Tag Archives: Mystery/Thriller

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Review: The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Title: The Vanishing Season
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Rating: ★★

The Vanishing Season

I’m just not sure about this book. I wanted to like it, to feel worried about the fate of these girls, to wonder about the characters and what was happening. I just never felt it. The writing was beautiful, but the characters and plot just weren’t there for me. It was supposed to be a story about friendship, with some mystery thrown in, but I never felt that.

Maggie moves to a rundown house on a lake in the north. She’s not thrilled about having to leave her life and friends behind her, but because her parents are struggling for money, she accepts it. She makes it work. Pauline and Liam are her neighbors. Pauline’s mother tries to put on appearances, but ever since her husband and Pauline’s father died, she hasn’t been able to feel happy. Liam’s father is the outcast of the town, and his actions make the town think Liam and his father are crazy. Maggie befriends them both, and eventually has feelings for Liam. In the midst of the move, girls begin to disappear and reappear killed. Panic ensues and Maggie and her friends must try to figure out their new friendship while wondering who will be killed next.

Maggie was a fine character, but I think she needed a little bit more of a backbone. I can see a lot of myself in her. I’d sacrifice almost anything for my family. I’m not very confrontational. I tend to think things through and then overthink them. But I can stand up for myself when I need to. And that’s what I wanted Maggie to do. It’s one thing to allow your friends to push you. But when you let them walk all over you, it’s not healthy. I wanted Maggie to stick up for herself.

Pauline was tough to handle. I really have a problem with the acceptance of her character traits. She was pushy and tended to not think of how her actions would affect others. As a foil, Pauline is excellent. Her character makes Maggie’s qualities stand out even more. But as a person, I don’t think I’d be able to have her as a friend. It was difficult to read. Liam wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t great either. I could tell from the beginning how he would play a part, but that didn’t mean I was okay reading it. I understand why things happened the way they did, but I still didn’t enjoy reading it.

I was ready to have a mystery to solve; one that maybe gave me the chills. Instead, the mystery was the background and I never really felt like it was resolved well. I don’t always need a perfect little bow on each open thread of a story, but some sort of resolution is nice. For how much the story would emphasis the mystery at times, much of the story just felt flat. There’d be mystery for a few pages, and then absolutely nothing.

The Vanishing Season is not the book I thought it would be. It has beautiful writing, but that’s about where the great qualities end. It just wasn’t the book I wanted to read, and the characters didn’t make me want to read. I’m sure there are people who will love this book, but I am not one of them.

If you’d like to read The Vanishing Season, you can purchase it here:
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Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: The Fever by Megan Abbott

Title: The Fever
Author: Megan Abbott
Rating: ★★★

The Fever

I thought The Fever sounded like a thriller of a book. Something is making girls sick and no one really knows what it is. Panic ensues. I thought it would show how society could fall apart when fear takes hold. And that was there, but I still ended up feeling a little let down at the end.

Deenie lives with her brother, Eli, and father, Tom. She’s a good student, Eli is a star hockey player, and Tom is a popular teacher. Their lives aren’t perfect, but they’re happy for the most part. And then Deenie’s friend has a seizure in class, igniting frenzy. After that, more girls at the school are falling sick with an unexplainable illness. It’s only affecting the girls, and the first connection is made to the HPV shots they have all been getting. And then one girl falls sick that didn’t get the shot. Panic erupts.

The story is told from Deenie, Eli, and Tom’s points of view. Each has a different perspective of the story, from the girl just wondering when it will be her, to the brother wanting everything to be okay, and the father just wanting to keep his daughter safe. I never really felt connected to any of the characters, though, and that made it a little difficult to connect with the book. I felt bad for each of them, sure, but I never felt like I was in the novel.

The plot of the novel wasn’t what I thought it would be. First I was worried it was going to be a commentary on vaccines (and given my health issues, anti-vaccine agendas bother me), and then I thought it’d be a commentary on how poisoning nature ends up poisoning ourselves. So I was a little thrown when the actual cause was revealed. I didn’t feel like it fit the rest of the story. It seemed quick and easy to wrap things up the way they were. From the panic and build-up of the novel, I was expecting something more.

In the end, The Fever was a fine book. It wasn’t what I thought it would be, and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped, but it certainly wasn’t a bad book. It is well written, and if I was looking for a book dealing with relationships, I think I would have enjoyed it more. I was just looking for a thriller that would leave me blown away, and this wasn’t it.

