Tag: fiction

Then She Was Gone – Reviewed

On By KaylieIn Three StarsLeave a comment

I gave this book three out of five stars.

Lisa Jewell takes us through the journey of a mother whose daughter was kidnapped ten years ago, and never found. After ten years of putting her life on pause, believing she would find Ellie, Laurel’s marriage suffered and ended, and the rest of her family had taken the back burner. In a journey to find herself and her happiness again, she meets a new love interest, Floyd. As their relationship progresses, she meets Floyd’s daughter, Poppy, who bears a striking resemblance to Ellie in all the ways a girl, who is not the same girl, possibly could. As we follow the development of the relationships between Laurel and Poppy, and Laurel and Floyd, we are led to the discovery of the devastating truth about what has happened over the last ten years.

Doesn’t that sound like a book that would have you at the edge of your seat, turning pages violently, and wishing you could just read faster to find out WHAT ON EARTH is going on here? I thought so too.

I DID enjoy this book, but after finishing it, I have mixed feelings. Part of me wanted to give this book five stars, because of how effectively Lisa Jewell really made me FEEL for the characters throughout this book, but the book was just much different than what the presentation of it advertised to me, and maybe that’s just my own fault.

It just wasn’t fast-paced, thrilling, page-turner as I had expected. It was more of a slow burn, with a few parts that had me at the edge of my seat. I did read this book in a little bit over one day, but it was not difficult for me to put it down when I needed to — disappointing.

I thought the storyline was interesting, and for the most part I had no idea what was coming next. I think maybe the slow burn type of deal presented here was necessary to set the stage and provide the reader with all of the context needed for the last 15 percent of the book. The ending left me feeling a lot sadder than I had expected.

Lisa Jewell is an incredible writer and remains one of my favorite authors, and I would still recommend this book, as long as your expectations are in check.

What Lies in the Woods – Reviewed

On By KaylieIn Four StarsLeave a comment

I give this book four out of five stars!

22 years ago, Naomi Shaw was attacked in the woods. She and her friends provided testimony to put away a sought after serial killer for life. Today, after he dies in prison, the truthfulness of that testimony is brought into question. Yes, he was a bad man, but did he die in prison because of a lie? We follow Noami and the people she meets along the way as she tries to decipher what the truth really was.

This book kept me actively interested 95 percent of the time, and the other 5 percent of the time I wanted to know the outcome so badly that it was easy to keep reading. I think I said “what the fuck?” at least thirteen times throughout the course.

The book really picked up in the last 50 or so pages, and there were tons of twists. Some were a bit obvious from the beginning, but some were way out of left field. There were a couple turns that I felt like in hindsight I should have seen coming, but I didn’t! I’m so glad I didn’t need to put the book down at all during this section, because I wouldn’t have been able to! Honestly, if my house were burning down, I would have taken the book with me.

Marshall’s writing in terms of imagery was astounding — I almost felt like I was watching a movie in my mind while reading this. I particularly felt this way as I neared the end.

I will say, I was a bit surprised at the end to find out the book had taken place over the span of only a few days. While reading the book, I definitely thought a couple of months had passed… or at LEAST a few weeks. But maybe that was just my misunderstanding.

Additionally, the end did feel a liiiiiittle bit outrageous. But, that’s okay.

This was Kate Alice Marshall’s first thriller, and I’ll definitely be reading her next. If you like a fast-paced thriller that truly will KEEP you guessing, you NEED to read this one!

The Housemaid (#1 of 3)- Reviewed

On By KaylieIn FIVE STARS3 Comments

Easy five stars!!

This book honestly blew me away, but I’m having trouble writing a detailed review, because I don’t want to give ANYTHING away! It was so easy to read, it was suspenseful, and there were twists I didn’t expect.

The book follows the story of Millie, a convicted felon who has recently been released from jail, desperate for a job. Despite her past, Millie is shocked to be hired by a wealthy family as their housemaid. Millie assumes Nina must have surpassed her background check, but could she really be so lucky? Millie is in for a shock when she finds out why she was truly hired.

About halfway through the book, it seemed like the storyline was almost over, and I wondered how that could possibly be, when I still had so much of the book left. Oh, let me tell you, it was NOT almost over.

The first half of the book is told primarily from Millie’s point of view, but once this first plot twist takes place, it switches to Nina’s for a while. I will warn you, at one or two points the storyline becomes a bit gruesome, but it is so worth the ick. The entire storyline comes together perfectly and was SO well executed. Freida McFadden is a genius, and her writing style is intriguing and so easy to read.

I actually didn’t know this was the first of a trilogy when I bought it, and I’m KICKING myself for not buying the next book at the same time.

HIGHLY recommend. Really, I cannot stop telling all of my friends they have to read this book. Please read it, you won’t regret it.

The Five-Star Weekend – Reviewed

On By KaylieIn Four StarsLeave a comment

“The weekend was filled with so much drama someone could write a novel about it,” and that’s exactly what Elin Hilderbrand did.

I was really looking forward to reading this one, after hearing such great things about it. I certainly wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t blown away either.

Hollis Shaw is a recently widowed food blogger, who lives a fabulous life between Massachusetts and Nantucket. After her husband dies, she hosts what she calls a “five-star weekend,” with her best friend from five different eras of her life, at her glamorous house in Nantucket.

This book switches points of view (often) between each character in the book, which I thought gave the reader a very well-rounded view of what was happening, and it was nice to have insight into each character that the other characters didn’t have about each other. Each character has their own issues they are battling and are using the weekend as a getaway from, and the end of the book gives a resolution for almost all of them – another plus!

I think my only major gripe with this book was that there wasn’t enough physical character development from the beginning. The scenery, and each character’s aura were very well described and easy to imagine, but I found it difficult to actually picture each of the people in my mind to complete the picture.

I typically go for books that are fast paced and intriguing, and this one was more of a slow burn. When I had to put it down, I wasn’t bummed, and while I wasn’t reading it, I wasn’t dying to get back to it.

Overall, the book was good. A nice, leisurely read, and I really enjoyed Elin’s style of writing. This was my first Elin Hilderbrand novel, and I am definitely looking for recommendations for my next one!

I give this three out of five stars.