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kendallreadsitall's reviews
313 reviews
Head Cases by John McMahon
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Truthfully, I don’t usually love books written in the POV of an investigator because they usually have too much unnecessary action, and that’s just not my jam; however, when I read the synopsis for Head Cases when perusing NetGalley for a new listen, this one intrigued me. Head Cases is a name for the FBI group, PAR (Pattern and Recognition) given by other FBI members to belittle the group. The members of PAR have screwed up at some point in their career and were sent to this group, usually to work on cold cases. Told in the POV of PAR leader, Gardner Camden, an extremely analytical and gifted investigator, the team gets assigned an old case of Gardner’s that was supposed to have been solved, but as it turns out, it was far from it with a serial killer on the loose killing other serial killers.
This book surprised me! It was giving much more Criminal Minds, with analyzing the suspects behaviors and tracking them based on patterns, and less 24 or the more action packed FBI themed media you tend to see, which is exactly what I want in a book like this! The mystery sucked you in from the jump! Hidden clues, dissecting behaviors to find the next move, and the cast of characters really kept this story moving at a great pace leaving you craving the resolution. I enjoyed this book much more than anticipated! My only complaint was, even though Gardner had a pretty solid back story, there was a couple forgotten plot points that I thought could have been touched on a bit more within his personal life to round him and the story out a little better.
The audiobook was narrated by Will Damron. He played every character so well and kept their voice unique. I loved his take on Gardner, keeping his voice rigid, flat, and professional - perfect for his personality.
Thank you, @macmillan.audio & @netgalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook!
This book surprised me! It was giving much more Criminal Minds, with analyzing the suspects behaviors and tracking them based on patterns, and less 24 or the more action packed FBI themed media you tend to see, which is exactly what I want in a book like this! The mystery sucked you in from the jump! Hidden clues, dissecting behaviors to find the next move, and the cast of characters really kept this story moving at a great pace leaving you craving the resolution. I enjoyed this book much more than anticipated! My only complaint was, even though Gardner had a pretty solid back story, there was a couple forgotten plot points that I thought could have been touched on a bit more within his personal life to round him and the story out a little better.
The audiobook was narrated by Will Damron. He played every character so well and kept their voice unique. I loved his take on Gardner, keeping his voice rigid, flat, and professional - perfect for his personality.
Thank you, @macmillan.audio & @netgalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook!
When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
When the Wolf Comes Home is Twilight Zone-esque with action chase horror scenes and sci-fi/fantasy elements, all while telling this deeply contemplative, raw, emotional, heartbreaking, and numbing story revolving around fathers and the shapeshifters they can be in their children’s lives.
Woof (no pun intended), where do I begin reviewing this book? From the first page, Cassidy straps you into the roller coaster and presses go with no warning. This horrifying, stress inducing ride doesn’t let up, and on top of being completely panicked and frightened the entire time, you’re also experiencing a powerful, soul-stirring, profoundly emotional story. I really don’t know how Nat is able to combine these elements into such an eloquently gorgeous book, but he continues to do it impeccably with each novel he writes and continues to get better and better. This has become my favorite Cassidy novel and a contender for my favorite book of all time.
The ending of When the Wolf Comes Home truly gave me full body chills, visible goosebumps, and tears in my eyes. I’ve never had such a physical reaction from a book before, and it seemed to take all of what was left of me for the day and I fell asleep on the couch almost right after reading it. I can absolutely say this book is now imbedded in my psyche and my soul for a lifetime. When you read this, and I say when, not if because it’s imperative that you do, make sure to read the afterword to get the full scope of how this story was inspired.
Thank you endlessly to @tornightfire for the advanced copy, and to @catnassidy for sharing his words with us and continuing to deliver such mind-blowing books year after year.
Woof (no pun intended), where do I begin reviewing this book? From the first page, Cassidy straps you into the roller coaster and presses go with no warning. This horrifying, stress inducing ride doesn’t let up, and on top of being completely panicked and frightened the entire time, you’re also experiencing a powerful, soul-stirring, profoundly emotional story. I really don’t know how Nat is able to combine these elements into such an eloquently gorgeous book, but he continues to do it impeccably with each novel he writes and continues to get better and better. This has become my favorite Cassidy novel and a contender for my favorite book of all time.
The ending of When the Wolf Comes Home truly gave me full body chills, visible goosebumps, and tears in my eyes. I’ve never had such a physical reaction from a book before, and it seemed to take all of what was left of me for the day and I fell asleep on the couch almost right after reading it. I can absolutely say this book is now imbedded in my psyche and my soul for a lifetime. When you read this, and I say when, not if because it’s imperative that you do, make sure to read the afterword to get the full scope of how this story was inspired.
