What Lies Between Us, by John Marrs ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mental Illness, Mystery, Substance Abuse, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 15th, 2020

371 Pages

Synopsis: They say every house has its secrets and, the house Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.

Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.

But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way—even if it kills her.

Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.

I’ve been trying to stick with light, fluffy “escapist” fare lately, for obvious reasons. What Lies Between Us is definitely not that. No. This is more “WHAT. THE. HELL. DID. I. JUST. READ?” kind of book!

Everything, EVERYTHING works here. To say Maggie and Nina are complicated is a huge understatement. I went through the first part of the book thinking one was pure evil. Then, about the midway point, I changed my mind and was sure the other was the spawn of Satan. And then during the last few chapters my opinion changed yet again! Between these and the other jaw-dropping revelations, my head was spinning when I finished this three hours after I started.

Just like its characters, the storyline is dark, twisted, and deeply disturbing. Yes, what happens most likely would never occur in real life, but in a story like this, who cares! Marr keeps ratcheting up the suspense bit by bit until it almost becomes unbearable, and from chapter to chapter I didn’t know what was going to happen next. The only thing that was certain was that I wasn’t putting this down until I reached the end. Speaking of—what an ending! I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it in the last 24 hours since I finished!

What Lies Between Us is definitely going to be on my shortlist of favorite books of 2020. Unsurprisingly it’s already been snapped up by Hollywood (Renee Zellweger’s Big Picture Co/MGM TV production company). I’m already thinking Amy Adams as Nina, and Glenn Close or Meryl Streep as Maggie. I cannot recommend this nail biting thriller for readers who love dark, twisty mysteries and loads of family drama. It’s a memorable read which I guarantee will take up long term residency in your head after you’ve finished! Preorder this from your favorite retailer, or file a request at your library now. I guarantee this is going to be one of the most buzzed about books of the summer!

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel, by Ruth Hogan ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Supernatural

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date : April 14th, 2020

352 Pages

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things and The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes—a novel of mothers and daughters, families and secrets and the astonishing power of friendship.

Tillie was a bright, outgoing little girl who liked playing with ghosts and matches. She loved fizzy drinks, swear words, fish fingers and Catholic churches, but most of all she loved living in Brighton in Queenie Malone’s Magnificent Paradise Hotel with its endearing and loving family of misfits—staff and guests alike.

But Tillie’s childhood was shattered when her mother sent her away from the only home she’d ever loved to a boarding school with little explanation and no warning. Now, Tilda has grown into an independent woman still damaged by her mother’s unaccountable cruelty. Wary of people, her only friend is her dog, Eli. When her mother dies, Tilda goes back to Brighton, and with the help of her beloved Queenie sets out to solve the mystery of her exile from The Paradise Hotel, and discovers her mother was not the woman she thought she knew at all…Mothers and daughters…their story can be complicated…it can also turn out to have a happy ending.

What initially caught my eye about Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel was the awesome title and visually appealing cover. Then, when I read the synopsis with its description of an intriguing mystery complicated mother-daughter relationship, and wacky guests, well, my requesting it was a forgone conclusion. And for the most part, it did not disappoint.

The story is split into two narratives. That of six-year-old Tilly, and the present day middle-aged Tilda who is struggling with intimacy issues and OCD, which go back to the trauma of her mother inexplicably sending her away all those years ago. While I enjoyed both past and present passages, I have to admit I enjoyed young Tilly much more, although Tilda did grow on me eventually. The secondary characters are delightfully quirky as promised and added an extra layer of fun to an already enjoyable tale.

I truly enjoyed Hogan’s descriptive style of writing which helped bring her story and characters to life without slowing the pace down. While reading I could have sworn I could smell the ocean air and hear the waves crashing on the beach. There were also a few little twists that managed to surprise me before the eminently satisfying ending.

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel was my first book by Ruth Hogan and it’s left me with the burning desire to scoop up her other books. With its beautifully descriptive setting of seaside Brighton, and a storyline that almost immediately sucks you in, this will hold wide appeal for readers no matter what genre they usually prefer. Its poignant exploration of love and loss is tempered by moments of levity resulting in a multi-layered, memorable read. I highly recommend this to anyone who’s looking for a story that’s a little off the beaten path with enjoyably eccentric characters, and topped off with a splash of the supernatural. 