If you think you’d like to read The Fever, you can purchase it here:
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Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Title: The Murder Complex
Author: Lindsay Cummings
Series: The Murder Complex
Rating: ★★★★

The Murder Complex

I’m a little weird about blood and killing. It doesn’t bother me, really, but gratuitous amounts of it annoy me. So I was a little hesitant that a book with the title The Murder Complex would be one of those books that would overdo it on the killing. And I won’t lie, there is death and blood and killing. But it didn’t feel like it was killing for the sake of it. I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

Meadow lives with her sister, brother, and father on a houseboat. They are getting by on the serving or rations her father earns, but they need more. She has been trained by her father her entire life to protect herself through any means necessary and uses those skills to earn a job in the city. One evening, she comes across a dying Zephyr and for a reason she can’t quite explain, she stops and helps to save his life. From that point on, their lives are intertwined.

Meadow is a fighter. She doesn’t show weakness. It’s the only way to try and survive in the world. When the murder rate is higher than the birth rate, one must always be ready to fight. Her family, however, is her soft spot. She can take any beating, fight any enemy, but her family is where to hit her hardest. I liked Meadow, and I liked her moxie, but I want to see a little more depth of character. She’s got a great beginning and I have hopes that she’ll develop a little more as the series progresses.

I’m not sure about Zephyr. He’s not really my kind of guy, but he works with the story. He’s lived a life of struggles, and has a past that he doesn’t even understand. My only problem with his character has to do with a problem I find common in a lot of novels. The idea of instant love. And granted he has dreamed of a girl like Meadow for a while, but to love a dream of a person is different than loving a person. I’m hoping this idea is explored more going forward.

The story of The Murder Complex is something I haven’t read before. In the genre of dystopian fiction, there can be a lot of repetition or an author can try to be so different that it borders on the unbelievable. Cummings writes a world that paints a dire picture of the world, but adds a unique spin. I’m definitely intrigued by this world and am looking forward to more.

The Murder Complex is a new take on a bleak future. The characters are interesting and have room for growth. This is a series beginning that gives promise of good things to come.

If The Murder Complex sounds like a book you’d like to read, you can purchase it here:
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Thank you to Edelweiss and Greenwillow Books for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: (Don’t You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Title: (Don’t You) Forget About Me
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Rating: ★★★★

Don't You Forget About Me

This book messed with my head. In a good way. It’s a complete trip of a book, from beginning to end. Just when I thought I had a handle on what was going on, something would happen that would completely throw me off again.

Gardnerville is a special place. People don’t get sick there. It just doesn’t happen. And sick people who move to the town suddenly aren’t sick anymore. But it comes at a price. Every four years, a teen explodes with deadly consequences. The book begins in the middle of one of these fourth years, just dropping the reader right into the town. Skylar uses pills to forget the past, a past where her sister led teens to their death four years ago. But something finally stops Skylar from forgetting. The secrets she’s held for years have to come out. And as little pieces of the truth appear the story becomes even more confusing and amazing.

Skylar is an interesting character. She just wants to forget what happened to her family. She wants to forget that her sister was the cause of the last fourth year destruction. She wants to forget about the evil that possesses her town. She just wants to forget. But forgetting means she can’t move forward with her life. As her secrets are shown, between flashbacks and the present day, she becomes a great character. It’s clear she knows what she has to do for her town, even though only little pieces are shown at a time.

The town is a character itself. It has a strange power to heal people, but it’s not without a price. The town gives, but it also takes. It really made me think about what price I would pay for complete health. A small connection I made to the novel is that the mother of the book had the same disease I do, cystic fibrosis. Obviously, since she lives in the town, it’s not a problem for her anymore. But it made me think about if living in fear of external death would be enough for me to cure my internal death. I can certainly understand why the mother lives in the town, but her life isn’t perfect. She traded one pain for another. It’s an interesting thought; to examine what price a person would pay for perfect health.

I’m going to be honest. I was completely confused for the majority of the novel. But it was confusion I enjoyed, because it meant Quinn has weaved an intense story. Every little piece she gives you s dropped without much context, leaving you to try and piece it together. It’s like putting together a puzzle that doesn’t have a picture until every piece has found its place. You’re working to solve a puzzle where you can hardly figure out where each piece goes.

This is not a book anyone can pick up and enjoy. You have to be able to suspend reason and take the events that happen for what they are. If you can do that, then (Don’t You) Forget About Me is a fantastic book.

