Tag: book review

Book Review: His and Hers by Alice Feeney

It was good, but I was waiting for it to be great. That was the only thought that came to my mind after finishing the book His and Hers by Alice Feeney. At first, I picked up Beautiful Ugly by her, but DNF’d it. But I really wanted to read a book by her, so I picked this up. The book follows the story of newsreader Anna Andrews, who is put on a case about a woman’s murder in Blackdown, a British Village. The detective Jack Harper suspects Anna; however, later, he becomes the suspect in his own murder investigation.

Just like the title emphasises, the book is from his and her point of view, which was definitely entertaining. The character of Anna was intriguing; it was traumatic to read what happened to her. Definitely, the twisty past kept me hooked till the end, so I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The character of Jack was not particularly important; however, I appreciated how the author linked the murder to Jack’s past. Overall, the plot is good, but the plot twists were predictable from miles away. Maybe I have read so many thrillers that it felt like I had already read this story.

The past definitely felt really traumatic and disturbing, which made the book really dark. Another thing was that it was twisty; twists were coming, but I guessed it all. The main culprit, when it was revealed, I knew it, so no shocking factor was there while reading this book.

The ending was really good, so much was happening that I felt the rush in my mind while reading.

I recommend it.

Rating: 3.5/5 (Please proceed by looking at the trigger warnings.)

Side Note: I just want to clarify that this is entirely my opinion; you are free to love this book, and I am free to give my opinion on this book. I would be very happy if you loved this book, but please do not take this review to heart, and it is okay to have different tastes. Thank You.

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: Look Closer by David Ellis

This book is truly the gift of my patience because it took the entire 50 per cent of the book to actually feel like I was enjoying it. I kept it going because every single review about this was 5 stars, so I knew I needed to keep going and guess what, it’s a 5-star read of mine, and I am feeling grateful that I didn’t DNF this book. The book follows the story of a wealthy couple, Simon and Vicky, who seem perfect from the outside, but they hide a lot of terrible secrets. Their secrets and the web of lies started to come out when a body was found near their place.

First, I have to start with the plot, which has me rooting for the villain throughout the end, and I was so happy with the ending. The game plan was spot on, as the main characters manipulated everyone in the book, as well as me. No way, I guessed the plot twist because it was not all at once, I was moving through it and got the realisation and the way my jaw dropped. I think this book has one of the best plotlines because everything was simply written, there was nothing out there, but slowly, slowly, we went through it. I guessed one plot twist; I understood it right away, so that was a win for me.

The story is narrated from three points of view, and at first, I was very much confused, but slowly, it made sense. I won’t say it’s a fast-paced thriller as the first 50 per cent book, nothing really happened, or as such we read it, later it made sense.

Then the characters were amazing, actually, all of them are grey, and in a thriller like this, they fit perfectly. Simon and Vicky were perfect partners now, in what you have to read that, as I am not going to give spoilers. Also, the book title is so perfect because we truly need to look closer to see what is going on. Vicky and Simon are some of the smartest characters because OMG, what I loved every second of them. At the end, I was truly happy to pick this one.

Please read it, it’s so good and fun. At first, it will be testing your patience, but in the end, it’s going to be worth it. I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 5/5

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: The September House by Carissa Orlando

The perfect book review for the perfect month with the perfect vibe. The September House by Carissa Orlando is my favourite horror thriller and mystery book, and you know why? Because it’s funny as hell, I was laughing rather than creeping out by the book. The book follows the story of Margaret and her husband Hal, who bought a Victorian mansion at a very low price. But then they started discovering haunted things in the house that only happen in September. Margaret is not ready to move as it’s her house; however, after four years, Hal can’t take it anymore and leaves. But he is not returning the calls of their daughter, Katherine, who is unaware of the house, and she has never visited the house. And now she is on the way to the house to find her father, and the worst part September has just begun. How Margaret hides about the house is fun to read.

Let’s start with the main character, Margaret. Only one thing to say about her, she is fantastic. It is so rare to like a character of a thriller book, and I was rooting for her till the end. The woman is so adamant that she won’t leave the house, no matter what. And a lot was happening to her physically as well as emotionally. Her talks are my favourite, she is so sarcastic and knows how to deal with things perfectly. Because of her, I loved the entire book and never got bored with it.

