was reading it for a murder mystery.

As I've already said, there isn't anything incredibly new in this retelling, but man was it was entertaining! The atmosphere Gretchen McNeil created on the island was fantastically creepy and, while I wouldn't call this horror, it had a good amount of scares.

I am absolutely glad I gave this book a second chance and it has made me consider doing the same with other DNFd books. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this the first time. If you enjoy a good murder mystery, this is a book you shouldn't miss! Even if you know the story already, this is a fresh enough take to be enjoyable.

ARC Review: Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Title: Wilder Girls
Author: Rory Power
Publication Date: July 9, 2019
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 368
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//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her.

It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.

When I started Wilder Girls I wasn't quite sure what genre it would be, mostly because I didn't pay much attention to the synopsis. I saw the weird cover, read some weird descriptions, and knew it was going to be a book for me!

Hetty is a student at Raxter School for Girls, along with her best friends Byatt and Reese. A year and a half ago the Tox hit the school, killing off teachers and afflicting students with horrible symptoms. The agreement they have with the government is that they maintain quarantine on their island within the school's fence and they'll continue to receive supplies. Hetty is chosen as one of the girls who ventures outside the fence to pick up supplies at the dock, soon after Byatt goes missing, and things unravel from there.

I loved the characters in this book and the relationships between them! Hetty was brave and fiercely loyal and I adored her friendship with Byatt. The romance was amazing and real and I loved seeing a more realistic exploration of a romantic relationship during such a brutal situation instead of the normal "they stopped to kiss" during life or death moments in a lot of YA fantasy. It was beautiful and heart-wrenching and I loved it.

Although the characters were amazing, where Wilder Girls REALLY shines is its worldbuilding. The island and the school are creepy and created a feeling of claustrophobia even though it takes place on what feels like a large island. I loved the idea of the world outside the fence and not knowing what was out there, but the school was equally amazing. I can easily picture this whole world of weirdness and I love when an author is able to paint such a clear picture. This is absolutely my kind of book!

I don't know if I'd truly consider this horror, but I was sufficiently creeped out from the very first page. The Tox was horrifying, but what a fantastic story! I will admit that parts of this book did drag and I can understand why some readers might get bored with the descriptions of the daily lives of the girls at Raxter, but I didn't mind it. Seeing the day in and day out of the abandoned school helped to build the feeling of unease and made me feel that much more shocked when the twists started being revealed. And there were a lot of them!

While reading this I was reminded of Annihilation, which is my one of my favorite movies (no, I haven't read the book). That isn't to say that this isn't unique, because this book is definitely that! But I Wilder Girls gave me the same (amazing) feeling of weirdness and unease that Annihilation did and I loved it. If you're a fan of weird, twisty books, this is for you! I can't wait to see what this author writes next!

Book Review Plus a Recipe: Little White Lies & Snickerdoodles

Title: Little White Lies (Debutantes #1) 
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publication Date: November 6, 2018
Publisher: Freeform
Pages: 400
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"I'm not saying this is Sawyer's fault," the prim and proper one said delicately. "But."

Eighteen-year-old auto mechanic Sawyer Taft did not expect her estranged grandmother to show up at her apartment door and offer her a six-figure contract to participate in debutante season. And she definitely never imagined she would accept. But when she realizes that immersing herself in her grandmother's "society" might mean discovering the answer to the biggest mystery of her life-her father's identity-she signs on the dotted line and braces herself for a year of makeovers, big dresses, bigger egos, and a whole lot of bless your heart. The one thing she doesn't expect to find is friendship, but as she's drawn into a group of debutantes with scandalous, dangerous secrets of their own, Sawyer quickly discovers that her family isn't the only mainstay of high society with skeletons in their closet. There are people in her grandmother's glittering world who are not what they appear, and no one wants Sawyer poking her nose into the past. As she navigates the twisted relationships between her new friends and their powerful parents, Sawyer's search for the truth about her own origins is just the beginning.

Set in the world of debutante balls, grand estates and rolling green hills, Little White Lies combines a charming setting, a classic fish-out-of-water story, and the sort of layered mystery only author Jennifer Lynn Barnes can pull off. 

Little White Lies showed up on my doorstep a few weeks ago and, although I don't read much contemporary fiction, I was instantly intrigued. The blurb caught my attention with its promise of secrets in southern high society. As someone who grew up in small town North Carolina, I was absolutely dying to dig into this book.

Sawyer Taft has always lived in a small town with her mother. They don't have much, but they have each other and that's good enough for them both. When her grandmother shows up out of the blue and offers her a crazy amount of money in exchange for completing a debutante season, she can't say no and finds herself immersed in a world of wealth and scandal. It also gives her the perfect opportunity to figure out who her father is, since her mom has always kept the secret closely guarded. I really liked Sawyer, although I did find her to be a bit "not like other girls," which can get annoying.

The best part about Little White Lies is obviously the mystery and there is a lot of it. The story is told in a combination of present day and flashbacks and the ending brings the two together. There are multiple mysteries in this story, one being who Sawyer's father is and another being how they got into the predicament we see them in at the beginning. But that isn't all - there are even more scandalous high society mysteries uncovered and each one of them was fantastic! I think the author did a great job of setting everything up and weaving it all together.

Like I said, I grew up in small town North Carolina and I could definitely see some of the people and events from my childhood in this book. Although I was far from high society, I went to a private school on a scholarship for several years and I definitely knew girls like the ones in this book! Oh, how I would have loved for some of their scandals to come out like these did! The setting was great, if a bit over the top. Think Gossip Girl in the south.

This is my first book by Jennifer Barnes, but I doubt it will be my last. This book definitely kept my interest and the drama was out of control! There were moments where I felt like I wished things would hurry along just a bit, but that's probably just a case of it's not you, it's me. Like I said, contemporary really isn't my genre. If you enjoy contemporary mysteries without a ton of romance, Little White Lies is one you won't want to miss!

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CAKE MIX SNICKERDOODLES

As you may find out (depending on how these posts go), I love experimenting and making things from scratch. But every now and then it's nice to have something super quick, easy, and delicious up your sleeve. I recently tried these snickerdoodles and they are my new go-to recipe for when I need something sweet in the house but don't feel like spending hours slaving away in the kitchen.

This recipe yields about 34 snickerdoodle cookies at 80 calories each.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 box French Vanilla cake mix
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (imitation works fine)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F 
2. Mix together French Vanilla cake mix, butter, egg, vanilla, and 1 teaspoon of the ground cinnamon with a spoon until it forms into a dough.
3. Shape dough into balls (about 1 inch).
4. Mix together remaining 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
5. Roll dough in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. 
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
7. Move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
8. Eat them all immediately.

Please let me know what you think of this new review plus a recipe feature and PLEASE do come back and comment if you have the chance to try these delicious cookies!