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nicolealycia's Reviews (959)
4.5/5 stars
I’ve been seeing this one around for a while and finally decided to read it after I saw one of my coworkers reading it on her lunch break.
All in all I really liked this book. I liked the characters, I liked that I was constantly flip flopping back and forth between who I thought the bad guy was (my first guess was right), and I really liked the pace this book kept although I thought it could have been a little shorter.
I will say it loses the half star from me because I’m starting to get tired of the whole “she’s taking medication and she drinks so she’s not in her right mind” trope that seems to be a really big thing in thrillers. Can’t she take the medication and be totally in her right mind? Can we push that in a book because taking low doses of medications even while drinking doesn’t make you that spacey.
Other than that I really enjoyed this one and I’m looking to reading more by this author!
I’ve been seeing this one around for a while and finally decided to read it after I saw one of my coworkers reading it on her lunch break.
All in all I really liked this book. I liked the characters, I liked that I was constantly flip flopping back and forth between who I thought the bad guy was (my first guess was right), and I really liked the pace this book kept although I thought it could have been a little shorter.
I will say it loses the half star from me because I’m starting to get tired of the whole “she’s taking medication and she drinks so she’s not in her right mind” trope that seems to be a really big thing in thrillers. Can’t she take the medication and be totally in her right mind? Can we push that in a book because taking low doses of medications even while drinking doesn’t make you that spacey.
Other than that I really enjoyed this one and I’m looking to reading more by this author!
4.5/5 stars!
I will admit that Stacy Willingham might be becoming a new favorite author of mine!
I really thought I had this one figured out pretty early on and was curious to see how she was going to unravel the story. But then the unraveling started happening waaaaay too early in the story and I knew there was going to be a twist that I wasn’t expecting so I adjusted accordingly. And I was wrong again.
That’s what I look for in books like this and I love that her books have more of a fictionalized true crime vibe than the typical thriller does. Like these are things that could actually happen while a lot of thrillers have something about them that makes you think it probably wouldn’t happen in real life (even though I’m aware that people are nuts and you never know).
And props to her for not making the main character a drinker or on pills constantly. Yes she had other issues in the story but I felt like it didn’t make her as unsympathetic… maybe that’s just me though.
Definitely looking forward to seeing what else w comes up with!
I will admit that Stacy Willingham might be becoming a new favorite author of mine!
I really thought I had this one figured out pretty early on and was curious to see how she was going to unravel the story. But then the unraveling started happening waaaaay too early in the story and I knew there was going to be a twist that I wasn’t expecting so I adjusted accordingly. And I was wrong again.
That’s what I look for in books like this and I love that her books have more of a fictionalized true crime vibe than the typical thriller does. Like these are things that could actually happen while a lot of thrillers have something about them that makes you think it probably wouldn’t happen in real life (even though I’m aware that people are nuts and you never know).
And props to her for not making the main character a drinker or on pills constantly. Yes she had other issues in the story but I felt like it didn’t make her as unsympathetic… maybe that’s just me though.
Definitely looking forward to seeing what else w comes up with!
Another fun mystery at Storyton Hall. A group of Medieval Herbalists grace Storyton Hall for their yearly conference but when one of their members is found dead from poison the whole group is under suspicion.
It was another fast paced story with a smaller mystery mixed in with all the rest. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of this series going forward
It was another fast paced story with a smaller mystery mixed in with all the rest. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of this series going forward
2.5/5 stars …….
I’m sorry but everything about this was a big nope for me. It’s only getting the extra half star boost because the ending was very unexpected.
Calvin was creepy from the first page he was mentioned on. Everything he did was a red flag and all of his chapter were just plain weird.
Grace was a character I hated from the get go. She did everything you shouldn’t do in a horror movie basically and just …. This book was so unbelievable because of how stupid her character reads from the get go. She ignores all these red flags, stays with a super creepy dude in the middle of no where like it’s absolutely nothing. Like what?
I don’t care how twisty of an ending it is, there was nothing that could make up for the pure stupidity I felt reading everything these characters did in the book. Like every chapter has a new wtf moment in it and I just had to finish it to see how it would get resolved …
I was really looking forward to this one and was so so disappointed by how it all went
I’m sorry but everything about this was a big nope for me. It’s only getting the extra half star boost because the ending was very unexpected.
Calvin was creepy from the first page he was mentioned on. Everything he did was a red flag and all of his chapter were just plain weird.
