All is Not Forgotten

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc of All is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker! Jenny Kramer attends a high school party where she is raped and left on the grass afterwards. A treatment to erase horrible memories from your mind has been created and is used on Jenny to erase the trauma. The treatment erases the memories from your mind, but they live on in the soul and body. Jenny can’t remember the rape because of the treatment, so she can’t point out the rapist, but she remembers useless information that she can’t place, such as a strong odor, a song, and why she was outside in the first place. I like how the story is told by the psychiatrist and, through his point of view, shows the emotional upheaval of everyone involved and the precarious nature of being a therapist. The whole controversy surrounding the memory treatment brings up a barrage of questions and what-ifs.

Another person, Sean Logan, has been given the memory treatment also, after he lost his SEAL comrades and his right arm while he was activated. The treatment has made healing difficult for Sean also.

The parental advice hits the nail on the head: “We need our parents to love us without condition, without logic, and beyond reason.” This is true for a person to be able to grow up with a strong self-esteem and would be ideal for all of us. The hypocritical statement made by the therapist about his own children soon after telling Jenny’s father to let his anger go, feels very selfish and one-sided. “If we can’t protect our own children, we are wretched.” Sad to say, the world is a big place and we can’t be with our children 24/7 and that is very hard on parents who want to be there for their children.

A lot of food for thought and the tables keep turning in this psychological thriller!

The Replacement Crush

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the arc of The Replacement Crush by Lisa Brown Roberts! Viv is beginning her junior year of high school with her best friend Jaz. She lives with her single mom who owns a bookstore and writes mystery novels under an unknown pseudonym. Viv likes Jake and then she discovers that he is a hormonal jerk. This makes her decide to create a replacement crush list filled with guys that she has no romantic interest in. During her replacement crush quest, she meets Dallas, a senior from Wisconsin who just moved to town with his family. Dallas begins working at the bookstore with Viv and he has some secrets of his own. Torturous, emotional and romantic turmoil, cute nicknames, references to readers and bloggers everywhere and even some scary, suspenseful drama make me give The Replacement Crush 5 stars!

 

All of Us Were Sophie

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to Resa Nelson for the opportunity to read and review her book, All of Us Were Sophie! The first chapter describes Sophie worrying that someone is trying to kill her and what she is doing about it. Her husband has invented a duplication machine that destroys the original, but will make several copies at once. Sophie duplicates herself in order to discover who is trying to do her in. The mystery of who is trying to do Sophie in just keeps getting deeper. Every time I thought I had the villain pegged, I found out I was mistaken. Alternating points of view build up the mystery and make it very unpredictable. All of Us Were Sophie is for anyone looking for a clean read mystery!

Mirage

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the arc of Mirage by Tracy Clark! Ryan loves skydiving and she does it often because her parents own a skydive business. Ryan starts seeing another reflection in the mirror along with her own and she sees eyes looking at her in random places. She feels as though someone is watching her. Ryan loves adrenaline so much, it’s almost like a death wish. Something changes and Ryan is not the same, she has to struggle for her identity amid confusion, heartbreak and tragedy. Mirage is a powerful story that I read in one evening because I became so immersed that it was impossible for me to stop. Some adult content described vaguely (for those readers who prefer to know ahead of time). Mirage contains dynamic characters, suspense and thrills and it is a deep and thought provoking story! I would read it again!

Spectrum

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to Aidan J. Reid for the arc download of Spectrum! This interesting and tragic thriller is a short tale that takes place in a set of clinical trials. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop until I was finished. This short story has made me interested enough to want to read Aidan J. Reid’s other books, Pathfinders and Sigil.

 

Watching Edie

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the arc of Watching Edie by Camilla Way! The first chapter shows Edie as a middle aged woman who suddenly has an unexpected visitor that she doesn’t want to see, Heather. Then the story moves between past and present, showing the relationship of Edie and Heather from the time they were teenagers, when they first met, until the present time. I do not want to give anything away, but this book has been compared to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and that is a good comparison. Thrilling and suspenseful, as well as heartbreaking, Watching Edie is a read that will leave you with a sunken feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Wake the Hollow

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for the arc of Wake the Hollow by Gaby Triana! I absolutely love this book from beginning to end. Micaela goes back to Sleepy Hollow after her mother has passed away. She left her mother to live with her more stable father several years earlier. Her friend Bram picks her up from the train station and she stays with him in his apartment. She has night terrors often and hears voices and she is unsure who she can trust. The tone of the story is a bit ominous, which makes it difficult to put down. I enjoy the lines from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving at the beginning of the chapters. The mystery of Washington Irving’s descendants grows and so does the danger to Micaela. The suspense lasts throughout the book and the supernatural touch brings the right amount of thrill to the story. Wonderful spookiness!

The Broken Ones

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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The Broken Ones by Sarah A. Denzil is another great thriller full of suspense by the author of Saving April! A mystery dealing with a middle-aged woman living with her mother who has early onset Alzheimer’s. There is such a great twist in this book and I did not see it coming, especially to that extent. Sophie discovers a horrible secret, an act that her mother set forth. I can’t say more than that because I do not want to spoil anything for the potential reader. Sarah A. Denzil knows how to spin a tale of mystery, suspense and danger with creativity and intelligence. I look forward to reading more of her books!