Category: Review

The Drowning Kind+Review



“Miracles are not without their price, my darling”

Jennifer McMahon has done it again, folks!


Another beautifully written timeless ghost story. I have grown to expect nothing less from McMahon, as every book I have read is better than the last, the next story more original, more chilling, and more real than the last!


Come sit, let me tell you a story. The story of Sparrow’s Crest, the beautiful, sprawling stone estate built in the Vermont countryside upon the healing waters of the Brandengurg Springs. The springs, said to be cursed, said to hold healing powers, and grant wishes. These springs hold a secret far more powerful than any one person can fathom.
This story is a brilliant, refreshing ghost story that I will not soon forget.
Beautifully written from two POV is the story of Jax, who has come home to Sparrow’s crest after her sister Lexie has drowned in the spring fed pool on the property of the estate- and the story of Ethel, her great-grandmother who’s husband built the home upon the rubble of the hotel that was once there.
Jax and Lexie have been estranged for many years, a strained relationship that all returns to those waters. That pool. That house.
McMahon take us on Jax’s mission to understand what happened to Lexie in her final days. Coming back to Sparrow’s Crest after so many years, finding it in shambles, papers upon papers all leading back to the springs; Lexie spends her time there trying to unravel the mystery of her sisters death.


I love McMahons timeless style of storytelling, and I can honestly say I was not prepared for this one. It hit me right in the gut, and held on until the very end. Food? Water? Sleep? Who needs those things? I found myself gripping my kindle underneath my covers in the middle of the night imagining the bumps, wet feet padding on my wood floor….my front door creaking open….One piece of advice? Don’t read this book in the dark.

Brilliant. I can NOT wait to share this book with everyone, and I can NOT wait to have a paperback copy in my greedy little hands.

Thank you Netgalley & scour Press Books for the advanced copy of my new favorite ghost story!

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A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5


Pippa Fitz-Amobi is a BADASS! This is the strong, smart protagonist I have been craving and I👏AM👏HERE👏FOR👏IT!
.
Pippa is a true crime junkie with aspirations to be a first-rate journalist. When it comes time for her final year project, she chooses her small towns most notorious unsolved crime-the murder of Andie Bell.
What starts innocently enough, her project soon turns into an unraveling of secrets and lies that leaves Pippa questioning everything she thought she knew about this case- and some of the people closest to her!
With the help of the alleged killers brother, the two of them take on this project with fearless grit, and won’t stop until they have found the REAL killer.

This is a brilliant debut that takes us straight into the investigation alongside Pippa and Ravi, unraveling clue after clue.

I felt like I was investigating right along with the main characters, each clue and new person of interest leaving me with more questions. I love a twisty mystery, and wasn’t at all expecting this one! I was with them until the very end. Each character is so well developed, and I found myself falling in love with fearless Pippa and her unwavering determination for justice. Honestly, I could talk all day about the things I loved about this cast of characters!
Holly Jackson knocked it our of the park with this debut novel, it’s a fantastic read for all ages whether you are 13, 30 or 100. Definitely my favorite read of 2020, and guys, there is a SEQUEL!😳 Good Girl, bad blood came out in April of this year, and-drumroll please- book 3 is set to come out next year! It just keeps getting better, and I can’t wait to get my hands on these books! Get them, read them, and let’s talk about them!

The Drowning Kind

First of all I want to say THANK YOU to Simon & Schuster Scout Press & NetGalley for my advanced copy of The Drowning Kind by Jennifer Mc Mahon. Without the wonderful publishers and Netgalley I wouldn’t have the opportunity to review so many fantastic books. I love what I do, and I couldn’t do it without them!

So, let’s talk about this delicious morsel- Not only is this book beautiful, it is a modern day ghost story and that is something I can NOT miss!
Jennifer McMahon is the author of one of my favorite books, The Winter People, and from the sound of it, this book is going to be just as good.


DESCRIPTION👇

Be careful what you wish for.
When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.

In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.

Do you like ghost stories? Paranormal thrillers that will keep you up at night, guessing and checking every noise you hear? If that is your jam, Jennifer McMahon is your girl! I was never really into the paranormal stuff until I read The Winter People, and I was hooked. Not only does she write a kickass ghost story, but the mystery had me reeling! I love a good twisty book.

What is your favorite ghost story?

The Drowning Kind will be published on April 06, 2021, so keep an eye out for it!

Find Her

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Flora Dane is a victim. Flora Dane is a survivor. Flora Dane is reckless.
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Lisa Gardner has an exquisite way of storytelling that puts you directly into the mind of Florence Dane, kidnapping victim. Florence has been a survivor for 472 days. She was the girl who fed the foxes, loved the sunshine on her face, the girl who grew up playing on her momma’s farm in Maine. Flora is the girl who was abducted from a Florida beach while on spring break from college. 472 days ago.


