jessica_reading_writing's Reviews (674)

Alicia shot her husband 5 times in the head and hasn't spoken since it happened six years ago. Theo is determined to be the therapist to help her speak again. Why hasn't she spoken ... and what made her shoot her husband?

Okay so this is one of those "bookstagram made me buy it" books. I've seen it everywhere and as soon as I read the blurb I knew I had to buy it. It is a psychological thriller after all (my fav genre). It certainly lived up to the hype for me! As I was reading I kept trying to guess the ending, but I didn't even come close to the right answer. I literally breathed in every page. I loved it. I've heard and read a lot of negative points about this book, but I can only imagine it's from people who maybe don't enjoy psychological thrillers....they don't always make sense!

I enjoyed the character of Theo And reading about his background and issues he was dealing with himself. There were flashbacks to Alicia writing in a diary, which I found interesting. I never really knew whether to believe what she was saying or not. The ending....blew my mind. And I was a little annoyed at myself for having not seen it coming, but then I guess that's the point of a shocking twist ending.

The only slight issue I had was that nothing much really happened in the first half of the book. It was a slow build up, but I think it was needed in order for the surprise ending.

Blurb: Kill my family. Make a claim on their fortune. Get away with the above. Adopt a dog.

As soon as I read the back cover (above blurb) I didn't even need to read the full length official blurb to know that I wanted to read this book! I chose it as a Buddy Read with my best friend. I have to say that I absolutely LOVED it ... until the last few chapters. I was literally reading this all the way through knowing I'd give it 5 stars, but the ending just didn't leave me satisfied.

Grace is amazing. I know she's killed her family, she basically hates all people and has a few issues, but she was such an interesting character. She actually reminded me of my own character of Alicia in My Dark Self so I automatically warmed to her. I loved her dark inner thoughts and her sarcastic comments. I was really rooting for her! The story is great because it goes into detail about how each family member dies and how she did it. You also find out more about why she's currently in jail for a crime she didn't actually commit. All in all a great storyline and a clever idea.

The ending. I'm really sorry to say but although it was a good twist I felt really let down and disappointed. I don't want to give too much away, but I felt Grace was cheated a bit and deserved more. It felt a bit unfinished to me, however despite that I still loved 95% of the book. I'd still recommend this book any any fans of psychological thrillers.

Set in 1865 four famous gothic monsters are re-imagined as super-powered teenagers in a steam-punk universe, and must battle a vampire revolutionary to save the city and the world.

This is not my usual genre of reading, but I decided to give it a go because the blurb sounded intriguing and pretty cool. From vampires to the un-dead this book has it all. It's written in first person from the POV of several characters who we learn about along the way, which eventually all meet and merge together to fight the forces of evil. I'll admit it didn't grab me from the start. It took me a fair few chapters until I was able to grasp what was going on and as the plot thickened I found myself getting lost from all the back and forth between the characters. Despite this I found the characters interesting and the story in depth and thorough. I'm not sure I totally grasped the ending, as it didn't leave me shocked or satisfied. It was an ending and that's that.

Children of the Night has a very thorough and complicated storyline. The world that was created within the pages is fascinating and had many intricate aspects that I really enjoyed. The imagination that has gone into this story is something to behold and I really like the cover as well, which is another reason I was drawn into reading it.

It did have a slow start to begin with and the story line didn't appear to flow that well and I got a bit confused (maybe that's just me!) I'm not used to reading this genre so I don't have many examples to compare it to. However, overall, I'd still recommend this book to those who enjoy vampire and high fantasy books. I'd say it's a good young adult book as well.

Blurb: Poppy has lost her engagement ring, her phone has been stolen and her in-laws hate her. She's needs a phone...quick! So when she finds a phone in a bin she grabs it and begins to use it, but the owner of the phone (a handsome businessman) wants it back, so she strikes up a deal with him. She will transfer all his business emails directly to him if she can keep the phone a little longer....

Overview: Okay, I LOVE Sophie Kinsella books. In fact, they're the only rom com books I've ever read and I actually read this books years and years ago, but thought I'd read it again as I'd forgotten the plot. And oh my god....I'd forgotten how unbelievably funny and ridiculously entertaining her books are. Poppy is slightly neurotic, a complete mess and always has to please everyone and be nice to everyone even if it means she miserable. Plus Sam the handsome stranger brings a whole lot of mess and confusion into the situation!

Good Points: Several times while reading I actually burst out laughing. It's seriously so funny. Things just get worse and worse for poor Poppy as she tries to please everyone and keep her head above water. The writing is easy to read and the plot simple to follow which is exactly why I love SK books. Also the inclusion of hilarious footnotes on most pages brings an added layer of detail.

Not so Good Points: To be honest other than the fact that at times I wish I could slap Poppy across the face and tell her to pull herself together I can't say there's anything bad about this book. It's just an entertaining, hilarious, feel-good story.

Flora and Sophie have married brothers and have been best friends since they were children. Both of them have had their own tormented pasts, but have always had each other to cling onto for support. Their mother-in-law wants them both out of her son's lives and is determined to ruin them. When Flora begins to fear for her life she realises that she can't even trust her husband.

Oh my God! I LOVED this book. I began reading it thinking one thing and by the end I was like "whhhaaaat?!" I did manage to work out one of the twists, but that didn't stop me from turning the pages. This book is so clever and so well written. You get to read from both Flora and Sophie's point of view, each page providing a new snippet of information, a new angle.

