A haunting that takes the reader into the mind of a killer!
In 1982, 20yo Vivian opens the story as she arrives at work for the night shift in Fell, New York at the Sun Down Motel. Thirty five years later in 2017, Vivian’s niece, 20yo Carly, arrives in Fell to investigate her aunt’s disappearance. Vivian is one among several women that are surrounded by unknown circumstances, four others were found murdered. This begins a haunted story that will take Carly through her Aunt Vivian’s last days and into the thoughts of a killer. Excellent story, 5 stars!
Likes/dislikes: Spooky hauntings and great writing with alternating points of view between Carly and Vivian. Language: R for 127 swears and 17 f-words. Mature Content: PG-13 for implied sex by mentioning getting rid of virginity. Violence: PG-13 for bloody death. Ethnicity: predominantly white.
17yo Kaz leads a group of thieves in Ketterdam. He has built himself up from solitude, poverty and despair since he was nine years old and his brother died. Kaz wants revenge on the man who took everything from him and his brother by swindling them and he’s gaining power for this purpose. Kaz and his mismatched crew are attempting the biggest and craziest heist ever to gain more leverage and to get control of the person who has created a drug to make Grisha even more powerful. Kaz is good at keeping secrets and information quiet and it just might drive his crew apart.
Likes/dislikes: I love the intensity of the characters and the story itself. The background building of each character is fantastic. The danger and suspense make it a fun read! Language: R for 34 swears and one f-word. Mature content: PG-13 for implied sex. Violence: PG-13 for bloody stab wounds, and dead bodies impaled on pikes. Ethnicity: The ethnicities included are the following: Kaz is white, Inej is bronze skinned and Suli descent, dark skin Jesper, Nina from Ravka with green eyes and white, Matthias is also white.
The Apparat is supposedly caring for Alina, the Sun Summoner, while all of her allies have been accused of treason. The group escapes and goes in search of the Firebird, the third and last amplifier. Once again, Nikolai saves them and he brightens up everything with his clever wit and resilient personality. The elevator scenes made me laugh, with the great dialogue! The group fights the Darkling again and horrible things happen. The author brings the characters to life with her details and the development of Genya is impressive and creates empathy for her struggles and amazement for her bravery at the same time. The descriptive world building made me feel as though I was in the middle of the action. I could feel the air move as the Firebird flew by and my ears hurt with its screech!
Benji, born a girl, wants to be a boy (transgender), likes boys and is the Angel’s weapon to purge the Earth. Benji escapes and befriends the rebels becoming even more conflicted on top of identity struggles and dysphoria. Benji meets an LGBTQ+ group and joins the center keeping the fact of being a weapon a secret. Much violence takes place and loyalties are broken and built. A true mix of dystopian and horror.
Likes/dislikes: The book contains too much swearing. I struggled to follow the confusing circumstances because the author shoved a lot into one story. There’s too much going on to fall into the world and enjoy the storyline and it also kept me feeling distant from the characters. I do appreciate the author’s notes about the story’s origins and reasons and also content warnings. The made up pronoun, xem, added to the confusion. Mature content: PG-13 for underage drinking, implied oral sex, abusive relationship. Violence: R for bloody deaths and gore. Language: R for 151 swears and 72 f-bombs. Ethnicity: Benji is presumed white. The other ethnicities are quoted as “more non-white than white”.
17yo Josslyn lost her father, the Prime Minister, to an assassin a year ago during the Queen’s Gala. She’s attending the current Gala to support Celina, her best friend and the first daughter of the present Prime Minister, and to help Celina gain confidence. While at the Gala, Josslyn wanders to the art treasures display and accidentally absorbs magic when an artifact opens during the robbery she walked into. The robber, Jericho, knows the magic will cause swift action and punishment for Josslyn if the Queen finds out because she has completely banned all magic, so the two of them run and end up in the Queens prison after they search for help in removing the unwanted magic and discover they have something in common: the same assassin that killed Josslyn’s father, Lord Banyon, also killed Jericho’s parents. The magic Josslyn absorbed shows her Lord Banyon’s memories from sixteen years ago when he was being tortured and she continues to have these memories in full force, showing her a side of Lord Banyon that isn’t cruel at all. Lazos is the prison overlord and also a warlock who used to be the queen’s magic advisor, so Josslyn and Jericho ask him to get rid of the unwanted magic, but he strikes a deal first; Jericho must kill the beast in the prison before Lazos will help them. When the beast is discovered, many more secrets are revealed and the danger has just begun.
Likes/dislikes: This book is such a fun read! I enjoyed the humor and sarcasm. There’s plenty of action. The story is entertaining almost immediately and I loved the twists. Mature Content: PG-13 for brief, passionate kissing and underage drinking. Language: R for 115 swears and no f-bombs. Violence: PG-13 for bloody kicking, bloody shooting and bloody death. Ethnicity: Josslyn is white, the queen is white, Overlord is olive skinned, and all shapes, sizes and skintones are at the Fight Club.
