Tag: thisgirlsbookshelf

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Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson- Book Review

I had high hopes for this book. I had seen many people who like this book and was hoping to love it as much as them, but I was a little disappointed. I think the story as a whole was intriguing, but I had a hard time really liking the characters. I also got a little bored with the story going back in the past so much. I understand that the author was wanting to give background into the characters, but I ended up getting bored and felt it took away from the main part of the story itself. I enjoyed the fact that the author wrote the story from the different perspectives of the characters. I would give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC. This book will be published June 25th.

Synopsis:

Eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell stands accused of the brutal murder of a man almost fifteen years her senior. She is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. What reason could she have to know a shady businessman, let alone to kill him? Stella’s father, a pastor, and mother, a criminal defense attorney, find their moral compasses tested as they defend their daughter, while struggling to understand why she is a suspect. Told in an unusual three-part structure, A Nearly Normal Family asks the questions: How well do you know your own children? How far would you go to protect them?

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The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager- Book Review

I think Riley Sager may be becoming one of my favorite authors. I just read the third Riley Sager book this month and once again I was not disappointed. If you are looking for great suspense books with a little thriller then his books are a must. While I really enjoyed this one, it wasn’t my favorite of his. I would still absolutely recommend reading this one though. I was guessing at the big secret the whole time I was reading this book and it was definitely a shocker at the end. What better place for suspense and thrill than at a summer camp? (Which it also makes a good read for this time of year since it’s summer time) I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. While it wasn’t my favorite of his three books it’s was still a great read with a great ending.

Synopsis:

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she–or anyone–saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips. Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings–massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. When the paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale, she implores Emma to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor. Seeing an opportunity to find out what really happened to her friends all those years ago, Emma agrees. Familiar faces, unchanged cabins, and the same dark lake haunt Nightingale, even though the camp is opening its doors for the first time since the disappearances. Emma is even assigned to the same cabin she slept in as a teenager, but soon discovers a security camera–the only one on the property–pointed directly at its door. Then cryptic clues that Vivian left behind about the camp’s twisted origins begin surfacing. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing mysterious threats in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale and what really happened to those girls, the more she realizes that closure could come at a deadly price.

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The Good Sister by Gillian McAllister- Book Review

Thank you to Net Galley and Putnam Book for giving me the ARC of this book to read and review. Let me start by saying I could not put this book down. At the beginning I was little lost with the two sisters and who was who, but once I figured it out I couldn’t stop reading. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and loved this story. I can’t imagine being in Martha’s shoes and losing a baby, while also having my sister on trial for the murder of my baby. I don’t want to give too much away, but I ended up picking my chin off the floor because of what unfolded in this story. I give this book ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ only because I was little lost during the first few chapters.

Martha and Becky Blackwater are more than sisters–they’re each other’s lifelines. When Martha finds herself struggling to balance early motherhood and her growing business, Becky steps in to babysit her niece, Layla, without a second thought, bringing the two women closer than ever. But then the unthinkable happens, and Becky is charged with murder.  Nine months later, Becky is on trial and maintains her innocence–and so does Martha. Unable to shake the feeling that her sister couldn’t possibly be guilty, Martha sets out to uncover exactly what happened that night, and how things could have gone so wrong. As the trial progresses, fault lines between the sisters begin to show–revealing cracks deep in their relationship and threatening the family each has worked so hard to build. With incredible empathy and resounding emotional heft, The Good Sister is a powerhouse of a novel that will lead readers to question everything they know about motherhood, family, and the price of forgiveness.

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Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter-Book Review

Let me start by say that I love Karin Slaughter books. I love her writing and all the details she puts into her stories. She leaves nothing out (and sometimes that can be graphic) so this book is not for the faint of heart. But if you love thrillers, suspense and lots of twists and turns, then this book is perfect for you. I couldn’t put this book down and ended up reading it in two nights. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to find out what happened in the end and I was not disappointed. I loved both of the sisters in this book. They were completely different and I loved that. They both have secrets but at the end they are both wanting an answer regarding the disappearance of their oldest sister. This story has so many emotional moments that you feel as if it’s a part of you. I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, and can definitely say it is now one of my all time favorite books.

Synopsis:

More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that’s cruelly ripped open when Claire’s husband is killed.
The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.

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Harry Potter Podcast

Hey there fellow Harry Potter nerds! This summer I’m joining a podcast on The Rebrew Network as a guest to discuss all 8 Harry Potter movies. I’m excited to be on the show as the resident book expert to compare the movies to the books. The first episode was released on Friday, so take a listen and let me know what you think! Search for “Groans of Castamere” on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere you find your podcasts.