You Let Me In, by Camilla Bruce ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Dysfunctional Families, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: April 21st, 2020

256 Pages

Synopsis: Cassandra Tipp is dead…or is she?

After all, the notorious recluse and eccentric bestselling novelist has always been prone to flights of fancy—everyone in town remembers the shocking events leading up to Cassie’s infamous trial (she may have been acquitted, but the insanity defense only stretches so far).

Cassandra Tipp has left behind no body—just her massive fortune and one final manuscript.

Then again, there are enough bodies in her past—her husband Tommy Tipp, whose mysterious disembowelment has never been solved, and a few years later, the shocking murder-suicide of her father and brother.

Cassandra Tipp will tell you a story—but it will come with a terrible price. What really happened, out there in the woods—and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare…

I have to be honest and admit I struggled in the beginning of You Let Me In. I think this was due to me realizing a couple of chapters in, that this story wasn’t going to bear much resemblance to what the synopsis described. I was expecting a psychological suspense story, and instead it turned more into a dark fantasy. I hope the publisher changes this before the publishing date because it’s misleading and an annoying distraction.

That said, once I was about thirty pages in I actually enjoyed reading this dark, deeply twisted tale. Camilla Bruce’s writing is beautifully detailed and truly serves to bring her disturbing characters and settings to life. Throughout the story and even at the end, the question of whether Cassie is the victim of horrific child abuse, or has been pulled into the clutches of the twisted and manipulative Pepper-Man, is never truly answered, which I found both frustrating and brilliant. I love books (mostly) that make you think and tie your insides into knots, and this one certainly accomplishes that. Cassie is a flawed yet sympathetic character and her suffering broke my heart.

While I had some misgivings in the beginning, I wound up being completely captivated by Let Me In. It’s a cross between Neil Gaiman and Sarah Pinborough, and I unhesitatingly recommend it to readers who enjoy unsettling dark fantasy mixed with psychological suspense. I would warn survivors of child sexual abuse that this book has multiple triggers. While Cassie’s abuser is left shrouded in ambiguity, there’s no doubt that she is a victim, and I think there are some scenes that might bother some people. My list of trigger warnings are: Implied sexual abuse, implied abortion, verbal abuse, murder, and suicide. Overall, I think it’s a very creative and utterly mesmerizing debut by Camilla Bruce and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her work in the future.

Deadly Little Scandals (Debutantes #2), by Jennifer Lynn Barnes ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Freeform for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: November 5th, 2019

352 Pages

Synopsis: “Think of the White Gloves like the Junior League—by way of Skull and Bones…”

Reluctant debutante Sawyer Taft joined Southern high society for one reason and one reason alone: to identify and locate her biological father. But the answers Sawyer found during her debutante year only left her with more questions and one potentially life-ruining secret. When her cousin Lily ropes her into pledging a mysterious, elite and all-female secret society called the White Gloves, Sawyer soon discovers that someone in the group’s ranks may have the answers she’s looking for. Things are looking up…until Sawyer and the White Gloves make a disturbing discovery near the family’s summer home—and uncover a twisted secret, decades in the making. No one is quite who they seem to be in this twisty, soapy, gasp-inducing sequel to Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ unputdownable Little White Lies.

Deadly Little Scandals is the sequel to Dirty Little Secrets, and the spellbinding conclusion to Barnes’ Debutantes duology. While I didn’t like these quite as much as her The Fixer duology, (I’m still longing for a third book), Debutantes is filled with all the excitement, humor, suspense and quirky characters the author is known for. What prevented me from giving this a perfect 5 star rating is that Barnes throws a little too much into the mix, giving this a confusing frenetic quality, especially in the second half of the book. I found myself having to re-read certain passages detailing the myriad of convoluted secret family ties, because I just couldn’t keep everyone straight. That said, I absolutely loved the characters, and because of this I was on tenterhooks to find out what happens, right up until the satisfying conclusion. Barnes can always be counted on for providing shocking twists, and she did not disappoint here. There were quite a few surprises which completely blew me away. Overall, Deadly Little Scandals is a slightly messy, yet still enjoyable thrill ride that I recommend to anyone looking for a unputdownable book in the same vein as Pretty Little Liars. You definitely need to read the previous book first though because otherwise you will be left floundering.

