Girls of Brackenhill by Kate Moretti My rating: 5 of 5 stars A dark and beguiling gothic mystery with a touch of the supernatural, Girls of Brackenhill has everything you want in a story at this time of year: a creepy castle, long-buried secrets, mysterious townspeople, and a troubled woman who’s (literally and figuratively) haunted…
Category: Book reviews
Book reviews
Welcome to my little book nook, where I keep my book reviews. I only review books that I rate 4* or 5*, because why would I waste time on books I don’t enjoy? Besides, my mama taught me, ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all’.
Loss Lake - Amber Cowie
Loss Lake by Amber Cowie My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wonderfully tense and gorgeously disturbing, Loss Lake is richly atmospheric, centering around a much-fabled monster-filled lake and a darkly twisted small town hiding big secrets. Hypnotic and irresistible, you won’t be able to look away. This beautiful, tautly written story is about love and…
A Stranger On The Beach - Michelle Campbell
A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell My rating: 5 of 5 stars A confidently written, utterly engrossing thriller, I literally couldn’t put it down and spent the whole day absorbed in this book. With a gorgeous beachfront setting, an intriguing plot, and characters I just couldn’t trust, this one had all the elements…
The Assistant - S.K. Tremayne
The Assistant by S.K. Tremayne My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wow! How did I miss this one last year? This book was incredible! Electric, riveting, and deliciously disturbing, The Assistant is a scarily believable story about the nature of modern technology and our reliance on virtual assistants, like Alexa or Siri. What happens when…
What Lies Between Us - John Marrs
What Lies Between Us by John Marrs This book is just bonkers crazy, with two of the most devious and conniving women I’ve read in a long time! Dark, demented and dysfunctional are my three top words to describe it, with a toxic mother-daughter relationship at its core. We open with Nina and Maggie having…
Long Bright River - Liz Moore
Long Bright River by Liz Moore My rating: 5 of 5 stars Profoundly moving and beautifully written, Long Bright River is a story about the bond of sisters, addiction, and what’s left in the wake of a shared tragedy. It’s a murder mystery, but one that is quieter, focusing more on the relationship of the…
Don't Look For Me - Wendy Walker
Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker My rating: 5 of 5 stars Electric and atmospheric, Don’t Look For Me is so much more than a cleverly-plotted, beautifully-written novel. This gorgeously layered thriller is riveting, haunting and emotional, following a family broken by tragedy and asking if redemption is ever an option when the unthinkable…
Rapid Falls - Amber Cowrie
Rapid Falls by Amber Cowie My rating: 5 of 5 stars Cleverly plotted and utterly compelling, Rapid Falls is that rare story where you root for every single character – even those who may be the worst people of all. It’s sharply insightful while still being compassionate; creepy, while still being a beautiful exploration of…
To Tell You The Truth - Gilly Macmillan
To Tell You the Truth by Gilly Macmillan My rating: 5 of 5 stars A dazzling thriller with a compelling and unreliable narrator, To Tell You The Truth is fresh, bold and ferociously smart. The story begins with our protagonist, Lucy, a successful thriller author with a dark past – her little brother Teddy went…
Girls with Bright Futures - Tracy Dobmeier, Wendy Katzman
Girls with Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wickedly paced and devilishly clever, Girls with Bright Futures is a serious case of moms behaving badly, perfectly showcasing the dark side of ambition in the cut-throat world of elite college admissions. With a ripped-from-the-headlines feel a la Felicity Huffman, we get…
A Beginning At The End - Mike Chen
A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Some things cannot be undone. There is no reset. But we as a people can be smarter, better, and more focused on keeping it at bay. All of us carry this responsibility.” A few weeks back, I asked some fellow readers…
White Fragility - Robin DiAngelo
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo “One cannot change what one refuses to see.” White Fragility is a powerful, thought-provoking, enlightening and deeply meaningful book. It raises startling points about how white people have specific, sometimes unconscious, biases towards race while thinking we are colorblind.…