Books
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The Bitter End by Alexa Donne | Book Review & Tour
The Bitter End by Alexa Donne
Published by Random House Books For Young Readers on 15th October 2024
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Thrillers & Suspense
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
When a winter storm traps eight teens in a remote ski cabin, they find themselves stranded with a killer—who may be one of their own. From the acclaimed author of The Ivies and Pretty Dead Queens comes a YA thriller that will make your blood run cold.
The trip of a lifetime might be the death of them all.
The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip.
Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.
And when a blizzard strikes, secrets are revealed, betrayals are exposed, and survival is at stake in a race to the bitter end.
Now that autumn has hit the UK and temperatures have dropped (quite suddenly, mind you), I’ve been diving into all sorts of cosy reads to snuggle up with under the blankets. The Bitter End was not one of those reads, and that’s because this book is so chilling and thrilling that I did not have a cosy time AT ALL.
It took me a few chapters to get into The Bitter End because I struggled with being introduced to three point of view characters as well as a large group of friends at once. If you know me or watch my Booktube videos, you’ll know that I am awful with character names, so this is entirely on me. I eventually got it though and by about 20% I was flying through this book and trying to apply my best detective skills to figure out who was killing the characters off – after I finally learnt their names and everything!
My favourite thing about The Bitter End was the setting. As I said above, it was truly chilling, with the group of school…. friends? acquaintances? heading off to an isolated cabin for a wellness retreat that they really didn’t want to go on. I have found that I really enjoy isolated cabin and mountain settings, so I tend to seek out these kinds of books. Alexa Donne did isolated and cold really well, and once night hit in both the book and real life I felt like I was alone with only candlelight to keep me company.
I had a lot of fun trying to figure out who the killer was and what their motive could have been. I enjoyed the outcome a lot, especially because I was starting to get a niggling feeling about someone a few chapters prior and I was laser focused on them after that. It turned out that another character was too! And this meant I was instantly more connected with the other character because they were basically representing me in those moments.
The only downside of this book for me was the lack of emotion with some of the characters, particularly once their “friends” started dying off. These teenagers all coped with it very well, considering there was murder afoot, and I felt like we should have seen more meltdowns or crying from the start, rather than just towards the end of the crisis once everything became too much.
Check out the rest of the tour schedule for The Bitter End over at TBR and Beyond Tours!
About the Author
Alexa Donne is the Edgar Award–nominated author of Pretty Dead Queens, The Ivies, and The Bitter End. By day she lives in Los Angeles and works in television marketing. The rest of the time she contemplates creative motives for murder and takes too many pictures of her cats. Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok
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Good Girls Don’t Die by Christina Henry | Book Review
Good Girls Don't Die by Christina Henry
Published by Penguin Publishing Group on 14th November 2023
Genres: Fiction / Horror
Pages: 336
Format: eBook
A sharp-edged, supremely twisty thriller about three women who find themselves trapped inside stories they know aren’t their own, from the author of Alice and Near the Bone.
Celia wakes up in a house that’s supposed to be hers. There’s a little girl who claims to be her daughter and a man who claims to be her husband, but Celia knows this family—and this life—is not hers…
Allie is supposed to be on a fun weekend trip—but then her friend’s boyfriend unexpectedly invites the group to a remote cabin in the woods. No one else believes Allie, but she is sure that something about this trip is very, very wrong…
Maggie just wants to be home with her daughter, but she’s in a dangerous situation and she doesn’t know who put her there or why. She’ll have to fight with everything she has to survive…
Three women. Three stories. Only one way out. This captivating novel will keep readers guessing until the very end.
Good Girls Don’t Die was such a let down! I’ve read a book by Christina Henry before and I didn’t like that one either, but I thought I would get her work another go because the premise sounded so good and her books tend to get really good reviews. Unfortunately, I’m not keen on short stories, and this is what this book felt like even though it wasn’t necessarily supposed to. The stories all do come together in the end but by that point I just didn’t care because I found the switches jarring. I ended up getting very attached to the main character in the first story, so I was disappointed to leave her behind! This one wasn’t for me.
