Although I like Lupica and Patterson as authors normally, I felt this book dragged a bit. I appreciated the short chapters and I like that I didn’t know the killer right away, but still I found it much too easy to put the book down.

Engaging story with two timelines; a reporter trying to get the inside scoop on a woman’s prison, and a modern day Detective trying to solve the mystery of an unknown body discovered in a cemetery. I loved it.

Spectacular audiobook narration by Julia Whelan.
Young Frankie McGraw enlists in the Army Nurse Corps and goes to Vietnam with very little experience or knowledge of what she’s getting into! Heartbreaking, gripping and informative.. I loved it!

While I did enjoy how a past and present case end up intersecting, I found the multiple names a bit tough to follow. To be fair, I was listening to the audiobook, sometimes at night just before bed, so perhaps my attention was waning, but there were several times when my brain was asking “Wait… Who is this guy?”
Rachel is a crime podcaster; she follows a case and shares the details with her listening audience as they are revealed by the police or, in this case, by a trial. She lets her audience decide whether they think the person is guilty or innocent. But as she’s following her current case, a person unknown to her leaves a letter on her windshield begging her to investigate a case from long ago and help bring her sister’s killer to justice. I was intrigued at the beginning, but my intense interest lessened a bit as the story progressed. Still a good read. If I could give halves, it would be a solid 3.5.

Although this book made me cry and that’s a very rare event… I loved the resilience of Rae, the loyalty of Splinter and the crusty imperfection of Lettie more than I’ve loved characters in a long time. I know this is one of those books that has eked out a space in my heart which won’t be relinquished. This is a story that haunts, but in a good way.

This was one of those thrillers where your brain gets tired while reading because it’s working nonstop trying to figure out who and what to believe.
Kristen and Emily, best friends, vacation together and something happens. They deal with it but then when vacationing together AGAIN a couple years later, something similar happens and they deal with that too, but the coincidence is too much for Emily and she starts to ask lots of questions. Kristen goes home to Australia and Emily returns to the States, but things are strained between them. Emily keeps asking questions, but the answers are slow in coming and she has to really work to find out anything. Even when she does find a little piece of information, there’s alway a lot more to the story.
Emily decides she needs to spend less time with Kristen but that’s not going to be allowed to happen. And now Emily has a boyfriend who’s also in the way.
And that last line?!?! Oh boy. What does it even mean?!?

So… I chose this because it’s a White Pine nominee and I like to see what’s getting nominated. I really wasn’t liking this much and I was close to bailing on it. I didn’t like the POV and I didn’t like the author throwing in an “authors note” periodically. It felt like I was reading a school creative writing piece from a twelve year old. And I didn’t even particularly like the main character, Dawn.
But, since I rarely bail on a book, I decided to give it two more chapters and then a bunch of stuff happens really quickly and the second half of the book just FLIES in a hold your breathe headlong plunge of pure OMGness … and my brain was screaming, What else can possibly happen?!?!
So… ya. The book definitely got better and I ended up adjusting to the style and liking it much more than I expected to. :-)
Warning: Does contain profanity for those of you who are sensitive to those things.

Felt like this was two stories in one book. Aaron Falk goes back to his hometown for the funeral of a friend whose entire family has been murdered. The evidence points to Luke Hadler having killed his wife and son and then himself, but Luke’s parents don’t believe that for a second and want Falk to use his Federal Agent skills to investigate.
Meanwhile, the town is NOT glad to see him back because a girl, Ellen Deacon, died when he was a young man and the town has always suspected him or Luke since they were friends with Ellen.
Trying to get answers in a town where everyone views you with hostility and suspicion isn’t easy, but that’s what Falk is going to do.
I enjoyed the slow reveal of clues, the believable explanation for everything and the way the two stories were shared through multiple perspectives.

Ginny Anderson’s dad restores old buildings. The family ends up on a summer trip to Michigan and to Ginny’s dismay, instead of settling into a nice hotel, they are staying in a very spooky house called Woodmore Manor. Within hours of arriving, strange things start to happen and Ginny wants to go home.
This is a gentle middle grade ghost story. One thing I really didn’t like was the title, which is quite deceiving. What Lives in the Woods really makes it sound like the woods and what is in them will play a big factor in the story and they just don’t. The title is intriguing, but doesn’t fit this book well at all. Although this is a well crafted ghost story, I felt a little bit cheated when I reached the end of the story and discovered that the title was connected to the book by only the slimmest of threads.

I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a YA fantasy book SO much! Very pleasurable read that I just could not put down.
Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!
Plucky main female character… a friendship turned love interest…. unusual female friendship with a guard… adorable, helpful sidekick who tags along like a baby brother… the cast of characters is wonderful
An inescapable. soul-sucking prison setting complete with cold, ruthless inmates and sadistically cruel guards… a Warden she can’t trust…four trials or Ordeals, any of which would kill a regular person….
This book just had endless things that I love, but what I loved most of all is that there’s a sequel!!! Yay.