Soon to be a Netflix movie! 20yo Elodie is excited to meet her betrothed, Prince Henry of Aurea. Elodie is one of three princesses who will be given to the dragon during Harvest Week in exchange for Aurea’s prosperity. Each year for the last eight centuries, three princesses from different parts of the world have been brought to Aurea under the guise of marrying Prince Henry, only to be sacrificed to the dragon. After unceremoniously being sent into the dragon’s lair, Elodie keeps going by relying on her wits, her strength and the help of past princesses through clues they’ve left behind. She might just survive to save the next princess.
Likes/dislikes: The story is slow in the beginning to give the reader a sense of calm but then the action picks up once Elodie learns the secret of Aurea. I enjoyed how the author meshed the past and present princesses together and the perseverance of each. I’m impressed how the author’s 13yo daughter created a functional language for the dragons in this story. The language syntax, grammatical rules and words are in the back of the book. Mature content: PG for brief kisses. Language: R for 35 swears, no f-bombs. Violence: PG-13 for Men being eaten by dragon, detailed sounds. Being burnt by flames. Pierced through skull by dragon wing point. Ethnicity: The ethnicity of Elodie and Henry fall to white, but brown skinned characters are found in the book also.
Tress has left her home of Diggen’s Point to rescue the Duke’s son Charlie from a forced trip to meet and marry a worthy woman of royalty. He’s actually been sent to the Sorceress to die. Tress disguises herself as an inspector to board a ship and when the ship is attacked she boards the winning ship, Crow’s Song. Tress has adventures involving curses, dragons, magic and surprises in store. She also discovers her strengths and loyalties and how far she will go to take care of the people she cares about. Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the humor throughout the book. The snippets of wisdom were fun. I like the unknowns of Tress’ adventures. The prose is charming and the world building is imaginative. Mature Content: PG for brief kissing. Language: PG-13 for 12 swears, no f-bombs. Violence: PG-13 for bloody death. Ethnicities: The book contains a variety of ethnicities. Tress is presumably white.
Tamsin,17, and her brother Cabell are Hollowers. Their guardian Nash left them behind after taking them on hunting trips for artifacts and now they have to make it on their own. The two of them have been trying to decipher Nash’s journal and break the cipher so they can solve the mystery of what happened to him and rescue him. Tamsin realizes the artifact they’re looking for is the Servant’s ring and believes that they need to travel to Avalon, King Arthur’s resting place, to find the ring and Nash. They find their way to Avalon in the company of prestigious Hollowers who have their own agendas falling headfirst into danger beyond anything they expected and into the unknown that will change everything.
Laurel, 19, lives and works on her family’s tobacco farm in midwestern America. Her friends, Ricky, Garrett and Isaac work alongside her. When they find a mutilated deer carcass in the woods and follow the bloody trail, an ominous feeling surrounds them. Laurel receives a warning from the local psychic that danger is imminent and Laurel understands because she has been having vivid dreams too. When a supernatural creature appears in front of their car, Laurel and Isaac see the danger face-to-face and know they’re in deep trouble.
Likes/dislikes: I appreciate the content warning at the beginning of the book. I like the close friendship between the four main characters. Christine intrigues me and there’s a whole story behind her background that begs to be told. Language: R for 57 swears and 120 f-bombs. Mature Content: PG-13 for mention of smoking pot, underage drinking, brief kiss, implied petting. Violence: PG-13 for mutilated and bloody deer carcass found in the woods. Undescribed child abuse. Monster harming a person, dead rabbit. Dead body. Ethnicity: Laurel and her friends are White.
Kate enjoys her acting job until the series is cancelled due to an inappropriate relationship with the producer and another teen actress on the show. Since Kate is only 17, she takes a competency test letting her continue acting without having to attend school. Her parents make her get a job and pay some bills because she took the test without their knowledge and they want her to see how much responsibility adults have to deal with on a daily basis. While Kate’s working, she witnesses a double murder but no one, not even the police, believe her. She enlists Ty, her best friend’s brother, to help find evidence. The danger multiplies and Kate and Ty do everything they can to stay alive.
Likes/dislikes: Kate’s friend Rowan is self-centered which builds Kate’s independence. The mystery becomes intense and suspenseful. I enjoyed Ty’s upbeat and loyal personality. Mature Content: PG-13 for the mention of sexual assault, underage drinking, relationship between a 17 year old teen actress and her 38 year old boss mentioned. Implied sex, intense quick kiss. Implied kiss. Language: R for 105 swears and 27 f-bombs. Violence: PG-13 for three undescribed fatal shootings, bloody shot wound. Ethnicity: Kate is White and Ty and Rowan are Asian. Mexican American, Latino and Black police officers are also mentioned.
The Thought Spot 