This was a dark, twisty story filled with secrets and suspense! There’s a creepy house, a murder, a missing person, and a spine-tingling atmosphere!
After Kate’s mother dies, she inherits her family’s summer home and decides to go visit for one last trip. She brings along her husband and child, as well as some close friends. What was supposed to be a fun, relaxing trip turns into a nightmare as tensions run high from unexplained situations, odd visitors, and a dead body.
I’m going to go ahead and give this book a 5 star review. Holy moly this book was filled with twists and turns I just didn’t see coming! So, strap yourself in for a crazy ride with this book!
You know how there are those moments in a book where everything comes to a screeching halt, your jaw drops, and you’re just like WTF? The moment in this book when that happened. I felt like I just threw my hands up and said, well, I’m not doing anything else today. I need to know what happens now! I LOVE when a book does that!
Holy moly! This debut novel by Alex Finlay is a psychological thriller you don’t want to miss! It’s perfect for readers that enjoy lots of surprises in their thrillers!
The story is told through alternating timelines and multiple POVs. It was a great way to tell the story and really allowed the reader to understand what was happening in the investigation and in the lives of the family before the murders. It was a lot of characters, and I was a bit worried as they started to be introduced that I would end up lost, but Finlay writes in a way that keeps everything organized and easy to follow!
This was a crazy, thrilling, all-encompassing ride! I loved it from start to finish! This is a thriller with a psychological aspect that was creepy, and I was entranced! I couldn’t put this one down!
The characters are very distinctly created. Vick is a bit off-putting at times. His inner-monologue had me laughing sometimes and cringing other times. He’s a bit crass, but also is clearly a smart, good guy who wants to do the right thing. Overall, I liked him. I think his personality made him stand out as a character and kept me extremely interested in what was coming next.
Holy cow! This book was engrossing! I spent a good portion of this book guessing at what was happening. There were things I was pretty sure about, but others that took me by surprise! Regardless, I absolutely loved this one!
After an accident leaves Diana with memory loss and collar bone injuries, she finds herself reliant on her mother-in-law. She starts to stumble on pieces of information that leave her with new questions about what really happened in the accident and what exactly is it that she can’t remember?
This book was crazy! I really enjoyed the twists that were carefully woven into the story to provide lots of heart-racing moments! I especially enjoyed that we get to read the POV of the antagonist as well as the protagonist. It created an interesting perspective for me as I was reading, and I loved it!
My Synopsis:
Freya Miller is trying to get her life in order after the death of her husband. Without a job, she’s quickly running out of money. She has sold her home and is prepared to temporarily move into a friend’s place when the opportunity of a lifetime falls into her lap.
Dr. Marsden is looking for a new tenant and a coffee shop accidental meeting leads him to believe Freya is just what he is looking for. Freya quickly agrees to this upscale, beautiful apartment for such a ridiculously low rent, she can’t believe her luck.
Freya is soon moved in but doesn’t even get a chance to be happy. Everything seems a little off. Dr. Marsden and Mrs. Marsden seem extremely controlling. They want to install a video camera in her apartment entrance, and they don’t like visitors. The list goes on and on.
The apartment building, Adder House, seems to have a dark history that people won’t tell Freya about. She begins hearing sounds and voices, and things are moved around in their apartment. Freya is starting to think this was too good to be true.
How I Felt:
The plot for The Apartmentwas so good! I felt like all the pieces fit together perfectly to provide an exciting thriller for the reader. I did guess what was going on but didn’t have all the details figured out. I don’t mind guessing at a thriller, I like to see if I’m right. So, it doesn’t bother me as long as it’s still a good story.
The Wives had an awesome premise that had me so excited to pick this book up. I loved all the secrets that surrounded the intricacies of this relationship!
My Synopsis:
Thursday is married to Seth. Seth is married to Thursday…and two other women, sort of.
Thursday went into her marriage fully aware that Seth had two other wives, but she was okay with the arrangement because she loved him so much. She’s happy with their arrangement. She gets to see him once a week, and that makes her content.
Until she accidentally finds the identity of one of his other wives and a receipt for a prenatal doctor’s visit. One thing leads to another and Thursday finds herself on the doorstep of this wife to see what she’s like.
Thursday’s life begins to spiral out of control from there as she suspects Seth of abusing this other wife. Except that her Seth is nothing like that…is he?
How I Felt:
This story did not go where I thought it was going to go and it threw me for a loop! I was really hooked on the whole plot until about halfway through. Then everything kind of got turned upside down, and I felt like I was reading a different book. The story completely changed and it felt less like a thriller and more like an odd domestic fiction.
This is my first book by Megan Miranda and it WILL NOT be my last! I was blown away by her writing and story-telling. I found myself unable to put this book down!
How I Felt:
Olivia tries to keep her past a secret from everyone around her. As a young child, she was Arden Maynor. She suffered from sleepwalking and was swept away during a rainstorm and trapped for three days in a storm drain. Those three days are locked away in her brain and she cannot remember any of it. The media storm that followed her disappearance and eventual discovery and recovery followed her for years. Finally, she chose to move away and change her name.
Olivia is now an adult. She owns a home, a bit out of the way, but has a friendly neighbor that keeps her company. She’s happy until she receives a box filled with her mother’s belongings and the information that her mother has died. The sleepwalking returns and Olivia wakes one night to find a dead body at her feet.
There were a lot of secrets in this story. I really enjoyed all the unraveling that had to be done to get to what was really going on.