If you think (Don’t You) Forget About Me is a book you’d like to read, you can purchase it here:
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Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

Title: The Secrets of Lily Graves
Author: Sarah Strohmeyer
Rating: ★★★

The Secrets of Lily Graves

Let me start off by saying The Secrets of Lily Graves is not a romance novel. Yes, there’s a teaser of romance in the book description, but that’s not what this book is about. It’s about the secrets that surround the lives of the characters and how they unravel after a murder. The twists and turns are excellent, and I am happy to say I couldn’t see the ending coming.

Lily Graves is the daughter of a mortician, living in the house where the dead go to get ready for their funeral. Lily is the social outcast because of her family and how morbid others consider her to be. She’s had one best friend, and that’s really about it. So when Matt Houser starts to hang out with her, even though it’s because she’s helping him with school, she finds happiness in her new friendship. Yet when Matt breaks up with his girlfriend Erin, Lily is immediately the suspect. Things become even more twisted when Erin is found dead, murdered, the day after attacking Lily. With Matt and Lily at the center of the focus, she has to work hard to find out the truth.

I liked Lily. She was her own person and didn’t try and change to have more friends. She knew that if people didn’t like who she was, she didn’t need to have them in her life. Of course, this doesn’t mean she’s immune to the comments she receives, but she chooses to look beyond them. I think she’s a very well written teen. A little head strong and stubborn, like continuing to see Matt even though everyone tells her to stay away, but she’s also a little insecure about things. Her determination to figure out who killed Erin really drove the novel.

Matt was fine as a love interest. He’s a little too perfect for my tastes, but since their relationship wasn’t the main reason for the novel, it didn’t bother me too much. He’s sweet and a little corny, but it works. It makes for an interesting character study, when he is shown to be one way with Lily, but still have a mountain of evidence piled against him in Erin’s death.

There were a few things about the plot of the novel that I found to be just a little too convenient, but given how long working around those instances would have been, I can forgive. Things like Lily’s mother dating the chief of police and getting little pieces of information she would have otherwise never known seemed a little to convenient, but it worked. I was never really sure where the novel was going to go and until the very end, I had no idea how the murder case would be solved. When everything finally came to light, I was shocked, but in a good way.

The Secrets of Lily Graves is an excellent look into the secrets a town can hold and how those secrets can destroy. Everyone has a secret and while some are harmless, others lead to death. It’s one of the better Young Adult mystery thriller novels I’ve read. Definitely worth a read.

If you think The Secrets of Lily Graves is a book you’d like to read, you can purchase it here:
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Thank you to Edelweiss and Balzer + Bray for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike

Title: Sleep No More
Author: Aprilynne Pike
Rating: ★★★

I’m sure there will be some people who have issues with this book. It’s a snapshot of Charlotte’s life as an Oracle, not her life story. Because of that, it only details the events that have such a huge impact on her as a teen, that the rest of her life will always feel the effects. I’m glad it’s a standalone novel. It was entertaining, but dark.

Charlotte is an Oracle. She gets visions of the future. After she changes the future to save her aunt, her father dies. From that moment on, she works hard to keep her Oracle side pushed away, resisting visions anytime they start to come. She’s seen how altering with the future can backfire and she never wants to risk that again. Then, she starts getting visions of her classmates’ murders. She feels guilty she can’t save them. To her, what good are visions when she can’t do anything about them? So when someone new comes into her life, claiming to know what she is and how she can use her visions to change the future, she jumps at the chance.

There were moments I wanted to shake some sense into Charlotte. From the outside, I could see how her choices could end up backfiring. I could sense that things weren’t right. But I also felt for Charlotte. She wants to know all she can about being an Oracle. She finds comfort in in knowledge. The unknowns are what make her question everything. Her aunt, the one in change of teaching her how to be an Oracle, holds back information, claiming she doesn’t need to know it yet. It’s because of this that she jumps on the change to learn more, even if it’s from someone she doesn’t really know.

The mystery and suspense in this novel were fantastic. I never really knew what would happen next. It’s clear that there is a serial killer, but the identity is hidden. Even in her visions, Charlotte is unable to find out any clues on who she is fighting against. The entire novel had this feeling of darkness, but it wasn’t heavy with it. There were light moments when Charlotte could just be a teenager before having to try and fight an evil she doesn’t know again. The pace of the novel is perfect, giving just enough information for one question to be answered before throwing in even more questions. This kept me on the edge of my seat, unable to put the novel down.

Sleep No More was a fantastic novel. It was fast-paced, but it never felt like things were moving too quickly. Pike would slow the novel down for a few moments before throwing something new in. It created a novel that ad me engaged and wondering with every page. I’m looking forward to reading more from Pike.

