Category: Reviews

Reviews

Happy Place Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Happy Place Review

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t. They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends. Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts.

I hate miscommunication as the main barrier in a romance book which was what this was all about. Had Wyn and Harriet simply sat down and had an open and honest conversation with each other instead of just trying to make the other person ‘happy’ this book would of been maybe 10 pages instead of 400.

Harriet should of just told her friends when it happened. I understand how embarrassing it is and how much this was going to change the dynamic of their friend group but this is a pretty huge life event and these girls are supposed to be your family.

The fact that Wyn thought it was ok to just end their relationship over text and then be confused as to why Harriet doesn’t want to speak to him and is angry that he showed up grated me. The way he just felt so entitled to pull that stunt despite not speaking to Harriet in 6 months and without giving her a heads up was when I knew I probably wasn’t going to like this book very much.

The present timeline with all the friends at the Maine cottage was fun. I enjoyed learning about their friendships and how they are came to be so close. All of the side characters were easy to distinguish and were quite multifaceted. I liked the fact that you could feel tension between them all and they weren’t just one sided, though again this is all because they stopped communicating with each other.

⭐️2/5 stars The amount of times they keep asking each other if they’re happy really got on my nerves!

Reviews

Something in the Water Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Something in the Water Review

*SOME SPOILERS BELOW*

Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water. . . . Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events. . . .

The start of this book didn’t really grab my attention in any way. I didn’t really care for Erin or Mark as we learn about their history, meeting each other and the kind of relationship they have. The first half of this book did drag a little in terms of establishing the storyline but once you overcome that hurdle the second half is worth it I think!

Erin is very impulsive and consistently acts without thinking of the repercussions even though she know how dangerous it can be. Her reasonings are a bit wishy washy and once an idea has formed in her mind she needs to see it through despite the outcome. I feel as though she shouldn’t of been as surprised by who was responsible for them being found as what she was. There are countless times where she will say something that she has noticed but shrugs it away every single time and it gets a bit obvious in the end.

I liked the format of the book a lot. Starting off knowing that Mark is dead and then the lead up to that day and figuring out all the details along the way was very entertaining and kept me highly engaged in the story. There is just this overwhelming build up of tension throughout the book as Erin gets more and more manic and terrified of the idea of being found by these mystery people. The ending is a little bit rushed for me though, I felt the anticipation was dragged out so much I would of appreciated a slower and more dramatic ending however I really enjoyed this book and was very surprised at the end!

⭐️4/5 stars Kept me on the edge of my seat throughout!

Reviews

A House with Good Bones Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on A House with Good Bones Review

*BEWARE OF SPOILERS*

“Mom seems off.” Her brother’s words echo in Sam Montgomery’s ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone. She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam’s excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out. But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above. To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

Sam seems to err on the side of caution when it comes to her mother and the weird things that are going on inside the house. Normally her and her mum have such an open and honest relationship from what she tells us so the fact that she didn’t outright say wtf is going on here mum kind of bugged me a little. I get that she is a scientist and is looking for the most logical explanation but there comes a point where you just have to believe what you are seeing.

I loved Gail’s character and Phil seemed to be an interesting love interest but I want to know more about them! How did Gail become a witch and what happened with Hermes that he decided to stay with her? How did the feud with Granmae start and how did she know how when to come when Granmae was resurrected by the roses? I’m just left with so many questions about these characters that I’m left feeling a unsatisfied.

I’m a little bit hit and miss with T. Kingfisher so far. I just feel as though her books don’t have enough substance. I’m not sure if this is considered a short story and not an actual novel but overall this felt a tad rushed to me and didn’t delve as far into these characters and the plot as I wanted it too. The concept is fantastic and I love all of the witchy elements and the familiars attached to them but I didn’t get enough time to form a connection.

⭐️2/5 stars liked the concept but I want more!

Reviews

The Only One Left Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on The Only One Left Review

*SOME SPOILERS*

The Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.

Kit was an interesting main character for sure. She definitely intrigued me straight off the bat, knowing she was on forcible leave after she was involved in an incident at work and caring for Lenora was her only option. It gave her some depth to her character and made me invested in finding out what she did.

Lenora and her story was definitely the most captivating plotline though and the way she told it through the typewriter really dragged out the suspense. However, I just think it dragged a little too long in the middle of the book. The first half when we’re finding everything out is kind of a whirlwind and then the ending is just twist after twist that it’s almost kind of hard to keep up. So the pacing was a little off but I was soo invested and was theorizing in my head who killed the Hope family and what happened that night that it was easy to overlook.

This got a little ridiculous and over the top but it’s something that I’ve come to expect from Riley Sager’s books so I just myself along for the ride. I loved the setting of the decaying manor perched in a cliff I felt it just added to that overall tone of uneasiness and build up of anticipation. Its once of those mystery/thrillers where you have to suspend a lot of your belief and enjoy the twists and turns that just kept coming and coming!

⭐️4/5 stars So OTT that it was actually quite fun!

Reviews

The Last Housewife Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on The Last Housewife Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shay’s built a new life in a tiny Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel’s death—delivered, of all ways, by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader—she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive, and the predators more dangerous than ever.

I liked Shay as our main character. I thought she was multifaceted and not the most likeable character which makes her more interesting to me. She absolutely has her demons and even though she tries her best not to succumb it still almost takes over her. I feel as though Jamie didn’t really serve any function other than a way for Shay to tell her story. He didn’t contribute much else to the story and I didn’t really connect with his character at all.

I liked the dual timelines, it gave us a lot of insight into the girls state of mind at the time and the bond that they have that is the main motivator for Shay to come back and fling herself back into the life she has been running from all these years.

All the different names and aliases was kind of hard to keep track of and it was very fast paced so I was never really given time to let everything that’s happening and the various twists that occur throughout the plot sink in. This is a very dark book and I would for sure look up any trigger warnings before you pick it up. I like how macabre it ends up being as the shock and gore kind of elevates the story from being another run of the mill mystery/thriller.

⭐️3/5 stars Shocking, dark and twisted!