The Winter Sister (Megan Collins)

Buy link: https://amzn.to/2HXIIBg

Sixteen years ago, Sylvie’s sister Persephone never came home. Out too late with the boyfriend she was forbidden to see, Persephone was missing for three days before her body was found—and years later, her murder remains unsolved.

In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Prone to unexplained “Dark Days” even before Persephone’s death, Annie’s once-close bond with Sylvie dissolved in the weeks after their loss, making for an uncomfortable reunion all these years later. Worse, Persephone’s former boyfriend, Ben, is now a nurse at the cancer center where Annie is being treated. Sylvie’s always believed Ben was responsible for the murder—but she carries her own guilt about that night, guilt that traps her in the past while the world goes on around her.

As she navigates the complicated relationship with her mother, Sylvie begins to uncover the secrets that fill their house—and what really happened the night Persephone died. As it turns out, the truth really will set you free, once you can bear to look at it.

The Winter Sister is a mesmerizing portrayal of the complex bond between sisters, between mothers and daughters alike, and forces us to ask ourselves—how well do we really know the people we love most?

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I think had I not lost interest or gotten burnt out on this story line, The Winter Sister would have been a huge hit for me. But at this point in my thriller/suspense “career”, I have read a lot of books that follow this same exact story line. I am ready to move onto another type now. They’re just all the same and 99% of the time, they are all going to have the same ending and outcome.

The protagonist wasn’t my favorite. Her POV made things not seem very interesting I think because of how bland her character was. But aside from her, the characterization in general was very strong. I think that was the strongest point of this book. The characters you come across throughout the entire story-line were strong and held great importance to keeping this plot together.

Despite me not finding any interest in this plot, Megan Collins has some superb writing. It all flowed very nicely. I think when you read these types of books, the writing is incredibly important and she did a great job making it all fall together in the right places.

Another book like this that I really enjoyed was Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough. If you haven’t checked that out, I highly recommend it. And if you’re just getting started in the thriller/suspense genre, give The Winter Sister a shot. I think you would really love it!

Glass Castle Prince (Nicole Williams)

A glass castle shatters as easily as a glass house—all it takes is one stone.

Prince Edward has known this all of his life, and taken staunch measures to ensure he doesn’t give the public any reason to pick up their rocks. Or torches. Or pitchforks. As a twenty-two-year-old in line to ascend the throne, he lives more like a cloistered monk than his college-aged peers. Restraint is the tone of his life, resilience the theme.

That is, until he meets a young woman who couldn’t care less about his title—unless she’s poking fun at it. Charlotte Everly grew up a stone’s throw away from the royal family’s summer house, but her life was, and is, entirely different from the prince’s.

They clash at each turn, disagree on every topic, and bear a general contempt for one another. Until . . .

One night, accompanied by one proposal, leads to one lapse in judgment . . .

Results in a nationwide scandal neither of them will escape.

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“I live in a glass castle where everyone and anyone throws stones based on hearsay and half-truths. I didn’t want the same for you.”

Glass Castle Prince had great potential, but when the plot started to fall flat for me, that’s when the book started losing my interest. Everything seemed so…instantaneous. I felt like I blinked and missed something when it came to Edward and Charlotte. And the whole, inexperienced/practice, was lost on me. It wasn’t Nicole’s strongest plot, in my opinion.

The best thing about Nicole Williams is she always creates likable characters, even if they are secondary. Her secondary characters were my absolute favorite in this one! The banter and the wit was a great addition to the story line and one that was necessary.

Charlotte wasn’t my favorite type of character, but her character showed growth that I tend to look for in a lot of books. She grew in a way that a lot of heroines do not and for that I was thankful.

“I was a wreck. In the best possible way. A breathless, trembling, whirling mess.” 

The twist was predictable, but it was still a great addition to the story. I really liked the fairy tale feel and the happily ever after, it all seemed so fitting. If you’re looking for a light, fun, and witty read I would highly recommend this one. It didn’t evoke a lot of feelings from me and the plot didn’t spark any interest but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.

 

 

 

Behind the Blogger Tag

Hey guys!
Big, big thanks to Ashley at Ashes Books & Bobs for tagging me in this! She’s truly a genuine and kind person so please be sure to check out her blog and give it a follow!
I don’t think I have ever done one on these on my blog the entire 3 or 4 years I have been doing this so maybe she knew this was something that I needed to have done LOL!

The Rules

• Thank the person who nominated you
• Answer all the questions down below
• Pingback to the creator: Ellyn @ Allonsythornraxx
• Nominate 5+ bloggers you’d like to know more about to do this tag
  

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Why did you start blogging and why have you kept blogging?

I first started blogging because I had some great friends at work that kept encouraging me to put down all of my thoughts of all of the books I was reading. I would come to work and go on and on about what I read, why I liked it, and why I didn’t. Fun fact: My co-worker is actually the person who named my blog!

I have kept blogging for the simple reason that I love it. I have the greatest support system and it keeps me going every day. I love every aspect of it. Even if I have 2 page views and 2 likes on my review post– I love it. I did something for me. I love spreading the word and I love writing down just how the book made me feel. It’s such a cathartic process to me.