If Sleep No More sounds like your kind of novel, you can purchase it here:
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Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

Title: Prisoner of Night and Fog
Author: Anne Blankman
Series: Prisoner of Night and Fog Series
Rating: ★★★★

The time period between the First World War and the second has always fascinated me. The environment that Hitler had in order to make his rise to power had to be just right. Prisoner of Night and Fog looks at pre-World War II Germany through the life of one of the Nazi Party’s girls. She’s held in high regard because her father died for Hitler. She’s never questioned what her father was fighting for. That all changes when she learns that the story of her father’s death might not be the truth.

Gretchen has always believed in Hitler and his ideals. Her father died to protect him, so she sees no reason to think Hitler’s wrong. She’s not quite like other Nazi’s though. She still has compassion, and that gets her in trouble one evening. When a Jewish reporter sees her try to stop her brother from beating a Jew, he begins to reach out to her. He claims the story she’s been told about her father’s death is wrong. She doesn’t want to believe him, but when things start pointing her towards the truth, she questions all the beliefs she’s grown up with.

I enjoyed Gretchen’s character. I’ll admit that I was worried. How can you take a person who so strongly believes in what Hitler talks about and make her likable? Or if she’s really that ignorant, why should we think she’s trustworthy? But Blankman pulled it off. She made Gretchen just ignorant enough, just compassionate enough, that her transformation from Hitler’s pet to Hitler’s despised felt real. It was clear that she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about Daniel. In the beginning, it was clear that she believed Hitler’s statements about the Jews. She had grown up being told they were horrible and subhuman. But when she sees that’s not really true, she has to reexamine everything she’s thought.

Daniel was fantastic. It’s clear that he knows Gretchen’s thoughts can’t change overnight, but his belief that she needs to know the truth makes him stick with her. He starts to change her mind about the Jewish population, proving that Hitler is wrong. When he exposes just how deep Hitler’s hatred goes, it’s a shock to Gretchen, but Daniel waits until she can come to terms with everything she’s learning about. He’s strong and wants to fight what’s coming in the best way he knows how.

I was fully engaged in the plot. There was history mixed with new characters. Seeing Germany struggle and how Hitler took advantage of that was really interesting. Not only that, but to see Gretchen have her dreams and goals, yet also see them fall apart right in front of her broke my heart.

I’m incredibly happy the story isn’t over yet. Gretchen and Daniel still have so much to do and so many stories left. This series will definitely be one I watch. The history was what made me pick Prisoner of Night and Fog up, but the characters are what kept me reading.

If Prisoner of Night and Fog sounds like your kind of novel, you can purchase it here:
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Thank you to Edelweiss and Balzer + Bray for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Elusion by Claudia Gabel

Title: Elusion
Author: Claudia Gabel
Rating: ★★★

Elusion had me interested as soon as I read the description. This is a future world that I can picture. One where the world is a mess and people are looking to escape. Elusion gives people the ability to leave the real world and enter a place where everything feels good. It’s a great science fiction story that falls a little flat in some areas.

Regan’s father is the creator of Elusion, a collection of devices that take the user to a world where nothing hurts and everything is good. Her best friend Patrick is her father’s protégé, working together to create the devices and programs. Even though Regan should be close to the project, her father never included her much in the process, and now that he’s died, she is even less knowledgeable about the program. So when allegations are made against Elusion and its possible addictive side effects come to light, all Regan knows is she needs to defend her father since he can’t defend himself.

Regan has possibility. She wasn’t the strongest character in the beginning, but I can see her growing. She’s no longer taking a backseat; she’s fighting for a voice. She loses her mind around Josh a bit, but she’s also a teenager. Teens tend to do that. She’s not my favorite heroine I’ve read, but she does hold promise to grow.

I have some of the same issues with Josh. I feel like we know him on the surface, but there’s so much more we could know. He’s interesting and obviously good-looking, but I feel like we could dig so much deeper into his character. There’s nothing really wrong with him, but his character was missing some pieces.

The storyline itself drew me right in. It’s something different. I would have liked a little bit more world building, but it wasn’t vital to understand the story. The environment was secondary to the Elusion program. The state of the world was only important because it explained why people were so eager to escape.

Elusion has promise, but it didn’t quite live up to expectations. It was good, but it had the potential to be great. I’ll definitely read whatever comes next. This is a good read, but don’t expect to be absolutely blown away. Gabel’s writing gets stronger as the book goes on, so I have hopes for the next piece of the story.