This is my first Lisa Gardner book, and I just have one question- where have these books been all my life? I have read a lot of mysteries and psychological thrillers and I tend to figure them out pretty early on. This book was anything but predictable, and even though I did figure out the culprit near the end of the book, it didn’t take away from the story for me at all. This book was a beautiful unraveling with so many symbolic references that complimented the story perfectly. If you like psychological thrillers, and a good, solid mystery you will love this book.
This is the 8th book in the Detective D.D. Warren series, who, by the way is a badass, strong female protagonist, which I can’t get enough of! I’m still wondering how I missed the first 7 books, but now I have something to catch up on, because I’m officially a Lisa Gardner fan girl, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Get this book. Read this book- and let’s talk about this book! It’s a fantastic story that is relevant and beautifully told.

Red, White & Royal Blue

Casey McQuiston’s debut novel is a morsel!
With a refreshing combination of some of my favorite guilty pleasures-British royals, American politics, and a good sex scandal, I was instantly enamored.
Alex is the son of the U.S. president. A charming, driven political up-and-comer.
When Alex and his sister June attend the royal wedding, Alex “accidentally” pushes his nemesis Harry (THE PRINCE OF WALES) into the GASP- $75,000 ROYAL WEDDING CAKE!
Alex and Harry caused quite the media frenzy, and trying to avoid any international conflict, Alex’s mom (the POTUS, btw😍) and her team start damage control.
As Both sides force Alex and Henry into damage control, their friendship blooms into a romance that has Alex questioning his sexuality, and honestly…..YAASSS QUEEN!


This book is everything, and TOTALLY worth the book hangover.
The politics give me hope, and the love story is perfection. READ.THIS.BOOK.

Sidenote- Casey Mc Quiston’s next book “One Last Stop” will be out next year, and for those of you who fell as in love with Alex and Harry as I did, Casey McQuiston has said, and I quote….”I would be surprised if you’ve seen the last of Alex and Henry.” It’s not over guys!

Go buy this book, I hope you love it as much as I did.

Happy reading, Friends!

The Stranger

Book title: The Stranger

Author: Harlan Coben

Pub date: March 12, 2015

Genre: Thriller, Suspense

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The Stranger was exactly what I needed to take my mind off being stuck inside my house for an indeterminate amount of time!
This was my first Harlan Coben novel, and I am officially a fangirl now.
I have read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, but this one….I didn’t see this one coming!
The stranger had me reeling from the first chapter, and the twists just kept coming, all the way to the end!
The story follows Adam Price, an attorney married to Corinne, a woman with an explosive secret!
When Corinne leaves town after being confronted by Adam, he is convinced something is wrong and he’s determined to find his wife.
I liked Adam, he was endearing and brave. I like a strong, brave, persistent protagonist, and Adam checked every box!
Although we learn of Corinne’s secret in the first chapter, the twists keep you guessing until The. Last. Chapter!
Fantastic, entertaining book with enough twists to keep your mind off of real life for a few!
Definitely recommend this book…now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put my jammies on and binge the Netflix series really quick! Byeee👋🤣

Where’d you go, Bernadette?

Book title: Where’d you go, Bernadette?

Author: Maria Semple

Pub date: August, 2012

Genre: Fiction, Humorous fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I can feel the irrationality and anxiety draining my store of energy like a battery-operated racecar grinding away in the corner. This is the energy I will need to get through the next day. But I just lie in bed and watch it burn, and with it any hope for a productive tomorrow. There go the dishes, there goes the grocery store, there goes exercise, there goes bringing in the garbage cans. There goes basic human kindness.”
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Bernadette Fox is a gem. I relate to this woman on so many levels. I, too, wear my sunglasses as a mask every single day at pickup so that I do NOT have to make eye contact with gnats, and it truly is a beautiful way to keep that tiny sliver of sanity when surrounded by the buzzing, but I digress.
Where’d you go Bernadette was a beautiful, poignant story that made me feel like a fly on the wall hearing the gossip from every angle and it was glorious and fun!
Bernadette is a strong, funny, and brave protagonist that exists to show us that we can overcome, we can keep going, we can start again, and we can kick the shit out of life! .
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Side note- I watched the movie after I finished the book, and it was just as good, if not better than the book! It was a fun Bernadette marathon!

Verity

Book Title: Verity

Author: Colleen Hoover

Pub Date: Dec 7, 2018

Genre: Psychological thriller, Romance, Mystery

Verity was my first Colleen Hoover novel, and Colleen, I hear you girl! This book is a breath of fresh air among the psychological thrillers I have read as of late, and it was 100% unputdownable! I had this book in my hand for almost 24 hours straight, and was on edge THE. ENTIRE. TIME.

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling author trying to make ends meet when the publishers that work with mega successful author Verity Crawford contact her. Verity has been in a tragic accident and is unable to complete the final books in her series. After some convincing and an offer of more money than any sane person on earth could refuse, Lowen agrees to write the remaining books that ailing Verity is unable to. When Lowen arrives at the Crawford house to go through Verity’s notes and outlines for the books, she realizes that Verity is in worse shape than she ever could have thought. Among Verity’s many papers in her home office, Lowen finds an autobiography manuscript that will leave her questioning everything she thought she knew about Verity, her family, and the danger she may be in.

