haileyyfin's reviews
116 reviews

Whispers of You by Catherine Cowles

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3.75

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.25

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Review: I absolutely LOVED this book. I’m not surprised at all, as Holly Jackson is one of my favorite thriller authors. I’ve read all of her books so far except Kill Joy, her AGGGTM novella, which is on my tbr list. This book kept me guessing until the very last page! So many twists, turns & plot twists that were not predictable and were so shocking, I was always left gasping & never disappointed. Each twist was great and added a new element to the story. I also found most characters in this to be so lovable, especially our main character Bel. I feel like relatable & lovable characters are always lacking for me in thrillers, so I loved having characters to love & root for in this! I loved getting to know Bel and falling in love with her banter & personality. Without spoiling, I also loved the tiny subplot of romance in here, and the friendships throughout. I would highly recommend this novel to any thriller lovers out there or those wishing to get into the genre. Overall, it’s a great mystery following a confident and inspiring female main character. I will definitely be thinking about this story for a while. I would love to see a future novella about some of these characters! *Thank you to NetGalley, Holly Jackson & Penguin Random House for this ARC!*

Synopsis: The Reappearance of Rachel Price is Holly Jackson’s newest thriller, releasing tomorrow! This book follows 18 year old Bel Price, as she navigates starring in a true crime documentary focusing on the disappearance of her mother (Rachel Price), sixteen years ago (whose mystery was never solved). The selling point of the Price mystery was that Rachel seemingly disappeared from her car, leaving Bel in the backseat alone at only 2 years old. Throughout filming, Rachel Price reappears, with a crazy story about what happened the past 16 years/where she was. Bel struggles to uncover the truth of the mystery as she believes her mother’s story does not add up

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

As a soon to be social worker, this book is absolutely amazing. I wanted to give it 5 stars, but due to the nature of the topic, I decided to bump down to a 4.75 as it is very descriptive and a work of fiction. The book portrays Vanessa Wye, from the ages of 14/15 to 33. The reader endures Vanessa's teenage and adult years, struggling throughout an inappropriate relationship with a teacher in her teenage years, and working through the adverse effects that caused trauma to Vanessa during her adult life. The book was extremely disturbing and difficult to read, but that is the entire point. You want to hate the characters, their relationship and feel disturbed, and the book did a fantastic job of making me feel this way. Not only did it do a great job of evoking disgust and fear within me, but it did a wonderful job portraying mental health issues and how badly they can affect oneself. Vanessa definitely struggled with post-traumatic stress issues based on her teenage relationship, and seemed to have a deep trauma-bond with her former teacher, which struggled to allow her to see the criminality of the situation. This book is extremely realistic and touches base on dire issues that are constantly occurring in today's society, but most people are either afraid to talk about, or turn a blind eye too. Even though it is a work of fiction, it did a wonderful job of portraying a current, real issue and the traumatic effects of it. Finally, it also highlights the comorbidity of mental health disorders, and the comorbidity of illness symptoms. It also shows that intimate partner violence/child abuse comes in many forms, and this is not widely talked about! I would highly recommend anyone read this book, especially social workers or those working in the mental health and/or educational field!!! Just be mindful of possible triggers.

Content Warnings