Take a photo of a barcode or cover
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was pretty good up until the end. Then it fell apart and seemed to go beyond suspension of belief. I was left unsatisfied with so many questions and too many loose ends which was disappointing. It was interesting to learn more about the making of a true crime documentary though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Alcohol
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Ugh, I hate when I’m really into a book and then it just gets obliterated with a terrible ending. I was willing to overlook some of the plot holes at first….but like, who approved this ending‽‽‽ Talk about plot holes turning into grand canyons. Super lazy writing to just throw in a twist with it being completely implausible and ignore basically everything that happened before it. I saw some reviews say that they’ve read other books the author wrote and they didn’t pull stupid shit like this one did, but I dunno if I’d ever trust reading anything by this author again.
And also, I don’t know if this is an Amazon thing or what, but I find it incredibly annoying when ebooks don’t show you as 100% finished at the actual end of the actual book you’re reading. It only had me at 96%, with the rest being samples of two other books of theirs. The number of pages it has doesn’t match either. Books like these are why I stopped tracking how many pages I read each day on my bujo, bc they’d keep getting messed up.
And also, I don’t know if this is an Amazon thing or what, but I find it incredibly annoying when ebooks don’t show you as 100% finished at the actual end of the actual book you’re reading. It only had me at 96%, with the rest being samples of two other books of theirs. The number of pages it has doesn’t match either. Books like these are why I stopped tracking how many pages I read each day on my bujo, bc they’d keep getting messed up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident
Minor: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was my first read of 2025 and what a way to kick off the year! This book caught my attention right from page one and I just didn’t want to put it down.
I’d have given this one a rare 5 star review, however my one qualm was that the ending wrapped up a little too quickly after certain major events and felt slightly rushed compared to the speed at which the rest of the story unfolded.
Other than this however, Don’t Believe Her is a gripping mystery that keeps you guessing throughout and is one of the best reads I’ve had in a while. This is the first time I’ve read a book by Charlie Donlea, and I expect it won’t be the last.
A highly recommended read!
I’d have given this one a rare 5 star review, however my one qualm was that the ending wrapped up a little too quickly after certain major events and felt slightly rushed compared to the speed at which the rest of the story unfolded.
Other than this however, Don’t Believe Her is a gripping mystery that keeps you guessing throughout and is one of the best reads I’ve had in a while. This is the first time I’ve read a book by Charlie Donlea, and I expect it won’t be the last.
A highly recommended read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Violence, Car accident
Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I flew through this book and loved it until the last 10 pages. I’ll save the spoilers for below. I think it’s the best mystery I’ve read that has come out since 2016. It’s fast-paced, exciting, and everyone has a secret. Characters are morally ambiguous but with clear motives and reasoning! I think a lot of contemporary novels like to have morally ambiguous characters just for the sake of it, rather than showing a fully fleshed out person, and luckily that was not my experience with this book.
Given how much I loved this book until the end, the end was surprisingly disappointing and, in my opinion, not well thought out at all. I hate killing off the protagonist before the final scene or some sort of big showdown, especially when it’s a female, LGBT, or person of color protagonist because that’s just so cliche and sometimes objectifying. Sidney doesn’t even put up a fight! It’s just demoralizing. Even putting that aside, there is simply no way they wouldn’t have figured out that Marshall killed Sidney given that: A) Derrick knew Sidney was going to speak to Marshall alone. B) Ellie had a rock hard alibi given that she was at work with many other people. C) Gus knew that the culprit wore a men’s size 13 orthotic shoe. No one else wore a men’s size 13 orthotic shoe! I could go on.
Even trying hard to suspend my disbelief, there is simply no way. Why would neither Gus nor Derrick say anything about this in the course of the year long investigation?? I feel the author just wanted to leave the ending unresolved in the world of the story but answered for the reader and cut corners to make that happen. It does not work.
Even trying hard to suspend my disbelief, there is simply no way. Why would neither Gus nor Derrick say anything about this in the course of the year long investigation?? I feel the author just wanted to leave the ending unresolved in the world of the story but answered for the reader and cut corners to make that happen. It does not work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Car accident
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Justice is a cyclical, never-ending process.
Very much enjoyed this - quick-paced, fascinating research into the anatomy of the crime, intriguing cast of characters and motivations. It is quite funny when murder mysteries choose to take a "cop good, journalist bad" approach, though - isn't Sidney effectively a knock-off journalist with none of the reporter ethics guiding her? A documentarian is an artist and filmmaker but also a journalist.
Very much enjoyed this - quick-paced, fascinating research into the anatomy of the crime, intriguing cast of characters and motivations. It is quite funny when murder mysteries choose to take a "cop good, journalist bad" approach, though - isn't Sidney effectively a knock-off journalist with none of the reporter ethics guiding her? A documentarian is an artist and filmmaker but also a journalist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The ending is good but not very satisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Abandonment
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Blood, Medical content, Car accident
Moderate: Ableism, Gun violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, Antisemitism
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the premise of this book was interesting and it was pretty good for the majority of the book, but the ending falls completely flat and makes the entire book completely unenjoyable overall. there are far too many loose ends and tidbits of information that ended up not meaning anything in the long-run, and the end is a cheap way at a 'gotcha!' ending as the ONLY reason it catches readers off guard is because there is no way for us to have predicted it. its not satisfying. this isnt a book that i think back on and see where i could have connected dots and didnt for one reason or another; dots arent able to be connected in a way where the reader feels like theyre figuring things out because everything is so convoluted. ugh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Lesbophobia