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The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett | Book Review
The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
Published by Serpent's Tail on 26th October 2023
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Crime
Pages: 208
Format: Audiobook One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth?
Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.
Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?
I adored The Appeal so I was so happy to see that Janice Hallett was bringing out another story set in the same town. I ended up listening to this one on audio because I felt like it suited the tone of the novel better, and I was correct. While reading the print copy I struggled to get into the story, but on audio I had no problems at all and completely flew through it.
The Christmas Appeal is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself as I listened to the drama about the beanstalk, a panto, and a dead Father Christmas.
I found that certain characters were written very stereotypically, but it wasn’t bad enough to ruin my enjoyment.
My husband also listened in to some parts and was laughing out loud, so that’s a really good endorsement!
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The Last Word by Taylor Adams | Book Review
The Last Word by Taylor Adams
Published by HarperCollins on April 25, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
Pages: 352
Format: eBook After posting a negative review of a horror novel, a woman staying at an isolated beach house begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy—or very, very dangerous—in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge.
Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.
One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?
As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?
I really enjoyed The Last Word! I requested it initially because I have witnessed authors doing terrible things to reviewers in the past and I wanted to see how this author depicted it. The story wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, as the main character isn’t a book blogger or reviewer, she just left the odd review on Amazon instead and that was enough for the author to come after her.
This felt like a campy horror/slasher in an isolated setting, which was very enjoyable and made for a fun, fast paced read. I spent most of the book worrying about the dog because I didn’t care too much about the main character and whether she lived or died, but I was definitely having a good time!
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The Villa by Rachel Hawkins | Book Review
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on January 3, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Gothic
Pages: 288
Format: eBook
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.
As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.
I’m not sure what happened here but I feel like the author was off her game with this one. I’ve really enjoyed most of Hawkins’ books in the past. I was a massive fan of her YA Hex Hall series back in the day, and was thrilled (ha) to see she was going to tackle the thriller genre next. I liked her previous thrillers. This one… not so much. It didn’t feel like a thriller at all, more of a domestic suspense, perhaps? I’m really struggling to categorise it.
I found the whole thing to be very boring, and not only did it have flashbacks scenes that I just didn’t care about, it also had the dreaded “novel within a novel”, which I HATE. I’m disappointed in this one!
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The Second Chance Year by Melissa Weisner | Book Review
The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner
Published by Hachette UK on December 5, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Romance / General
Pages: 336
Format: eBook
In one fell swoop, Sadie Thatcher managed to lose her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend. So when a fortune teller offers her one wish, Sadie longs to redo her awful year. More than a little sceptical, she makes her wish, opens her eyes, and . . . nothing has changed. And then, in perhaps her worst move yet, she kisses her brother's best friend, Jacob.
When Sadie wakes up the next morning, she's in her former apartment with her former boyfriend, and her former boss is expecting her at work. She realises it's January 1 . . . of last year.
As Sadie navigates her second-chance year, she begins to see the red flags she missed in both her relationship and her career. Plus, she keeps running into Jacob, and she can't stop thinking about their kiss . . . the one he has no idea ever happened. Suddenly, Sadie begins to wonder if her only mistake was wishing for a second chance.
Okay, this was super cute. I always really enjoy time travel or parallel universe or time loop stories, especially holiday themed ones, which is why I picked up The Second Chance Year. The plot of this one was super fun, and I enjoyed following the main character as she realised her Very Bad Year may not have been the worst thing for her after all. I loved the romance between her and her brother’s best friend, especially because he had been in love with her for years and years. I love that trope.
I do think I will mostly have forgotten about this book by this time next year, as it doesn’t seem to be very memorable to me, but it was a good while to read while I was in the mood for it.