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The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths- Book Review

The Ruth Galloway stories have become one of my favorite series. I have read all 11 (yes, there are 11) books in this series. I just read this newest one which is The Stone Circle, and I’m excited to be giving my review. It’s always so easy for me to jump back into this series with every new book that comes. I love Ruth Galloway’s character and the importance she places on her career. She is an archeologist who teaches class and helps with buried bodies from crime scenes. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but wasn’t my favorite in the series. It left me wanting more, but I did enjoy that it solved a cold case that took place decades before, which was a nice twist. I would give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️, but I will continue reading the series because I do not think one book makes an entire series. I want to continue to see where Ruth Galloway goes with her career as well with her relationship with Nelson.

Synopsis:

DCI Nelson has been receiving threatening letters. They are anonymous, yet reminiscent of ones he has received in the past, from the person who drew him into a case that’s haunted him for years. At the same time, Ruth receives a letter purporting to be from that very same person—her former mentor, and the reason she first started working with Nelson. But the author of those letters is dead. Or is he?…. The past is reaching out for Ruth and Nelson, and its grip is deadly.

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The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware- Book Review

I love Ruth Ware’s books. I have read many by her and have enjoyed all of them so far, and I had no doubt I would love this one as well. I loved the main character Rowan and really the entire story as a whole. It’s great a suspense story with a little paranormal activity mixed in. I was hooked from the beginning and I loved all the secrets that were involved in making this story so intriguing. I also loved how this book was written. It’s in the form of a letter from the main character, Rowan, to a leading lawyer. The letter is basically her telling him her story, from the beginning, in order to get him to defend her against a charge for a murder she didn’t commit. I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ because I loved the character and all the twists and turn in the story. Thank you to NetGalley, Scout Books, and Gallery books for the ARC. This book will be published August 6th and you will want to add it to your tbr list for sure!

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.

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All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda- Book Review

I have been seeing Megan Miranda books everywhere, so I thought I would read one. I picked up All the Missing Girls at a second-hand book store for $4 (what a steal?), and I dove right in. Through the first few chapters I was a little lost because I didn’t realize the story is told backwards. Once I figured that out, I was able to really get into the book. The middle and ending were fast-paced and kept me on edge until I finished it. There were so many twist and turns and so many secrets. I really enjoyed this book. Since I was a little lost during the first part of the book, I rated it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. The ending made this book and it won’t be the last I read by Megan Miranda.

Synopsis:

Like the spellbinding psychological suspense in The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive, Megan Miranda’s novel is a nail-biting, breathtaking story about the disappearances of two young women—a decade apart—told in reverse. It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched. The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

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Never Tell by Lisa Gardner- Book Review

I received this book to read and review from NetGalley and Dutton. I didn’t realize until after I’d finished it that it’s actually the second book in the D.D. Warren and Flora Dane series, but I still really enjoyed it. I was able to read and enjoy it without reading the first book in the series. I really liked Flora Dane’s character. She is a hard-ass, but given what she went through (more detailed in the first book), she has every reason to be. There were lots of twist and turns and a shock at the ending. This story mainly revolves about a character named Evie Carter who has found her husband dead. Secrets are exposed about her husband that she could never have imagined. She is also haunted by the shooting and death of her father, which is still unsolved. I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I would probably have enjoyed it more if I had read the first book before so that’s on me. I just finished the first book so that review will be coming soon.

Synopsis:

A man is dead, shot three times in his home office. But his computer has been shot twelve times, and when the cops arrive, his pregnant wife is holding the gun. D.D. Warren arrives on the scene and recognizes the woman–Evie Carter–from a case many years back. Evie’s father was killed in a shooting that was ruled an accident. But for D.D., two coincidental murders is too many.  Flora Dane sees the murder of Conrad Carter on the TV news and immediately knows his face. She remembers a night when she was still a victim–a hostage–and her captor knew this man. Overcome with guilt that she never tracked him down, Flora is now determined to learn the truth of Conrad’s murder.  But D.D. and Flora are about to discover that in this case the truth is a devilishly elusive thing. As layer by layer they peel away the half-truths and outright lies, they wonder: How many secrets can one family have?

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Little Darlings by Melanie Golding- Book Review

The best way to describe this book would be creepy and haunting- it’s definitely one to read with a nightlight on. I read it a few times in the dark and creeped myself out a little. This book did a great job of incorporating a dark fairy tale along with the story, and I think that’s what madeit so intriguing. I really liked the main character Lauren, who is a new mom to twin boys and who lives in fear of something happening to them. She sees a vision of a creepy woman wanting to swap her twins with hers, but there is something not quite right with the fake twins. Lauren has to do the unthinkable, which is why it was so hard for me to put this book down- I had to know what was to come. Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for sending me the ARC of this book to read and review. I also just found out that this book will be made in a movie oh so soon! I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I really enjoyed it, but there were a few main characters who got on my nerves, and I felt that they sometimes took away from what was going on.

Synopsis:

Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own…creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things. A month passes. And one bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. But when they’re found, something is different about them. The infants look like Morgan and Riley—to everyone else. But to Lauren, something is off. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to scream, These are not my babies. Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren will risk the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw…she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life.