I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When a woman is beaten up and left for dead in a small village in Cornwall, Charlotte isn’t too interested. That’s until she sees a photo of the woman, called Evie, and realises she knew her in school but her name was Jen. Now Charlotte becomes involved with helping Evie/Jen back to health while also helping the police investigate the disappearance of Evie’s daughter who may or may not actually exist.

This was a twisty turning book that definitely kept me guessing for a majority of the novel. From the get go, practically everything is suspicious about this story from Evie’s memory loss, the lackadaisical efforts of the police, Evie’s link with a missing girl from 20 years ago and even at times Charlotte’s involvement with the story.

This definitely had me creeped out at times, especially when there’s some suspicions Angel’s disappearance and Evie’s attack may have something to do with a Satanic club in the area (like what?) and then to be honest, for some reason the cover of the book freaks me out as well. I think it reminds me of a halloween I paid to be chased through a maze by a guy with a chainsaw. Yeah, I know.

The ending of this was good and some reveals had me reeling. I did feel like the police in this were at times laughable cause they were so bad. I also am not a huge fan of the ‘safe and sound’ epilogue in a lot of thrillers.

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Sam Porter has been on the case of the Four Monkey Killer since he first started posting bits of his victims to their family members. When a man believed to be 4MK jumps in front of a bus, the race is on to find his last victim, teenager Emory Connors before she dies. But there may be more to the case than first appears.

This was a thrilling book that had my heart racing and really left me on the edge of my seat. From the get go, it was really one that left me wanting all the answers straight away but they came slow and steady in a way that was frustrating but also quite satisfying at the same time.

At first, I wasn’t a fan of the diary entries because of the proper tone that was used but I did get used to them and they were really compelling to read. I just wanted to find out more and more and they got crazier and crazier, seriously.

I did guess one thing near the end but I wasn’t too disappointed when I turned out to be right, I thought it was pretty clever and there was still a way to go before the conclusion so there was a lot of excitement and tension to come.

And the epilogue, wow! Need more now!

3.5 stars

It's Natalie's last summer in her small Kentucky hometown before she heads to college and everything is changing. Along with break-ups and friend's moving away, Natalie also has to deal with 'Grandmother' - a strange figure she has seen since she was a little girl - reappearing to her with a warning. Things begin to go weird, with flickers of a different world appearing in Natalie's vision - a red door turning green, people disappearing and disappearing and then meeting a boy called Beau. When Beau and Natalie meet, he could have the answers she's been looking for.

So I have heard such mixed things about this book, I really didn't know what to expect going into it. Now I'm glad I didn't know too much about the plot because I liked how in the dark I was for most of the start of the book. It definitely heightened the intrigue for me and I think this is the kind of book that actually makes more sense if you go in blind, rather than getting others versions of what exactly is going on.

I thought the writing in this was very beautiful and descriptive and there were definitely some passages that blew me away. The writing for some reason really connected to the cover for me, is it weird to associate writing with specific colours because if I could choose a colour for Emily Hnery's writing it would 100% be the lovely pink/yellow sunset colours on the cover of this book.

I enjoyed Natalie as a character. She was funny and seemed pretty well informed about the world despite going through the typical kind of teenage confusion and angst many go through at the age of 17/18. She wasn't juvenile to me at all and seemed pretty mature and grown-up which I liked! I also loved her relationship with her family. Her parents were very much involved in her life and wanted to know where she was and if she was safe and she had a good relationship with her brother and sister as well (though I would have liked a few more heart to hearts with them to get to know them better through Natalie).

I also guessed why Jack was so upset at that. Maybe because I've been through similar experiences with my own family members that I was able to recognise the signs of someone struggling with their sexuality. I think this should have been expanded on or left out completely instead of just dipping a toe in the way it wad done in the book.

I loved Natalie's relationship with Beau. I didn't actually find it insta-lovey at all the way some people seem to think so. I think there was an attraction for sure and it was a strong one but I think the quick and deep connection between them came from them realizing they were going through the same thing so immediately hanging on to that someone who understands.