There are other characters as well, but they don’t play much. It’s actually just Margaret and her house, so here the house is another main character. I loved the house and the creepy things it does. I don’t think so, I have never read anything so unusual, but I loved every second of it. The house was definitely creepy, but I didn’t find it much; it depends on the reader. There were many fascinating things about the house. Firstly, it happens only in September, and what it brings is so much fun to read. The house characters were amazing, and the way they all came together in the end was mind-blowing to read.

Talking about the plot, it’s a mixture of horror, comedy and thriller. Nothing is foreshadowing but working together, there is not much thriller, but the plot twist I loved. The plot is engaging and so fast-paced that I couldn’t stop reading it. Actually, I just wanted to read what Margaret has to say.

The author’s writing is so simple, the way she has described the activity happening in the house and the dialogue of Margaret, I loved every second of it. Honestly, I thought the ending would be like that only; however, in the end, the plot twist, wow, it still amazes me when I think about it. I loved that the author decided to end like that rather than how it was going, and I thought it would end. The ending scenes were my favourite; it was like I was watching an action-packed movie, and it really felt like that.

I highly recommend it.

Rating: 4.5/5

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: The Eternity Train by M Ahsan Al-Haadee

First of all, I will start by saying thank you, Ahsan, for sending me the digital copy of the book. So basically, as you all know, I love mysteries and thrillers, but what better could it be when magic is also added to the same? The Eternity Train is a book with everything you would ask for: thriller, mystery and magic, and I don’t think I have ever read such a beautiful description of things. The book is about a fourteen-year-old girl named Daffodil who, after an argument, runs away from home and boards an unsettling train at Moor Street Station. At first she doesn’t notice, however, as the journey goes on, Dafoodil realises that the train doesn’t seem normal and she is stuck. The only way to escape is by solving the puzzle and uncovering the secrets.

First, I need to start with the plot. I have never read anything like this before. I am not going to lie, at first it was hella confusing to wrap my mind around what was going on, but later with Daffodil I was also on the wild ride. The book is a part of a duology, so it is still very much incomplete to see how Daffodil will move forward. The description done by the author was so fantastic because everything about this train and the way it was surrounded was out of this world. I absolutely loved all the descriptions; it made me feel that I was in the book.

Then talking about the Character of Dafoodil for a fourteen-year-old, she is one of the smartest girls who knows how to use her brain. I really like her emotional as well as her intellectual mindset. I liked her interaction with other characters, and the way she started to know how to play this game was amazing to read.

In the book, I found some of the interesting characters with such an amazing plot. My favourite thing was definitely the description of things, and the author’s writing made it easy to understand where the story is heading. I was really looking forward to what unknown land the train would take us to, and each time it didn’t disappoint. The ending shocked me, so all I am going to say is.

I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 4/5

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

I am really in my thriller era, and the next on my list was The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf, and it was the first book I picked by this author. I wanted to read a one-room thriller with a mysterious vibe, and I think this one did a great job. The book follows the story of a woman, Wylie Lark, who retreats to a small cottage in the middle of nowhere to write her new novel and gets stuck in a deadly snowstorm. Things turned bad when, in the middle of a snowstorm, she received an unexpected visitor, which left her in shock. But she doesn’t know how that visitor is going to tangle her with her own secrets.

Let’s start with the character of Wylie, a woman who is trying to build a good relationship with her son. At first, I couldn’t guess how she would be connected, but OMG, the plot twist. And she is definitely a hard-core thriller main character who would survive it. I saw the plot twist coming from miles; however, when it got revealed, it was so good. There are many characters in the book, and all of them are just mindblowing and the way they got connected. I think that is what I really loved in this book, and perfectly, all of the timelines and POVs got connected.

The plot is amazing. At first, I felt a little confused keeping up with all the POVs, but the way it all got connected in the end was absolutely mindblowing. The storyline is emotional, I won’t say it’s creepy for me, and definitely the curiosity to learn what happened. It is fast-paced, and the writing is really good.

This thriller is in four POVs, and it narrates the story of three different timelines. It was definitely a task to keep up with three different timelines, but the author’s writing really made it easy to focus. There are many plot twists. I saw some coming while others were different and shocked me, and it was amazing.

The ending is beautiful, especially the last line before the epilogue. I prefer ending where it all makes sense.

I highly recommend it.