Grace was a character I hated from the get go. She did everything you shouldn’t do in a horror movie basically and just …. This book was so unbelievable because of how stupid her character reads from the get go. She ignores all these red flags, stays with a super creepy dude in the middle of no where like it’s absolutely nothing. Like what?
I don’t care how twisty of an ending it is, there was nothing that could make up for the pure stupidity I felt reading everything these characters did in the book. Like every chapter has a new wtf moment in it and I just had to finish it to see how it would get resolved …
I was really looking forward to this one and was so so disappointed by how it all went
This book just didn’t do it for me …
I didn’t like Jade from the very beginning and I’m not a fan of the jealous ex trope in books at all. Jade was an absolute nut job from the very beginning and she just got more wild as the story went on.
The ending of the book made up for it all a bit but at that point the damage was already done for me. The great twist of an ending didn’t change the fact that for the first half of the book I was considering putting it down and forgetting about it because Jade was annoying me sooooo much. This was another one that had the potential to be so good but the execution just wasn’t great.
I just wish authors would try to make their main characters out to be a little more sane when leading up to a really big twist because it would make the stories so much better
I didn’t like Jade from the very beginning and I’m not a fan of the jealous ex trope in books at all. Jade was an absolute nut job from the very beginning and she just got more wild as the story went on.
The ending of the book made up for it all a bit but at that point the damage was already done for me. The great twist of an ending didn’t change the fact that for the first half of the book I was considering putting it down and forgetting about it because Jade was annoying me sooooo much. This was another one that had the potential to be so good but the execution just wasn’t great.
I just wish authors would try to make their main characters out to be a little more sane when leading up to a really big twist because it would make the stories so much better
I want to start this review off by saying I knew how this was going to end about a third of the way through …
Why did I give it 5 stars then?
I’ve read a lot of thrillers so far this year, some have completely fooled me while others have been totally obvious. While this one fell into the totally obvious category the author did something else I didn’t expect. They made me feel the way you might feel while reading a contemporary book. There were multiple occasions towards the end where I was starting to tear up while reading this one because of just how horrible these main characters are. And trust me, you know they are horrible people from the very beginning. But man…. I really thought I was going to cry reading the ending to this one and I did not expect that at all.
Some of the things just hit so differently for me while reading this. And the sad thing is, shit like this happens all the time with so few consequences for the bullies of the world. I don’t really know how to put all my thoughts into words with this one and I’m reading into the story way more than I probably ever would have but this one just felt different to me.
Why did I give it 5 stars then?
I’ve read a lot of thrillers so far this year, some have completely fooled me while others have been totally obvious. While this one fell into the totally obvious category the author did something else I didn’t expect. They made me feel the way you might feel while reading a contemporary book. There were multiple occasions towards the end where I was starting to tear up while reading this one because of just how horrible these main characters are. And trust me, you know they are horrible people from the very beginning. But man…. I really thought I was going to cry reading the ending to this one and I did not expect that at all.
Some of the things just hit so differently for me while reading this. And the sad thing is, shit like this happens all the time with so few consequences for the bullies of the world. I don’t really know how to put all my thoughts into words with this one and I’m reading into the story way more than I probably ever would have but this one just felt different to me.
Update: tried to listen to the audiobook and there was a horrible echo of the reader so I couldn’t get through more than a few minutes… such a bummer and I hope the fix it! I’d love to listen to this one again!
10 years ago April was murdered in her room. It was Hannah’s testimony that put the killer behind bars …. Or so she thought.
Present day. April’s killer has died in prison after consistently saying he didn’t kill her. After speaking with a journalist, Hannah begins to question what exactly happened that night and what led up to it. Did she accuse the wrong man? Is the real killer still out there?
I thought I saw the ending of this one coming from a mile away. I was so focused on it that I missed the hints about who the real killer was. I applaud Ruth Ware for that because I like to think I’m pretty perceptive.
Another solid story from Ware although not quite as good as her last two. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hannah as the main character and thought she was always focused on the wrong things.
All in all, a solid mystery/thriller that I would definitely recommend!
10 years ago April was murdered in her room. It was Hannah’s testimony that put the killer behind bars …. Or so she thought.
Present day. April’s killer has died in prison after consistently saying he didn’t kill her. After speaking with a journalist, Hannah begins to question what exactly happened that night and what led up to it. Did she accuse the wrong man? Is the real killer still out there?
I thought I saw the ending of this one coming from a mile away. I was so focused on it that I missed the hints about who the real killer was. I applaud Ruth Ware for that because I like to think I’m pretty perceptive.
Another solid story from Ware although not quite as good as her last two. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hannah as the main character and thought she was always focused on the wrong things.
All in all, a solid mystery/thriller that I would definitely recommend!
There were soooo many things wrong with this book …
1) Harriet and Wyndham? Really? Of all the names you could pick you go with Harriet and Wyndham? Like what the actual f*ck …
2) Harriet and Wyn had absolutely no personality at all. They were both boring as dirt. The author tried to make them better with Harriet’s job and maybe a little with their backstories but when they opened their mouths there was no substance there
3) There was no substance to them because they didn’t open their mouths and speak to each other. They were together 8 years and never learned how to have a real conversation with each other. And when they finally had their “big talk” it was so incredibly stupid. It didn’t touch on anything important and they were both so self absorbed.
4) Does Montana not have hospitals? Like serious question because the way the book was written you’d think they didn’t. Okay maybe she couldn’t have been a neurosurgeon in Montana but she could have still been a doctor!
5) Both kept pitying themselves and never actually fought for their relationship. That’s so so unhealthy in my opinion. If there’s one thing I can say about my big failed relationship, it’s that I fought to find out what went wrong and didn’t just accept it.
6) The side characters were just as boring as the mains and had so many bad characteristics that came out throughout the book that I didn’t like any of them really. And the one character I could tolerate got ruined for me in the end anyway by being manipulative, even though they thought it was for the best it wasn’t cool in my book.
If this is what contemporary romance novels look like I’m gonna stick to reading about people killing each other because at least those characters have substance to them.
1) Harriet and Wyndham? Really? Of all the names you could pick you go with Harriet and Wyndham? Like what the actual f*ck …
2) Harriet and Wyn had absolutely no personality at all. They were both boring as dirt. The author tried to make them better with Harriet’s job and maybe a little with their backstories but when they opened their mouths there was no substance there
3) There was no substance to them because they didn’t open their mouths and speak to each other. They were together 8 years and never learned how to have a real conversation with each other. And when they finally had their “big talk” it was so incredibly stupid. It didn’t touch on anything important and they were both so self absorbed.
4) Does Montana not have hospitals? Like serious question because the way the book was written you’d think they didn’t. Okay maybe she couldn’t have been a neurosurgeon in Montana but she could have still been a doctor!
5) Both kept pitying themselves and never actually fought for their relationship. That’s so so unhealthy in my opinion. If there’s one thing I can say about my big failed relationship, it’s that I fought to find out what went wrong and didn’t just accept it.
6) The side characters were just as boring as the mains and had so many bad characteristics that came out throughout the book that I didn’t like any of them really. And the one character I could tolerate got ruined for me in the end anyway by being manipulative, even though they thought it was for the best it wasn’t cool in my book.
If this is what contemporary romance novels look like I’m gonna stick to reading about people killing each other because at least those characters have substance to them.
3.5/5 stars
Another book that I really wanted to like but it just didn’t do anything for me.
Once again, I liked the characters and I liked the whole premise behind the story but I thought the execution was lacking …
Signa was a strong main character and her ability to see and communicate with spirits and Death himself was a great twist to a mystery. I thought it would be really cool to have her interacting with Death as the story went on and I was enjoying it. I enjoyed her interactions with the other characters and thought it was going well ….. until the romance with Death started.
And that’s when I lost a lot of interest. I don’t know why but I just didn’t feel like it flowed well with Death after that and the story itself got more tedious to me. I don’t know, it just didn’t work for me and I feel like the human falling for a supernatural being in the human world thing is getting overdone
Another book that I really wanted to like but it just didn’t do anything for me.
Once again, I liked the characters and I liked the whole premise behind the story but I thought the execution was lacking …
Signa was a strong main character and her ability to see and communicate with spirits and Death himself was a great twist to a mystery. I thought it would be really cool to have her interacting with Death as the story went on and I was enjoying it. I enjoyed her interactions with the other characters and thought it was going well ….. until the romance with Death started.
And that’s when I lost a lot of interest. I don’t know why but I just didn’t feel like it flowed well with Death after that and the story itself got more tedious to me. I don’t know, it just didn’t work for me and I feel like the human falling for a supernatural being in the human world thing is getting overdone
This one followed more of the secondary story within the Book Retreat series and was a little more out there than the previous books. Normally it would bug me but out there in a cozy mystery is kinda what you learn to expect from full on mystery/thrillers