There were a few things that I didn't like - mainly that what is going on, whether it's world jumping, time loops, a wormhole of different time loops I don't know - it's not explained that well. It's kind of one of those things where the reader just needs to accept what information they are given so they don't give themselves headaches trying to figure out what's going on. I also didn't like how focused the plot was on Matt ash he wasn't a great character, not to mention aggressive and troubling. Natalie made excused for his aggressive and worrying behavior which I was not comfortable with at all. I also loved that Natalie was half Native American but she didn't really dig into her roots apart from the stories. I would have liked a journey of her finding and possibly connecting with her birth mother and getting to know the Native American side of her and understanding the culture.

With the ending, I have my own little idea of what I would have liked to happen afterwards and with this kind of book, anything is possible I guess cause ya know, different worlds, different realities, time loops etc etc. Who even knows!

Aristotle is an angry young man who is quite happy being alone until he meets sweet and kind Dante who immediately becomes his best friend. As the two become older they begin to discover who they really are and figure out the world together.

This is a really sweet book and one that I have heard a lot of great things about so I was expecting a great book and it definitely is just that. I liked that the chapters were short and sweet, which made the book a fast-paced read. The writing was really beautiful and lyrical - the whole story almost felt like a song, there was a dreamy, musical quality to it.

I loved both Ari and Dante in different ways - Ari for being Ari and unapologetically complicated. The story is told through his point of view and while now and again a chapter from Dante would have been nice I don’t think we actually needed that as Dante normally says everything he’s thinking to Ari anyways when Ari is more likely to keep his thoughts to himself. Date is just a sugar muffin and I would love him as a friend - he’s so cute. Both Ari and Dante’s families were wonderful - they were both so different but amazing at the same time in how they talked and communicated with their sons. i especially enjoyed Ari’s relationship building with his dad. I like the fact that both Ari and Dante were Mexican and the conversations they had around that with Dante thinking he wasn’t Mexican enough and often having a problem with being Mexican at all, where Ari embraced his Mexican roots.

The one thing I didn’t like about this book was everyone’s inability to allow Ari to deal with his sexuality personally. I feel like everyone from Dante, Dante’s parents and even Ari’s parents were all okay telling Ari how he felt and who he felt for without letting him figure it out on his own and figuring out the specific details of his feelings. While Dante was so open about being gay, that doesn’t mean Ari had to be (though personally from my reading, I’m thinking he was probably bisexual) and I just hated how pushy he was with Ari. I shipped them more as friends than as a couple to be honest.

I received a free copy of this book from Hodder in exchange for an honest review.

Ailia is a young woman growing up in a tribe in Celtic Britain. Her tribe believe in something called Skin which is something yu are given and taught by your mother from birth but Ailia was abandoned by her mother as a newborn and is skinless. As Ailia tries to figure out who she is, she learns that the higher powers may have something in store for her as the Roman Empire marches ever closer.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It is descriptive, fascinating and I just couldn’t put it down. Ailia is a fantastic character - she is kind, beautiful, driven, charismatic. I loved her. I thought the world building within the tribe and the Mother’s Realm was pretty well done and while the whole idea of ‘skin’ was really confusing at first, I did start to get the hang of it the more Ailia explained it. I really enjoyed how her learning went though I would have liked a bit more focus on her lessons, I just love those kind of things in books. A lot of Ailia’s learning and time in the Mother’s Realm seemed to go really fast and I think the story would have benefitted with it being slowed down a little bit.

This book is jam-packed with amazing, strong female characters - from Ailia, her kitchen sisters, her cook mother, Fraid the tribesqueen and then of course, the Mothers who are the form of gods in this world. The women in this book really hold their own power in their hands, and they control their sexuality and their bodies - they can choose who and when they give themselves to and aren’t beholden to forced marriages or virginity, etc.

The ending left me slightly unsatisfied. It was a bit grim and not really what I was expecting and I couldn’t help wonder what was the point of Ailia’s entire journey up to that point, considering everything that happened. I would love to continue on with Ailia’s journey though.