Em
This book was overhyped and pretty lack luster to me. If it had the same intensity as the ending with a better plot twist I would've enjoyed it much more. This was sold to me as being a story in the same vein as The Sinner and IT ISNT. It isn't nearly as original or as good. This is actually a domestic thriller in my eyes and that isn't what I signed up for. Also finding out that your spouse is cheating on you via email - I just.
For all of y'all who want to be spoiled here you go!
Theo found out that his wife was cheating on him with Alicia's husband. He begins to follow Alicia. Meanwhile everyone in Alicia's life is telling her that there isn't anyone following her and making her question her sanity. Eventually Theo breaks in and ties up Alicia's husband and tells Alicia that he had been cheating on her. Theo couldn't pull the trigger but left the gun. Alicia ends up killing her husband. Theo took the job because he wanted to make sure it didn't come to light his involvement with her case. Alicia ends up writing incriminating evidence in her hidden journal and the ending is basically the cops coming to collect him.
It's a series so I will just keep everything under a spoiler tag.
I simmered in how I felt about this book. Unfortunately for me in some ways it missed the mark. I still had a lot of fun reading it. I finished it within a couple of days. Some pros: I absolutely adored that Stevie was able to dig deeper into Ellingham Academy mystery. There was still some things that she discovered with the deaths of present day students. To me I felt like we got a lot more revealed about the past which I really enjoyed. I have also listened to this on audiobook and found the narration for different characters to be great. The things that bothered me about it was the interactions mostly between Stevie and David. I won't be surprised if they are together in the final book because they've had this off and on thing. As I said in my update I know we are working with seventeen and eighteen year old logic here. I am just so frustrated by David and his total lack of understanding towards Stevie at times.Stevie has had to deal with:• Being thrust out of her school once she felt like she has meaningful and close relationships with people.• Being put in really tough place by an adult who does not want her to share why she is back at school, how she got there, and the motivation he has from it. This is just a prime example of a powerful adult exerting his power over her. • IDK DEALING WITH THE FACT THAT SOMEONE DIED!David knew how she got there. He knew there was some sort of connection with his father. Instead of approaching Stevie about any of this he waits to have this implode after they've kissed. He makes her feel guilty for withholding information from him. I can't imagine how anxiety inducing it would've been for Stevie to not share these things with anyone. You have someone who has a lot of power who has made you fearful. Where is the understanding David?Anyway, can't wait for 2020.
I really enjoyed this book! This was one book I was highly anticipating in 2019 and just now got around to it. This is another middle grade that has some focus on grief and how Tristan navigates that - all within a magical realm that he has to save. I loved how Mbalia gave new life to folk characters. It is very fitting for this story to be a part of Rick Riordan's imprint. I look forward to see where this story goes.
This was so fun! I will admit that at times I did stop it because I got a little freaked out. A major reveal I was able to figure out but really I cannot recommend this enough.
This was so good. Someone out on the internet described it as a literary thriller and I definitely see that. I don't know how to rate it because it isn't in the all time favorites but I really enjoyed it.
This is a powerful little book.
I don't know what else I can say about it because you just need to pick it up for yourself.
I adored this book!!! One of the best I've read this year. I think it's time to read all of his books because wow.
L.L. McKinney took what you knew about Alice in Wonderland and spun it on it's head.
What makes this book so special is that it really delves deep into so many important intersections. It is what has made this stronger in my eyes versus other retellings.
I feel let down by this story. Such a cool premise with a lot of great discussions that can come out of it. I just wished for a lot more.
This book is special. I intentionally put off finishing this book because I didn't want it to end. McDowell once said “I am a commercial writer and I'm proud of that. I am writing things to be put in the bookstore next month. I think it is a mistake to try to write for the ages.” It is safe to say that his writing has lasted for the ages even if it was never his intention.
Blackwater chronicles the lives of the Caskey family and those who are in their orbit. Our story begins with Elinor being found in one of the hotel rooms in the flooded town of Perdido, AL.
First published as a serialization you can see where the reader gets a little recap before diving back into the action of the family. Although very heavy on the interpersonal relationships between the family members there are moments where you can see how this story is classified as horror.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an arc!
The Heiress is the story of The McTavishes, specifically Camden & Ruby McTavish. Ruby is the McTavish matriarch who is known in the area for having been kidnapped as a child and miraculously returning back home. That wasn't all though as all of her husbands passed away to various accidents and incidents. Camden has not been back to the estate in 10 years - and is called to come home. Camden has to unravel his own history with Ashby House as well as the motivations of her relatives who so desperately want every penny of of the McTavish estate.
We are able to learn about Ruby through letters and learn about Camden and Jules through their point of views. Hawkins did an excellent job of writing a book I didn't want to put down. It was such a good time trying to figure out what would happen next.
This was a wild ride. My issue and why it didn't get more stars is because I had a lot of difficulty keeping track of everyone. Lots of moving parts that lead to some confusion for me.
TW: Rape, child death
WHAT DID I JUST READ?!
