Tag: 4 Star Rating

Book Review – The Survivors

The Survivors by Jane Harper / Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis

Kieran Elliott’s life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.

The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home.

Kieran’s parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.

When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away…

Kieran’s parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.

When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away…

Thoughts

This book started out a little slow for me but it quickly picked up and kept my interest until the end. I absolutely loved that I had no idea who was guilty until it was revealed at the end of the book. My first Jane Harper book and I was not disappointed!

I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Book Review – A Hundred Suns

A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe / Genre: Historical Fiction

SYNOPSIS:

An evocative historical novel set in 1930’s Indochine, about the American wife of a Michelin heir who journeys to the French colony in the name of family fortune, and the glamorous, tumultuous world she finds herself in—and the truth she may be running from.

MY THOUGHTS:

This was the first book that I’ve read by this author. She did a beautiful job describing Indochine (which later becomes Vietnam) and making the reader feel like they were there. The book also deals a lot with societal class (upper class vs. working class . . . the haves and the have nots).

I would absolutely say that this is a slow burn but it doesn’t take too long for the story to heat up and grab the reader’s attention. As I was reading the book I felt as if the story could have almost been split into 2 separate books, but with that being said both of the story lines were tied together nicely at the end so it all made sense. A good read for anyone who enjoys this genre.

I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Book Review – What You Wish For

What You Wish For by Katherine Center
Genre: Romance

Synopsis:

Samantha Casey loves everything about her job as an elementary school librarian on the sunny, historic island of Galveston, Texas—the goofy kids, the stately Victorian building, the butterfly garden. But when the school suddenly loses its beloved principal, it turns out his replacement will be none other than Duncan Carpenter—a former, unrequited crush of Sam’s from many years before.

When Duncan shows up as her new boss, though, he’s nothing like the sweet teacher she once swooned over. He’s become stiff, and humorless, and obsessed with school safety. Now, with Duncan determined to destroy everything Sam loves about her school in the name of security—and turn it into nothing short of a prison—Sam has to stand up for everyone she cares about before the school that’s become her home is gone for good.

Thoughts:

I received an advance review ecopy of What You Wish For for free from NetGalley and am leaving this honest review voluntarily. The book is due to be published on July 14, 2020 from St. Martins Press.

I have quickly become a fan of Katherine Center’s books! Her newest book is laugh out loud funny with lovable characters. While it’s a light hearted fun read, it also tackles the serious topic of ptsd and finding joy in life after living through a tragic event. This book did not disappoint and I think it will make a great summer read this year!

I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Book Review – The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.

In 2016, Eddie is fully grown, and thinks he’s put his past behind him. But then he gets a letter in the mail, containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank . . . until one of them turns up dead.

That’s when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.

Thoughts:

This book took me a bit to get into, but once I did, holy cow what a ride! I had to read it during the day because it is definitely full of creepy vibes. And let’s talk about the ending . . . blew me away!!! I’m definitely going to check out some of C.J. Tudor’s other books.

I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Book Review – Little Secrets

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
Genre: Thriller

Synopsis

A mother driven to the edge by the disappearance of her son learns her husband is having an affair with the woman who might have kidnapped him.


Four hundred and eighty seconds. That’s how long it took for someone to steal Marin Machado’s four-year-old son.

Marin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They’re admired in their community and are a loving family. Up until the day Sebastian is taken.

A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak. The only thing keeping her going is the unlikely chance that one day Sebastian reappears. She hires a P.I. to pick up where the police left off, but instead of finding him, she discovers that Derek is having an affair with a younger woman.

Kenzie Li is an artist and grad student—Instagram famous—and up to her eyeballs in debt. She knows Derek is married. She also knows he’s rich, and dating him comes with perks: help with bills, trips away, expensive gifts. He isn’t her first rich boyfriend, but she finds herself hoping he’ll be the last. She’s falling for him—and that was never part of the plan.

