No Sad Songs by Frank Morelli is the story of 18-year-old Gabe who is forced to mature quicker and more suddenly than most people have to. His grandfather has Alzheimer’s and he suddenly assumes the role of primary caretaker for him. He is struggling with his relationship with his best friend, he has normal teen-like troubles with his crush, and his long-lost uncle has returned who is not the most organized and mature person on the planet, to say the least. Then amidst ALL of this, a tragedy happens when there is a hit-and-run and a little boy on a bicycle that further complicates the story. Gabe is going to be forced to make an impossible decision, one that either choice will likely upturn his life even more and change it forever.

First and foremost, I want to thank the author for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review. After reading the synopsis, I have to admit the first and main reason I wanted to pick this up is because of the Alzheimer’s situation in the book. My dad died with Alzheimer’s a little over a year and a half ago and something inside just kept telling me that I need to read this book. While the Alzheimer’s is not the primary focus of the story, how it affects Gabe as a caretaker and caregiver and THEN how his life begins to pan out based on his decisions and actions is.

I loved this book. And I am going to go ahead and say that it made me cry multiple times. It was so sincere, genuine, and full of just… happy-tears-causing-things and then sad things, too! Morelli perfectly blends these emotions into a story that I am thankful I read in my lifetime. There were times where I laughed out loud and then pages later came the opposite emotion. For an author to be able to back and forth, keep you on your toes, and keep you engaged is definitely not something to overlook. Not everyone has that ability in handling multiple emotions.

I fully recommend this book as it is loaded with humor and heart. A five star read!

“They used to burn girls like you at the stake.”

Halcyon is the first book I have read by Rio Youers and it definitely did not let me down. I chose to not research this book before going into it because I have just started really enjoying going into books blind! I am sure this trend will come and go for me, but at this time, I am enjoying just opening a book that has been selected as one I may enjoy and seeing where it takes me. And this book took me all the way to Halcyon, “a beautiful island in the middle of Lake Ontario―a self-sustaining community made up of people who want to live without fear, crime, or greed. Halcyon is run by Valerie Kemp, aka Mother Moon, benevolent and altruistic on the outside, but hiding an unimaginable darkness inside. She has dedicated her life to the pursuit of Glam Moon, a place of eternal beauty and healing. And she believes the pathway there can only be found at the end of pleasure.”

I was instantly drawn to Edith Lovegrove, the 10-year old daughter who suffers night terrors that are somehow connected to real life tragedies, terrorist attacks, and mass murders. There are things happening in this book that Edith has to see that we are all seeing in real life. I love that Youers did that because it helped strengthen the connection I was already forming. I did expect this supernatural element to the book, and this is the first of a handful that are all connected somehow. I am glad Youers went this route. I got a slight Firestarter vibe from it? A little girl and someone wants her for a darker purpose. Could just be me!

Mother Moon seems to be this almost celestial, carefree woman with no worries and no troubles on the surface. But dang, this woman is DARK and SECRETIVE with a past made me cringe and writhe around. Her persona reminds me (for some odd reason that I cannot begin to fully explain) of Stahma Tarr from Defiance if anyone ever watched that show. There is something just so charismatic, regal, poised, and darkly seductive about her. I guess that’s why she is so successful at what she’s doing.

When we start discovering more and more about Halcyon, Mother Moon, Glam Moon, her “cult” leaders (I use quotes because no one ever calls it a cult, but as a reader I can’t help but think that is exactly what is going on over there), etc… the pages started flying and I was gasping here and there and never knew how far someone was going to go for their purpose or to stay shrouded in mystery.

What I wanted more of:
• Calm Dumas and her Miyagi-esque teachings. I really enjoyed the character and would have liked to see more involvement with her and the Lovegrove family.
• Alyssa. She was a character that really had me on the fence a couple times and I wish she and her connection with Martin had been explored a little deeper.

I am giving this book 5 stars and I think it is going to end up on my top 10 favorite books of 2018! Thanks to the author and St. Martin’s Press for sending me and my fellow Night Worms review copies in exchange for an honest review!