Rating: 4/5

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: The Only One Left by Riley Sager

I think this is my first five-star thriller, and I have been waiting to write this review. The book has been stuck in my mind since last week, and I can’t wait to share it with you all. I never thought I would find a five-star thriller, but here I am. The Only One Left, another book by Riley Sager, I think he has become my favourite thriller writer, because the first book I read, The House Across the Lake, was a 4.5-star for me. This book follows the story of a caregiver, Kit McDeere, who gets an assignment to look after Lenora Hope, who lives at a house situated on a cliff. Lenora Hope is not an ordinary person but someone who has unalived her whole family.

Let’s start with the plot; it is everything I wanted in a thriller. There is a twist at every point, and it’s also horror, which makes this book thrilling and mind-blowing from start to finish. I was unable to get any twists right because when twists happened, I was shaken to the core. The storyline is so twisty, it felt at first that the story was going to be dragged, but what twist upon twist was just pouring. There are not many characters, as well as the setting is just one gothic mansion, but the writer did an incredible job by not just repeating the same thing again and again, but added a twist in almost every chapter.

The setting is definitely creepy, plus the mansion is on the cliff, so it makes the book more intimidating. The character of Kit is one of my favourites; she is actually a mind-blowing person for a thriller. The way she got tangled with Lenora Hope was chilling to watch. Lenora Hope is a character you can’t describe without a spoiler unless you have read the book. The characters are very complex, which made it hard for me to guess the twist, and I didn’t get it at all. I was not thinking about it; it just appeared when Kit found out I was shocked with her.

The ending is so beautiful, it is such an irony to write this about a thriller book, but believe me, when I read the last chapter, I was smiling because it was so heartwarming. I don’t think so, I haven’t read any thriller where the ending is so beautiful.

There is everything that I loved about this book, from its plotline to its characters. If you want to take any suggestion, please take this one.

Rating: 5/5

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: No Exit by Taylor Adams

Another thriller I picked up was “No Exit” by Taylor Adams. The blurb seemed interesting; however, the book is totally different from what I expected. It’s more intense than a mystery. The book is about Darby Thorne, a college student who gets very badly stranded by a blizzard at a highway rest stop in the middle of nowhere. She is not alone but with four complete strangers, and she has to spend the night with them. Then she discovers that one of the parked cars has a little girl locked inside, and the story gets intense.

OMG, this book is so intense, there is literally no time to breathe in between, nor for Darby, and none for the readers. I felt that this book had a lot of potholes, and the only thing that kept me on the edge was the intensity of Darby running to save her life. Just like any typical thriller character, Darby was an absolute idiot at the beginning. At first, I thought she might be using her brain, but no, my assumption was wrong.

She is with four strangers and she is guessing by their clothes who is good and who is bad, which should never be done because clothes tell nothing, nor do the good behaviour that strangers pretend to have. The second, the stranger started being good with Darby, I knew it was a huge red flag, but Darby didn’t see it. I was so confused throughout the book about whether I should be mad at Darby for sharing everything with the stranger or pray that she survives.

The culprit was revealed very early, according to me, and then the plot twist happened, and I was expecting it after reading so many thrillers. The book is totally about Darby and the girl running away from the culprit and surviving the blizzard. So many times they could have been saved; however, the situation made it worse.

I can guarantee you that throughout the whole book, you are going to scream at Darby to save her life and be out of the situation, as well as pray that she doesn’t get caught. The plot is all about the chase between Darby and the culprit, and it’s too intense; I could feel Darby breathing for her life.

If you are expecting that this thriller is all bout mystery and plot twists, then this book might not be for you, but if you are expecting crazy chase and intense fight, then please go ahead.

Rating: 3/5(please check trigger warnings)

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

The amount of time I have heard people talk about this book, especially the middle plot twist, is what made me pick this book right away. The thriller book I am talking about is I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. This book is about a mother, Jenna Gray, who, in a tragic accident, lost her son, Jacob. She is not able to cope with being in a house filled with memories of her son, so she decided to move to a small cottage on the Welsh coast. At the beginning, she started feeling better; however, suddenly her haunting past secrets seemed to follow her there.

The book is divided into two parts as well as two points of view. One, we have Jenna’s point of view from the first person and then the detective working on the case from the third person. I won’t lie, it took me some time to get the hang of different pov’s. I can’t really talk about the characters as there are spoilers pretty much in it. But the characters are not what we expect them to be, and it’s obvious that it’s a thriller book.