Thank you endlessly to @tornightfire for the advanced copy, and to @catnassidy for sharing his words with us and continuing to deliver such mind-blowing books year after year.
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Beautiful Ugly centers on thriller writer, Grady Green. He is stricken with grief and anxiety over his missing wife, Abby, who disappeared mid phone call when she saw a woman in the road as she was driving home. We jump to a few months later, and Grady is so debilitatingly depressed, he can hardly form a sentence, let alone write another novel. His agent, Kitty, calls him in and offers him the cabin of famous author Charles Whitaker, that she inherited after his death, to try help Grady get back into writing. The catch is, the cabin is on a remote island in Scotland. Shortly after finally setting foot on land, after a rickety ferry ride, Grady swears he sees a woman that looks just like his missing wife.
I was immediately drawn to this premise, though I have an inconsistent time with enjoying Feeney’s writing, and I figured I’d give this a shot either way. I thought she created excellent suspense in this plot with starting off this book with a bang and then slowly unraveling this intricate plot with an unreliable narrator, twists and turns at every corner, extremely bizarre island residents, and strange happenings constantly keeping Grady on high alert. I truly enjoyed this book from start to finish. I love psychological thrillers, twists you don’t expect, and unreliable narrators. Although, I found some of the detailing to be a little cheesy and twists to be a little far fetched. Nonetheless, if you take this book just as pure entertainment, it was super entertaining and I devoured the audiobook in just a day’s time.
The audiobook was narrated by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton. Both were able to capture the essence of the characters effortlessly. The audiobook included some atmospheric sound effects too, which I always appreciate in an audiobook production.
I’d definitely recommend this book to any thriller or mystery reader! I can definitively say this is my favorite Alice Feeney read I’ve read thus far.
Thank you to @netgalley and @flatiron_books for giving me the opportunity to listen to Beautiful Ugly!
I was immediately drawn to this premise, though I have an inconsistent time with enjoying Feeney’s writing, and I figured I’d give this a shot either way. I thought she created excellent suspense in this plot with starting off this book with a bang and then slowly unraveling this intricate plot with an unreliable narrator, twists and turns at every corner, extremely bizarre island residents, and strange happenings constantly keeping Grady on high alert. I truly enjoyed this book from start to finish. I love psychological thrillers, twists you don’t expect, and unreliable narrators. Although, I found some of the detailing to be a little cheesy and twists to be a little far fetched. Nonetheless, if you take this book just as pure entertainment, it was super entertaining and I devoured the audiobook in just a day’s time.
The audiobook was narrated by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton. Both were able to capture the essence of the characters effortlessly. The audiobook included some atmospheric sound effects too, which I always appreciate in an audiobook production.
I’d definitely recommend this book to any thriller or mystery reader! I can definitively say this is my favorite Alice Feeney read I’ve read thus far.
Thank you to @netgalley and @flatiron_books for giving me the opportunity to listen to Beautiful Ugly!
The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The Business Trip started out as a pretty exciting, unique story. Told in multiple POVs, and when I say multiple, I mean many - coworkers, friends, the two main female characters, the supposed villain, the boss, etc. It wasn't hard to keep track of who was who in the audiobook thankfully, as the different narrators really helped that aspect. We start with Jasmine, a 40+ year old bartender in an abusive relationship, set to escape. Then, we move to Stephanie, recently divorced News Executive, ready to head out on a business trip. And that is where their worlds collide. With the two being so far removed from each other, other than both living in Wisconsin, I truly had no clue how their stories would come together by the end, which made me crave answers even more.
I ate this story up in less than a day and really enjoyed it up until the last hour or so of the audiobook. The twist just wasn't it. It didn't make any sense and left an immense amount of plot holes for every character involved. I found that the final outcome made no sense for either of our main character's personalities and how they were when beginning the story, and truly just had me very confused. With a different ending and a much more thorough twist, this could have been a 4 star book for me, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.
As for the audiobook production, the use of 10 narrators was very smart for this story with all of the different POVs. Not having this many voices would have made this one hard to follow. Each narrator did a wonderful job with each character, keeping the story very mysterious and exciting.
Thank you to NetGalley, Jessie Garcia, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy and allowing me early access to listen to and review this story.
I ate this story up in less than a day and really enjoyed it up until the last hour or so of the audiobook. The twist just wasn't it. It didn't make any sense and left an immense amount of plot holes for every character involved. I found that the final outcome made no sense for either of our main character's personalities and how they were when beginning the story, and truly just had me very confused. With a different ending and a much more thorough twist, this could have been a 4 star book for me, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.
As for the audiobook production, the use of 10 narrators was very smart for this story with all of the different POVs. Not having this many voices would have made this one hard to follow. Each narrator did a wonderful job with each character, keeping the story very mysterious and exciting.
Thank you to NetGalley, Jessie Garcia, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy and allowing me early access to listen to and review this story.
You Can't Take It With You by Marcus Hawke
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Montgomery Nolan is dying. From the outside looking in, he lived a successful, full, and mostly happy 90 years with becoming a self made multimillionaire, and living a lavish life that most would be envious of. As he sits in his Manhattan penthouse and reflects all he’s accomplished, lost, loved, and heartbreak, he would beg to differ. Montgomery isn’t ready to give up this life, even as he recognizes his body is about to call it quits. Many years ago, he purchased an extremely costly, mysterious box containing a syringe to everlasting life that, he believes, he finally might be ready to use, but is it worth the price? Monty is about to be reborn.
I enjoyed my time with this one! The writing hooked me right away and kept my attention throughout. I actually loved reading Montgomery’s backstory and all that he experienced with a loveless marriage, losing many family members to the war, and slipping away from the love of his life. His back story is nearly the entire first half of the book, so the horror elements don’t begin right away, which was cool with me, but it may feel a little slow for typical horror readers.
Thank you, Marcus Hawke, for the gifted copy! Grab a copy of this book TOMORROW, November 26th! This is a great Christmas time read!
I enjoyed my time with this one! The writing hooked me right away and kept my attention throughout. I actually loved reading Montgomery’s backstory and all that he experienced with a loveless marriage, losing many family members to the war, and slipping away from the love of his life. His back story is nearly the entire first half of the book, so the horror elements don’t begin right away, which was cool with me, but it may feel a little slow for typical horror readers.
Thank you, Marcus Hawke, for the gifted copy! Grab a copy of this book TOMORROW, November 26th! This is a great Christmas time read!
My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Alison, a mother, wife, writer, living a decently normal life after experiencing a childhood of abuse from her alcoholic artist of a mother, Mavis, and losing her father to a self inflicted death. Suddenly, Alison gets a call that her mother is dying and wishes to spend her last days with Alison and her family. Alison, thinking this may be a great time to reconcile, agrees. Quickly, she learns that her mother may be more than the frail, sick old woman she presents as, and something much, much more sinister.
This is the exact type of book I’m looking for most of the time. Psychological, eerie, questioning what’s real, an unreliable narrator, and a good twist to bring it all together! I truly ate this one UP. McMahon did a great job of tiptoeing us through the plot, starting us in a fairly normal situation, getting more and more mysterious while the narrator gets more and more untrustworthy. This is my third read by Jennifer McMahon and may take the cake as my favorite. I loved every bit of this book!
Hillary Huber & Kitty Hendrix smashed it on narration. They did an amazing job maintaining the progressively creepy tone that McMahon set in her writing.
This is the exact type of book I’m looking for most of the time. Psychological, eerie, questioning what’s real, an unreliable narrator, and a good twist to bring it all together! I truly ate this one UP. McMahon did a great job of tiptoeing us through the plot, starting us in a fairly normal situation, getting more and more mysterious while the narrator gets more and more untrustworthy. This is my third read by Jennifer McMahon and may take the cake as my favorite. I loved every bit of this book!
Hillary Huber & Kitty Hendrix smashed it on narration. They did an amazing job maintaining the progressively creepy tone that McMahon set in her writing.
Pageant by Wendy Dalrymple
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
A tiny little 84 page pink horror novella chock full of 90’s nostalgia, too much hairspray, pageantry eating disorders, and the cliquey-ness of being a part of a dance/pageant production as a young girl. This was a fun read that hooked me right away! I absolutely loved sweet Tiffany and her amazing Momma. The description of “the nostalgia of the 1990s with the heart of Little Miss Sunshine and the terror of Carrie” is completely spot on, and I have no better way to describe it! 👯♀️
Thank you so much to @madaxemedia and @wendydalrymplewrites for the advanced copy! I can’t wait to read more from this author and publisher🤗
Thank you so much to @madaxemedia and @wendydalrymplewrites for the advanced copy! I can’t wait to read more from this author and publisher🤗
American Rapture by CJ Leede
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
John Marrs does it again with his twisted, futuristic, sci-fi thrillers that have you questioning what is going on and if life could really look like this someday. The Family Experiment is a live streaming game show consisting of five families and one single parent, who raise an AI baby in the Metaverse for everyone to see, judge, and vote on. The babies are made in the vision and likeness of the couples and grow at a rapid speed so the families can get a fuller experience on what parenthood is like from start to finish, but all taking place in a nine month span. With that said, let’s not make this a real game show 🥴
This book was kind of tough, especially on audio, to keep track of all of the POVs, but once you got the characters down, it was a story that took you all over the place with twists you didn’t expect, jaw dropping moments, and an ending that wraps it all up in a neat little bow. I love John Marrs for being able to take multiple storylines and weave them all together in a way you’d never even fathom. That’s what makes reading his books so fun!