The Nanny, by Gilly Macmillan ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers/William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 19th, 2019

400 Pages

Synopsis: The New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew conjures a dark and unpredictable tale of family secrets that explore the lengths people will go to hurt one another.

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind. 

Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother…

In this compulsively readable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much that you’d rather hear the lie.

Given these last two books I’ve read, I seem to be on a nanny kick lately. But, let me assure you The Nanny is as different as can be from The Turn of the Key. It’s a slow burn of a story and I’d call it more psychological suspense than thriller, but that doesn’t make it any less of a page turner. Gilly Macmillan’s writing is very detailed and visual, and throughout the story I felt as though I was there at Lake Hall and the village. The chapters moved seamlessly between two time periods and multiple POVs, which isn’t always easy to pull off without taking away from the storyline, but the author effortlessly accomplishes this.

As for the characters, for the most part, they’re not particularly likable and some are downright evil, but they’re well-developed which makes them intriguing. The entire time I was reading I didn’t know who to trust, which further added to the mystery and suspense. 

While the dramatic ending was a bit rushed and I was left with a few questions, overall I feel The Nanny definitely lives up to its pre-publication hype. Gilly Macmillan has taken the familiar theme of a dysfunctional family being torn apart by secrets and lies, and given it an original and entertaining spin. This is the first book I’ve read by her but it certainly won’t be my last.

 

 

Scream All Night, by Derek Milman ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Child Abuse, Contemporary Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Humor, LGBTQ, Romance, YA Fiction

Thanks to Edelweiss and Balzer & Bray for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

400 Pages

Synopsis: A darkly hilarious contemporary realistic young adult novel about growing up and finding your place in the world, perfect for fans of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and Running With Scissors.

Dario Heyward knows one thing: He’s never going back to Moldavia Studios, the iconic castle that served as the set, studio, and home to the cast and crew of dozens of cult, classic B-horror movies. It’s been three years since Dario’s even seen the place, after getting legally emancipated from his father, the infamous director of Moldavia’s creature features.

But then Dario’s brother invites him home to a mysterious ceremony involving his father and a tribute to his first film—The Curse of the Mummy’s Tongue. Dario swears his homecoming will be a one-time visit. A way for him to get closure on his past—and reunite with Hayley, his first love and costar of Zombie Children of the Harvest Sun, a production fraught with real-life tragedy—and say goodbye for good. But the unthinkable happens—Dario gets sucked back into the twisted world of Moldavia and the horrors, real and imagined, he’s left there.

With only months to rescue the sinking studio and everyone who has built their lives there, Dario must confront the demons of his past—and the uncertainties of his future. But can he escape the place that’s haunted him his whole life?

“This is a house full of misfits, everyone unmoored from the world outside these gates. They don’t belong out there. They live in a constantly moving dreamworld of imagined horrors, spurts of gore, skulking monsters—creatures more aberrant than themselves. After all, it takes true misfits to make believable monsters.” 

Where do I start? Scream All Night is one of the most creative and original, yet totally bonkers books, I’ve come across in a long time. I read it last summer, yet I still remember it like it was yesterday. As the book opens, seventeen-year-old Dario (named after Italian giallo-horror director Dario Argento), finds himself reluctantly back in the bizarre world of Moldavia Studios after having legally emancipated himself from his parents. His mother is in a mental institution and his brilliant but abusive father has planned a live funeral for which attendance is mandatory. Dario has some extremely mixed feelings regarding his childhood and family, so once he returns to deal with some of these larger than life characters, he also has to deal with both the wonderful and the traumatic memories that he escaped from.

“That’s when I learned that with beauty comes a little bit of terror. That pretty much sums up my childhood here: something cool would happen, immediately followed by something traumatic. I could never come to terms with those knee-jerk jumps.”

What ensues is a darkly comedic coming-of-age story that will have you laughing out loud one moment and tearing up the next. It’s a zany mix combining the moving story of a young man facing his childhood demons, with the ludicrous, over-the-top antics of his family. The creepy setting of a castle where B horror movies are made just makes it all even more nuts.

“The spiders will always hatch out of the flowers. But now I like to think of the moments before, when they’re just flowers, blooming and they can be pinched closed so that all that prettiness lasts a little longer before the inevitable horror comes.

