This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is the books I plan to read this Winter! I’m in the mood for a lot more mystery/thrillers, cozy mysteries, fantasies, and romances as well so that is what I am going to try and pick up over the next couple of months. These are the ten that are at the top of those genre’s:
The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again. Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?
Ethan was a bit of a bland main protagonist. There was nothing inherently wrong with him and his character, he just didn’t really have much of a personality. Honestly most of the men in this book were bland and interchangeable. All of them sounded pretty much the same to me and even though it didn’t really affect the story that much it didn’t have me that invested in what could/might happen to Ethan or the rest of them.
I’ve seen a lot of rhetoric surrounding Riley Sager’s writing and this book as well and I guess I go in with pretty low expectations and a suspended disbelief already established so I can kind of just go along for the ride. Because throughout the course of this book I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen next. I don’t go into a Sager book looking to disect each character and their motivations, I literally just enjoy the story for what it is and this was pretty entertaining. Like I said I wasn’t on the edge of my seat the entire time but the dual timelines had me intrigued and the overall mystery was enough to keep my reading on!
⭐️3/5 stars I’ve read worse, this was just fine!
*BEWARE OF SPOILERS*
Welcome to Chapel Croft. For Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo it’s supposed to be a fresh start. New job, new home. But, as Jack knows, the past isn’t easily forgotten. And in a close-knit community where the residents seem as proud as they are haunted by Chapel Croft’s history, Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome. Yet right away Jack has more frightening concerns. Why is Flo plagued by visions of burning girls? Who’s sending them sinister, threatening messages? And why did no one mention that the last vicar killed himself? Chapel Croft’s secrets lie deep and dark as the tomb. Jack wouldn’t touch them if not for Flo – anything to protect Flo.
I really enjoyed Jack as our main protagonist. She acknowledges her past mistakes and still has regrets but we learn as the story progresses why and how these mistakes have come to pass and what she has done to atone for them. I knew there was sooo much more to Jack’s story that we weren’t getting right from the start and I was very gratified by the way all the information was given to us.
Flo is a typical teenage character and makes a lot of choices that didn’t seem very wise but I was happy to accept that she is driving the plot along and I probably would of done this same thing had I been her age. I’m not sure I like the fact that the visions of the burnings girls wasn’t explained especially since that was the only real supernatural events in the book and everything else was realistic.
I was surprised at every turn of this book. I went into it knowing pretty much nothing at all and being that this started out so innocuous with just some creepy atmospheric vibes I was shocked with the way it devolved into some pretty horrifying situations and themes. I loved the way the story unfolded and how we just kept being fed little tidbits of information until everything clicks and I was like wtf is going on!
⭐️4/5 stars I was on the edge of my seat!
*A FEW SPOILERS AHEAD*
This is a twisted tale of murder, obsessive love, and the beastly urges that lie dormant within us all…even the God-fearing folk of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar—and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town’s secret underbelly in search of true evil.
I’m in two minds about Ruth as a character. She is a pastor’s daughter and the church and her daddy’s beliefs are all that she knows so it makes sense that she is become indoctrinated but some of the choices she makes throughout the course of the plotline were just bizarre to me. Even though she suffers so much at the hands of her parents and is shown by Everett how bad the church is she doesn’t reject it when she moves out. Then how she gives her father another chance at the end when he has demonstrated time and time again that he doesn’t think he is wrong, I was just like what are you doing??
I was definitely invested and curious as to where this story was going. I liked the flashbacks to when Ruth was younger and we are given more context as to why she has chosen to stay in Bottom Springs and how she became friends with Everett. There are quite a few twists and unexpected turns that keep you wanting to read on and as it progressed it got more and more unhinged.
I didn’t go into this book knowing anything about it to be honest and had I known it was going to be so heavily revolving around religion I probably wouldn’t of picked it up. To see the people in this town justifying this bigoted way of living was aggravating and exhausting to read and the hypocritical twist behind the mystery of what happened to these men wasn’t satisfying to me at all. Sure justice was served in the end but at what cost, especially after the way the book ends.
⭐️2/5 stars I’m sure a lot of people would enjoy it but it wasn’t for me…
*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!
Amy Leigh Reads 