I did have a slight issue with the main character’s best friend trying to pressure her into calling out an abusive boss, the main character telling her best friend that she wasn’t comfortable, the best friend doing it anyway, and then getting annoyed with the main character for not backing her up. You absolutely cannot force women into that, and don’t put the blame on them when the abuser then retaliates – it’s entirely on him!
Apart from that, this was a lovely read and perfect for the holidays.
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The Changing Man by Tomi Oyemakinde | Book Review
The Changing Man by Tomi Oyemakinde
Published by Pan Macmillan on September 7, 2023
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Horror
Pages: 400
Format: eBook A teenage girl is pulled into investigating the truth behind her new boarding school’s decades-old legend, in this debut speculative mystery by Tomi Oyemakinde.
Just because they let you in . . . it doesn't mean they'll let you out.
When Ife joins Nithercott School through its prestigious Urban Achievers Program, she knows immediately that she doesn't fit. Wandering its echoing halls, she must fend off cruel taunts from the students and condescending attitudes from the teachers. When she finds herself thrown into detention for the foreseeable future, she strikes up an unlikely alliance with Ben, a troublemaker with an annoyingly cute smile. They've both got reasons to want to get out of Nithercott - Ben's brother is missing, and no one seems to be bothering to find him.
For Ife, it's just another strange element of this school that doesn't care about its students. But as more and more people start going missing, including one of Ife's only friends, she starts to feel haunted.
Who is the figure she's started seeing in the shadowy halls, who looks mysteriously like herself? And is there any truth in to the strange urban legend that travels the school like mist . . . the legend of the Changing Man?
I mostly wanted to get my hands on The Changing Man because of the UK cover. I mean, look at that thing! It’s so creepy. I wanted a good creepy read for Halloween, and was super intrigued by this synopsis. Unfortunately I found that the book was too slow. The beginning focused too much on the private school drama and didn’t spend enough time on building the spooky atmosphere. This book would have benefitted from a change in pace to keep the reader interested after the strong start with a teenage boy disappearing.
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People to Follow by Olivia Worley | Book Review
People to Follow by Olivia Worley
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on October 31, 2023
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Thrillers & Suspense / Psychological
Pages: 352
Format: eBook
In Olivia Worley's pitch-perfect debut, People to Follow, ten teen influencers come to a remote island to star in a reality show, but when one of them winds up dead, they realize that this time, the price of getting “cancelled” could be their lives.
A reality show on a remote Caribbean island. Ten teen influencers. One dead body.
Welcome to “In Real Life,” the hot new reality show that forces social media’s reigning kings and queens to unplug for three weeks and “go live” without any filters. IRL is supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime, watched closely by legions of loyal followers. But for these rising stars--including Elody, an Instagram model with an impulsive streak; Kira, a child star turned fitness influencer; Logan, a disgraced TikTok celeb with a secret; and Max, a YouTuber famous for exposés on his fellow creators--it’s about to turn into a nightmare.
When the production crew fails to show up and one of their own meets a violent end, these social media moguls find themselves stranded with a dead body and no way to reach the outside world. When they start receiving messages from a mysterious Sponsor threatening to expose their darkest secrets, they realize that they’ve been lured into a deadly game...and one of them might be pulling the strings.
With the body count rising and cameras tracking their every move, the creators must figure out who is trying to get them canceled--like, literally--before their #1 follower strikes again.
People to Follow is a fun, fast paced thriller in which influencers are dropping dead left and right on a remote island. I had so much fun trying to figure out who was behind the murders, and this reminded me a lot of the vibe of Bodies Bodies Bodies (although less sarcastic and on the nose) with young people running around a mansion on a private island.
There are multiple points of view in this book, which I feel was the only downside. I would have preferred to have focused on just one or two characters, but there were four POVs in total and it all got a bit much because they all sounded the same. I don’t think thrillers generally need more than two POVs.
I read this book in pretty much one sitting and that’s how you can tell it’s a decent thriller book! I’ll be adding this one to my list of recommendations.
