2021 Book Reviews

I was really excited to listen to The Maidens after listening to Alex Michaelides debut novel The Silent Patient which I really enjoyed. I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed and anytime a description mentions a secret society at a University I’m all in!

Mariana is a group therapist and her niece Zoe attends Cambridge, the very University she herself attended. One day Zoe calls to tell her that a friend of hers has been found murdered. A girl who had been a member of a secret society called The Maidens. Mariana feels she has to go to Zoe to lend a hand if she can. It isn’t long after she arrives though that she becomes focused on Edward Fosca who is a Greek Tragedy professor and also someone who is very involved with The Maidens. He has an alibi but Mariana can’t let it go. She believes he is a murderer and she will go to any and all lengths to prove it even when she ends up putting her own life in danger.

I enjoyed unwinding this thriller. There’s a great twist at the end which I always love. I listened to the audio which is narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Louise Brealey. I haven’t listened to either but both were very easy to listen to. While The Silent Patient is still my favorite this one is well worth the read as well!

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Stranded was the perfect book to escape into! It was so good. Imagine it… eight strangers sign up for a reality show and meet on an island to try and survive alone for a year. What could possibly go wrong???

You guessed it. A lot! As with most groups of people it doesn’t take long before tensions build and people begin to get irritated with each other and arguments erupt. You’ve got the opinionated, the bullies, and the followers. Then the individual groups form and the whispering starts along with the jabs. You can clearly see disaster looming. How bad can it get? How far will some go to shut others up? Will they kill for that silence?

This book raises so many questions about how people react to things and people within a group when there is no way out. It is a thriller but still shows that group mentality can become dangerous. I’m a fan of shows such as Survivor and Naked and Afraid so this book was right up my alley. I can tell you that it grabbed me from the beginning right up to the very end.

I listened to the audio and I’ll say it one more time that, for me at least, thrillers are so much better in audio especially if you have a good narrator. This one most definitely did and her name is Esme Sears and she does a phenomenal job! I haven’t listened to her before and I couldn’t find any other audiobooks narrated by her but I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to listen to her again. Even better she has a great accent. Stranded was a really good listen for me and one I recommend for you thriller lovers out there!

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I can describe this book in one word and that is WOW! Mirrorland is a dark and suspenseful thriller and so, so good. Books like this one reminds me of why I love to read so much. What an escape this one offered!

Mirrorland is about twin sisters Cat and El. The two grew up in a gothic house in Edinburgh and it is there that Cat returns to when her sister goes missing. Cat finds the house exactly the same and can’t help but to remember when the two were girls and had invented their own world called Mirrorland where everything their imaginations could conjure up existed. As Cat tries to find out what happened to her sister the lines between what’s real and only in her imagination become blurred. Is El missing and dead or only playing some twisted game with Cat?

I loved this story from the first page to the last one. It was dark and kind of creepy with a gothic feel to it which I loved. The world the girls invented in Mirrorland fascinated me and I enjoyed every twist and turn the author threw at me especially the ending. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Katie Leung. I haven’t listened to her before but I can tell you that I fell in love with her accent. I am a sucker for an accent whether it be a man or woman. Mirrorland makes my list of top books of the year for me!

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As you can tell I’ve been on a bit of a Lucinda Berry kick. I really enjoy her novels. She is a former clinical psychologist and I think that gives her so much insight on the human mind and for me it adds that extra element when I’m listening to one of her books. Missing Parts was another one that made it hard for me to put down the earbuds. I really wanted to reach the end to see what would ultimately happen. It’s a tale of how secrets can come back and destroy your carefully built life when you least expect it.

Celeste has always strived to have the perfect family having grown up abandoned by her father. She feels she’s achieved that with a great job, husband, and a little girl. However when her daughter becomes seriously ill Celeste’s world crumbles around her as a horrible secret is revealed. A secret that has the power to destroy all that she has built for herself.

I liked the book for the most part. There were a few things that niggled at me though. Before I get to that though the audio is narrated by Abby Craden and although I haven’t listened to her before I felt she really portrayed Celeste well and she was really easy to listen to. I didn’t however like the tone she used for the husband’s voice. I think she was trying to portray what a jerk he was but it just didn’t come off well for me. Still that was minor for me and I did like the book and look forward to my next book by Lucinda Berry!

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The Lighthouse family is definitely different and always have been. The parents of Dahlia, Charlie, Andy, and Tate are true crime obsessed. They even named their children after murder victims. The kids were all home schooled and received quite the education on any and all murder cases.

When their father passes away the kids, grown up, all gather back home to the isolated mansion they grew up in. All except one, Andy, who disappeared years ago and whose disappearance has all but dominated his twin Dahlia’s life. Soon after they arrive they are horrified to discover that the burial plot intended for their father contains their brother Andy, dead for years from an axe blow to the head. As the story unfolds deeply buried family secrets come to the surface as emotions run high. Just what happened to Andy all those years ago? Can you ever really know the people who surround you?

This was a great audio. It’s narrated by Emily Tremaine who I’ve listened to before and she does a fantastic job with this family drama. I’ve not read or listened to any of Megan Collins work before but I fully intend to now. I really enjoyed this twisted, dysfunctional family tale!

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The Woods are Always Watching is a YA thriller and I quite enjoyed it. It says this book is a companion to There’s Someone Inside Your House which I just got from the library so I’ll listen to it next. Far as I can tell though the stories are stand alone thrillers.

Neena and Josie have been best friends for ages but now Neena is moving away for college. Josie wants the girls to have one last hurrah and something to remember when they’re apart. They decide on a three day hike into a National Forest where people regularly hike. However it isn’t long into the journey before the girls are bickering and long held emotions are coming to the surface. They end up veering off the trail and into unmarked territory. What ensues is everyone’s worst nightmare!

The first half of this book is on the slower side but I found the second half picked up considerably and I didn’t want to stop listening. It was really good on audio. I find tension filled scenes always seem more real to me on audio. The audio is narrated by Reena Dutt and I enjoyed listening to her. All in all a good listen for me and stay tuned for a review on There’s Someone Inside Your House soon.

Review copy provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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