What is your favourite type of post to write?

FIVE STAR REVIEWS! 
I cannot yell that enough. Some of my favorite posts ever are five star reviews that I have written along my journey.
I just love writing those so much.
That feeling of “when do I stop talking and typing about this book?” and “am I saying too much?” and “Are people getting annoyed and even reading this anymore?” I love that. Knowing that something hit me so hard that I literally cannot stop talking about it is the best feeling ever. It is really few and far between for me, so I really love when it happens.

What are your top three blog posts?

1. My FIVE STAR READS post. I am so proud of this list that I have compiled and worked on over the years.
2. SIX FEET UNDER and PIECES OF EIGHT by Whitney Barbetti
3. THE SURVIVING TRACE and THE REIGNING AND THE RULE by Calia Read

What are your five favourite things?

My boys, books, rap music, bad words, and coffee.

What are your proudest blogging moments?

Any time Colleen Hoover gives me a shout out, I really appreciate it. It’s always such a surreal moment.

Other than that, my biggest and most proudest moments are when people reach out to me and thank me for being honest always. For never being rude and hateful, and for always discussing the book, not attacking the author.

What are your hobbies outside of blogging?

I don’t think I have any. I am actually pretty boring in real life LOL! I mean, I like to read and watch Netflix. I like to clean my house and cook. I also like to be outside with the boys in the summer. Summers with my husband and son are always my favorite.

Describe your personality in three words

Witty, genuine, and I am pretty funny.

What are your top three pet peeves?

1. Unsolicited opinions
2. When people don’t use their blinkers.
3. When people say and preach one thing but do the complete opposite to appease others.

What’s something that your followers don’t know about you?

I think I am an open book (pun intended).

But something they may not know is how sensitive I am. I’m extremely sensitive when it comes to certain things. Maybe a little too much.

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I Tag:

DG Book Blog | The Fettered Matriarch | Autum Arrow |

The Escape Room (Megan Goldin)

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/2tYNyWR

Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are ruthlessly ambitious high-flyers working in the lucrative world of Wall Street finance where deception and intimidation thrive. Getting rich is all that matters, and they’ll do anything to reach the top.

When they are ordered to participate in a corporate team-building exercise that requires them to escape from a locked elevator, dark secrets of their team begin to be laid bare.

The biggest mystery to solve in this lethal game: What happened to Sara Hall? Once a young shining star—now “gone but not forgotten”.

This is no longer a game. 
They’re fighting for their lives.

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“If we all knew the truth, it would bring out our worst, most primitive instincts. We’d turn into feral animals. We’d consume each other.”

I didn’t love it but I also didn’t hate it. I felt like The Escape Room as a whole had some really strong points but some really weak ones as well. I really enjoyed the concept of the book and the past/present POV but the rest of it all fell short for me.

The idea of the story was something that was new and exciting to me! After I read what it was about on Netgalley, I was excited that it was a thriller that was based around something we don’t normally read about: an escape room. While the concept and plot of the book sounded 100% interesting the story itself, unfortunately wasn’t what I had expected. As a reader, I wouldn’t count it as a mystery or even a thriller mainly because it didn’t thrill nor excite me. But I really appreciated how original the plot was.

The story as a whole was slow-paced and dragged as there was just too much information that wasn’t necessary to the story. I feel like the author did this so that the reader wasn’t able to pick up on easy clues and details but it really was more of a distraction to me than it was helpful. If you read and follow this story closely– you’re going to guess the outcome, the “who did it”, and the ending no matter how often the author tries to add new information or details in to distract you. It was just one of those books.

The ending was a little too far fetched IMO… that was the best the author could come up with? After all of that?

I went into The Escape Room with high expectations but unfortunately, it just wasn’t as good as I thought. Overall, it was an okay read. There is just enough in there to keep you going until the end to see how everything plays out.

The Lost Night (Andrea Bartz)

Buy link: https://amzn.to/2NPrBmf

What really happened the night Edie died? Ten years later, her best friend Lindsay will learn how unprepared she is for the truth.

In 2009, Edie had New York’s social world in her thrall. Mercurial and beguiling, she was the shining star of a group of recent graduates living in a Brooklyn loft and treating the city like their playground. When Edie’s body was found near a suicide note at the end of a long, drunken night, no one could believe it. Grief, shock, and resentment scattered the group and brought the era to an abrupt end.

A decade later, Lindsay has come a long way from the drug-addled world of Calhoun Lofts. She has devoted best friends, a cozy apartment, and a thriving career as a magazine’s head fact-checker. But when a chance reunion leads Lindsay to discover an unsettling video from that hazy night, she starts to wonder if Edie was actually murdered—and, worse, if she herself was involved. As she rifles through those months in 2009—combing through case files, old technology, and her fractured memories—Lindsay is forced to confront the demons of her own violent history to bring the truth to light.

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“Standing four feet closer to heaven and looking at the sidewalk eight emptied floors below. Maybe today’s the day I’ll jump.”