You guys, this book had me questioning everything until the very end, and then some. What was real? Can you ever really know someone completely? What are you supposed to believe? Are these things actually happening? WHAT is happening? I devoured this book and loved every morsel! I could not figure this one out, and, friends, I enjoyed every second!

So fam, who wants to volunteer as tribute to take care of my family while I read every. single. Colleen Hoover book ever written? Let me know, because after this, I AM READY!

If you pick up this book, ( and I hope you do, truly, it is a GEM) let me know, lets talk about it! I CAN NOT GO THROUGH THIS ALONE!

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The girl from Widow Hills

Book title: The girl from Widow Hills

Author: Megan Miranda

Pub Date: June 23, 2020

Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller

“I was the girl who survived. The girl who held on. The girl you prayed for, or at least pretended to pray for-thankful most of all that it wasn’t your own child lost down there, in the dark. And after: I was the miracle. The sensation. The story.”

The girl from Widow hills is a psychological thriller hold the thrill. For me, Arden’s story fell flat in so many ways that at several points during the book I had to almost talk myself into finishing it.
Arden was 6 years old when she was swept away by the flood waters while sleepwalking one night. They found her days later clinging to a storm drain, miraculously alive. Coming upon the 20 year reunion of her rescue she braces herself for the flood of media attention even though she has moved away and changed her name. As the 20 year reunion creeps closer she finds herself sleepwalking again, something that hasn’t happened since the incident all those years ago…Only this time when she is jarred awake by a ringing phone in the distance, she stumbles over a corpse. A mystery man….

I had high hopes for this book, but I felt that it was repetitive-how many times do you have to reiterate to the reader that she was sleepwalking and was swept away by the flood waters, how many times do we have to hear about the lone tiny shoe clinging to the storm drain, a clue that she must have been stuck in the drain system, how many times do we have to hear that her mother used the story of her survival for her own gain? I read these points more than several times throughout the book and was internally screaming each time I heard about them..AGAIN.
I did not connect to any of the characters in this book, they all felt void of personality to me, Arden was bland,kind of a shitty selfish friend, and the other characters in the book lacked back story and any kind of details that would emotionally connect the reader to them…none of them had any personality traits that stood out to me.
It’s been a few years since I have read a Megan Miranda book, which was why I was so excited to pick this one up. I enjoyed Miranda’s other books, and was hoping to enjoy this one just as much, but I didn’t.
HOWEVER, I will give it a solid 3 stars based on the fact that I did not predict the plot twist at the end AT ALL. I did not see that one coming. It happened so fast, within 4 pages the climax hit, missed, and was over.
If you are up for an atmospheric thriller with a good twist at the end, pick this one up, you wont see this twisty ending coming!

*Many thanks to Netgalley & publishers for my advanced copy of this book!*

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The Burning

🌟🌟🌟/5

Title: The Burning

Author: Laura Bates

Pub date: April 07, 2020

Genre: YA Fiction

“We are the granddaughters of the witches you could not burn. And we’re not putting up with it anymore.”

Anna and her mother make a new home in Scotland hundreds of miles and a new country away from the home she grew up in. Told from the perspective of Anna Clark as her and her mother navigate a new life together without her father, who has passed away, trying to put her past of online sexual harassment and abuse by her friends and school mates behind her. They hope by erasing all of Anna’s social media, and moving, the problem will go away on it’s own.

They move into an old cottage by the sea, which Anna finds once belonged to a woman accused of witchcraft, and their stories begin weaving together from there, with Anna having troubling, vivid flashbacks of the woman’s life.

While I am not the target audience for this book, as a woman, I connected to it in more than one way. The readers are taken down the paths of two women, while hundreds of years apart, find themselves in similar situations, discovering just how powerful, and detrimental a rumor can be. This book would be beneficial for any woman to read, with a powerful story that is relevant to our day and age, and deals with the many faces of abuses young women have to deal with, Online bullying & Harassment, Slut-shaming, rape, victim blaming, just to name a few. These topics are dealt with in the present day of Anna’s life, and the life of the accused witch that lived hundreds of years ago.

I found the way Bates weaved the women’s stories together quite lovely, and the “visions” not only fit within the book at perfect times, they fit the story so well that both of the narratives had my heart breaking for these girls at the same time.

This book is a slow burn, taking quite some time for the reader to discover just exactly what Anna was running from in her previous life, and while I enjoyed this book, I found it incredibly tedious waiting for the author to unravel the details. I was expecting more of a climax, an AH-HA moment that felt like it never came to fruition, and the story just fizzled out. All in all it was an ok debut that dealt with important subject matter relevant to girls in our day and age, however I felt that it fell flat for me in more ways than one.

**Thank you Netgalley and publishers for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

The Burning will be available on April 07, 2020

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