Tag: thriller review

Book Review: Guess Again by Charlie Donlea

For such a long time, I really wanted to read a mystery thriller, a proper one with a detective and all and when everyone started raving about Guess Again by Charlie Donlea. I knew it was time, and everyone liked it so much. So the book is about a girl, Callie, who disappeared 10 years ago. And the detective working on that case, Ethan Hall, now works as an ER doctor. He gets a call from his former detective partner to reopen this cold case and find unfinished answers.

I have to start with the plot, it was amazing with twists and twists coming every second. Throughout, it was engaging, and I really wanted to know how it would end. However, the book is huge with many chapters that are so short. The different places and timelines were so chaotic that I couldn’t keep up with them. Because of it, I was dreading continuing. At one point, I wanted to know, and at another point, I was getting confused with all the names of the places. I wish it were not written that way; it would have made the book fast-paced and more enjoyable.

I legit guessed the plot twist. I guess I don’t have to guess again! (hahaha) I will be honest, I didn’t like the plot twist, it was too predictable, or would I say too common for a thriller book. I like the vibe of the book, the chapters are short but very chaotic, which, for a thriller, might be a part I didn’t like, and till the end, it never really made sense to me about the places.

After reading the blurb, I thought that the detectives would work together; however, the entire book is totally different. The storyline is good, the vibes match with it perfectly; however, it was very common, so I didn’t find it amazing, or something I will rave to others.

The characters are good, including Ethan Hall, the main protagonist. The pressure of finding out what exactly happened to Callie, while his own personal and professional life is getting mixed up. As we move through so many POVs and characters, nobody really stands out as such.

If you want, you can give this book a try.

Rating: 3.5/5

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

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Book Review: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

After reading two books by Riley Sager and giving them 5 stars, I knew that Riley Sager’s plot twists are something very different and out of this world, which I love. So I decided to pick up Lock Every Door from him. So this book follows a girl named Jules Larsen, who is broke and doesn’t have a place to live until an opportunity comes to her. Basically, she gets the offer to do an apartment sitting at one of the most prestigious yet creepy Bartholomew apartments. Being broke gave her no choice but to take the opportunity, and after living there for just 2 days, one of the apartment sitters, Ingrid, disappeared without a trace. And Jules can’t sit and decides to find out what exactly happened.

First of all, the entire book is from Jules’ point of view. At first, I thought she was dumb because she was looking for a girl whom she had just met. But as we move on and get to the twist, that dumbness saved her life. Which I think is one of the smart ways to write a character in a thriller. I also loved that she suspected the culprit quickly and didn’t try to list out an excuse, given their past relationship.

It’s fast-paced and creepy; however, the plot felt flat for me. I already suspected the culprit, and when the revelation happened, as to why people are disappearing, I don’t know, but it didn’t make any sense at all. I just felt that more could have been done as the vibe of the book and the revelation don’t sit together. The book is creepy, but the revelation made it not good.

The plot, again, was very unpredictable; however, I already guessed the culprit, so it went flat for me. I wanted more, as the setting was so good, so it would be better if something paranormal had been the twist.

I don’t think so, you will miss out on much if you don’t read it, but again, it’s your choice.

Rating: 3/5

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: 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: 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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Book Review: Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

I picked this book after seeing so many positive reviews about the plot twist, and I was having a hard time finding a good thriller. In this book, we get to read the mystery behind people disappearing. First, Shelby Tebow went missing, and not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanished without any trace. Now, after 11 years, Delilah returns shockingly, and now everyone wants to know what happened, but nobody is ready for it.

Let’s start with the plot, and to be honest, it’s heartbreaking and really sad at the beginning, but as we move on with the story, the thriller aspect emerges. The writer did an incredible job of confusing the reader about who the culprit might be, as she introduced numerous characters and their connections to the victim. Because of this, I was not able to guess what the plot twist was. The story is different and fast-paced. I liked that it was not at all confusing, and everything ultimately made sense.

Now talking about the plot twist, I won’t lie, it was jaw-dropping, but not thrilling. The writer has added numerous characters and their plot lines, which would have made more sense; however, the plot twist was so random that I couldn’t digest it within the context of the book’s story. The plot twist definitely needs to be unexpected; however, in this book, I felt that it didn’t fit, it was so random that it made me dumbfounded. It was out of the box because there was not at all a hint about what the plot twist was from the beginning; it came out of nowhere. It was like another chapter, and boom, we got to know what exactly happened. I just felt that how the story started and the suspense the author added in the book didn’t tie up with the plot twist; it just didn’t fit. There could be more interesting plot twists that could have happened given the characters the author has created.

There are many characters in the book, and I have so many suspects; however, as I said, there is no hint about the plot twist, so it did shock me. There are many characters, and it doesn’t really focus on one, like we have the past story from Meredith’s point of view and the present story from her neighbour, Kate and her son, Leo.

I just wish the writer had used one of the other characters that she introduced in the book as the main part of the story, rather than such a random one.

The book is fast-paced and really easy to read, so I recommend it.

Rating: 3/5

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

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Book Review: None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

I came straight after reading the book to write my review because I felt insane about what I just read minutes ago. This book is insane, and my head is spinning at a high rate. The book follows the story of Alix Summer, a famous podcaster and a woman named Josie Fair whose past is full of pain. Josie and Alix share the same birthday, and Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcast and comes up with a plan that she might be a good subject for Alix’s podcast.

Let’s start with the character of Alix. I can’t believe she is a famous podcaster who interviews so many people and can’t even tell how a person is. I found Alix’s character to be so unrealistic that I hated her; she was the reason why things turned out that way in the end. She is such a famous podcaster and has a family, and she is so okay with inviting a random lady she met by accident just a few days ago to her house and letting her stay as well. I wanted to throw the book at her because she meets so many people and can’t tell a person’s nature, that’s impossible. Definitely the dumb character in the thriller I hate, and guess what, she is also the main character. She is to blame for everything, by the way.

Josie, what a character! She is someone who will gaslight and manipulate people so easily, but only a naive person like Alix, the famous podcaster, will believe it. The author has not exactly gone into her mind, but very simply, through her talks, we get to know her character. Then, too, her character was intense to read. The end was unexpected, actually, that’s more like the plot twist. We might think Josie is the main character, but no, it’s Alix as she gets tangled in her own mess she created, and she can’t even clean that up ever.

The plot is excellent. I won’t say there are any plot twists because it’s very clear what is happening. I think it’s more frustrating to see Alix’s character and realise how dumb she could be given her profession. The book is very fast-paced, and I read it in less than 24 hours. The second half of the book was pretty intense and thrilling.

The book is more like a warning than a thriller about how we should never trust a stranger and not bring them home if we have a family, because we never know what that stranger can do, and it can lead to a forever loss like what happened to Alix.

There are no plot twists, everything is clear as water; however, the last ending, OMG, is what made my mind go spinning because wow. It was definitely unexpected, and in a thriller, we never trust any person, no matter what, and that’s what the ending says.

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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