I received great feedback on my best reads of 2018 post (and Jake's) and so I wanted to keep up here to share some of my favorites and not so favorites throughout the year. I've been trying to keep up on Instagram but here's the full list.
No Exit 5/5
My favorite from this round up! The perfect winter mystery thriller . A college student is heading home to see a sick parent during an awful winter storm in Colorado. She’s soon stranded at a rest stop with strangers. One of the strangers is keeping a locked child in their car. Watching as this story unfolds is exciting and unpredictable! Best thriller I’ve read in a while!
An Anonymous Girl 4.5/5
This was a true psychological thriller that kept me hooked the entire book. I'm giving it 5 stars to emphasize what fun read it is. A woman somehow finds herself in a psychiatrist’s study because she needs the money. The study isn’t exactly what she thought it would be and she winds up out of her comfort zone but also in danger. She doesn’t know who she can trust anymore. I loved this story because I was unsure which character to trust! The characters are all developed and the author leaves just enough mystery that keeps you turning the pages to find out more about who really is telling the truth. I loved the twists and turns, my favorite books are ones like this one where you try but still can't predict the ending. A solid choice for any psychological thriller fan!
Interesting storyline about a group of strangers who escape to a wellness retreat in the middle of nowhere at an old historic site. I love how the story is told from each person’s perspective because it also allows you to judge the other characters on how the narrator is viewing everything. Things like the other characters looks and behaviors which you do not pick up on when those characters are the ones telling the story.
Although it was fabulously written and very interesting to read it it wasn’t one of those books that kept me hooked. I enjoyed the development of the characters and struggled alongside them as they made many tough decisions that seemed to have no right answers. The conflicts of the justice system, race, social status, small town vs city life, marriage, death, and starting a family were heavy topics that all of the characters dealt with. Although the topics were deep, the writing was easy enough to read that anyone would find this an enjoyable book.
This book is a super popular psychological thriller from last year. I picked this up in anticipation of her new release “An Anonymous Girl”. I enjoyed reading this so much I was hooked and had it finished in one sitting (4hours) . Without giving too much away, I’ll say the storyline follows a 27 year old who thinks she’s found the love of her life and will be getting married soon. She is being stalked for reasons revealed throughout the book. Prince Charming isn’t what he seems, and although this book is enjoyable, a page turner, and I didn’t predict the ending, there are better psychological thrillers out there so it only gets 3 stars from me.
The Witch Elm 3/5
This story was wordy . I mean it took 1/3 of the book to get to the start of the main storyline. I disliked all of the characters and could not relate to any of them . I kept reading bc the story about the character who was ill and worsening was very real to me as I recently went through something similar with my father. I think the author did a great job describing what that process is like and the emotions befor , during, and after for the patient and their families. I had predicted the ending to some extent as the ending is much more complicated than one single plot. That being said the main plot line is somewhat interesting and it is an overall decent story to tell it just lost a few stars for the unlikeable characters and how everything was so wordy.
The Dreamers 2/5
This dystopian story is about a virus that spreads across a town causing panic, confusion, and death. The people who are infected drift off to sleep. Many book reviewers liked it , I wasn’t that big of fan. I didn’t get attached to any of the characters and the whole storyline of falling asleep and having the dreams be so powerful was too abstract for my liking.
So this isn’t my typical read but I was intrigued at the behind the scenes look in the playboy mansion and trying to figure out why they wanted to live there anyway. It’s pretty much just how you imagine it (although not what was portrayed in the “happy perfect life” on the reality show). Holly accuses Heff of being a controlling boyfriend who often pitted the women against each other because he liked when they fought over him and she describes their weird nighttime ritual they did after the clubs. The book details the drug use (scandals that the news reported) that went on, what the parties were really like, and also gave an inside look at how they all struggled with negative body issues (they were constantly told they were replaceable and not worth anything besides being Heff’s girlfriend). It was a strange and sad read.
What have you been reading lately?