Book Review, mystery

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda ~ Book Review

Morgan

Scribner
Mystery
My Rating: 🍪🍪

I loved the setting of The Last to Vanish. It took place at The Passage Inn in the town of Cutter’s Pass, most notably known for outdoor recreation and its access to the Appalachian Trail. It’s also, however, known for a string of unsolved disappearances of hikers over the years. The descriptions of the inn and the natural surroundings were wonderfully depicted and I could perfectly visualize the story unfolding.

The protagonist, Abby has managed the inn for ten years. She begins to feel increasingly troubled by the disappearances when the brother of the most recent man to go missing shows up to investigate. Abby begins to suspect that her neighbors and coworkers are not being honest about what they know.

There were so many characters in this book that I couldn’t keep track of them. No one had a stark enough personality to orient me to who was saying and doing what and it made it very confusing to try to stay invested in the mystery. It also felt to me like not much happened for the majority of the storyline, and the twists at the end were extremely anticlimactic. 

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Book Review, mystery, thriller

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager ~ Book Review

Morgan

Dutton
Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪.5

If you watched The Woman Across the Street from the Girl in the Window,  a Netflix show satirizing the thriller genre, the premise of The House Across the Lake will feel a little on the nose. Casey’s life has gone off the rails. Following the drowning of her husband at their lake house, she starts drinking heavily, causing her acting career to go off the rails and her to flee back to the lake house for privacy. Out of curiosity, she begins spying on the couple across the lake and begins to believe that something sinister is at play.

Sager created a rich setting with the lake community and Casey’s big empty house. The story is shadowed by the fading news of several nearby disappearances that keep Casey constantly on edge. Her excessive drinking makes her a classic unreliable narrator, and I enjoyed trying to untangle what was real and what she was extrapolating, as well as which of her neighbors could be trusted.

I was really into this book until about two-thirds of the way in when it took a kind of supernatural twist that I was not feeling. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t like ghost-y stuff in thrillers. If I couldn’t theoretically have guessed the twist before it happened, it’s not my kind of read. Despite how enthralled I was with the beginning of this book, the twist really lost me.

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Buy The House Across the Lake at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Romance

Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score ~ Book Review

Morgan

That’s What She Said Publishing
Romance
My Rating: 🍪

Things We Never Got Over is SUCH a bookstagram darling and I am so confused about it. I’m keeping my review short because this book gets a single star for me and I don’t want to rage on about it for too long because I’m somehow in the very tiny minority.

This book is like 700 pages long, but somehow…nothing happens?! There’s an inane amount of time spent on Naomi being naive and helpless (and so addicted to caffeine that coffee was brought up on every other page) as she tries to track down her ‘evil twin’ sister and runs into grumpy, personality-less Knox. There was no build-up to their romance, which is a huge pet-peeve of mine. I want to *feel* the chemistry before they’re suddenly in love.

The big action at the end of the book was laughable and so at odds with everything else that I believed nothing.

The small-town setting was well-done, and I really liked Naomi’s sister’s daughter and her relationship with everyone who helped take care of her. Knox and Naomi had some cute moments, but I disliked them both so much that was kind of negated. Big pass for me.

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Book Review, mystery

The Maid by Nita Prose ~ Book Review

Morgan

Ballantine Books
Mystery
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

The Maid has one of the most interesting narrators I’ve ever encountered. Prose does an insanely good job at getting readers inside the head of Molly the maid, who has difficulty socializing and understanding the intentions and true meanings of other people’s words. The way she is written helps the reader to perfectly understand the way that Molly misinterprets things and really made me empathize with her.

When Molly finds one of the guests at the hotel she cleans dead, she is taken in for questioning by the police and quickly becomes a person of interest. Molly interacts with both colleagues and guests at the hotel, and filtered through the lens of Molly, the reader learns there’s something deeply sinister happening at the hotel.

This was definitely a slow burn with a focus on characters rather than action, but the settings and relationships were described in such intricate detail that the story never felt boring.

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Book Review, thriller

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney ~ Book Review

Morgan

Flatiron Books
Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

I saw so many glowing reviews of Rock Paper Scissors before I read it, but I was honestly pretty bored through most of it. Adam and Amelia are on a weekend getaway to Scotland, hopeful that it will help to rebuild their crumbling marriage. When they arrive though, sinister events slowly unfold, leaving them stranded together in increasingly suspicious circumstances.

This thriller was extremely atmospheric, primarily taking place in an old converted church in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm. The setting alone introduced tension and heightened the rising concern Adam and Amelia felt toward the strange and inexplicable things going on around them. A lot of the creepy details thrown into the narrative were, however, never explained, which really bothered me. It left a lot of loose ends that needed to be wrapped into the conclusion in order for me to fully buy what was going on.

Adam suffers from face blindness which, to me, felt too much like a plot device and didn’t seem to be implemented realistically.

I was very intrigued to find out what was going on in this narrative, which also included somewhat strange anniversary letters to Adam. The format definitely helped me whip through this book, but given the random red herrings and plot device-y feel, I can’t say I would recommend it. 

