ALC Book Review: The Thrashers by Julie Soto

May 6, 2025May 2, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Thriller
Length: 352 pages
Author: Julie Soto
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: May 6th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Either you’re in or you’re out.

Welcome to the Thrashers, the elite friend group at New Helvetia High.

They’re everything everyone wants to be.

Jodi Dillon was never meant to be one of them. Julian, Lucy, Paige, and the infamous Zack Thrasher are rich, sophisticated, and love attention. Jodi feels out of place, but Zack’s her childhood best friend, so she’s in.

Then Emily Mills, who desperately wanted to be a Thrasher, dies—and the whispers about the Thrashers begin. As Emily’s journal surfaces, detectives close in, and Jodi faces an impossible choice: betray her friends or protect herself.

But as eerie messages and strange occurrences escalate, it becomes clear—Emily isn’t done with them yet.

A twisty thrill-ride of unforgettable drama and suspense that “encapsulates the vulnerability of adolescents playing adult games” (Ali Hazelwood) from USA Today bestselling author Julie Soto, The Thrashers will keep you up at night desperate to read just one more page.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the gifted audiobook.

NOT QUITE SURE.

This one left me a little befuddled as to how I was going to create a review. I enjoyed the first 50%ish or so. It’s dark, there’s rich kids behaving badly and I was intrigued by the bones of the story. This was my first Julie Soto book too and I thought the writing style had an easy flow as well. The pace was slow at times but picked up as the book went on.

Now, I am just not a seance/Ouija board fan. Especially if that’s not necessarily referenced in the summary and I didn’t know going in. It took me out of the story and my engagement level dropped significantly. I thought it took away from the thriller aspect.

I felt conflicted about many of the plot points and where characters ended up (and that’s fine, I think that’s often the point of thrillers too, even if it’s frustrating).

Overall audience notes:

YA Thriller
Language: moderate
Romance: kisses
Violence: high
Content Warnings: suicide, bullying, loss of a parent, drug and alcohol use, domestic abuse

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Book Review: The Deathly Grimm (The Forest Grimm Duology #2) by Kathryn Purdie

April 6, 2025March 27, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Kathryn Purdie
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: March 25th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The spellbinding sequel to Kathryn Purdie’s bestselling dark fairytale, where our main characters must return to the forest—and its monsters.

The story hasn’t ended yet.

After surviving the Forest Grimm and defeating the Wolf, Clara and Axel have made it back to their village, the one place they can be safe behind the forest’s borders. But when the forest itself begins luring in more villagers, it’s clear that Clara and Axel have only treated the symptoms of the forest’s curse, not the cause—and it’s getting worse.

Burdened with visions of the past and learning to navigate her fragile new relationship with Axel, Clara finds herself entering the forest with Axel yet again to discover the truth once and for all: the identity of the murderer who caused the curse. As they fight murderous woodsmen with incomprehensible riddles, ladies who will drag you into an eternal dance, and ghosts with the power to wield the forest against them, Clara and Axel realize the stakes are higher than ever. If they don’t survive the dark, deadly twists of the forest once more, not only will they never escape, they may also no longer have a home to escape to.

Romantic, eerie, and beautiful, The Deathly Grimm is the triumphant conclusion to Kathryn Purdie’s bestselling Forest Grimm duology.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the gifted copy.

BETTER AS A STANDALONE.

And I rarely say that, but I mean it this time.

I had a hard time getting through this one because it felt very much the same as book one. Clara goes back into the woods, meets some fairytales that have gone awry, figures out who the bad guy is (who is obvious from the start) and saves the day. Which was practically what happened the first time.

There was also a forced issue in the romance. I think it was trying to add tension, yet it didn’t come across as such. I wanted to love them and that never happened.

It was overall just a dry read. I don’t have much to say because I hardly felt anything while reading other than I was ready to be finished with this book.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy
Language: low
Romance: closed door
Violence: moderate

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Book Review: Where the Library Hide (Secrets of the Nile #2) by Isabel Ibanez

March 18, 2025November 29, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: NA Historical Fantasy Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Isabel Ibanez
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: November 5th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other!

1885, Egypt

Inez Olivera is left reeling from her cousin Elvira’s murder, and her mother’s betrayal, and when Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.

Marriage to Whitford Hayes.

Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.

ENDING SAVED IT.

OOOO do I love a dramatic and action packed ending. Bless this book for having one because I felt off kilter at the start. I thought the plot got lost initially and even though I loved seeing the development between Whit and Inez, there wasn’t much else happening until a quarter of the way in.

I did love all of the historical aspects and how those have been combined with fantasy elements. I love love love books in this sub genre and this hit the spot for those perfectly.

One of the main antagonists was extremely obvious and was a bit of a let down, BUT I will say I was surprised by one of the reveals and that helped balance out. It led to the chaos that was the final few chapters and I loved seeing how it all went down.

This duology really worked well as a duo. It was not drawn out, there’s good action and endearing characters. I adored Inez and Whit and the audiobook narrators for them did a great job. I can’t wait for more books from this author.

Overall audience notes:

NA Historical Fantasy Romance
Language: mild
Romance: vague fade to black
Violence: moderate – high
Content Warnings: gun violence, murder, non-consensual drugging, near death experiences

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ALC Book Review: Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

March 8, 2025February 25, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: NA Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Author: Laura Steven
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: March 4th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue meets This is How You Lose The Time War in this fantastical love story that defies death as two souls reincarnate through the centuries.

They’ve loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They’ve killed each other in every one.

Evelyn remembers all her past lives. She also remembers that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being whose soul―and survival―is tethered to hers.

The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her for bone marrow transplants in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to:

1. Find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life―before they find her first.
2. Figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse.
3. Try not to fall in love.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook.

A BIT BLAND.

I am an Addie La Rue fan so jumping onto reading this. I did think the audio production was good and I enjoyed the narrator. No qualms there. I more or less had issues with the storyline.

The whole premise surrounding the I have to kill you to save you was fine, until the repetitiveness of the story drove me wild. Over and over again Evelyn asks Arden why are you doing this and over and over again Arden saying you just have to trust me. Without a stronger mystery plot holding everything together it felt like I was going in circles.

Some of the flashbacks were interesting and I didn’t mind the writing style. There’s a fated quality that works out well enough. I would try another book by this author.

Overall audience notes: