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nextonmytbr's Reviews (220)
“Their story had begun in the forest, a collision both violent and beautiful.”
Wow! This was a scary good time and perfect for spooky season! YA horror where we follow Andrew, who writes twisted fairytales, Dove, his studious twin sister, and Thomas, his artistic best friend and crush at Wickwood Academy. This isn’t a spoiler because it is in blurb, but we quite literally are fighting terrifying forest monsters in this story! The descriptions and writing in this was just harrowing. Honestly, this is about as much horror as I can take, haha. I love the development of the relationship between Andrew and Thomas (who are toxically codependent) and that ending… I was left speechless. I’m still buzzing from this read and I highly recommend if you want a nightmarish yet tender YA read! Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing for this e-arc! Pub Date: 10/29/24
Wow! This was a scary good time and perfect for spooky season! YA horror where we follow Andrew, who writes twisted fairytales, Dove, his studious twin sister, and Thomas, his artistic best friend and crush at Wickwood Academy. This isn’t a spoiler because it is in blurb, but we quite literally are fighting terrifying forest monsters in this story! The descriptions and writing in this was just harrowing. Honestly, this is about as much horror as I can take, haha. I love the development of the relationship between Andrew and Thomas (who are toxically codependent) and that ending… I was left speechless. I’m still buzzing from this read and I highly recommend if you want a nightmarish yet tender YA read! Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing for this e-arc! Pub Date: 10/29/24
Five words for you. NYC. Subway. Angry. Love. Confession. Do I need to say more?? This was such a fun story! It is described as a Harry Met Sally retelling which I can’t tell you if it is since I’ve never seen that movie. What I can tell you, is we follow Ari (struggling comedian) and Josh (struggling chef) in NYC after they have many hilarious chance encounters that leads them to somehow becoming the best of misfit friends. I loved how different yet complimentary they were. I loved seeing them show up for each other as friends and I loved Goldbeck’s writing! It was super witty, had me laughing-out-loud, and turning the pages quickly! This didn’t feel like a formulaic rom-com to me and I highly recommend!
Why did I wait so long to read this!? Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez is part of the interconnected series Part of Your World. You don't really have to read them together, but you do get more emotional impact and fun easter eggs when you do!
In this story we follow Justin and Emma! Justin is loyal, soft-hearted, and about to assume guardianship of his three siblings. Emma is guarded, compassionate, and dealing with some unresolved trauma from her chaotic childhood with her mother. This is a lovely contemporary romance, so I won't spend as much time on that as what makes this story stand out and that is the character arc for Emma. From where we meet her at the beginning of the story.... running from her past, making excuses for other people's behaviors, isolating herself from real love to where she ends up at the end!! I mean this healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing. There is plenty of fluffy, swoony, rom-com moments but the moments where Abyy Jimenez describes trauma, and toxic relationships was just gut-wrenching and also incredibly accessible. I feel that if you want your romances to have more substance, but you don't necessarily want to read lit fic than to me this series is a perfect mix!
In this story we follow Justin and Emma! Justin is loyal, soft-hearted, and about to assume guardianship of his three siblings. Emma is guarded, compassionate, and dealing with some unresolved trauma from her chaotic childhood with her mother. This is a lovely contemporary romance, so I won't spend as much time on that as what makes this story stand out and that is the character arc for Emma. From where we meet her at the beginning of the story.... running from her past, making excuses for other people's behaviors, isolating herself from real love to where she ends up at the end!! I mean this healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing. There is plenty of fluffy, swoony, rom-com moments but the moments where Abyy Jimenez describes trauma, and toxic relationships was just gut-wrenching and also incredibly accessible. I feel that if you want your romances to have more substance, but you don't necessarily want to read lit fic than to me this series is a perfect mix!
"Madam, I am a butler" is the greatest line of all time.
In a Sorceress Comes to Call we follow Cordelia and her mother who is a sorceress. Cordelia's mother uses her magic not for good and instead to control her. One night, Cordeilia's mother makes them leave their dim life behind and, on their strange horse Falada, they arrive at the manor of the Squire and his unwed sister, Hester. Her mother's intentions for being there are not good, and Cordelia forms a lovely bond with Hester and the other people at the manor. The story unfolds from there with most of the plot driven forward by Hester and the charming people of the manor.
This is marketed as a dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl. I couldn't tell you how close it is to the original story other than the horse's name being Falada and yes there are geese involved (but not much.) T. Kingfisher has the most perfect blend of whimsy, horror, and somehow humor. Her style of humor gets me every time. I laughed out loud so many times and I equally gasped out loud many times. I thought that since our characters were much older in this story that I'd have a hard time connecting but nope! I was charmed away by all of them and the romance subplot was super sweet. At the 50% mark something crazy happens that adds a new element to the story that I could see some people not liking. But I think you have to go into T. Kingfisher's books knowing that she doesn't really explain much and there is not much in terms of world building. Magic and things just exist, and you are along for the ride! I love T. Kingfisher so much and will be sad once I've finished all her works.
"I was not expecting this house party to involve quite so much premediated murder" - another great quote :D
Also! I was already scared of horses pre this book. Now I am even more so :O
In a Sorceress Comes to Call we follow Cordelia and her mother who is a sorceress. Cordelia's mother uses her magic not for good and instead to control her. One night, Cordeilia's mother makes them leave their dim life behind and, on their strange horse Falada, they arrive at the manor of the Squire and his unwed sister, Hester. Her mother's intentions for being there are not good, and Cordelia forms a lovely bond with Hester and the other people at the manor. The story unfolds from there with most of the plot driven forward by Hester and the charming people of the manor.
This is marketed as a dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl. I couldn't tell you how close it is to the original story other than the horse's name being Falada and yes there are geese involved (but not much.) T. Kingfisher has the most perfect blend of whimsy, horror, and somehow humor. Her style of humor gets me every time. I laughed out loud so many times and I equally gasped out loud many times. I thought that since our characters were much older in this story that I'd have a hard time connecting but nope! I was charmed away by all of them and the romance subplot was super sweet. At the 50% mark something crazy happens that adds a new element to the story that I could see some people not liking. But I think you have to go into T. Kingfisher's books knowing that she doesn't really explain much and there is not much in terms of world building. Magic and things just exist, and you are along for the ride! I love T. Kingfisher so much and will be sad once I've finished all her works.
"I was not expecting this house party to involve quite so much premediated murder" - another great quote :D
Also! I was already scared of horses pre this book. Now I am even more so :O
In Local Woman Missing we follow a few POVs and are flashing back and forth by eleven years. In the past timeline, two women and a child go missing which shocks and terrifies their neighborhood. In the present, that missing child, Delilah, is suddenly inexplicably found. Everyone in this town of course wants to know where she has been all this time and what does she remember from 11 years ago. She is also reunited with her family and is dealing with the trauma of what happened to her.
This was a great thriller in that I kept trying to figure it out the whole time! There was a lot thrown at you in each POV and if you are like me every little detail stood out to me as I was furiously trying to figure out Delilah's past. I did listen to this on audio and there is a different narrator for each POV which was awesome to keep the story straight! The ending I never ever saw coming. I mean I was totally in shock. It all adds up though but trust me you'll just never figure it out, so crazy. Overall, this was a great thriller, and I do recommend! Now, it lost a star from me for two reasons. First is that medical trauma stuff.... ooooff. I don't think this is a spoiler because I really think things like that should be a content warning at the beginning of the book. It is made worse by the fact that it adds nothing to the final reveal of the book... so it just feels unnecessary. Just one gal's opinion :) And second is that the writing was a little simple. I don't really know how to articulate it. But it felt very "This is Jane. See Jane run." But clearly, I got through it super-fast and still had a thrilling time SO!!!
