Thank you to NetGalley and Death by TBR Books for an ARC! Comes out September 9!
I feel really awful about this because I hate being negat 1/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Death by TBR Books for an ARC! Comes out September 9!
I feel really awful about this because I hate being negative about ARCs but I just DID NOT vibe with this book at all. It made me angry and was honestly misleading. I need writers to stop hiding their dark serial killer romance stories behind the guise of a psychological horror. PLEASE.
The book follows crime scene photographer Lydia, who becomes obsessed with the ‘artistry’ of a new serial killer in town. She’s a sociopath, he’s a sociopath, they both love photography and have tragic pasts so boom, they’re a match made in hell. But there is so little complexity in their characters or thoughts. I see people comparing this to Dexter, which is a much more compelling portrait of a serial killer, where is he plagued by his past and his clashing objectives. There is no complexity to Adam or Lydia, and there is certainly no complexity in the way law enforcement is treated: a system that fails kids and is full of bureaucratic idiots. These things may be true, but we never get any more insight into this or even a glimmer of nuance. It’s cut-and-dry.
Ultimately, Hiding Lies is full of plenty of gore, but the real horror is in Lydia getting turned on over the dead bodies of some kids. ...more
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for an ARC! Comes out September 9th.
Welcome to the disgusting town of Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire 2/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for an ARC! Comes out September 9th.
Welcome to the disgusting town of Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire! You’ll get weird blood rituals, unexplained tragedies, violence en masse, and torture! How fun. Will it ever be explained what’s happening here or why? Do we ever get more insight into the brief intermissions in this story about random gory tragedies occurring years before/after the events of this story? No <3 I know this is book 1 of a trilogy but throw me a bone, man.
This book was a lot of bleh. It follows Rupert Cromwell, a 17-year-old boy who has been tasked – alongside his father – to guard the massacred bodies of over 100 of the town’s residents. The perpetrators are a faceless family of 3, who then get imprisoned by the richest man in town.
I would say this book is supernatural in nature but it feels so disjointed that I honestly cannot tell for sure. There are many stories within this story, which meant I could never really connect to Rupert. I was always being distracted by some misc townie being subject to the worst horrors known to man. All for seemingly no reason, as it never ties back into the main story or characters.
Speaking of characters, Rupert is honestly a sick little fuck that I do feel bad for, but I do not want to read from this kid’s POV anymore. Through his eyes we witness A LOT: death, torture, sexual assault, necrophilia, paedophilia, incest THE LIST GOES ON. It felt like the author was throwing everything at the wall and hoping it would stick, but it just didn’t. And none of it seemed to endear me to Rupert.
I needed more backstory, more context and world-building, not a 20-page description of Rupert heading into town with his father, ruminating on every aspect of his life. Burnt Sparrow is a creepy town and I wanna know more about it, but not like this.
A generous 2 stars because I can’t bring myself to rate an ARC 1 star and because it definitely isn’t as bad as Throne of Glass. <3 ...more
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy!
You know when someone is so dumb that you can’t believe they have e 3.5/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy!
You know when someone is so dumb that you can’t believe they have existed up to this point without getting mauled to death by something stupid like a chicken? That’s how I feel about Abigail and her husband Sam.
The Surrogate Mother follows Abby, who has been struggling with fertility for years now. When her adoption falls through, her assistant (Monica) offers to be her surrogate, and things go off the damn rails.
This is another completely bonkers book from Freida McFadden, but so entertaining. My insomnia was killing me, so I read this entire book between the hours of 12am-3am in one sitting and let me tell you … the rage I felt was unlike anything before. This book is EVIL and made me want to STRANGLE SOMEBODY. Abby is an idiot, but I felt for her and was rooting for her to fix her shit. Sam could probably die and I would cheer. And Monia … well, you’ll see.
The pacing was obviously incredible and I literally couldn’t put the book down and despite the characters being stupid, I really enjoyed this read. It felt like an especially crazy episode of Law and Order: SVU and I am so here for that. I think this one will really take off when it comes out, although it doesn’t beat The Boyfriend for me just yet. Freida continues to write the most entertaining books ever and I will probably always eat this stuff up, even if it makes me want to bang my head against a wall ...more
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advanced copy!
I will forever be shocked at how much better this is than book 1. Just a MA 4/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advanced copy!
I will forever be shocked at how much better this is than book 1. Just a MASSIVE step up in quality and I am so, so impressed.
We continue the story of Lukan, Flea and Ashra trying to discover the secrets behind Lukan’s father’s death and woooooooo boy this one was good. We go to a new city, Korslakov, a fucked-up oligarchical alchemical nation at perpetual war with beast-like men to the north, all to open Lukan’s vault and finallllyyyy learn about his father and his death.
The story was so much more complex and interesting in this one, as were the characters. I adored learning more about Ashra and seeing her POV grow and become deeply linked to Flea and Lukan. Top tier found family right here. Ashra is a badass thief, Flea is a little rascal (I say with love) and Lukan is just a hot mess with daddy issues (love that for him).
One big improvement was the characterisation: Lukan felt much more complex in this story, and his changing feelings toward his father and the gang were touching. We actually get scenes of him and Ashra talking/arguing and then ruminating on these fights, all of which were sorely missed from book 1 which seemed to jump from plot point to plot point without any kind of introspection.
The plot was much more interesting and twisty. I felt book 1 to be really predictable, but this one was a wild ride. By far my favourite part was the Ashgrave sequence, and I can’t wait for people to read it and enjoy it as much as I did.
Now give me book 3 as I NEED MORE ANSWERS THANK YOU! ...more