Scream All Night is a YA book that I highly recommend to adults who don’t normally read books for teens. It’s quirky and heart wrenching, and you’re bound to fall in love with Dario. Derek Milman’s flawless writing has made me a fan and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

 

 

 

 

 

Little Sister, by Isabel Ashdown ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

304 Pages

Synopsis: No one knows you better than a sister—your dreams, your fears, your mistakes, and all your secrets.

It was just that way when Jess and her older sister, Emily were children. Born barely a year apart, they were deeply entwined, complementing each other in their differences. When Jess felt awkward and shy, Emily, the consummate big sister, was happy to take the lead. 

After a long estrangement, they’ve become close again. Jess moves into the comfortable Isle of Wight home Emily shares with her husband, step-daughter, and toddler. Any misgivings about the past are swept away and forgotten.

And then, on New Year’s Eve, little Daisy disappears while in Jess’s care.

Jess is in shock, unable to remember what happened. Emily, traumatized, watches helplessly as her life unravels. But as the search intensifies and the police detective’s questions grow more pointed, a different picture emerges. Behind the image of a happy family—Daisy’s doting teenage sister, Chloe, loving father and husband, James, and siblings Emily and Jess—there are devastating deceptions and long-ago choices that can never be unmade. And underlying everything is the story of what really happened to drive Emily and Jess apart years ago.

Unfolding through shifting perspectives, Little Sister is a brilliantly plotted, dark, and constantly surprising tale of love, rivalry, and broken loyalty that reveals how far one sister might go to protect—or destroy—another…

Holy Guacamole! You can’t trust anyone nowadays, at least not in Little Sister. Every character has secrets they’re keeping, secrets they’ll do just about anything to protect. Which makes for a deliciously suspenseful and twisty tale which kept me guessing almost right up until the end. The only reason why I’m not giving this a perfect 5 stars is because I thought the middle of the book slowed down a little. However, it wasn’t enough to stop me from reading. I desperately needed to not only find out what happened to little Daisy, but also to the history behind Jess and Emily’s dysfunctional relationship. I highly recommend this to readers who love family drama, unreliable characters, twisty mysteries, and psychological suspense. 

 

 

 

 

Baby Teeth, by Zoje Stage ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Horror, Mental Illness, Psychological Thriller

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 17th, 2018

320 Pages

Synopsis: Sweetness can be deceptive.

Meet Hanna.

She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of, ideally for good.

Meet Suzette.

She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette’s husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there’s something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn’t the best place for their baby girl after all.

 Let me say from the onset that Baby Teeth will not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s dark and disturbing, and when I finished it last night I found myself unable to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

The 3rd person narrative alternates between Hanna and her mother. Hanna is a seven-year-old precocious child, who presents two completely different sides to her parents, Suzette and Alex. With her father, she’s a sweet little angel, but with her mother, she increasingly demonstrates how much she resents and hates her. While seeing Hanna’s perspective adds to the intensity of the story, there are some inconsistencies with her thinking and actions. As each of her chapters begins, she sounds and acts like the seven-year-old she is, albeit a disturbingly creepy one. But then her mental thoughts turn into sophisticated ones that come across as way too adult, even for an exceptionally bright child. This aside, the author crafts her into at times a sympathetic figure, but more often than not, a menacing one who scared the heck out of me.

While Suzette isn’t perfect by any means, I felt a lot of empathy for her. She suffers from a particularly nasty case of Crohn’s disease, and this coupled with her surviving a childhood filled with neglect, had me forming an instant connection with her, even when I didn’t agree with her responses to Hanna. She loves her daughter yet is increasingly afraid of her. When you add in anger and resentment, you have a mother who’s not only at war with her daughter, but also herself.

I didn’t care for Alex in the beginning as he’s written as your stereotypical father who’s clueless and in denial about his daughter, but about halfway in, he starts to realize that Suzanne may be right about Hanna. Watching him come to grips with the truth, trying to protect his wife while still loving his daughter, adds another layer to this twisted yet  captivating tale.

The ending wasn’t a huge surprise, but it was one of several that I had envisioned and I found it believable. Overall, I enjoyed(?) Baby Teeth and I’m impressed with Zoje Stage’s debut. It’s an unflinching look at at childhood mental illness and a couple’s difficulty of finding help and coping with it. It’s a riveting domestic thriller with horror added in which should appeal to fans of books such as Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin.