This was my third read from Marrs and I’m excited to read more from this author! He’s truly the king of sci fi thrillers. His writing reminds me a lot Lisa Jewell but more futuristic storylines.
This book was kind of tough, especially on audio, to keep track of all of the POVs, but once you got the characters down, it was a story that took you all over the place with twists you didn’t expect, jaw dropping moments, and an ending that wraps it all up in a neat little bow. I love John Marrs for being able to take multiple storylines and weave them all together in a way you’d never even fathom. That’s what makes reading his books so fun!
This was my third read from Marrs and I’m excited to read more from this author! He’s truly the king of sci fi thrillers. His writing reminds me a lot Lisa Jewell but more futuristic storylines.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent
The Family Experiment by John Marrs
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
John Marrs does it again with his twisted, futuristic, sci-fi thrillers that have you questioning what is going on and if life could really look like this someday. The Family Experiment is a live streaming game show consisting of five families and one single parent, who raise an AI baby in the Metaverse for everyone to see, judge, and vote on. The babies are made in the vision and likeness of the couples and grow at a rapid speed so the families can get a fuller experience on what parenthood is like from start to finish, but all taking place in a nine month span. With that said, let’s not make this a real game show 🥴
This book was kind of tough, especially on audio, to keep track of all of the POVs, but once you got the characters down, it was a story that took you all over the place with twists you didn’t expect, jaw dropping moments, and an ending that wraps it all up in a neat little bow. I love John Marrs for being able to take multiple storylines and weave them all together in a way you’d never even fathom. That’s what makes reading his books so fun!
This was my third read from Marrs and I’m excited to read more from this author! He’s truly the king of sci fi thrillers. His writing reminds me a lot Lisa Jewell but more futuristic storylines.
This book was kind of tough, especially on audio, to keep track of all of the POVs, but once you got the characters down, it was a story that took you all over the place with twists you didn’t expect, jaw dropping moments, and an ending that wraps it all up in a neat little bow. I love John Marrs for being able to take multiple storylines and weave them all together in a way you’d never even fathom. That’s what makes reading his books so fun!
This was my third read from Marrs and I’m excited to read more from this author! He’s truly the king of sci fi thrillers. His writing reminds me a lot Lisa Jewell but more futuristic storylines.
Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
In this YA sci-fi mystery novel, Beatrice Hartley, stricken with grief from the loss of her boyfriend, Jim, returns back a year after graduation to meet up with her five previous best friends at Wincroft, a beautiful seaside estate where they spent many nights in high school to get to the bottom of Jim’s untimely death.
This was honestly such a cool premise. In the short description I shared above, that is really just the beginning of where this story takes you. Like mentioned, there is a sci-fi/fantasy element that keeps the reader intrigued throughout the entire story, wondering where we were going to go next. I thought most of the characters were well established, the plot was totally unique, the twists were not over the top and not completely predictable, and had a great ending that wrapped up the story well, even having the reader questioning what reality was actually real.
The audiobook was narrated by Phoebe Strole. She had a perfect voice to capture the essence of each character. I really enjoyed listening to her.
I think this could have been a five star read had it not been YA and that is solely because YA tends to be a bit vanilla, obviously, to cater to those who are supposed to read this book. Had it been a normal mystery/thriller/sci-fi story, it could have been much more exciting. This book kind of reminded me of a calmer, more PG-13 version of the movie The Box and Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, but continued to remain unique to itself throughout the plot. Overall, a really cool book that I am glad I randomly found on Libby!
This was honestly such a cool premise. In the short description I shared above, that is really just the beginning of where this story takes you. Like mentioned, there is a sci-fi/fantasy element that keeps the reader intrigued throughout the entire story, wondering where we were going to go next. I thought most of the characters were well established, the plot was totally unique, the twists were not over the top and not completely predictable, and had a great ending that wrapped up the story well, even having the reader questioning what reality was actually real.
The audiobook was narrated by Phoebe Strole. She had a perfect voice to capture the essence of each character. I really enjoyed listening to her.
I think this could have been a five star read had it not been YA and that is solely because YA tends to be a bit vanilla, obviously, to cater to those who are supposed to read this book. Had it been a normal mystery/thriller/sci-fi story, it could have been much more exciting. This book kind of reminded me of a calmer, more PG-13 version of the movie The Box and Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, but continued to remain unique to itself throughout the plot. Overall, a really cool book that I am glad I randomly found on Libby!