Thriller – Author Gail Marie

Book Review – Bone Music (Burning Girl 1) by Christopher Rice

Checked out with kindle unlimited, June 2023. This was billed as a thriller, but I think that set me up for failure with this story. As my first book by Christopher Rice, I was excited to delve into a world of serial killers but that’s not what we got. The pace was snail slow, but I kept plodding along hoping that the ending would make up for it. It didn’t. I felt for the female MC, Charolette, since she had a traumatic past, but I didn’t really connect with her as a person. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters except for Marty. There was an attempt at a small romantic arc between Charolette and our male MC, Luke, but it felt more like an afterthought than part of the plot. I was also disappointed that Charolette’s super strength came from a drug manufactured by a drug company. Many of these aspects could have been handled a lot better but fell flat. I won’t be reading book 2. (2/5 rating)

GoodReads

Book Review – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

This will be my first by Joe Hill and the spirit up Halloween seemed like the best time to dust this off my TBR. Now that I’ve read it, it appears I should have saved this for Christmas time. Charles Manx is our resident bad boy and spends his time luring children into his version of Christmasland. Within Christmasland, Charles transforms the children into his terrifying version of the perfect child. The only child to ever escape his clutches is Victoria McQueen. After she is grown, Charles comes looking for Vic, one final time. Even though this was almost 1000 pages, the pace of the plot moved at a gruesome pace. The plot covered decades between characters and places but that didn’t detract from the story either. It was great to watch Vic and Charles battle to the end. I didn’t expect the sad and clever ending, but it did fit. (3/5 rating)

Book Review – The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

This story covers Mouse as she removes the belongings from her deceased grandmother’s house. The remaining clutter points to a terrifying cult that reside in the surrounding woods of North Carolina. Mouse doesn’t believe it’s true until she meets them herself. Kingfisher struck again with this one. I loved Mouse and her dedication to her dog, Bongo. She set the stage with a desperate and intense atmosphere and the plot build up to the ending was everything a horror book aspires to become. If you’re on the edge about reading this, I recommend you try this. (4/5 rating)

Book Review – The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

This was my first book by Caitlin Starling and September was the perfect time to remove it from my TBR. Our female MC, Gyre Price, is an amateur climber who lies about her abilities to obtain a climbing contract that could help her escape her planet. When she arrives, it’s to determine that all the help she assumed she’d have is boiled down to one person, Em. Em keeps an eye on her from the surface, but little things about her story don’t add up as they descend. I have climbing experience and Starling did excellent research into all the needed pieces to accurately describe the caving experience. She also enveloped us in a complex world of cave details like flooding and poisonous vegetation. I liked the interplay between Em and Gyre as they accomplish Em’s goal. The ending was a surprise, but I felt like the story could have been a bit shorter with the same result, though that is just my opinion. (3/5 rating)

Book Review – The Wife Before by Shanora Williams

This was my first novel by Shanora Williams. I received this book free from the author for an honest review. This story begins with our female MC Samira Wilder. Samira has always struggled to keep jobs and pay the rent because she refuses to waste her life away the same way their mother did. In a bind for money, she takes a one-night celebrity serving event where she meets pro golfer, Roland Graham. They fall up for each hard, celebrate a quick engagement, before she moves into his Colorado mansion. Soon, she discovers an abandoned shed of his deceased wife that Roland hasn’t entered since her death. Samira offers to clean it out and repurpose it, but the secrets she uncovers could undo her new happy life.
Alert: Spoilers below.
I struggled with my rating for this book. While the ending was nothing I could have predicted, I struggled to get there with Samira as the main character. While I can sympathize that the American work system is broken, Samira seemed to have unrealistic expectations of when her brother should be helping her out. She had no problems asking for money while at the same time complaining that he worked too much and would follow their mother’s footsteps. I could not connect with her as a character and Melanie and Dylan were truly monstrous. Roland was the only redeeming part of this story. I’m glad other people were able to enjoy this, but unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them. (2/5 rating)