This was a great thriller in that I kept trying to figure it out the whole time! There was a lot thrown at you in each POV and if you are like me every little detail stood out to me as I was furiously trying to figure out Delilah's past. I did listen to this on audio and there is a different narrator for each POV which was awesome to keep the story straight! The ending I never ever saw coming. I mean I was totally in shock. It all adds up though but trust me you'll just never figure it out, so crazy. Overall, this was a great thriller, and I do recommend! Now, it lost a star from me for two reasons. First is that medical trauma stuff.... ooooff. I don't think this is a spoiler because I really think things like that should be a content warning at the beginning of the book. It is made worse by the fact that it adds nothing to the final reveal of the book... so it just feels unnecessary. Just one gal's opinion :) And second is that the writing was a little simple. I don't really know how to articulate it. But it felt very "This is Jane. See Jane run." But clearly, I got through it super-fast and still had a thrilling time SO!!!
My second Lisa Jewell book and it was everything I wanted! Although I had the physical of this one borrowed from the library, I listened to it primarily on audio (thank you Libby)! In this psychological thriller we follow Alix Summers, famous podcaster, when she meets Josie Fair. Alix and Josie happen to birthday twins. The two have never crossed paths before but suddenly Josie convinces Alix to start a podcast series about her seemingly harmless life. Josie is a bit odd and unsettling and bit by bit Alix starts uncovering some very dark secrets. In a crazy twist of events, Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast. She realizes she doesn't really know Josie Fair and just what Josie is capable of doing.
I highly recommend this one on audio since it features a full cast with the chapters interspersed with the audio for a Netflix documentary and snippets of Alix's podcast. Because of the title of the book I really didn't know what to believe when it came to Josie's story. The effect of this is that the whole time you feel so much heart-pounding suspense. And then Josie disappears, and we start finding out who she really is.... oh man!! I've heard people say they don't like the ambiguous ending, but I loved it! After you finish this one you just want to stare at wall and think "what the @$fd% did I just read!?" I still get a sick feeling when I think of this one which is what I want from my thrillers LOL! I've officially crowned Lisa Jewell the queen of thrillers in my opinion!
I highly recommend this one on audio since it features a full cast with the chapters interspersed with the audio for a Netflix documentary and snippets of Alix's podcast. Because of the title of the book I really didn't know what to believe when it came to Josie's story. The effect of this is that the whole time you feel so much heart-pounding suspense. And then Josie disappears, and we start finding out who she really is.... oh man!! I've heard people say they don't like the ambiguous ending, but I loved it! After you finish this one you just want to stare at wall and think "what the @$fd% did I just read!?" I still get a sick feeling when I think of this one which is what I want from my thrillers LOL! I've officially crowned Lisa Jewell the queen of thrillers in my opinion!
DNF at 16%. While the premise of this one sounds awesome, nothing about the way the book begins made me want to continue reading. The writing was not descriptive or captivating. It felt like not enough effort was made to building or creating the setting for example when there is a loose bit of floor that she uses to hide her escape route we the reader don’t fully understand how that is possible when it’s not described or fleshed out enough. It seems too convenient. The dialogue reads like a Disney channel superhero movie except for the incongruous times when she would curse?? The cheesy lines she would say before or after attacking an opponent felt childish. And at this point in the book she was only just breaking out of prison and yet I was not interested in knowing what happens to her after. Maybe others will love this story but for me it just couldn’t get me to connect emotionally. Thank you Net Galley and Wednesday Books for this e-arc!
A review for this one is really hard without spoiling book 1 and 2! I'll just say that I loved that we still have Elias/Helene/Laia's POV (plus one extra POV I won't spoil). I found that Helene's POV was my favorite! She is such a fascinating character! Her motivations, and internal monologue are so fascinating! She frustrates me and yet I completely root for her at the same time! That is what I love most about this series! Just when I think I know the character's motivations another new layer is added that makes it so interesting! This book was centered around more fighting, blood, and battles! We finally get some knowledge of the history that set everything into motion and that ending......... when we got to the last part in the book, I was crying actual tears! My emotions were a wreck! For real I don't see how we get a HEA in book 4. As I type this, I'm getting a sinking feeling in my gut!! Can't wait to read book 4!