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is one of the most-talked about books out right now!  From marketing campaigns, to seeing ARCs everywhere, to just now being published, and to seeing it discussed all over Instagram and Twitter, I knew I had to get in on this phenomena that was sweeping the book world.

On the surface, Baby Teeth is a story of a family where the daughter is sweet to her father and basically a hellion to her mother in private.  She secretly wants to kill her mother so that she can be with her father forever.  It's got a little blend of The Bad Seed, We Need To Talk About Kevin, and The Omen (sort of).

While I enjoyed the story, I was really not into the characters and that drove down my thoughts on the book. 

Suzette, the mother, is just ridiculous.  She keeps getting angry that no one (primarily her husband) believes her that something is off with her daughter, yet she doesn't get anything on video via CCTV, Nanny Cam, cell phone, etc?  Are you really even trying?  Bye.

Alex, the father, is so irritating and drowning in denial.  He's basically a flop of a shell of a human whose only purpose seems to saturate us in Swedish phrases and terminology (the same ones over... and over... and over...)  If I wanted to learn Swedish, I would download Duolingo or some other similar app on my phone and practice.  And the fact that he refuses to believe his wife ever just once makes me just question their entire relationship and what his purpose even is.

Hanna is smart, I will give her that.  But on her POV chapters, I just refuse to believe some of the things she thinks/says as "a child" would or should.  She can be super naive at times but then, as if a switch flipped, extremely articulate, observant, and articulate.  I just couldn't buy into the back and forth of her aptitude and intellect.

Another thing I did not really like so much is how repetitive the story is.  Mommy and Daddy talk.  Daddy leaves.  Hanna does something weird.  No one believes Suzette.  More doctors.  Go home.  Wake up. Repeat. Over and over and over.  While the acts that Hanna carried out became more deliberate and more severe, the structure and formula of the story never changed.

What I DID enjoy: Stage's way of writing and choice of words and descriptions, alternating POVs, escalating threats and fears, and just how much she made me truly hate Hanna as the horrid, selfish, manipulative trash child she is.

In the end I am going to give this 3.5 stars. My review may seem harsh, but I did (mostly) enjoy the book aside from what I mentioned.

Trapped In Room 217 by Thomas Kingsley Troupe is a middle grade book that resides in the Haunted States of America series. It takes place at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado (which is the main reason I was drawn to checking it out in the first place). We have two kids who are staying here indefinitely with their father while he is in the area on a work assignment. They start experiencing strange things, seeing ghosts, etc and they are determined to resolve whatever issue is happening.

Troupe does a good job at keeping the reader entertained while also throwing in some local legend/folklore. I stayed at The Stanley for my honeymoon last year and I heard of the woman that is the focus of this book when I was on my haunted tour! For those who do not know, this is the hotel that King stayed at that inspired him to write The Shining and it is also the same hotel where the TV miniseries (the non-Kubrick adaptation) was actually filmed. In the book, THE room of focus is Room 217 (as opposed to Room 237 in the film adaptation). So having all this connection and fascination to the premise of the story also helped keep me engaged as well.

I fed off the dynamics between the two siblings in this book. It totally threw me back to my youth and to the days that my older brother and I would get ourselves in situations like this from time to time. It was a nice view of the give-and-take relationship between siblings and made me smile with all kinds of nostalgia vibes.

I highly recommend this book to young readers or parents/teachers who are excited to get their kids or students into reading. I, for one, will be super excited if my kids are interested in reading horror like I am, and this is a great book for them without being overly scary, profane, etc. 4 out of 5 stars for me and I am already trying to get my hands on a couple more books in Troupe’s Haunted States of America series! Thank you to NetGalley and Jolly Fish Press for this advanced copy! The book releases 9/1/18!

Before I Met You is the second book I have read by John Nicholl and it has some crazy, dark scenes.  On the surface, this book is about a young woman who was assaulted when she was just a little girl who grows up and decides to take justice and revenge into her own hands.  She starts pretending to be nine and ten years old again, luring these creeps into her web the same way a spider does a fly.  The things she does once they arrive expecting a little girl with their promises of ponies, secret fun, and everything else under the sun will shock you to your core.

