Kathy

In Jesse Q. Sutanto's psychological thriller, Jane will stop at nothing to reclaim her lost friend and literary muse, Thalia, no matter the cost. This was a consuming book that I just couldn't put down.

Summary:
In this suspenseful novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, Jane, a struggling writer stuck in an unsatisfying marriage, harbors an obsession with rekindling her lost friendship with Thalia. Thalia was her only true friend during their Oxford days nine years ago. Jane's life was at its peak back then—filled with cobblestones and English air, so different from her home in Oakland, and the warmth of Thalia's friendship. However, a fateful, blood-soaked night severed their bond, leading to Thalia's mysterious disappearance.

Jane's quest to find Thalia takes a surprising turn when she discovers that Thalia is now a best-selling author with a book convention appearance in New York City. Determined not to lose her friend again, Jane impulsively heads to New York.

As she joins the convention, Jane resolves to make things right and resurrect their friendship. However, beneath the surface, dark secrets and hidden motives begin to unravel, raising the stakes in this gripping tale of friendship, obsession, and suspense.

Review:
The first 20% of the book was grating. I didn't like Jane. She is emotionally stunted, stuck in the mind of a short-tempered and somewhat petulant teen. Her view of the world was tinted by her upbringing, filled with emotional neglect and Jane's mother's middling expectations for her life.

Deeply unhappy in her life and marriage, she clings to memories of Thalia, a classmate and dear friend in her writing program at Oxford. Jane is hung up on the high she feels around Thalia, the pages of prose inspired by her that initially earned Jane respect from teachers and interest from students. Thalia shined even brighter as a writer, but Jane loved her for it. In Jane's eyes, Thalia was a treasure – but one to be hoarded. I don't want to give too much away, but the cat-and-mouse game was quite fun.

While there were some issues with pacing in the first and last quarters of the book, I enjoyed it! I'm not a suspense thriller reader, by any means, but now I'm down to read a few more books in this genre. Similar book recommendations are welcome!

4/5 stars

“Threads That Bind” by Kika Hatzopoulou reads like urban fantasy, mixing characters that are descendants of gods, a supernatural detective story, and some sinister vibes. A seemingly winning combination that sometimes stumbles in its execution.

Plot Summary:
The Ora sisters, descendants of the Fates, possess unique gifts that make them both powerful and feared in a society where they are labeled as “Other Born.” These second-class citizens are charged special taxes, routinely paid less, and discriminated against when it comes to citizenship, work permits, and housing. Their plight is bleak, and I felt the injustice of it in my bones.

Io is a private investigator in crime-riddled Alante, a city where bridges between homes are used out of necessity during the flooding of the half-sunken city. But not in the affluent neighborhoods, of course. The differences in the daily lives of the rich and poor are striking and a source of tension in a city used to an ever-widening class divide, crime, and corruption. Additionally, the presence of the Other Born puts the people on edge and their allowed presence is a source of contention.

During Io's PI work, she runs into a murderous murderess wraith with a severed and frayed life thread. She becomes entangled with the Mob Queen of Alanate and her right-hand man, Edei. Edei and Io are connected by a fate thread, created long before they ever met. Together, they unravel the mystery of the impossible wraiths, multiple murders, and a shocking revelation that could up-end the entire world.

The Good:
There are some parts of the book that are gripping and exciting - like the various action sequences. Hatzopoulou is great at crafting moments where I felt Io's fear and dread. For me, the strongest writing was demonstrated in Io's interactions with her sisters, the muses, and a character named Rosa. The relationships between the Ora sisters are nuanced, complex, and often infuriating. I didn't quite understand the relationship between Ava and her older and younger sisters. She took the stereotype of the middle-child peacekeeper too far. Sometimes, her actions just didn't make sense. I couldn't get a good grasp of who she was. Thais was a clearly written character that I just wanted to shake. She was ruthless in her self-righteousness, taking qualities that I usually love and twisting them until the breaking point.

I did fall in love with one character - Rosa! I could read about her all day. I'm a bit obsessed. More Rosa, please. She's smart, tenacious, and a total smokeshow. My kind of woman. Rosa alone is enough to tempt me to read the next book in this series.

