reading_under_covers's Reviews (1.61k)

When lockdown hits and Kelly watches her relationship with her fiance crumble, she makes the impulsive decision to move in with a woman she knew in high school and her husband in their mansion of an estate. Romance and mystery ensue as Kelly discovers who she is and what she wants, and doubt creeps in when she must determine who can be trusted.

I had to keep that description kind of vague because I do think it’s best (and more fun) to go into this one a bit blind!

THE SPARE ROOM by Andrea Bartz is a HOT thriller that started off really strong for me. The characters were intriguing, the estate was f a b u l o u s, and the mystery kept me wanting to read more.

However, our main character Kelly, quickly became a character who was both annoying and lacking intelligence in an eye-roll worthy sort of way, the twists kept piling up in a way that made me wish the author pulled in the reins a bit and just let the story happen in a more natural way (it felt forced at times), and the use of the pandemic as a way to keep these characters together felt unsuccessful to me, as they all still left the house, went to restaurants, and met up with neighbors. (Also, setting this during the time of the pandemic when a racial uproar was happening and not acknowledging it, while focusing on this rich white wealthy bubble made the pandemic setting trite in my opinion.)

Despite all of my dislikes and annoyances, I do think this book had some fun elements that will really appeal to a lot of readers!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: June 20

Would definitely recommend listening to this one through audio, since it’s extremely mundane, but really loved the points made about the dangers of Amazon in this one, and the community that comes with shopping small, local, and in person!

I have even more respect for indie bookstores after reading this.

DNF.

I had a hard time even picking up this book given the synopsis - a woman starts working at a police station in order to snag a husband, and is then shocked when someone informs her at least one of them is a dirty cop?!? Lol no thanks.

I only managed to get about 35 pages in, and our main character Virginia is sooo in her head (for a 30 year old!) and half of the words on the page are just her inner monologuing about ‘what could be.’

This also appears to be set in the modern day, which made everything I did manage to read feel even more unbelievable.

It’s a no from me, dawg.

Summer and Leo are conwomen who are always on the move. When Leo sets her sights on billionaire Michael Forrester, she thinks she’ll finally be able to pay Summer back for everything she’s done for her. However, when Summer isn’t able to get in contact with Leo after her date with Michael, she takes matters into her own hands to find her friend and cons her way onto Michael’s private island where not everything is as it seems.

YOU CAN TRUST ME by Wendy Heard was a fast-paced ridiculous ride and I was immediately sucked into the plot!

This book was ultimately about the friendship between Summer and Leo, which was so beautiful, and the stakes one is willing to take for the one they love. Summer and Leo were such strong characters and their backstories helped shape them in a nice way.

The twist hit me right before it was revealed, and it was shocking and heartbreaking at the same time.

This is going to make for the perfect beach read this summer!

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Ballantine, and Bantam for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: June 13

There was something about this one that made me have a really fun time with it! I enjoyed the characters, the mystery, and it was an overall quick read!

Seven women meet up in a sketchy hotel room where they come upon the severed head of a man. Even more shocking is that each of the women present has a reason to have been the one behind it. As the murder investigation begins, no one’s secrets are safe.

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL By Rose Wilding was full of unique voices and characters and I really enjoyed the alternating timelines and perspectives that brought out each character’s motive and the trauma they went through to lead them to their present day (with that being said, triggers for rape, infidelity, transphobia, suicide).

Despite enjoying the layout of the story and many of the characters, this book felt drawn out with some details feeling irrelevant and the final resolution feeling abrupt. There were also sooo many characters, with some not receiving much characterization for them to stick, which made it difficult to differentiate them at times.

All in all, an intriguing crime mystery with an original premise.

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

Publication Date: June 13