The Precious Dreadful, by Steven Parlato ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Abusive Relationships, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Paranormal, Substance Abuse, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now 

352 Pages

Synopsis: Teddi Adler is just trying to figure out her life. 

When she joins SUMMERTEENS, a library writing group, she’s only looking to keep herself busy, not go digging around in her subconscious. But as she writes, disturbing memories of her childhood friend Corey bubble to the surface, and Teddi begins to question everything: her friendship with her BFF Willa, how much her mom really knows, and even her own memories. Teddi feels she’s losing her group on reality—-as evidenced by that mysterious ghost-girl who emerges from the park pool one night, the one who won’t leave Teddi alone. To top it all off, she finds herself juggling two guys with potential, a quirky boy named Joy and her handsome barista crush Aidan, who has some issues of his own. 

As the summer unfolds, Teddi is determined to get to the bottom of everything—-her feelings, the mysterious ghost-girl, and the memories of Corey that refuse to be ignored.

I have to give The Precious Dreadful kudos for being so highly original. It also had many other good qualities. I liked Teddi and completely emphasized with her desperate attempts to solve a mystery going back to her childhood. I also loved her BFF Willa who loyally stuck by her even when Teddi turned on her. I wasn’t fond of the romance between Teddi and Aidan however. Their relationship was verbally/emotionally abusive from the beginning, and even though Teddi would stand up for herself, she’d still go back to him. I don’t have an issue with abusive relationships in YA fiction as long as there’s a lesson imparted. But that’s not the case here. Aidan is never called out on his unacceptable behavior and that spoiled what otherwise would have been a 4-5 star read for me. At the end of the book something happens that I surmise was supposed to make the reader feel more sympathetic toward him, but it just didn’t work for me.

The plot itself is quite eerie and kept me guessing through much of the book. The more I read, the bigger feeling of dread swept over me as I wondered what poor Teddi was going to uncover in the end. I started this about mid-afternoon and couldn’t stop reading until I finished around 11:00 at night.

Except for the romance, I really enjoyed The Precious Dreadful and it’s intriguing mystery. I loved Steven Parlato’s writing style and the way the story flowed so smoothly. I also thought he did a fairly convincing job portraying a 15-going-on-16-year-old girl. The story has just a touch of the paranormal and is compelling and will keep readers wondering. Despite my issues with the romance, I think this would still make a worthy book discussion choice as readers could debate over what Teddi should have done in response to Aidan’s behavior. 

The Bad Daughter, by Joy Fielding ~ 3.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review review.

Release Date: Available Now

368 Pages

Synopsis: What first appears to be a random home invasion reveals a family’s dark secrets in this domestic ticking-clock suspense from the New York Times bestselling author of See Jane Run.

A hostile relationship with her sister and a complicated past with her father’s second wife have kept Robin estranged from her family for many years. But when her father’s new family is attacked in their house, with her father, his wife, and young daughter in critical condition in the hospital, she returns home to await their fate and hopefully mend fences. It looks like a robbery gone awry, but as Robin spends more time with her family members, she learns they all have their secrets—-and one of those secrets may have put them all in horrible danger.

Joy fielding has been one of my favorite authors in the genres of mystery, suspense, and thrillers, but I have to admit that despite the exciting sounding premise, The Bad Daughter was disappointing for me. 

The pace was much slower than what I’ve come to expect from this prolific author. It’s a domestic drama (which most of her books are), with a mystery thrown in, but not much of the suspense that I’ve come to expect from her. None of the characters are well developed, but the one who annoyed me the most was Robin. She was entirely too bland and passive for me, and I was unable to connect with her despite her suffering from panic and anxiety attacks. The majority of the story focuses on Robin’s dysfunctional relationship with her one-dimensional angry and aggressive sister Melanie. I would have liked a couple of the secondary characters to have been given bigger roles, especially Blake who was the sole voice of reason, but alas, it never happened. 

To me, the villain was fairly obvious early on, and I couldn’t believe no one guessed who it was, particularly Robin, as she’s a therapist. There’s some weak reasoning provided to try to explain this, but I just didn’t buy it so the ending turned out to be anticlimactic for me.

While The Bad Daughter wasn’t my favorite novel by Joy Fielding, she’s been a bestselling author for over four decades, so I’m by no means giving up on her. I’m already looking forward to her next novel.