I went into this book thinking something absolutely different, and you might as well, but OMG, the middle plot twist. What was even that? I don’t think anyone could get it because it is so distinct and extraordinary. The plot twist happened so randomly that I read that again and again in order to understand what happened. There are many suspects which make it impossible to guess the plot twist. The plot is definitely confusing as there are two points of view, and the author did a great job of adding elements in a way that we can’t get the plot twist.

The storyline, as I said, is something totally different because I felt it was mostly romance, with thriller being a sub-genre. I think that the book was a little long, as most of the time there was just romance and not any thriller. I had to make sure that I was reading a thriller, not a romance book. Some detective parts felt unnecessary as they mostly focused on romance rather than solving the case.

The plot twists and the story are pretty good for a thriller book, as it gave me a headache, but the romance part killed it for me because I felt that it was unnecessary at some point, which made the book feel long. But the plot twists are really good, so maybe give it a try.

Rating: 3/5(please check trigger warnings)

Side Note: I just want to clarify that this is entirely my opinion; you are free to love this book, and I am free to give my opinion on this book. I would be very happy if you loved this book, but please do not take this review to heart; it is okay to have different tastes. Thank You.

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: The House Across The Lake by Riley Sager

Yes, I am in my thriller era and will be in it for a long time. The next thriller pick of mine was The House Across The Lake by Riley Sager. I read so many good things about his writing, so I knew I had to pick, and I started with this book. The book follows the story of Casey Fletcher, an actress whose husband recently passed away, and she is trying to escape the press. So she retreated to her family’s lake house to find peace. However, the house across the lake was recently bought by a couple, Tom and Katherine Royce. The couple from outside seemed glamorous; however, as Casey from her house started spying on the couple through binoculars, things went absolutely crazy.

Let’s start with the character of Casey Fletcher, just like everyone says, never trust anyone in a thriller book. Even when the story is told from the main character’s point of view, that doesn’t mean they are not crazy. I couldn’t believe what I read when the plot twist happened; my jaw was on the floor, and I’m not exaggerating. I don’t think so, anyone would get the plot twist because the writer, through his writing, made everything so clear yet clever. I will just say Casey is absolutely crazy, but in a good way for a thriller book.

Then we have the couple, living across the lake and just like the description, there is a problem going on between the couple; however, I would say it can be deceitful. I don’t think so, I can say more otherwise it won’t be fun. However, it’s so good, the plot twists OMG what?!?!?! I really want to talk to the writer because what was he thinking writing the plot twist?

Then we have the plot, basically a drunkard girl who is trying to find peace, finds that the couple across the lake is not what they seem, as Katherine goes missing, and Casey thinks it’s Tom who has unalived her. And now she is trying to investigate, simple, right? No, it’s all deceitful in a good way. I absolutely couldn’t get the plot twists, and I don’t think anyone could because it’s so different and jaw-dropping. No, I seriously want to talk to the writer because the plot twist was mind-blowing and nobody can guess it because it’s so out of the world. And all the plot twists just come out at the same time, connecting the story, that’s my favourite part.

I highly recommend it if you want to read something different and jaw-dropping.

Rating: 5/5(please check trigger warnings)

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: Confessions by Kanae Minato

I just watched a recommendation for this book, and the synopsis was so intriguing that I immediately read it. This was originally written in Japanese and then translated into English. When I tell you, my mind went crazy after reading this, because it’s truly a psychological thriller. Yuko Moriguchi is a single mom of a four-year-old girl, Manami. She is her everything until an accident took Manami away from her. But Yuko knows it was not an accident, but her pupils killed her daughter, and now she is out for revenge.

The book is from many points of view, which makes it very interesting for me. When I say it’s revenge, it doesn’t mean physical harm, but mental harm. Yuko is one of the best characters because she took her revenge in such an interesting way without any physical torture, but mental torture. I was shocked on every page because the book is written very clearly and simply. The character tells the story in a letter or lecture manner, and OMG, it’s phenomenal.

The plot is simple about the incident of the child, and the people who are related to it are talking about the same. However, it’s very unique and unexpected because revenge is all about the mental and psychological way, which I loved.

I went into this book thinking something else and more like a detective vibe, however, it’s all psychological. My head was spinning the whole time I was reading this book, and the plot twists made it more intriguing. There are many characters; however, I do not want to spoil anything, that’s why I am just talking about Yuko. The book talks about mental issues and how they relate to the incident, and it’s so freaking interesting. I don’t think so, I have read such a unique book in my life.

I highly recommend it, please just read it.

Rating: 4.5/5(please check trigger warnings)

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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