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Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister | Book Review
Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister
Published by HarperCollins Publishers on August 1, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Crime
Pages: 496 Twenty-two-year-old Olivia has been missing for one day...and counting. She was last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again.
Julia, the detective heading up the search for Olivia, thinks she knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her husband and daughter. But she has no idea just how close to home this case is going to get.
Because the criminal at the heart of the disappearance has something she never expected. His weapon isn't a gun, or a knife: it's a secret. Her worst one. And her family's safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia - and must frame somebody else for her murder.
If you find her, you will lose everything. What would you do?
This clever and endlessly surprising thriller is laced with a clever look at family and motherhood, and cements Gillian McAllister as a major talent in the world of suspense and a master of creating ethical dilemmas that show just how murky the distinction between right and wrong can be.
I read and loved this author’s previous book, Wrong Place Wrong Time, and so I jumped at the chance to request Just Another Missing Person when it was put up on Netgalley. Gillian McAllister clearly has a talent for plotting and introducing mind bending twists. Because I didn’t bother to read the synopsis for this one before jumping into it (out of excitement!), I didn’t really know what to expect. I wasn’t sure if it would have similar speculative elements to Wrong Place Wrong Time or if it would just be a flat out thriller. Just Another Missing Person is the latter, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book.
Just Another Missing Person has a very slow start. It took me about 50% of the book to start caring about any of the characters because it just dragged. Admittedly, once the twists start happening the novel picks up and heads in several different directions, and so I flew through the last half of the book. It’s just such a shame that it took me forever to get into it in the first place, because I was so excited for it!
I think reading Just Another Missing Person will be a whole new experience upon a reread. There are definitely things that you can pick out from the first 50% that lead up to the twists in the latter half of the book, and I think it would be very interesting to go back and reread now that I know the twists. I’m going to have to wait for the paperback release for that!
I always seem to enjoy the way McAllister tackles family relationships, particularly marriage and mother-child relationships. I was a bit shocked when I read the acknowledgements and found that she doesn’t have children herself yet, because the way she handles these relationships seems to speak to her own experiences. Maybe she’s just very empathetic!
Overall, I really enjoyed Just Another Missing Person. Particularly the last half and all the juicy plot twists and drama. It’s not as strong of a plot as Wrong Place Wrong Time but I found this one to be very clever and I was in awe of the twists in some places.
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Reading Plans for October 2023 | October TBR
I have so many reading plans for October that it’s becoming a little overwhelming! I loooove the spooky season, so I always try to cram in as many spooky reads as I can, and then I decide I should also blog and vlog about what I’m reading so I can share my enthusiasm with other readers. I’ve split this monthly TBR up into those projects to try to keep it tidy. This is just a snippet of what I’m hoping to read in October!
Vampire TBR
I’m planning on reading a bunch of vampire books in October because the vampire phase has well and truly returning. This time there are a lot more varied kinds of vampires, so I wanted to try a bit of everything with this TBR. Vampires of El Norte seems to be a supernatural western type deal, In Nightfall is Buffy-esque YA, and The Witch and the Vampire is a sapphic Rapunzel retelling. I’m hyped for them all!
Haunted House TBR
Admittedly, I might have started reading these haunted house books a little early because I was in the zone. How to Sell a Haunted House will be my first Grady Hendrix since Horrorstor. I believe it deals with the theme of grief. The Haunting of Hill House is, of course, a classic, and it will be my first Shirley Jackson. The Hacienda is a haunted house story set in Mexico, and I’m hoping it is going to be creepy and gothic!
ARCs
I received these books from publishers via Netgalley, so I should probably attempt to read them ASAP! Admittedly, The Christmas Appeal is normally one I would try to read closer to December, but it releases in October ready for the gifting season so I am going to put it on my TBR for this month. Again and Again sounds like a good sci-fi book for when I want something a little different, and Midnight is the Darkest Hour promises to be an excellent thriller read.
What are your October reading plans? Do you like to partake in themed reading?
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