Warning. This review contains one minor spoiler not mentioned on the book jacket summary.
A woman is kidnapped as a very young girl and taken to live in isolation as the wife of the abductor. She eventually gives birth to a daughter, Helena, who grows up in the marsh being trained by her dad in all kinds of wilderness survival including tracking, what plants are edible wild, and the killing of game through traps, knife and rifles. His parenting is harsh, cruel and often both psychologically and physically abusive, but Helena just accepts it all as normal. She knows her dad and when she defies him, like the time she refuses to shoot a wolf, she is well aware that there will be severe consequences for her disobedience but rebels anyway. Helena’s mom helps her when she can but can’t risk the wrath of her husband because everyone knows he would not hesitate to kill her.
Mom and daughter have an opportunity for escape (one of my favourite parts of the book) which is brilliantly written. I swear I was holding my breath for several pages. They do escape and when the book begins Helena is now a grown woman with a husband and two young daughters who know nothing of her harsh wilderness upbringing. She hears on the radio that The Marsh King has killed two guards and escaped from prison. She listens to the details of the futile chase for the escaped convict and realizes that the only person who has a reasonable hope of tracking and capturing him is her. She knows she has to hunt show more her dad and do whatever is necessary to keep her family safe. The book alternates between flashbacks to her young life growing up in the marsh and present time as she begins to track her dad.
The Marsh King’s Daughter is hands down my favourite book read in 2021 so far. I loved the fierce determination of Helena. At one point she’s injured and does something she knows will REALLY hurt just because it’s the only option she has. I was awestruck and cheering her on the whole time. This is definitely not a book for those with delicate reading tastes who are upset by violence. If you can’t watch Rambo movies (Sylvester Stallone)… you probably wouldn’t enjoy this either. However I LOVED her capabilities and how she applied her skills when needed and just did what she needed to do to survive. Plus, there’s a dog and those who know me know that’s pretty much a guaranteed like.
In case I haven’t been crystal clear… I highly recommend this if you’re looking for an original psychological thriller. show less

A flight attendant is put into a position where if she doesn’t do what an ecoterrorist says they will harm her daughter. Meanwhile her husband who has troubles of his own struggles to keep their daughter safe.

Not usually one who reads much romance but I am a sucker for books with German Shepherds in them. Zeus, a GSD, plays an important role in this touching story of a war vet who finds a picture of a woman, and is subsequently convinced that possession of said picture is what brings him luck and keep him safe. When he is discharged, he walks across the country to find the woman in the picture, based on the information he deduces from the background of the photo. I enjoyed it more than I expected.

Although I figured things out long before the ending, I still enjoyed this book.
A writer who is struggling a bit is running a writing workshop. One insufferable student brags about the plot of a book he’s writing to the teacher but doesn’t reveal many details. Then, several years later the teacher discovers the student has died without ever using the plot he shared. So, the teacher takes the plot, writes the story and the book becomes a best seller. A little while later he starts getting emails saying, “I know what you did. You’re a thief.” and he tries to find out who the letters are from….

Even though I’m an adult, I love this series! Finished this one in two days. Not going to tell you anything except that Jude bides her time in Faerie to keep Oak safe. She gets betrayed by someone close to her and something else happens that is pretty big, but I can’t tell you what.

I loved this story but my heart broke for Evelyn. This is a book that will stay with me for a long long time.

I listened to the audiobook, and absolutely LOVED the narration. It was fantastic and I’m going to miss the characters and their voices. If you like YA fantasy, this one is REALLY good.

A man is involved in a work scandal and goes on the run. His wife and daughter are left trying to figure out who he was and why he’s hidin now. Great fast read. It

This is one of those books whose ideas stay with you long after you close the last page. I thoroughly enjoyed thinking about a universe where every decision you make creates a new version of yourself, different than the person you were before that decision. Somewhere else you didn’t make that decision and that person exists too. Hurts your brain to think about it too much, but the book was oh SO good.

Fast paced. Loved the alternating perspectives of Allison and Maggie and especially loved the short chapters and how quickly the author moved between the two.
A woman and her husband die in a plane crash and the woman’s mom struggles to deal with her grief over the loss of her daughter. But then you quickly find out that the woman isn’t dead and there’s something suspicious about the crash.

This dragged a bit for me and I didn’t enjoy the flashbacks. I don’t see why certain things happened and I didn’t understand some of the choices the characters made. They seemed unnecessary to me. This was okay but not fabulous.

Definitely contains some worthwhile nuggets such as information about the importance of making habits attractive and obvious. Trying to implement the advice now. :-)

I felt like the book dragged on a bit as certain information was revealed. I also didn’t like the ending... specifically the epilogue. It was an entertaining read but I’ve definitely had murder mysteries that I enjoyed a lot more. This was good but not fabulous.

Fast paced, short and sweet.
Interesting idea.

This was my favourite Rockton novel so far. While on a camping vacation with Dalton, Casey finds a crying baby and a murdered woman. She is determined to find the baby’s family, if she can.

I know that not everyone loved this book. Some people found it too much like a “self help” manual, but I loved it.

”Never underestimate the big importance of small things,”

Contains spoilers!

What an ending! Can’t wait to read the third.
Lila and Kell reunite at a magic tournament where both are competing as other people.

What can I say except that I love the Rockton series. Reading a book in the series is like pulling on a trusted pair of old jeans; they fit the purpose, you know what you’re getting and damn they feel good.
I’ll confess that I am intrigued by the idea of a town that is completely off the grid and unknown to everyone except a privileged few. I also love Casey, Dalton and Storm. Now there’s a new character and I’m interested to see how that works out in the next book.

Spoilers contained here!

Listened to the audiobook and loved it. Nahri doesn’t know that she’s the last in a line of magical healers. She accidentally summons a warrior, Darha and he fills her in. Then he takes her to Davabad where she settles into the palace as their healer. There’s lots more going on but that’s all I’ll say.

This review contains spoilers.

Four London’s; White, Red, Grey and Black (which is sealed off) and a man, Kell who can travel between three of them. Kell accidentally bumps into a thief who successfully pickpockets something he doesn’t want but can’t easily dump. As he attempts to get it back, they are chased by Holland, another man similar to Kell, an ansari.
This is book one and I enjoyed it enough to want to read the next one.