Always such a bummer to me when a book has such a beautiful cover but not much to offer me on the inside. The writing in The Lost Night was very wordy and I found myself skimming through paragraphs and paragraphs of useless dialogue. I thought this would be a story that had a strong plot line, strong characters, and a “shocking” strong twist as advertised but nothing really stood out about the book to me.

The Lost Night lost me about halfway through when I realized it was turning into the typical “who did it” but it was lacking in multiple departments. With the predictable story line, I had unfortunately found out who the killer was very early into the book. I still didn’t understand why the killer did it so I hung out until the end and was still let down.

I also felt the characters were underdeveloped and too much time was spent on random dialogue that wasn’t necessary to the story. I was hoping for characterization to become stronger and brought to light but it just wasn’t. But my MAIN problem with this book was the lead protagonist, Lindsay. She was an unbearably annoying character with the mental capacity of a teenager rather than a woman in her 30’s. It was insufferable to say the least.

Chalking this one up as one that just didn’t hit the mark for me. The cover is outstanding and the premise had such a huge hope for me but by the time it was all said and done, I was just happy to be done with this one.

The Stillwater Girls (Minka Kent)

Buy link: https://amzn.to/2EKs71Z

Two sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air.

Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York. When the youngest grows gravely ill, their mother leaves with the child to get help from a nearby town. And they never return.

As months pass, hope vanishes. Supplies are low. Livestock are dying. A brutal winter is bearing down. Then comes the stranger. He claims to be looking for the girls’ mother, and he’s not leaving without them.

To escape, Wren and her sister must break the rule they’ve grown up with: never go beyond the forest.

Past the thicket of dread, they come upon a house on the other side of the pines. This is where Wren and Sage must confront something more chilling than the unknowable. They’ll discover what’s been hidden from them, what they’re running from, and the secrets that have left them in the dark their entire lives.

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“I don’t need comfort. I only need to survive.”

WOAH! I really, really, really enjoyed this book. I didn’t expect to like it that much either. With multiple POV’s and something constantly going on and happening, I had a really hard time putting The Stillwater Girls down. If any one is looking for a quick read, mystery/thriller type book, this one is definitely for you!

I think what I liked about this was how outside of the box the plot-line was. It wasn’t necessarily out there or something that is not likely to happen– but it’s still something that could still happen and something beautiful can come out of it. I think I liked that the most. Something awful happened to all of these characters, but the author still found some type of way to make things beautiful for them. That’s an incredible talent in my opinion.

There were a couple of things that happened though that was just a little too far-fetched for even me. Especially with Nic. But, for the most part The Stillwater Girls was a superb mystery/thriller for me. I liked the continuing action and the way the story line was structured. It wasn’t like anything that I have read before and to me that is a huge deal with as often as most thrillers these days all sort of sound the same.

I read this one in one sitting. The plot was quick paced, the writing smoothed along the pages very nicely, and I didn’t find myself getting bored. Although a little of it was far-fetched, I still really had a great time reading this one! I hope that you do too.

Covet (Ella James)

Buy link: https://amzn.to/2NHXEnK

Homer Carnegie. Admit it—you know my name. Your kid’s got my e-trading card. Your husband sits up straighter when I stroll onto the TV screen. He knows I’m going to crack the bat and save the day. Even your grandma’s jonesing for my autograph. But women my age? They’re the worst. Or would that be the best?

It’s not my fault they line up at the door. They catch my balls all right, two at a time sometimes. Believe me, everybody wins.

At least they did—until the video. I heard TMZ paid a million for a bird’s eye view of Homer on his A-game. The only folks who didn’t watch with eager eyes? Red Sox management. They want me benched, or worse, shipped off to rehab.

It’s a long story, what happens next. How I end up on a boat, bound for the world’s most remote island: Tristan da Cunha. Just a speck of dust in the Atlantic.

Except my heart is there.
I don’t know that when I step onto the boat.
I don’t know a lot of things.
What I’ll covet…
What I’ll lose…

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“I’m choosing bliss for all the moments we can find it. When the game is over, no regrets. Even though I know I am going to lose.”

First some facts: Covet was a long book. Covet was also very, very slow to begin with. But with that being stated, Covet was WELL worth our wait. And then some. The story was brilliantly written and so very easy to read once you get passed the first 10% or so. I found myself captivated by not only the characters, but the island as well. Ella makes the romance genre so much fun for me to read.

Every time I read a book from this series– I am instantly hooked. Ella always finds a way to write dark characters with dark pasts and still bring them together in a beautiful sort of way. A good example of this would be in Sloth, I still think about that book to this day. Declan and Finley would be an exceptional example for this as well. I didn’t see half of what happened coming and I love when books take me by great surprise like that.

The plot twist in this story was nice and one of my favorite touches. It’s something you don’t really see coming, but ends up working really well for the characters and the plot-line. I think that is all I will touch on that because I know some people really despise when plot twists and spoilers are involved. Even if it’s just how something made me feel. I was stunned when it was all said and done.

Covet was well worth our anticipation and wait. I can’t stress that enough. Ella James has this uncanny ability to write these stories that just suck you in and when you come back out, you’re a completely different person. She did it with Sloth. She did it with Murder. And she did it with Covet. I really hope every one enjoys this story of two different people coming together in such a beautiful way.