reading_under_covers's Reviews (1.61k)

I’m hoping Hell Bent is more my speed because this one was a bit of a slog…

Hahahah 2 pages in and my brain was like 🫠😵‍💫

Not even going to attempt this long series 😅

Also, note to future hannah - toxic love stories give you the ick!!

After the passing of their Patriarch, the Bishop sisters, Iris, Vicki, and Faith make their way to their family-owned hotel on the coast of Maine to gather for his will reading. Things quickly take a turn for the worst as the will is read and Hurricane Larry looms overhead.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY by Jamie Day has all of the elements I love in a thriller - a unique location that also happens to be isolated, family drama, a locked room mystery, and a massive incoming storm, BUT it just didn’t work for me.

I enjoyed the first ~15% of the story where we’re intro’d to the hotel and Charley (the lead maid and primary observing character), as she prepares for the Bishops’ stay at the hotel and the hurricane that seems to be growing legs.

Beyond that, we’re thrown a random romance, a storm that I honestly wish were bigger, and a few too many shocking twists for my liking.This book also felt like it was 500+ pages long and maybe that’s just because I wanted out of the story so badly.

Unfortunately, I’m taking this as my sign for this to be my last read by Day.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 16

The concept is really just not my thing. Married adults ogling their neighbors and looks playing such a prominent role didn’t do it for me.

This one should have maybe been a dnf, but I didn’t, so….

The main character, Revelle did some ridiculous things and then felt the need to question why her personal interests and career were at risk (girl, it’s because you did that silly thing!!!) 

She’s also in the process of adopting a six-year-old, which made the thing she did feel even more absurd because you have SO MUCH AT STAKE.

The idea behind crafting a story around a courtroom interpreter was very interesting, tho!!

So much fun!

May Cobb is known best for nailing the “rich people behaving badly” trope and she really hit it out of the park with this one!

THE HOLLYWOOD ASSISTANT was a wild goose chase of a story that was sexy, tipsy, and had me wanting to take a trip to the Container Store?!

This book was full of unlikeable characters galore and had me shaking my head, rolling my eyes, but also flipping pages to see what else these silly people were going to get up to - another note, this book clocks in at ~400 pages, but I absolutely couldn't put it down, the story flew by.

Definitely recommend this one if you're looking to see how the other half truly live 👀🥴

Huge thanks to Berkley for the early copy for review!

Publication Date: July 9

Thanks to Libro.fm for an ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed the premise behind this book - a fancy astrological retreat full of secrets among the guests and the host and soooo much dysfunction!

I was really intrigued by some of the characters’ stories (Farrah and Aimee especially!), but I found the sibling relationship between Adam and Margot to be really weird and really disliked when it switched over to their POVs.

With that being said, there are soo many characters in this book and I found that Adam was the only male that stood out in any discernible way, which made it hard to keep the other men separate with their own stories and personalities.

A fine thriller with a unique punch, but missing something for me when it came to the characters.

Publication Date: July 16