The writing style is amazing. Really beautifully written. It drew me in and I found myself so connected to the characters. The ending wasn't what I was expecting at all (and that's a good thing!) It kept me guessing all the way through.

To be honest there's nothing I didn't like about this book. Some of the characters are extremely unlikeable though!

Thirty years ago seven teenagers went camping in the woods, but only six came back out. All these years later Aurora's body is found only a few feet from where she disappeared, but why wasn't she found and who is lying? Jonah Sheens is in charge of the investigation and determined to find out the truth.

I love a good crime thriller (I've read a lot of them and most are pretty similar and a bit dull) but this one certainly didn't disappoint. The chapters switched between the present day investigation and the build up of the camping trip thirty years ago. We find out about the seven teenagers, but all isn't as it seems.

The story was compelling and gripping and I liked reading about what happened thirty years ago. I enjoyed the main character of Jonah. He had a few skeletons of his own, which is always good to read.

I did get a little confused towards the end and to be honest I was slightly disappointed that the ending wasn't more shocking. It all ended nicely and I guess that's good, but I was left wishing it had had more of a wow factor.

Jennifer and Lucy live in different countries, have never met and live completely different lives. One day they both are involved in severe accidents and ever since they've been able to see each other's lives through their own dreams each night. Why are they dreaming each other's lives? Is it even real and more importantly....what will happen when one of them stops dreaming?

I was drawn to this book immediately because of the cover. I found it so haunting and then I read the blurb and it sounded so intriguing that I just had to give this one a read and I'm so glad I did! The premise sets you up for a very interesting plot and I found myself totally drawn into these women's lives. You get to learn about their relationships and careers, but through the eyes of a stranger through their dreams. I thought I'd find myself a bit confused but I didn't because each chapter is clearly labelled about whose dream you are reading about. There were a few parts that I found a bit repetitive, but overall I really enjoyed the story and thought the dialogue was really fluid and believable too.

The concept of this book is pretty mind blowing. I love all things mysterious and unexplained phenomenon's. I enjoyed the romantic relationship between Jennifer and Ilan. His job was pretty interesting!

The ending broke my heart a little bit and I was left wanting more! I wouldn't even say it's a negative, but there is a sequel so I'm definitely going to be reading that soon.

Someone’s missing. Someone’s dead. Everyone’s lying. In a town full of masterfully woven webs, six friends are about to watch their world unravel. And, if they’re not careful, one of them might be the next to disappear…When everyone you know is a liar, how do you decide whom to trust?

This is only the second book I've read of this author (although I pretty much have them all on my tbr list!) Her books are renowned for being short, sharp, punchy and full of twists and this certainly delivered. I read it in one three hour sitting (when my toddler was in bed) because I couldn't put it down. Almost every chapter leaves you in suspense and I just didn't have the will power to stop reading.

The twists, the shocks and secrets in this book were brilliant. Every chapter spoon fed you piece by piece with an extra part of the puzzle, but then just when you think you have things sussed ... BAM! The ending basically knocks you back down to earth and I was left thinking...what the f**k just happened. Amazing!

I know I gave this book 4 stars so that means there was something that didn't make it perfect. That, for me, is the fact that I feel like some of the characters could have been developed more and and yes, there were a lot of shocking twists, but at times I felt these could have been described better, but other than that I thought it was brilliant. On to the next book!

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone. What the hell happened in this house?

I've seen this book everywhere and it's my first Lisa Jewell book I've read (although I have like 4 of hers on my tbr shelf). So I had high hopes, but unfortunately it really fell a bit flat for me...did I expect too much? I don't know. It took me well over half the book until I was invested in the story. It was good, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad book because I've seen lots of amazing reviews, but it just wasn't for me. I didn't find myself eager to keep reading, found myself confused a lot and I didn't really find the ending that shocking either (although it was a decent ending and everything tied up nicely).

The chapters were short and sharp so I didn't find it a challenge to read. I did really enjoy the back and forth between past and present. The writing style and tense was different than what I've read before, but I found it worked well and was easy to read. I'll definitely be reading more Lisa Jewell books (I'm looking forward to reading The Night She Disappeared).

As mentioned above I just didn't follow the plot that well and I didn't find it very entertaining or the characters very investing. The ending was good, but it didn't leave me feeling shocked (which is what I like to be).

Feyre is a huntress and her family depends on her ability to hunt and kill, but when she kills a large wolf in the forest little does she know that killing the animal will change her life forever. Feyre is then taken to a magical kingdom in punishment and her captor is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

This book is EVERYWHERE! I tried to put it off as long as I could, but I needed to see what all the fuss was about. I'm not a big fantasy reader (Twilight is as far as I've ever really gone into the fantasy world), but I have read House of Earth and Blood by the same author and loved that so I had a feeling I'd enjoy this. And I'm happy to say I did! However to be perfectly honest the first 70% of the book was pretty....(dare I say it)....dull. Yes, it's beautifully written and the wonderful world in the pages is amazing and detailed and it kept me turning the pages. I just felt there wasn't much of a plot going on and I'm a very plot driven reader so it took some time to connect....but the last 30% of the book....yes! Now that's what I'm talking about! Bring on the next book.

Beautifully written, amazingly detailed fantasy world that I could see so clearly. Feyre is a likeable character. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book as I have a feeling it's going to be good!

As mentioned above the first 70% of the book just didn't really seem to go anywhere. I guess as the first in the series it's all about world building at this stage and setting the scene. Tbh I didn't like any of the male characters apart from Lucien. I'm not keen on overly romantic or passionate "love" stuff.