amberv92's reviews
12 reviews

One By One by Freida McFadden

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Title: One By One
Author: Freida McFadden
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

6 people 
3 Sets of Couples
All become stranded in the woods
2 of them are having affairs..with each other
One wife trying to piece everything together
One of them kills spouses who cheat
3 go missing one is…..”dead”
One extra character who is called anonymous until the end….

I’m never disappointed by a Freida McFadden book she definitely knows how to get your mind moving. This plot was definitely different the couples decide to go on a spa trip in the middle of the wood’s….only there is no spa. All of a sudden one by one characters start to drop off and you left with trying to piece it together only to find out at the end everything you thought is not at all true. Spoiler the character anonymous is someone you know and there are hints but those hints will definitely having your mind going to multiple different places. 
Never Lie by Freida McFadden

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I literally bit my nails down to the core because of how capturing Frieda McFadden made this book. This is one of those books where you are like I got it I know how this is going to end and then BOOM you are wrong but can’t stop reading. I couldn’t believe all the twist and turns but at the end when certain facts come out you literally ask yourself….”how did I not piece any of that together”. The answers to this book are right in front of you the entire time every chapter gives what should be a dead giveaway to the ending and to the characters. It almost makes you mad at yourself because when you think you are good detective….your not. 

If I could give more than 5 starts I absolutely would. This is one of few books I can say there wasn’t anything I didn’t like other then I loss sleep because I couldn’t put it down. 
Never Far Away by Michael Koryta

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Let me start with I did like this book I did like the plot. However a book review is not a honest review unless you point out what you didn’t like. I wouldn’t say this a mystery but there are moments that surprise you and the plot is very realistic to what is kind of like a witness protection program without being hidden away by US Marshalls you are responsible for hiding yourself. I could actually picture the characters as if this was in movie form. 

Ok so here is what I feel was the less likable part. The start of the book starts out tense and grabbing the few chapters makes you want more. The first couple parts of this book are very descriptive and informative but I feel like that is what kills the ending of the book. It’s almost like the author ran out of time and had to put a quick end to the story. I’m all for cliffhangers even with books that don’t have a part two but this cliffhanger kind of wonders off to the ending the characters actually deserved. 

Michael Koryta is a great author regardless if I loved or loathed this book. He is an author I highly recommend please don’t let my review make you back away from this book. We all have our likes and dislikes.
I Found You by Lisa Jewell

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challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I Found You by Lisa Jewell - A mother strives to be good, a man with no memory appears on a beach and a husband goes missing while hiding his true identity.

I give this 3 stars the plot was ok but the time changes and switching back and forth to different characters was tiring. The only character who was mostly hard to follow was Frank aka Gray. There was to much jumping back and forth from Grays life in 1993 and Frank in the present who doesn’t even remember he is Gray. I do recommend this book but be prepared to have to remember the 4 different perspectives. 
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I give ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ellie is young, vibrant, funny and the golden girl of her family. She is a genius when it comes to numbers just not knowing when her number is up. One day Ellie leaves home says bye to her mom just like every day before but this time she doesn’t come home. 10 years later Ellie’s mother Laurel is still trying to find closure unfortunately she gets some closure when bones are found and they prove to be Ellie. Laurel decides to find life again and jumps right into falling in love with a man she just met. This man has a daughter named Poppy Laurel feels an odd connection but she will never be ready for the connection that is confessed to her by the man she quickly falls in love with.

This is definitely a must read when you think you have it figured out another mystery is thrown at you. I knocked one star only because this is a book that resembles many other plots. The author Lisa Jewell definitely has plots that set her books apart from many others. She uses many real world situations where other books you see the characters getting into out of this earth situations that just don’t help you picture the story. This book is a definite TBR for you if you love romance mixed with suspense. 
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If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

If You Would’ve Told Me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4.5

To this day I rewatch all the episodes of Full House it’s a show you can’t get tired of binging on. Who was my favorite character you ask…….you guessed it Bob Saget as Danny Tanner but Uncle Jesse was my favorite tv Uncle. John Stamos played this character straight from the heart but if you were to ask me if thought in real life he was an arrogant kind of person I maybe would’ve said yes….i mean come on who isn’t with that kind of hair? 

After reading this memoir I found that the Uncle Jesse character wasn’t just a mask John Stamos put on the character was truly John and yes maybe there are some parts that are arrogant but come on it’s 2024 who isn’t arrogant in one way or another? Reading this book you find John is straight from the heart he is kind, giving, loving, funny, musically talented and something I didn’t know a great actor was n broadway. He is a man who faced heart break in many different ways no great hair doesn’t make you immune from that. He is a man who strives to be the father he had and at the same time takes many lessons he learned from his mother and adapts them into fatherhood.

Why did a cut a little bit of the star? Honestly just some parts had a little to much to them and some parts I feel he could have written more about. Overall a must read memoir!
The Chaperone by M Hendrix

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

M Hendrix did such a amazing job with this book! There is growth, empowerment, love, finding ones self, murder, thrill, suspense! Someone needs to make this into a movie and I don’t say that about most books I love because typically movies never do the book justice but I would love to see this play out. The book is based in “New America” the government is all men and women have no say or voice. Young girls are trained to be the “perfect wife” for after high school. Mostly what they are taught is how to be a woman but not self sufficient woman a woman who does as she is told. Girls once they hit puberty are kept separate from the boys even if they attend the same school they can’t be seen alone. All girls if privileged enough have to have female chaperones at all times other then in their home. Stella the main character however finds herself resisting these rules even though her father is a higher up in the community. 
The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I normally hate books that jump from character to character but this was so beautifully written!! The characters match so well and their growth through the book is shown just right. The only thing I would say I would want is to know a little more about Sam, Richard, and Lucas I wish they just had a little more story. But overall this book is a must TBR! 
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The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 STAR RATING 

Man I didn’t think it was possible for me to want a book to literally never end! Dom and Shay are the perfect rom com love you could put into a book. There is a great mixture of empowerment especially women empowerment, suspense, love, comedy and growth. This was my first Rachel Lynn Solomon book and I’m so happy I gravitated to this book I literally picked this book based off its cover and this goes to show a cover of a book can actually tell you a lot! I love this book just as much as I love the cover lol! 

Dom and Shay are coworkers at a radio station Shay has been with the station for 10 years and Dom is the fresh new talent. They butt heads a lot  and that gets them teamed up by their boss for a new radio segment. They are asked to pretend that they are ex’s who were able to stay friends and offer breakup and friendship advice. Little do they know they will fall in love. They get put through the ringer though but in the end she still loved his beanie baby collection 😉 


The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Book was horribly written the start of the book is just whiny teenagers going on a hike before college. The author took forever to even get to what the story is about. Basically you might as well just watch the hills have eyes because that’s 10x better then this book. The author completely tried to go for the Hills have Eyes plot and failed miserably.
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