If Elusion sounds like your kind of novel, you can purchase it here:
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Thank you to Edelwiess and Katherine Tegen Books for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Death Sworn by Leah Cypess

Title: Death Sworn
Author: Leah Cypess
Series: The Death Sworn Trilogy
Rating: ★★★★

Death Sworn takes a girl, places her in a near-impossible situation, and makes her do the impossible. It had action, mystery, and secrets. There’s a little bit of romance in there, but it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the story. It was a great read.

Ileni is losing her magic. She was once thought to be one of the most powerful sorceresses, but now she’s been sent on a nearly impossible mission. She knows the only reason she was selected was because the Elders knew she’d fail. She was a disappointment to her people and sees this task as the last contribution she can give. She knows it will cost her life, but she is determined to learn all she can about the assassins before that time.

Ileni is not the strongest character physically. She’s losing her magic and has no fight training. She’s living in an underground cavern filled with assassins who know how to kill in as many ways possible. Her only hope is that she lives long enough to find some information that’s valuable. Sorin, the assassin assigned to protect her, helps keep her safe, but she’s not entirely sure she can trust him completely to do that. Every assassin listens and obeys every order the master gives and her life is dependent upon the master not ordering her death.

Ileni is clever and works with what she has. She makes the best out of her waning magic, teaching her classes in a way that doesn’t give her secret away. She learns to fight to protect herself. She questions the morals of herself and the assassins. Sure, she has her flaws, but she finds a way to work around them. She tries to keep those flaws from interfering too much with her goals. She doesn’t make the mistake of trust anyone but herself.

Sorin is commanded to protect her. They develop a friendship that leads to a little something more. Even so, it can be difficult to see Sorin battle between doing things he wants to do and doing the things the master tells him to do. The master saved him and gave him purpose; to go against him doesn’t seem right. I’m glad Ileni, while dependent upon him for protection against the other assassins, doesn’t look to him for everything in her life.

Death Sworn is an excellent fantasy novel that has an interesting setup for what comes next. There’s murder and mystery, magic and power. I can’t wait to read what Ileni does next.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Death Sworn, you can do so here:
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Thank you to Edelweiss and Greenwillow Books for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange from an honest review.

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Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

Title: Panic
Author: Lauren Oliver
Rating: ★★★★

Panic is an interesting book. On the surface, it’s a bunch of just graduated teens, looking for a way to spend the summer in a town with not much to do. Panic is invented as a way to test the bravery of teens and give entertainment to the participants and the spectators. But it’s more than that. It’s about revenge and anger, about looking for a future; it’s about finding a place to belong.

Heather and Dodge are competitors, each fighting for a different reason. They both come from less than ideal homes. Heather has a drunk, barely there mother who doesn’t care about taking care of her children. Dodge lives behind a diner in an area of town known as Meth Row. Heather had no intention of joining Panic, but she wants to feel important, valued. Panic gives her a way to do that. Dodge wants revenge after holding onto his anger for years. This is his chance to do it.

Heather is not the strongest character in the beginning. She’s doing this as a way to try and heal the heartbreak of teen love. She’s got courage, but she doesn’t know how to fight. She goes along with things, wanting to change them, but not actually doing it. Through the game, she discovers that she can do something about her life. She can fight and make changes. The life she has now doesn’t have to be the life she has to have.

Dodge, on the other hand, is fighting for something he believes in. Unfortunately, he’s so blinded by anger that he can’t see that the people around him don’t need revenge. He sees the game and the only way to even the score. He has a lot of demons he has to fight, but instead of realizing they are personal, he thinks the only way to defeat them in to get revenge.

Even the secondary characters are fantastic. Nat and Bishop, originally Heather’s best friends, become Dodge’s friends as well. They have a perfectly realistic friendship, complete with jealousies, insecurities, and not being able to completely understand a person, even when you’ve known them your entire life. It’s wonderfully well written and real.

The action plot of the book is unique. It starts a little slow, but the game isn’t the main focus of the novel. It’s there to drive the character development, but it’s pretty interesting as well. It’s a game that’s entertaining and frightening to those watching, and a way to test endurance and courage of those participating.

Panic is probably not the book you thought it was. It’s about a game, yes, but there’s so much more. It’s about fighting personal demons and finding a way to fight for yourself. It’s a wonderful book that’s worth a read.

If Panic sounds like a book you’d like to read, you can purchase it here:
Amazon
Audible
Barnes and Noble
IndieBound

Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.