Book Review: Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

October 13, 2024September 6, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery/Thriller
Length: 330 pages
Author: Kara Thomas
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: July 25th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister.

Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.

Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident.

But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers.

Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone.

Thank you GetUnderlined for the gifted copy!

ALRIGHT, I’M LISTENING.

Thriller/mystery books and I have a fraught history filled with me usually feeling a lot of disappointment. Not the case here! I really liked this book y’all and maybe I’m more of a YA mystery fan than adult thriller reader.

This was a fast paced audiobook and kept me on my toes. I honestly wasn’t sure what was going to happen and who the culprit was going to be. I didn’t totally love when the reveal happened but it was sinister and I liked the build up.

I enjoyed all of the grayness surrounding obsession and deception. It won’t be my last book by Kara Thomas.

Overall audience notes:

YA Thriller
Language: low
Romance: none
Violence: moderate
Content Warnings: parental abuse, suicide mentioned, alcohol consumption

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Book Review: An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

October 12, 2024September 20, 2024 GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Paranormal Horror
Length: 464 pages
Author: Alexis Henderson
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: September 17th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger.

Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart.

Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah. Lennon has been chosen because—like everyone else at the school—she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself.

After passing the test, Lennon begins to learn how to master her devastating and unsettling power. But despite persuasion’s heavy toll on her body and mind, she is wholly captivated by her studies, by Drayton’s lush, moss-draped campus, and by her brilliant classmates. But even more captivating is her charismatic adviser, Dante, who both intimidates and enthralls her.

As Lennon continues in her studies her control grows, and she starts to uncover more about the secret world she has entered into, including the disquieting history of Drayton College, and the way her mentor’s tragic and violent past intertwines with it. She is increasingly disturbed by what she learns. For it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption . . . and it’s a test she’s terrified she is going to fail.

Thank you Berkley Pub (Berkley Partner) for the gifted copy.

WHO KNEW?

I was not expecting to love this. Nor was I expecting to hate it either. Horror is a new to me genre that I’ve been trying out here and there so I never know what I’m going to feel, but y’all, this was a win!! I was obsessed with listening to this audiobook and trying to figure out where the story was going to go next.

It is a paranormal/urban fantasy vibe set at a mysterious college in the US. I thought the magic system was explained well and worked within the confines of the plot. I don’t remember having gaping questions about how things were supposed to work. I loved the concept of meditation and persuasive control.

Lennon wasn’t always a reliable narrator and that made the story have this haunting edge quality that fits a fall theme perfectly. I loved the twists and surprises and some hard betrayals. The audiobook is definitely the way to go. It’s haunting and enigmatic and fits the dark academia genre well and is officially a new favorite. I want to read more books by this author now.

Overall audience notes:

Horror / Urban Fantasy
Language: moderate
Romance: brief open door
Violence: high
Content Warnings: loss of life, murder, depression, suicide, panic attacks

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Book Review: Best Friends, Backups & Something More by Ranee S. Clark

October 11, 2024September 3, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 180 pages
Author: Ranee S. Clark
Publisher: Sweetly Us Press
Release Date: August 18th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A sweet sports romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility .

If “best friends at first sight” were really a thing, Eli Dash would say that’s how his friendship with the new private school teacher, Court Edwards, began. She’s the only person who understands his determination to prove himself as the new L.A. Rays quarterback. She, and nobody else, completely relates to his drive to make everyone forget about last year’s disastrous season with his old team. She’s also stolen his heart and run off with it, faster than any running back he’s ever met.

The problem is, she’s secretly dating another teacher who also happens to be her department head. She’s completely clueless about Eli’s feelings and seems content to keep him in the friend zone forever.

For those reasons alone, Eli should take a sideline bench. Speaking up may risk their friendship, and then he could lose her altogether. But Eli Dash isn’t the sidelines type. It’s the most critical season of his life, and he refuses to let others call the shots this time—not with their happily-ever-after barely within reach. Can the new QB take them from friend zone to the end zone? Or is it game over for them both?

NEEDED DEPTH.

This was much shorter than I expected and it showed. While a cute and sweet story, I wish it would have been a regular novel length to really feel the connection between Eli and Court.

And a lot of it was filled with adults handling issues like high school drama. A bit he said/she said, not being forthright with feelings and such. Just not what I was hoping for. Eli bugged me the most as is CONTINUALLY put himself down and argued that he was a terrible football player. I get it, but also, where’s the character growth?

It’s dual POV and friends to lovers, and he falls first which were my favorites aspects. And if you are looking for something short, maybe this is for you?

I will continue my quest for sweet/closed door football romances that I would love to recommend. This one just didn’t click for me.

Overall audience notes:

Sports Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses

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Book Review: The Girl with No Reflection by Keshe Chow

October 10, 2024September 3, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: NA Fantasy Romance
Length: 496 pages
Author: Keshe Chow
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: August 6th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A young woman chosen as the crown prince’s bride must travel to the royal palace to meet her new husband—but her world is shaken when she discovers the dark truth the royal family has been hiding for centuries—in this lush fantasy debut perfect for fans of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night and Violet Made of Thorns.

Princess Ying Yue believed in love…once upon a time.

Yet when she’s chosen to wed the crown prince, Ying’s dreams of a fairy tale marriage quickly fall apart. Her husband-to-be is cold and indifferent, confining Ying to her room for reasons he won’t explain. Worse still are the rumors that swirl around the imperial whispers of seven other royal brides who, after their own weddings, mysteriously disappeared.

Left alone with only her own reflection for company, Ying begins to see things. Strange things. Movements in the corners of her mirror. Colorful lights upon its surface. And when, on the eve of her wedding, she unwittingly tears open a gateway, she is pulled into a mirror world.

This realm is full of sentient reflections, including the enigmatic Mirror Prince. Unlike his real-world counterpart, the Mirror Prince is kind and compassionate, and before long Ying falls in love—the kind of love she always dreamed of.

But there is darkness in this new world, too.

It turns out the two worlds have a long and blood-soaked history, and Ying has a part to play in the future of them both. And the brides who came before Ying? By the time they discovered what their role was, it was already too late.

Thank you GetUnderlined for the finished copy.

MAKE IT STOP.

The insta-love killed the whole vibe of this book for me. And it even happened TWICE (there’s a love triangle, you’ve been warned). I do admit that it got better in the second half but I did also let out a scoff when these passionate love confessions came out. I tried y’all.

The plot itself isn’t bad. There’s some good bones there. If the FMC, Ying, had been a little less naive about everything I would have really liked her. I kept waiting for that movie montage moment of her gaining some common sense but alas, I was left [mostly] wanting.

It is a standalone, and I know that can be a nice feature for a lot of people. I went in having high hopes and I’m left feeling meh by the journey. The audiobook was good though. I liked the narrator if you want to try out that avenue.

Overall audience notes: