Mental hospital
Artist as a main character
Psychological thriller
Short chapters
Very fast paced

Writing reviews for thrillers always trips me up because I’m scared that I’m going to accidentally spoil it. Let’s just say that I’ll be thinking about The Silent Patient for a very long time.

Alicia Berenson shot her husband in the face multiple times and now sits in a mental hospital in silence. Six years after the murder, Theo Faber becomes her psychotherapist at the hospital and starts to unravel the mystery of her silence and what happened to her husband.

I absolutely loved the way this story was told. Instead of the whole thing being told from Theo’s perspective, we get chapters from her diary. We learn who Alicia is before Theo does and it’s a magical way to introduce a character.

There were a few things that I had minor issues with while reading this story, but they do all make sense in the end. I really don’t want to address what those issues were here to keep this review spoiler-free, but I will say that my dad is a psychologist and I hated parts of this book because of that.

Some reviewers mentioned that they saw the ending coming from a mile away. I didn’t see coming from a mile away, but it didn’t sneak up on me either. I saw it coming from a quarter of a mile away. However, that didn’t take anything away from the ending for me. I still did a fist-pump when I got it right because I had my doubts.

Overall, if you want a fast-paced psychological thriller that is set in a mental hospital, features an artist, and is told with short chapters, check out The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.

One of my biggest issues with this book was that it was halfway through the book and nobody has died yet. I know that sounds grim, but this book is about a wedding on an island in Ireland where someone dies. The whole point of this book is a whodunnit, Clue or Agatha Christie style.

I didn't feel like it really lived up to that hype. I didn't like the way the story was told, even though the story was terrific! I loved the amount of effort that Foley took in creating these dynamic characters, but I didn't like the timeline yanks.

This novel is told from several points of view and within two timelines. The most prominent timeline was the chronological one: we see the full two days leading up to the wedding and the murder. The second timeline is the murder itself. We see the lights going out and then (we assume) the murder happens at the beginning of the book.

It takes the entirety of the novel to find out who died and why. We don't actually see the body until the very end, which bothered me. I feel like I got gipped on that classic murder-mystery feel because of how the story was told.

That being said, I did adore the story. The plot was incredible. I loved the twist at the end and, even though I felt stupid for not seeing it coming because the signs are definitely there, the twist shocked me. I also, like I said, adored the characterization. Another thing I really liked was the island itself. The atmosphere was ten out of ten.

If you're looking for that classic whodunnit feel, you're not going to get it here. I think that's why I was so disappointed. I was told that it was something that it wasn't. Don't go in expecting that, but it was a great thriller.

Despite reading through this 400 page book in two days, I didn’t feel like it lived up to the hype. I loved certain parts of this book, but I felt that others were misrepresented.

I loved the humor and the characters. I laughed several times throughout reading it and it’s such an easy read. It reads like a YA romance novel, but for adults.

I also loved the vibe and the setting. Who wouldn’t want a free honeymoon to Maui, right? The adventures Olive and Ethan went on were entertaining as hell, too.

The parts I had issues with were:

This isn’t really a hate to love romance. It’s obvious from page two that she didn’t really hate Ethan (she hated him while finding him seriously sexy). I found that the reasoning for this hate was weak, as well.

The act three conflict was eh. We saw it coming, not like it’s a thriller and we were owed a shocking twist… but it was still underwhelming.

SPOILERS

Now, I really liked how that conflict was resolved. I found myself rooting Ami on when she called up his past fuck buddies and invited them to the house. I thought that was amazing and had me giddy.

I also really liked how Olive didn’t immediately crawl back into Ethan’s arms after he didn’t believe her about his brother cheating. I liked that she kept space and allowed him to make that grand gesture, which was hilarious.

The inside jokes were also endearing as fuck. There’s a lot to love with this book, but don’t expect hate to love and watch out for the cheese. There’s lots.

My favorite rom-com that I've read in a long time. Then again, it's like it was written for me: grumpy x sunshine, long burn, fake-dating, a smart young woman standing up for herself, a man who is protective of a woman without being possessive. The Love Hypothesis as it all.

I can't read many rom-coms back to back because they're so similar and unrealistic. I could read another Ali Hazelwood novel right now if she had one because the issues I usually have with rom-coms were nonexistent.

- usually I hate the meet cutes because they've been done a dozen times; not this one
- usually the romantic conflicts have me rolling my eyes; I teared up at theirs
- usually the supporting characters are flat; Malcom is probably one of my favorite characters

I adored this book and will recommend it for the remainder of the year. It will probably be on my top books of 2022 list.

As a side note, I want a pumpkin spice latte and a shirt with Biology Ninja on it.

Full review coming soon to my blog and bookstagram account, but... this didn't really live up to the hype, in my opinion. This honestly may be a better movie than book. I think it's going to translate to the screen really well!

I stumbled across this guy on accident. I was looking for an audiobook of The Love Hypothesis and found this four hour novella by the same author, Ali Hazelwood.

I immediately put it on hold and it was delivered a few days ago! It’s this adorable story about a scientist who inherits a house from her mentor after she passes. There’s a catch: it’s half owned by a lawyer named Liam.

If she wants to live there, she’ll have to live there with him and he’s not happy about sharing his house with a stranger.

The first chapter is this prologue that gives us that pivotal moment that we romance lovers adore: the moment when the two love interests finally admit that spark.

The rest of the novella describes the build up and it’s adorable. There’s one sex scene and it’s incredible, even from an asexual perspective. Hazelwood’s sex scenes have purpose and they further the characterization of her characters.

The audiobook is amazing, too. Emma Wilder is a terrific narrator and she brings Mara’s story to life beautifully.

I would highly recommend checking this one out if you liked The Love Hypothesis.

Started off strong with awesome worldbuilding and an entertaining premise. The first few sex scenes had purpose, but it started declining for me about halfway through. The plot lost it's steam, it became repetitive, and the sex became meaningless. Just love and lust. The ending was disappointing, too. It was wrapped up too neatly and solved easily. Just not my kind of book.

Ace of Spades is a dark academia young adult novel that's reminiscent of Gossip Girl. Devon and Chiamaka are seniors at a prestigious private school and they start getting anonymous threats in the form of text messages, all of them signed Aces. The novel follows these two as they try to figure out who Aces is and who to allow into their circle, all while their secrets are being spilled to the entire school.

I ended up rating this book three stars, which means I liked it. Three stars is not a bad rating, even though many people think that it is. I really did enjoy my time with this book. It was suspenseful and kept my attention. I loved the LGBTQ rep and the allegories it made toward our society. Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé references racism, classism, and other hot topics in our world today.

In terms of dark academia, it's not exactly what I was expecting. Maybe it's because this is a young adult novel and I'm an adult reader. It definitely had dark academia vibes in terms of the plot, but the atmosphere, in my opinion, was lacking. There were also parts at the end of the novel that I scoffed at, which is not a great sign. There were plot twists that were kind of ridiculous. I scoffed and rolled my eyes when the journalist was revealed to be part of team Aces. That entire scene, in my opinion, was a pretty weak climax.

However, the epilogue was so well written that it made me cry. I'm not a huge fan of time jumps (the epilogue jumps 16 years into the future), but when I read the letter that's being sent to all of these students who are interested in schools that participate in the same social eugenics, I cried. Also, seeing that these characters achieve their dreams and are still in contact with each other, just warms my heart.

Overall, it was a fun reading experience and I suggest it to young adult readers who enjoy Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.