There were times I had to look away from what was happening in the book because of how detailed and shocking it was.  But then, of course, I had to look back and carry on so that I could finish.  So looking away really did nothing for me except give me a second to breathe and regain composure.  On one tiny, small hand (like the one from Scary Move 2, perhaps), I did feel a teeny tiny bit of sympathy for the men who went from predator to prey.  But only because they were, in fact, so helpless, pathetic, and lost.  I was mostly cheering her on but then I started feeling kind of dark, too.  I think this book may be the reason I woke up two nights in a row around 2AM all hot and paranoid.  This book did something to me after reading certain scenes. 

In the end, though, the aforementioned torture scenes were most of what this book had to offer.  The police an detective scenes were pretty average and I felt myself rushing through them to get back to HER point of view so I could see who was next in line to be judged and executed.  There was nothing wrong with Nicholl’s writing, I just was not as entertained with all the investigating work and what not as I was in the previous book of his I read, Portraits of the Dead.  The ending of this book is also quite sudden and I found myself thinking, “Well, that’s that.”

This book gets a 3 out of 5 for me and Nicholl continues to be an author I want to read more of – and lucky for me there are some more books of his out there calling me name!  Thanks to NetGalley and Bloodhound Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

What causes a woman to just murder her husband and kids? How could someone just snap like that? Pretty Ugly Lies is a psychological thriller that explores just this situation, but the twist is that it could be one of four different women. There are four women’s stories that weave together in this dark novel and it will leave you guessing, “Is she the one?!” at the end of each chapter. Pamela Crane brings new meaning to the genre of domestic noir.

This is a thought-provoking read that scares me more because of the reality of it being true. I have seen many of my friends display signs of marital and maternal unhappiness from time to time. And how they just feel trapped. But that’s all it is, right? Everyone succumbs to those pressures and picture-perfect expectations, don’t they? Surely THEY will never snap and murder their family… right? But that’s what gets me with this book. I would have never fully suspected anything to happen here that elevated more than the “woe is me” moments, tawdry affairs to numb the pain, writing dark and honest thoughts in a diary, etc.

Pamela Crane creates a “Desperate Housewives meets Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.” All the bourgie suburban fun of the hit TV show mixed with the pressures of motherhood and what a women should be and how she should act. It throws matrimony, motherhood, ambition, and disdain in a giant blender for the reader.

My main issue with the book was I thought there was a little too much whining and self-deprecation going on. These women and moms are all caught up in themselves and being some fake, better, cookie-cutter version of themselves or having affairs and they wonder why things come crashing down? Honesty, y’all! And if your kids are weighing you down, there’s certainly no reason to have 4+ of them! We all know how these things happen… lock it up!

In the end I will give this a 3.5 out of 5 star rating. I thought the book was fast-paced enough and kept me wondering what was going to happen. I got a little lost at times with all the names that seemed to start with ‘J’ but that could just be on me (woopsy!) Thank you to NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for this free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Portraits of the Dead by John Nicholl is quite haunting and seriously freaked me out at times. But in the way that a true crime podcast or an episode of Law and Order: SVU would, ya know? The story focuses on a serial killer who has kidnapped a young 19-year-old girl and has her locked in some unknown room. He forces her to call him Master, plays tricks on her, abuses her mentally and physically, and sometimes dresses as a clown when he does so. SOLD.

The writing style of this book is so clear and easy to follow. I couldn’t believe how quickly I was turning the pages and how I barely looked up at all while reading. I read this in only two sittings because I literally could not put it down. I had to know just what twisted scheme, conversation, or action was going to take place between the serial killer and his recent victim. I had to know what the cops were going to uncover, if anything. And I had to see just how everything was going to unfold. Did the girl get abducted at random? What’s the motive? Did she know her abductor? There are all kinds of questions that raced through my mind on this one.

The serial killer/abductor, y’all! Seriously a twisted psychopath. He is not continuously disgusting and shocking, but the few moments that he does something of note like that will stick with me for quite some time. I can’t tell you how many people I mentioned one scene to and their reactions were all, “OMG! What kind of books do you READ?!” It’s true. I guess I may be a little messed up because I actually enjoyed how dark, dirty, and twisted a few scenes were (purely from an entertainment aspect! I am not in the game of emulating said psycho!)

