katiethebookvirgo's Reviews (419)

Oh dear..this was very disappointing. I am a huge Peter Swanson fan and this was so boring. The book is told backwards and that just didn't work for me. Also, the characters were so boring. Sorry but this was bad.

 

This was Mallory Arnold’s debut novel and I thought it was great! If you like locked room mysteries, books about authors, and some gruesome horror then you will like this. A group of writers were invited to a secluded manor of the late Mortimer Queen, horror author extraordinaire to listen to his will reading. Little do we know, but each of these authors has done Mortimer dirty in the past and he is or should we say the house has its revenge on each of them. There are riddles to solve and if not solved correctly death is imminent. You learn about each of the characters and their connection to Mortimer. I thought this was a fun story and I was hooked. The set up in the manor with the different unique characters reminded me a bit of Clue. I liked how the house was its own character. 

I would definitely read from this author again and am intrigued to see what she comes up with next!

Thank you to  Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. 

 

This was my least favorite in the series, and I'm sad it was the last book. After knowing quite a bit about Emily's life this just seemed very unbelievable. I understand it's fiction, but it was so far off from how Emily was it was hard to believe. That being said, I did enjoy this series and I'm sad to see it's over.

I don't get the hype

This is my fifth Hester Fox book I have read, and she is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. This was an interesting retelling of the Little Mermaid. We gender swapped the mermaids and I liked that, we need more mermen! I found his story to be very immersion and I enjoyed the world building. I liked the Amsterdam setting, I've never read a book based there and I think it worked perfectly for a mermaid story with all the canals and surrounding water. I thought the story was a little instalovely, but so is the Little Mermaid, I’m just not a huge fan of that trope. I enjoyed how magic was weaved into the story. I enjoyed the parts of the story where Clara, our main protagonist, journeys through the forest and finds magical beings. I would have liked more of that, those parts really felt like a fairytale to me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait to see what Hester Fox’s next book will be!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. 

 

Lisa Jewell is an auto-buy author for me so I was so excited for her new book. The main character “Al” was incredibly frustrating in this book. Talk about an unlikeable narrator! He has multiple persona’s and multiple women that he is manipulating. He is a sleaze, a con artist and an overall bad guy. You want to strangle him by the 50% mark. I found some parts a little slow. We followed “Al” manipulating various women and moving from location to location, it got a little repetitive. I was wondering how long he was going to be able to keep up his charades and how long these women were going to put up with him. It definitely picked up by the 50% mark and became a real page turner. There are short chapters so you can really fly through this book. 

If you are a Lisa Jewell fan then you should pick this up. This is a perfect fast-paced thriller that you need to read this summer!

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Similar to other books

 

I was apprehensive about reading a book that takes place during Covid, but this was really eye-opening and an important read. This was a horror book, not only about what happened during Covid, but the hatred towards Chinese people during Covid. I wasn’t aware of how bad it was, and I think more people need to read about it. 

We are following Cora Zeng, who’s sister tragically is killed. This scene at the beginning of the book was a really OMG moment. Cora is then haunted by her sisters' ghosts and other women who were targets of hate crimes. Cora is a pretty broken character, but I liked her strength and grit. I enjoyed the side characters in this story, they were funny and added some lightness to the story. This book is pretty dark and haunting, but I really enjoyed it.

Thank you Harlequin Audio for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.