Discovery of the affair sparks Marin back to life. She’s lost her son; she’s not about to lose her husband, too. Kenzie is an enemy with a face, which means this is a problem Marin can fix. But as she sets a plan in motion, another revelation surfaces. Derek’s lover might know what happened to their son. And so might Derek.

Thoughts

I received an advance copy ecopy of Little Secrets for free from NetGalley and am leaving this honest review voluntarily. The book is due to come out on April 21, 2020.

This was the first book I’ve read by this author and I really enjoyed it! I was hooked from the very beginning of the book. It’s faced paced and kept me engaged until the very end. I will be reading more books by Jennifer Hillier and definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

I gave the book 4/5 stars.

Book Review – The Turn Of The Key

The Turn Of The Key by Ruth Ware
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unravelling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

Thoughts on the book:

I enjoyed this book. It was definitely a fast read and the chapters were mostly short which I enjoy in a book. I feel that there were parts of the book that felt a little drawn out. I did not see the twists coming at the end of the book and I actually had to read the first twist over again because I was so surprised as to what had just unfolded. I was a little disappointed with the ending of the book because I felt it ended abruptly and left me feeling like there were still questions that needed answering.

Overall, I liked this book and gave it 4/5 stars.

Book Review – How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas

How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas by Jeff Guinn
Genre: Historical Fiction (Holiday)

Synopsis

It’s 1620, and Mrs. Claus’s beloved husband is off in the New World, planting the seeds for what will become a glorious Christmas tradition. Meanwhile, Mrs. Claus has chosen to stay in England, where the first signs of a dangerous threat to Yuletide cheer are in evidence. The Puritans have gained control of Parliament and appear determined to take all the fun out of Christmas. But Mrs. Claus knows that it’s time for serious action when, in 1647, a law is passed by Parliament that actually punishes anyone who celebrates Christmas. Based on the actual events of Christmas Day in 1647, when ten thousand peasants marched through the streets of Canterbury demanding their right to celebrate a beloved holiday.

Thoughts

This is the 2nd book in Jeff Guin’s The Christmas Chronicles and just like the first book in the series The Autobiography of Santa Claus, there are 24 chapters which are to be read one at a time beginning December 1. Another wonderful holiday read!

I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Book Review – The Whisper Man

The Whisper Man by Alex North
Genre: Thriller

If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken . . . If you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you.

Tom Kennedy is a recent widower and decides to move to a new town with his young son, Jake, for a new beginning. The town he’s chosen to move to is Featherbank and unbeknownst to Tom, Featherbank has quite a dark past. Twenty years ago a serial killer kidnapped and murdered five young boys. Frank Carter was eventually caught and was given the nickname The Whisper Man because he would whisper outside the windows of his victims at night in order to lore them from their homes.

At the time Tom and Jake move into their new home, a boy vanishes and his disappearance bears unnerving similarities to Frank Carter’s crimes. Pete Willis was a Detective on the Frank Carter case and he’s now brought in to assist Detective Amanda Beck in the search for the missing boy.

Jake has told his father that he has heard whispering outside of his window and begins to demonstrate some disturbing behavior. Is the Whisper Man really back and is Jake possibly one of his next victims?

This book definitely gave me creepy feels! For me, the suspensefulness wasn’t consistent throughout the book. With that being said, however, I really did enjoy the book and ended up rating it 4/5 stars.

Book Review – Class Mom

Class Mom by Laurie Gelman
Genre: Chick Lit

Jen Dixon is not your typical mom with a child in Kindergarten. She’s in her 40’s and has 2 daughters who are both in college. Both of her daughters’ fathers were musicians and she wasn’t married to either of them. She ends up marrying Ron and they have a son, Max.

Jen is asked to be the class parent for Max’s kindergarten class and that’s where the fun begins.

This book is hysterically funny. It starts that way from the very beginning of the book and stays that way until the end.

I’m not a fast reader. It will typically take me a week to finish a book, but I read this book in 3 days!! A perfect read to take with you on vacation or if you are just looking for a comical quick read. I will definitely be reading the sequel to this book.

This book got a 4 star rating from me.