This book also hits on a lot of my own personal fears, and some that I believe a lot of people have in common: feeling vulnerable in your own home, being abducted, clowns, bugs, physical and emotional abuse, the works. I think we can all connect with the victim and would strive to be like her if we were unknowingly slung into her situation.

I enjoyed the dialogue in this book quite a bit. I never had a hard time with believability or credibility. The author did a great job of having purposeful dialogue: not too wordy and flowery but at the same time quite informative and to the point.

Overall I am going to give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I found it exceedingly entertaining and haunting at the same time. Can’t wait to read more from John Nicholl if this is the kind of thing he writes about and if his style Is consistent book to book! Thank you to NetGalley and Bloohound Books for sending me this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Last Time I Lied is the latest book by Riley Sager, famously known for the prior thriller, Final Girls. Sager’s newest book follows Emma Davis, a now-successful artist in the NYC scene who was involved in a terrible tragedy fifteen years ago at a summer camp. At one of her art shows, Emma runs into someone from her past who lures her back to the same camp to be a counselor and teach art. She agrees because she sees this as an opportunity to find out what exactly happened fifteen years ago to three of her friends (or “friends,” – you can be the judge of that). Upon her return, she realizes things have not totally improved and the camp has just as many mysteries now as it did when she was a teenager.

I am not even going to make anyone wait to know my final rating of this one: FIVE STARS! This book immediately hooked me when I realized it was a summer camp thriller/suspense/horror novel. They will always been a favorite of mine. I read this book in two and a half days; it would have been one and a half probably but I went to a mini-pool party with friends and then a birthday celebration for my sister-in-law that night. While I had tons of fun, you better believe I was dying to go back to Sager’s world and Camp Nightingale.

The story blends Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew with elements of Mean Girls/Pretty Little Liars and, at times, even some vibes of the Sleepaway Camp movies! In a lot of thrillers these days we can predict the outcome. And while I was certain TWO different times that I had the answer picked out, I was completely wrong and thus shocked and surprised whole-heartedly! This book was a roller coaster of pure suspense and eerie drama.

While some authors abuse the different timelines when telling a story, Sager definitely gets it right with The Last Time I Lied. He knew when to keep you in the present and when to take you back fifteen years prior to events that happened to Emma when she was a teenager. It never felt forced and no matter which time you were in, you didn’t want to leave it but then you also loved going to the other time period. Sager writes these differing times so well that they weave together as needed and you aren’t overwhelmed with uncertainty and confusion like a lot of other books that split narrators or times.

If you enjoyed Final Girls, I know you will love this story. If you didn’t enjoy Final Girls, I think you will still love this story! Where some people were turned off of Final Girls at certain times, I do not think anyone won’t have fun and enjoy this story the whole way through. There are just so many elements in this story that I loved and I love how Sager blended them all: camps (and camp games, mess halls, cabins/bunks, etc), art, past vs. present, psychological disorders, urban legends/campfire tales, insane asylums, lots of water, etc. I just can’t go on enough about all the things I enjoyed about this one!

A huge thank you to Dutton Books and NetGalley for providing this advanced e-book to allow me to fall in love with this book. I have read ~80+ books this year so far and this has firmly solidified itself into the top five favorites thus far! If you didn’t see it earlier and can’t tell based on this review: FIVE STARS! This book is released July 3rd ,2018!

This series is fantastic and will go down as one of my favorites. I have been waiting for this ninth and final book in the series for some time... and I was completely underwhelmed. This is the weakest novel in the series and seems haphazard, chaotic, and has lost a lot of charm the others have. Granuelle, Atticus, and Owen are all over the place doing separate monster fights. But what's worse is the lack of back-and-forth chit chat and interaction between Atticus and Oberon! Oberon is my favorite thing in this series, and partly because Luke Daniels does a fanFRACKINGtastic job with the voice acting. And I was left feeling, "Meh!" after this ended. Maybe my hopes were too high as this was the final book? I know I am not the only one who feels let down by this one. But dang... maybe I will just choose the story to end with the eighth book instead.

5 stars! Full review to come