katiethebookvirgo's Reviews (419)

 

“Home becomes another name for that place where monsters go to hide and do their terrible work.”

This was a very interesting and eerie concept for a story. Four friends find a staircase in the woods, one friend climbs the staircase and disappears. Years later the friends find another staircase and all climb the stairs to try to see if they can find there friend. They enter this weird haunted house and need to try to survive and escape it. I like a good haunted house story and this book delivered. I liked the conversations the author had about friendships, how they can come and go. There were a lot of good quotes in this book that I highlighted.

I liked this book, I thought the concept was interesting and unique. The friends in the story were all pretty flawed dealing with lot’s of childhood trauma. The house brought all their fears and trauma out and they had to deal with it head on. 

The author mentions that staircases in woods is an actual thing and now it has me googling. Have you ever found a staircase in the woods? Would you climb it?

Thank you to Netgalley and DelRay Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Boring..nothing was happening

Cute paranormal cozy mystery. I will continue with the series!

This is Book 3 of An American In Paris Mystery that follows Tabitha Knight and her good friend Julia Child.  This book is set postwar 1950’s Paris and involves French fashion with some of Julia’s famous French dishes which was fun to read. Tabitha visits a fashion house and not only does she find gorgeous fashions but she also finds a dead body. Will Tabitha figure out who is the killer before the handsome police detective? You will have to read to find out.

 I am caught up in this series and will continue reading. These are fun, historically accurate novels. After reading this book I need to look up Julia Child’s cassoulet recipe and give it a try…

Thank you Kensington Publishing for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

 

I didn't like the characters in this book. The three main woman meshed into one character so it was hard to distinguish who was who. The chapters were short and just went back and forth between the three women, it kind of got exhausting and confusing. There were some twists that I enjoyed, but didn't really thrill me.

 

“There are places in the desert where things can be hidden and never found…”

I really enjoyed this book. I loved Ronald Malfi’s writing in this book. It was hard to put down and some images will stay with me. We are following three different people here: a cop named Renney, Toby (The Fly), and Maureen the writer. I loved how all three stories intertwined. The story begins with a dead woman found in the desert with her eyes, nose, tongue removed. Yes this is a horror book folks..Renney the copy is investigating this case. We meet Maureen next who is a writer who got engaged quickly to a Hollywood producer. Then we meet Toby aka The Fly and he is all kinds of crazy. He’s convinced this woman  he meets is a vampire and he wants to be turned. I think his story was my favorite to follow because it was so out there and interesting. 

I recommend this book for the horror lovers. If you like multiple perspectives you will like this too. I think all three stories were woven together nicely and this had a satisfying ending. Although it left me a little bit confused. I’d love to talk to others about it. 

This is my second book I’ve read by Ronald Malfi and I will continue reading his books. If you like Stephen Graham Jones or Paul Trembley I think you will like the writing in this book.

Thank you Titan Books for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

 

 Dnf at 60%

For me this book just didn’t hit the mark. I have enjoyed Jane Austen books and books about Jane Austen so I thought this would be an instant hit for me. The two sisters I found rather dull and read very young. In the beginning they just seemed to be fangirls of Jane Austen wanting to travel to her hometown, which seemed a little stalkerish. When they were on the boat traveling to Jane’s home they were putting on plays and I was not interested in that. These were grown women putting on a childish play, just was odd. There were too many characters to keep up with and I didn’t find them that interesting. I ended up dnf’ing around the 60% mark. I thought it was a poor choice to have a male narrated for a book with women as the main characters and a book that focused on women’s rights.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. 

This is a cozy, short book about a 13 year old girl and orange Tabby cat who need to save books in a library from being destroyed by a group of evil men known as The Grey Men. I thought this was a cute book, it read a little YA to me, but I thought the message was sweet. I think this would be a good book for young girls because our Protagonist is young and brave and stands up for what she believes in...books!

If you're a book lover and a cat lover you should give this a try!

Thank you to Harper Via for an copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

 I was anticipating reading this book, but sadly this wasn't for me. I had a hard time keeping interested in this story. I liked the setting in Capri but that was about it. The characters were bland and the mystery wasn't that intriguing.

Thank you Ballantine Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

 Synopsis: A social worker travels to a remote wellness retreat in New Mexico to search for a psychiatric patient who may be in trouble.

This is my second book by this author and this had a similar feel to The Writing Retreat. It’s a bit weird, trippy and at times is a bit unbelievable. I enjoyed the first couple parts of the story, but Part 3 came along and the book got a bit unhinged. 

We have Sol and Moon who run this wellness retreat, aka cult leaders. At first I didn’t mind the retreat, I thought the sessions were interesting, but then the book just takes a turn and gets a little weird. There's some reincarnation, a mysterious cave and maybe some supernatural elements? I don't know, things got wild. My favorite character was Catherine and I was kind of rooting for her throughout the book.

Overall, not quite the book for me, but might be for someone who is interested in a trippy cult book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of The Last Session in exchange for my honest review.

Read this if you like:

🌵 psychological thrillers

🌵 cults

🌵 the desert

🌵 paranormal elements