The Bad:
It took me some time to become fully immersed in the story, and once I was, occasional info-dumping disrupted the trance-like reading experience that I look for in a good book.

Romance
The romantic aspect between Io and Edei felt lackluster and flat. I can admit that, as someone firmly in my 30s, I'm not the target audience for this novel. I still believe the romance could have been more convincing. There were moments of intimacy during high-stress situations that felt out of place. There were soft caresses during action scenes that made me think, “Get it together, Io, now is not the time! Think about his soft palms later.” The trauma-bonding element, while hinted at, could have been explored in greater depth given the intense situations they face.

Overall Rating:
I would rate “Threads That Bind” a 3.5/5. While it doesn't quite merit a rounded-up 4 stars, the cliffhanger at the end really got me.

Alright, so I have pretty much no self control. I finished The Silkworm yesterday and immediately checked out Career of Evil on ebook from my local library.

For all the dark, grizzly content, I didn't find this book to be full of sensationalism. As a warning, this book does contain rape, incest, physical violence, cannibalism, drug abuse, and, of course, murder. Several of the victims were children. The author does a good job of handling these events with honest depictions of alarm, disgust, and fear, and the learned gallows humor of people (including Strike) who have had personal and professional experience with the abusers and victims. It wasn't always pretty, but if felt real and true.

It was a good read, and kept me engaged. I liked having a look into Strike's and Robin's heads. Like I've stated before in my review for The Silkworm, I enjoyed Robin and Strike's self-awareness. They knew when they were being unreasonable, and where the tension was coming from, in both their personal and professional lives. Boundaries between the two shifted, blurred, and were completely reset. The book delved heavily into the backgrounds of Strike and Robin, with some stunning revelations for both of them.

I like Strike and Robin and will definitely read the upcoming new book that can't come soon enough. But Matthew can go jump in a ditch. What a prat.

While I found this book average and full of inconsistencies in characterization, it was entertaining. It is an easy and engaging read. I don't regret reading this book.

I almost put the book down in the beginning because it was full of tropes I have outgrown. Sometimes characters were cruel and spiteful just to be cruel and spiteful, which I think is an indication of poor writing skills. It was full of teenage drama, and not the good (or at least well-written) kind.

I didn't feel like I knew Isabelle at all. I couldn't really get a grasp of her character, beyond the jealousy and insecurity. That was very disappointing. Alec was a little better defined, but I don't feel I knew him very well either. I think Clary was written best. She had very real and believable reactions to what was happening. Jace was kind of boring. The witty banter between Clary and Jace that was supposed to count as flirting (?) was trite. I couldn't hear their individual voices. It was basically like reading one person having a clever conversation with herself. Most of the time the chemistry wasn't there. The end of the book was pretty intense, which adds half a star to the rating.

I give this book a 2.5
I usually round up, but I don't think this book merits a 3 star rating from me

I usually don't read contemporary mystery/crime/thriller books, so it took me some time to really get into the book. Once into it, I happily shadowed Strike and Robin as they hunted down the culprit.

I haven't read the first Cormoran Strike book, The Cuckoo's Calling, but I don't think that necessarily took away from my reading experience. The characters were fleshed out and seemed real, and this is what kept me reading. Most the characters were definitely not likable, but I appreciated that Galbraith's writing made me ‘know' them and dislike them on so many levels. Some parts of the book were disturbing, and Galbraith successfully made me horrified and a little ill.

I appreciated that the relationship between Strike and Robin wasn't completely cliche, and Robin wasn't flat or unlikable. Strike had a keen insight into people, and that didn't exclude himself. I enjoyed his sense of self-awareness, or as Terry Pratchett would say, his second and third thoughts. While some parts of the novel seemed contrived, I feel like the latter half of the book made up for it. The Silkworm wasn't an excellent novel, but it was a good read. I hope my local library has the other books because I think they'll be worth the read.

While I think it might be a 3.5/5 for me, I don't think it deserves a 3 on Goodreads.
4/5 it is.