I have a “normal” schtick for how I write reviews, and it doesn’t really ever deviate. I make some sassy remarks, explain the plot a little, discuss what worked and did not work for me in the book … but I just can’t do it with this one. Any other book, sure, but it feels wrong, in poor taste, however you want to slice it for me to treat this book with anything but somber, grim-faced acknowledgement. Rating: My Dark…
I read and adored Simone James’s The Broken Girls not too long ago, and had immediately snapped up The Sun Down Motel when it was offered as a January 2020 BOTM pick. I sat it on my TBR shelf and waited for the right time, because I knew that James wrote with themes and that one day it would reach its little tendrils out to me and say “OK Patricia, today’s the day.” Turns out that day was in June 2020, six months…
Wow, Miracle Creek was a rough one. Not because of the subject matter necessarily – unfortunately, I think it fell into the dreaded “everyone hyped this book up so much it’s perfect omg” trap, where everyone told me how great the view from this one hill was but I wound up slipping down into a ravine and stuck with a broken leg yelling up at the sky like “this isn’t what I wanted.” Review: How I’d Describe This Book to a…
I fell in love with this book when I saw its delighful cover on YouTube, back in January. Recipe is made to look like an ancient, faded cookbook – its dust jacket is cracking, and it’s even textured in a couple of ways to make you feel like you’re holding a 70 year old book in your hands, even though it was printed a mere 6 months ago. I purchased this book before a work trip to California, packed it…
I confess I had never even heard of this book, despite its appearances on multiple “best of 2019” websites. But when I signed up for Lauren‘s annotated book swap, I was partnered with the sweet Alicia, who predominantly loves fantasy. I thought to myself, “Ah, fuck.” But I pulled up her Amazon wish list to see if there was a book I had half a grain of interest in reading, and lo and behold, there Magic for Liars sat. Its cover…
Back in January, I read and loved Peter Swanson’s The Kind Worth Killing. I was over the moon having heard of Eight Perfect Murders coming out in March, so I figured I should read an earlier Swanson book before cracking the cover on EPM. When I received my preorder in the mail, I thought two things: “Oh no, deckled edges.” “This book is super short.” Both of these things are true! I don’t like deckled edges, and at just 270 pages, Eight Perfect…
I am so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan, which came out on April 28th! I know contemporaries are not usually my thing, but something about this one drew me in to it on instinct, and I was delighted to be accepted for the tour! There are a bunch of other bloggers on this one – please go check them out over here on the Fantastic Flying Book Club’s web page for…
I will confess that I do not have super high hopes for most YA thrillers. Usually YA thrillers try hard, but there is just something missing – I can’t even quite explain what, but I guess once you get used to the sleezy underbelly of adult murder and scheming, it’s hard to go back to teenagers. But I trust Kit Frick, and when I heard the premise of her next book I just had to give it a shot. I am so…
This was not a standard Book of the Month pick for me, mostly because the premise felt so meh to me. Agatha Christie did this decades ago, right? So why is this any different? I am pleased to say that while The Guest List is not built on an entirely original concept, it stands on its own two feet remarkably well. Applicable PopSugar 2020 Prompts: A book that’s published in 2020, A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins, A book with a three-word…
I don’t remember where I saw this book – it must have been on some sort of “upcoming Winter 2019 releases we’re most excited for” list, and I put it on my Amazon wishlist. It then became a Reese’s Book Club pick soon thereafter, and when COVID rumblings began, it was nigh impossible to find a copy for under $20. Luckily someone in a book buy/sell/trade group I’m in was selling their copy for $12, and so I picked it…