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Buy Rock Paper Scissors at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Romance, YA

When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord ~ Book Review

Morgan

Wednesday Books
YA Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

When You Get the Chance is a very sweet, musical theater heavy story. Millie Price dreams of starring on Broadway, and she’s just landed a spot in a program that just might get her there. All that stands in her way is her dad and the looming summer ahead. When she comes across an old journal of her dad’s from college, she realizes her other dream, of finding her mom, might be closer than she realized. Enter a Mamma Mia retelling from stage left.

I really appreciated Millie’s relationship with her shy dad. They had such a sweet and believable relationship, and it was clear that her father had done everything he could to give her the world.

The adventures Millie had running around NYC gave me The Devil Wears Prada vibes. The details of the hustle and craziness of the city made it come to life, which was especially heightened by the fact that I happened to be visiting the city while I was reading.

This story had a really wonderful message, and I loved seeing the growth of Millie’s character as she came to realize what was really most important in her life and became more aware of everything she already had. Romance was definitely part of the storyline, but Millie’s relationships with her family and herself were really at the heart of it for me.

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When You Get the Chance on Goodreads
Buy When You Get the Chance at an indie bookstore near you

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer ~ Book Review

Morgan

Forever
Romance
My Rating: 🍪

Oof, this should have been a DNF. Honestly, the meet-cute in In a New York Minute was cute and I liked the set-up as Franny as the down-on-her-luck protagonist who’s worst day goes viral on social media. I was excited when she was brought back together with Hayes, the man who gave her his suit jacket when her dress ripped open on the subway. After that though, the story fell flat for me.

I don’t want to go into too much depth because this was clearly not for me. The writing style insisted upon itself – forcing details on the reader by just telling us things instead of showing us through the main characters.

The side plots were underdeveloped and made me not care about them, and I felt not chemistry between the two main characters. Hayes in particular had no discernible personality.

Anyway, please go read some other reviews of this book if you’re thinking of reading it. I’ve already forgotten any other relevant details about it.

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Book Review, Fiction, Romance, Uncategorized

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee ~ Book Review

Morgan

St. Martin’s Griffin
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

I literally could not put this book down. It felt like reading a gossipy tabloid, but in the best of ways. Solène Marchand takes her teenage daughter to see superstar boy band August Moon. She finds herself amused and flattered when one of the twenty-year old members, Hayes Campbell, hits on her, but the last thing she expects is for him to actually contact her. Despite her better judgment, Solène meets up with Hayes, ‘just for lunch,’ and a whirlwind romance ensues.

Okay first of all, the steam. If you don’t like reading sex scenes, this book is not for you. There are a lottt of them and they are detailed. That being said, the chemistry is insane. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where I could so strongly feel the connection between the two main characters. Despite the age difference, Lee did an incredible job of showing the reader why Solène found Hayes so charming.

One aspect of this book that made it especially standout for me, was the way the couple had to navigate Hayes’s fame and decide when to tell people about them. This untraditional aspect of their relationship added a layer of depth and complexity that was especially interesting.

I will say that Solène seemed a bit selfish at times, especially regarding her friendships and coworkers.

The ending of this book absolutely broke me. I have never felt a book hangover more acutely than I am currently feeling. If you read this one, brace yourself.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Idea of You at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, mystery, thriller

The Hunting Wives by May Cobb ~ Book Review

Morgan

Berkley
Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

There was a lot going on in The Hunting Wives. Sophie and her husband and son have recently moved to a small town in Texas from Chicago. Sophie quickly becomes bored with her everyday routine at home and catches sight of a group of glamorous and mysterious moms who she decides to attempt to befriend. Chief among them is Margot Banks, who Sophie is enamored by.

The closer Sophie becomes to the group of women, the more secrets she unearths about the group. First of all, they love shooting guns together, often accompanied by excessive drinking. From there, the secrets just get darker and more twisted.

I had no idea what to expect from these women from page to page and I was just as intrigued as Sophie. That being said, some of the women’s actions are pretty disturbing (think sleeping with each other’s sons) and the ending didn’t give me the shocking twist I always hope for from a thriller. That being said, I always love the glamor + scandalous secrets trope and this book did not disappoint in that sense.

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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune ~ Book Review

Morgan

Berkley
Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

It lives up to the hype! Every Summer After was exactly the summer read I was looking for. I grew up going to lakes during the summer and Carley Fortune perfectly captures the essence of hot days by the water, told through Persephone’s view. Persephone (Percy) is returning to the lake where she spent her summers growing up, after over a decade away. Going back means seeing Sam again, her former best friend and first love.

I was obsessed with Sam and Percy’s friendship. The timeline is split between past and present and seeing them bond as kids, share in each others hobbies and passions, and be their authentic selves was so heartwarming. They came across as completely realistic and quirky and I was holding my breath waiting for their friendship to become more.

The chemistry between the two in the present was palpable and I couldn’t get enough of their adult interactions. Throughout the book, the reader is left in the dark about what happened to pull the two apart, and the mystery combined with the breathtaking setting and the romance was the combination I didn’t know I needed.

Prepare for your heart to hurt with this one and for yourself to suddenly long for sunscreen-coated summer days by the water.

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Every Summer After on Goodreads
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