This was a rough read. Full of varying degrees of terrible people. It's still a damn good story though. Hillier won a Thrillerfest award for this and I can see why. I enjoyed how fast paced this was. We went from court room, prison, and release before reaching the 30% mark. I constantly was asking myself, ‘Where can it go from here?'
I think her level of writing is about where I can draw the line with explanations of terrible things human beings can do to one another. I applaud the fact that I am equally disgusted by these characters and so impressed by the way she crafted this story.
I kept on thinking that we already knew the majority of where Geo's guilt came from. THAT REVEAL. FUCKED. ME. UP.
Jessica Townsend has managed to create such a whimsical and engaging series. Wundersmith showed us much more of the world that Morrigan now lives in. We were brought right along on the journey on home train. Wundersmith gave us budding friendships, a new mystery, and big questions for a twelve year old to grapple with.
I cannot wait to see how Unit 919 is brought further into the fold of the Wundrous Society and what bigger evil awaits that even Ezra Squall fears.
reread 2020: I will protect unit 919 at all costs and once again mclosing it over possibly squall and morrigan teaming up to go against something WORSE THAN HIM?!
CW: parental death, death, parental abandonment, claustrophobia and some violence
This was a hell of a ride. I really enjoyed this book out of my comfort zone! I liked the fact that we are getting queer stories that are dark.
Gyre is set on not staying on her planet anymore. With a plan in hand to get her ticket out she ends up signing what may her very last contract. Her expectations did not align with her reality. Instead of having a team surveying her moves and keeping her safe she just has Em. Em who has secrets of her own. Em being her only connection to the topside.
This made me so anxious and I sped through the last quarter of this book demanding answers. At first I wondered if this needed to be done as sci-fi and there are certain parts that really rely on it such as the suits and tunnelers.
I don't know if there are any other souls out there that want to read spoilers before they finish or even pick up a book but they are all in here. It's long.
Gyre wants to get off planet to find her mother. Gyre makes some pretty gruesome discoveries about the divers before her. She learns that there have been 27 dead divers before her. She considers turning back at one of the early camps but Em persuades her to continue by doing whatever she wanted. Gyre wanted her to find her mother. As Gyre gets deeper into the caves we learn that Em is in charge of a mining empire and the only one topside monitoring her. One of the bigger reveals is that Em's parents went down into the depths of the caves but only her mother returned. The rest of the team did not survive including her father. Every time Gyre considers turning back there is a point in which Em can convince her to continue on. As included in the synopsis Em sometimes goes wild and plays god by injecting drugs into Gyre to either stop her or force her to sleep. She also has the ability to control her suit which she does take advantage of. As Gyre goes deeper into the cave she starts to see things and she begins to deteriorate. Not knowing if the cave is actually haunted or if she is just beginning to go crazy she has to rely on Em although that also comes with a price. Em shares videos of her parents dive as an attempt to humanize herself and her reasoning for sending others to their deaths. We see her Mother being interviewed as she was the only survivor. Em's mother abandons her and vanishes. It eventually is revealed that Em has sent the divers down to try and find her mother, thinking that that was where she was. As Gyre goes deeper into the caves she sees Em's mother and others lost to the cave. She doesn't share that with Em because she does not want her to inject her with drugs. There is a point where Gyre has lost communication from Em, her battery dying, and no back up food and it is stressful as hell. Eventually Gyre finds a chamber which held some of the dead that were never found before. She offers to bring them topside but Em tells her that she doesn't have to. Instead they have a ceremony in the cave and Em is able to grieve. Gyre is not stable anymore. She ends up getting hurt on her trek up to solid ground. At one point in her madness she opens the files that Em provided to her about her mother. What she found out was that her lapse in her life was becoming pregnant with Gyre on a planet that she was studying and she returned back to her "normal" life. She has a new husband and children. While Gyre is injured Em urges Gyre to make it to the second camp and she would come down herself to get her. Gyre hears the call of the dead, urging her to go deeper and join them, and she considers it. We see that Em rescues Gyre and is doing an exit interview similar to what Em's mother did. Gyre has come back a fragment of herself. Em lets her know that she will get her a ticket to go anywhere. Gyre asks that she comes with her to face her own mother.
This was honestly just such a touching book. I kept on thinking about how much this would mean to a thirteen year old going through the same exact things as Ivy. It was a quick and engaging story that almost made me cry a couple of times.
stopped at about 48%. I enjoy it when I'm in it but right now it's just not holding my attention so I will be coming back to it.
This was a beautiful book. It really explores loss, depression, and relationships. Although it was not a 5 star book for me I would still recommend it to fans of YA.
Once again I found myself on r/horrorlit and saw Elizabeth Engstrom come up as a recommended author for well-written disturbing horror.
I read both of the novellas within an afternoon and wasn't able to put them down. Both stories
When Darkness Loves Us will definitely be coming back to me in the middle of the night to haunt me with the dark twists it took and the decisions Sally Ann made which we are left to reckon with.
Beauty Is... will be a story I see myself coming back to of just how unnerving it is. At the end of this novella, my heart ached for Martha and the ways that trauma came to steal her away.