How I Felt:
The story starts with a murder. That’s always an exciting place to start with a thriller! The main character Eva is standing over her mother’s body holding a bloody knife… Eva wakes up in a hospital after being struck by lightning. A detective comes to her hospital room to inform her of her mother’s murder. Eva doesn’t remember or know anything. As the day progresses, she remembers standing over her mother holding the knife. What really happened? Can Eva trust her memory of events when they keep changing?
Behind Every Lie is told through alternating views. Eva’s story is told in present-day, but she is constantly thinking, analyzing, and reliving the past as she tries to figure out what is going on. The second POV is Eva’s mother, Kat. Kat’s view starts 25 years ago and gets closer to the present day as the story progresses. I really liked this storytelling choice. It offered secrets to the reader and I found the best reveals were told through Kat’s story.
Chameleon was filled with mystery and dark feeling right from the beginning. I LOVED that the book jumped right in as Paloma is being driven to the convent. I was hooked from page 1.
The Plot in Chameleon was disturbing and terrifying and thought-provoking. I appreciated the story and the how the psychological thriller aspect was written. Paloma is trying to figure out if she is experiencing mental illness, if the girls are, or if what is happening is actually happening. The things that are happening at the convent were so intriguing and I needed to find out what was going on. It really had me guessing, and there were times when I was creeped out and had to put the book down and take a minute.
The Characters were well-built. I adored Adelita. She is fun and mischievous and overall, any time she appeared in the story, I was captivated. Paloma is the main character and I liked her as well. I appreciated the author shining some light on mental illness. It’s nice to see that highlighted in books.
The Writing was so well-done. I enjoyed the pace of the story until the end (see next paragraph) and I loved all the mysteries and how they unfolded in the story.
The Ending brought this book down from a 5 star to a 4 star for me. The ending felt a bit rushed and I didn’t find the closure that I wanted from the story. I found that I had to jump back in the story and re-read sections because I got to the “The End” and I was like, wait, what? I think this part of the book could have been expanded upon to give more details and slow down a bit.
Overall, this was a fun book that gave me chills and kept me turning the pages long into the night.
Content Warnings:
This book references to rape, mental illness, and psychological abuse.
To Read or Not To Read:
Readers that enjoy paranormal suspense will enjoy this story. As long as you are ok with the content warnings, this was a quick, fun read and I would recommend it!
FIVE GIRLS. AN ISOLATED CONVENT. A SUPERNATURAL PRESENCE. A DARK SECRET.
SHORTLISTED for the 2017 Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult Fiction!
I can’t believe it has come to this. The way things have blown out of proportion. I only wanted to contact my dead father. Ask his forgiveness. Seven months. Seven months isn’t that long, is it? I’ll go through the motions, no need to make friends that I’ll never see again. When you get close to people, you end up getting hurt.
Puerto Rico, 1973 17-year-old Paloma only wanted to hold a séance to contact her dead father. She never thought she would be kicked out of school and end up in an isolated convent. Now, all she wants is to be left alone. But slowly, she develops a bond with a group of girls: kind-hearted Maria, insolent Silvy, pathological liar Adelita, and their charismatic leader Rubia.
At night, the waterfall’s dark music haunts her dreams of drowning…
When Paloma holds another séance, she accidentally awakens an entity that has been dormant for years. The body count begins. Someone doesn’t want the secret out…
Are the ghost and Paloma’s suspicions real—or only part of her growing paranoia and delusions?
If you love the vibes in “The Orphanage,” “The Craft” and “Pretty Little Liars,” you’ll enjoy this mess-with-your-head, YA supernatural/psychological thriller!
A certified bookworm, Zoe Kalo has always been obsessed with books and reading. Reading led to writing—compulsively. No surprise that at 16, she wrote her first novel, which her classmates read and passed around secretly. The pleasure of writing and sharing her fantasy worlds has stayed with her, so now she wants to pass her stories to you with no secrecy—but with lots of mystery…
She’s had the good fortune of living on 3 continents, learning 4 languages, and experiencing a multicultural life. She holds a BA in Creative Writing and an MA in Comparative Literature. She lives in Belgium with her husband and two evil cats.
What I Loved: The mystery that surrounded this story was captivating! I was so interested in what had happened, what would happen, and in what order. The way the story was told had me moving through the book as fast as I could!
How I Felt: I found this book to be very interesting. The story is told jumping back and forth in time, but also between two timelines; one that had happened and then one that is happening now. I can see how it could become a bit confusing, so this is a good story to take a slow until you understand the “before” and “after” concepts that the author is using. Don’t let this deter you, the story is amazing! I loved that we start in the current timeline at what would be the end of the story, then jump back in time.
To Read or Not To Read: If you enjoy psychological thrillers or mysteries, this is an excellent book for you! I found that once I had started this book, I had to keep going to see what would happen next! It was a great read!
What’s This Book About Anyway?
Gloria wakes to find herself in a car covered in blood. She has no idea how she got there or where the blood is coming from. The next thing we know, she’s waking in a bed that she realizes is her own, however, she’s with her husband that she has been separated from for two years. She seems to have slipped back in time and she doesn’t really know what to do. She has memories of taking her two daughters and leaving her husband and yet she has woken to find herself remembering the future, but living in the past. She has no idea what is happening to her, but finds that all she can do is move forward in this timeline until she figures out what is going on and why she is here.
She Just Loves Books 