Tag: thriller books

Book Review: He Started It by Samantha Downing

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Thriller/Mystery
Length: 384 pages
Author: Samantha Downing
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 21st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven’t all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we’ll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance.

But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone.

It’s even harder when you’re all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won’t stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there’s a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons.

But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.

WELL THAT WAS TRIPPY.

I’ve hit a thriller wave and I’m going to ride it out as long as I can catching up on all of the ones my friends have recommended. This was one of them and I definitely wasn’t disappointed!

I read this as an audio book and LOVED it. Great narration, can easily increase speed and found it really quick to fly through.

Wow, this book was *mind blown emoji*.

Even from the start I felt He Started It was keeping me guessing. The story seemed odd, and clearly, things aren’t how they should be. I loved the tidbits that slowly started to occur and had me needing to know what happens next.

These siblings were something else. Such twisted and dark characters. There back stories came out smoothly and worked into the story perfectly. And each time I learned something new it only added another layer to the mystery being unfolded. I couldn’t fathom some of the things they did to each other?! I’m still flabbergasted by it. It was an interesting thought about how the pursuit of money can overtake your life and decision making.

My only iffy thing was the ending. It was definitely maniacal. Jaw dropping, gasp out loud, freak my spouse out because of my reaction, maniacal. I wish it did last a bit longer though to wrap up a few things, but I know that can be the nature of a thriller (and it’s not my usual genre).

Overall audience notes:

  • Thriller / Mystery
  • Language: some strong
  • Violence: murder, guns, physical, car wreck
  • Trigger warnings: gas-lighting, accusatory statements that someone may have sexually assaulted another and the same statements for domestic violence

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: September 2020

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I have big goals to hit 200 books this year.

Which may have lead to a wild amount of books read to make sure I’m on target. I hit 177 and 200 is in sight y’all.

Favorite reads: Blood & Honey, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, and the Wayfair Witches series

Least favorite: The Last House Guest, Bone Crier’s Moon, A Kingdom of Ash and Briars, and The Princess Will Save You

  • He Started It by Samantha Downing – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda – (☆☆)
  • Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove #2) by Shelby Mahurin – (☆☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • [ARC] Float Plan by Trish Doller – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Silent Kingdom by Rachel L. Schade – (☆☆☆)
  • Majesty (American Royals #2) by Katharine McGee – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • Fireborne (The Aurelian Cycle #1) by Rosaria Munda – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Bone Crier’s Moon (Bone Grace #1) by Kathryn Purdie – (☆☆☆)
  • The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Bottling It (Wayfair Witches #1) by A.A. Albright – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Enemy (It Happened in Charleston #2) by Sarah Adams – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Poison Study (Study #1) by Maria V. Snyder – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Reread] Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake #1) by Victoria Schwab – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Kingdom of Ash and Briars (The Nissera Chronicles #1) by Hannah West – (☆☆)
  • Bricking It (Wayfair Witches #2) by A.A. Albright – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Reread] Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] The Bitterwine Oath by Hannah West – (☆☆☆)
  • Room-maid by Sariah Wilson – (☆☆☆☆)
  • A Trick for a Treat (Wayfair Witches #3) by A.A. Albright – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Forgotten Kingdom (The Lost Queen Trilogy #2) by Signe Pike – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Princess Will Save You (Kingdoms of the Sand and Sky #1) by Sarah Henning – (☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Magic Study (Poison Study #2) Maria V. Snyder – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • Winging It (Wayfair Witches #4) by A.A. Albright – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Wrapping Up (Wayfair Witches #5) by A.A. Albright – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Novella] Of Sun & Sandstorms (Swift Shadows #2.5) by M.L. Greye – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] Georgana’s Secret by Arlem Hawks – (☆☆☆☆)
  • A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles #1) by Amanda Bouchet – (☆☆☆☆)

How was your reading this month? Any favorites? Did we read any of the same books? Lets talk in the comments!

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Book Review: A Good Girls Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Mystery/Thriller
Length: 400 pages
Author: Holly Jackson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: February 4th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Everyone in Fairview knows the story.

Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can’t shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn’t want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.

This is the story of an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you’ll never expect.

I LIKED THIS Y’ALL.

I’m not a thriller person. Never have been. It takes some amazing reviews and friends saying how good one is for me to pick it up. This was the case for A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. After so many saying how it blew their minds, I knew I had to read it. And I loved it! I also highly recommend the audio book. It was wonderfully put together.

Oh wow, this definitely kept me guessing. I spent most of my time trying to figure out who was the actual murder, if there was an actual murder, who was good, bad, all the things! I love how difficult it was to make heads or tails of any of the suspects. The number one thing I look for in a thriller is how easy it is for me to pick out the murderer. This was NOT the case here.

The only part I found kind of laughable was Pippa. Don’t get me wrong, I thought she was a fantastic main character. It was the fact that she at 17 (maybe 18?) was acting like a well-seasoned detective agent and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes sometimes. She was clearly way in over her head and doing more than I could reasonably believe. When I could look past that, the book was solid. Well written and put together in such a a way that you never want to stop reading.

I liked the small romance plot-line (we know I’m a sucker for these). It moved well alongside the original story. My heart ached for many of these characters and the awful situations they were put through. I liked the way the side characters played into this and the genuine work I could see from the author to craft a such a intricate web of lies and deceit, with plenty of WHAT moments.

If you’re even slightly interested in thrillers (aka me) definitely check this one out!

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult thriller
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: murder; see trigger warnings
  • Trigger warnings: suicide (method explained), self-harm, murder, underage drug/alcohol use, drunk driving, hit and run, animal/pet death, rape (using rohypnols)

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Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Thriller + Mystery
Length: 342 pages
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: July 11th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.
 
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
 
That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

IT WAS ALRIGHT.

This is the second book by Sager I’ve picked up, and y’all. I’m still not a FAN. The books are fine, and some of the twists at the end get me, but it takes so long to get there I question my choices in taking the time to read that long.

The beginning really brought me into the story. I was curious with what was happening (didn’t trust it of course) and wanted to know more. During the middle section though, I still don’t fully understand the point of it. It was 100 pages of filler scenes in getting more of Quincy’s personality and getting to know Samantha, but it felt stilted. I was expecting more involving the murder and instead was left hanging.

I found at least a little of it creepy. The flashbacks to the Pine Cottage, CREEPY. It’s convinced me I never want a cabin in the woods, everrrrrrr. Which is fine with me. Everything else didn’t spook me out. I’m reading a thriller, I want to feel at least a little panicked at times.

The twists at the end did TOTALLY surprise me. I didn’t see them coming and want to be completely vague because I think it’s more enjoyable that way. There was some information I didn’t love or appreciate happening, which rubbed me the wrong way and brought the book down all together for me.

Overall audience notes:

  • Thriller + Mystery book
  • Language: strong language throughout
  • Romance: some detailed love scenes, a lot of casual sex, kissing, etc.
  • Violence: murder, physical, guns, very descriptive and bloody/gory
  • Trigger warnings: sexual assault, murder, a murder thought to be a suicide, suicide ideation, cheating

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