The Violent Season, By Sara Waters ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Contemporary Fiction, Death of a parent, Mental Illness, Mystery, Romance, Sexual Assault, Suicide, Suspense, Toxic Relationships, Trauma, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing an ARC In exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: October 5th, 2021

320 Pages

Synopsis: An unputdownable debut about a town marred by violence, a girl ruined by grief, and the harsh reality about what makes people decide to hurt each other. The Violent Season is a searing, unforgettable, and thrilling novel that belongs on shelf with Sadie and Girl in Pieces.

Every November, the people in Wolf Ridge are overwhelmed with a hunger for violence–at least that’s the town rumor. Last fall Wyatt Green’s mother was brutally murdered, convincing Wyatt that this yearning isn’t morbid urban legend. but rather a palpable force infecting her neighbors.

This year, Wyatt fears the call of violence has spread to her best friend Cash–who also happens to be the guy she can’t stop wanting no matter how much he hurts her. At the same time, she’s drawn to Cash’s nemesis Porter, now that they’re partners on an ambitious project for lit class. When Wyatt pulls away from Cash, and spends more time with Porter, she learns secrets about both of them she can’t forget.

And as the truth about her mother’s death begins to emerge from the shadows, Wyatt is faced with a series of hard realities about the people she trusts the most, rethinking everything she believes about what makes people decide to hurt each other. (Goodreads)

Sarah Walter’s debut, The Violent Season, isn’t perfect, but it is a compulsive and memorable read that will appeal to many YA fans.

Wyatt and her self-destructive behavior had me wanting to both hug her and slap her throughout the book. Her toxic relationship with Cash is cringeworthy at times, but despite being 56-years-old I do remember being a teenager and having a friend in somewhat similar circumstances. That said, some of her actions are over-the-top melodramatic and difficult to understand. Cash, as the “bad boy” of the story, I wish had been developed a little more. After finding out a little of his family history, I needed to know more about what made him tick, particularly as more of the mystery began to be revealed. Porter, the third in the love triangle, I actually liked the best. I was half expecting him to be the blandly popular jock persona you find so often in YA fiction, but he was surprisingly complex. 

The mystery itself is a little predictable in someways and I figured out the identity of the main villain fairly early on. However, the twisty path getting to the answers kept me turning the pages and I easily finished this in two sittings. The ending tied everything up neatly, but because I grew to care about Wyatt I found myself wishing for it to be fleshed out a little more.

Overall, The Violent Season, has much to recommend about it including the realistic way it tackles some of its darker themes such as: death of a parent, drug use, toxic relationships, sexual assault, self harm, mental illness, trauma, and suicide. If I were still a children’s/YA librarian, this would be a book I’d definitely be adding to our collection for those 14+.

Summer Sons, By Lee Mandelo ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Coping With Loss and Grief, Horror, LGBTQ Relationships, Mystery, Southern Gothic, Talk of Suicide, Trauma

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

Release Date: September 28th, 2021

384 Pages

Synopsis: Lee Mandelo’s debut Summer Sons is a sweltering, queer Southern Gothic that crosses Appalachian street racing with academic intrigue, all haunted by a hungry ghost.

Andrew and Eddie did everything together, best friends bonded more deeply than brothers, until Eddie left Andrew behind to start his graduate program at Vanderbilt. Six months later, only days before Andrew was to join him in Nashville, Eddie dies of an apparent suicide. He leaves Andrew a horrible inheritance: a roommate he doesn’t know, friends he never asked for, and a gruesome phantom that hungers for him.

As Andrew searches for the truth of Eddie’s death, he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death. Whirling between the backstabbing academic world where Eddie spent his days and the circle of hot boys, fast cars, and hard drugs that ruled Eddie’s nights, the walls Andrew has built against the world begin to crumble.

And there is something awful lurking, waiting for those walls to fall. (Goodreads)

I want to say at the onset that Summer Sons is receiving mostly rave reviews, so my slight disappointment may be due to me just being in the wrong mood(?) My biggest complaints concern the characters and molasses-like slowness of the first half. I struggled with connecting to any of the characters, especially Andrew, who I really didn’t like until the last third of the book, when I began to understand him more. The story also tackles a lot: loss, drugs, relationships, car racing, competitive academia, curses, etc. and at times there just seemed to be an excruciating amount of minutiae to plow through. I freely admit I resorted to skimming some of the longer chapters, especially the sections that were like The Fast and the Furious. But there were also some things that I loved about this including: the uniqueness of the story, the diversity of the characters and their relationships, the Southern Gothic tone, the ultimate direction of the central mystery, and the final resolution, which much to my surprise had me tearing up a little. Ironically, given that I’m usually such a nut for horror, is that for me, the strengths of this book lie more in its thoughtful exploration of trauma, grief and loss, not the supernatural aspects, which until the last few chapters left me frequently confused as to what was happening.

I really hate writing reviews like this because I’m all over the place with it. I’d like to say that Summer Sons still has me thinking about it three days after I finished, so that’s another plus. In the end, if you’re a horror fan who’s looking for something different and the premise intrigues you, I’d say give this a try. And as always, don’t just go by my opinion. Please check out the other reviews on Goodreads.

The Dangers of an Ordinary Night, By Lynn Reeves ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Addiction, Adult Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Trauma

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

Release Date: November 9th, 2021

288 Pages

Synopsis: Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng and Megan Abbott, Lynne Reeves’ The Dangers of an Ordinary Night is an exploration of the explosive family secrets that are often hidden in plain sight.

On a chilly fall evening at the prestigious Performing Arts High School of Boston, best friends Tali Carrington and June Danforth go missing after auditioning for a play. They’re last seen in grainy, out-of-focus surveillance footage that shows them walking side-by-side. Two days later in a town south of Boston, Tali is found disoriented and traumatized by the ocean’s edge, while June is pronounced dead at the scene.

Tali’s mother, Nell, is so bent on protecting her daughter from further emotional harm that she enlists the help of Cynthia Rawlins, a renowned therapist for families. Meanwhile, Detective Fitz Jameson is assigned to the investigation and dives into the lives of high-performing students who may be harboring dark secrets.

As Nell, Cynthia, and Fitz confront their own contributions to the tragedies and scandals that beleaguer them, their lives turn out to be more deeply intertwined than they’d ever imagined. And they must decide what lengths they’re willing to go to protect the people they love while also saving themselves. (Goodreads)

Although The Dangers of an Ordinary Night wasn’t a perfect read for me, it was quick and entertaining and I wound up enjoying it for the most part. My main complaint concerns the characters (of which there are many) who are all unlikable and while they aren’t exactly one-dimensional, they’re not terribly complex either. As a result, I found myself unable to relate or emphasize with them as I would have liked. The plot itself fares much better and adding to the intriguing mystery is Reeves’ atmospheric style of writing. There is more than one crazy twist, and this, in addition to the fast pace, kept me turning the pages despite my issues with the characters. The ending is also a tad far-fetched, but not enough to spoil the story. The Dangers of an Ordinary Night has some flaws, but it still managed to keep me engrossed on a relaxing Sunday afternoon. I will definitely try the next book that Lynn Reeves comes out with.

Survive the Night, By Riley Sager ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

1990s, Adult Fiction, Classic Cinema, Mental Health, Mystery, Thrillers, Trauma

Release Date: Available Now

336 Pages

Synopsis: It’s November 1991. George H. W. Bush is in the White House, Nirvana’s in the tape deck, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.

Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father. Or so he says. Like the Hitchcock heroine she’s named after, Charlie has her doubts. There’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t seem to want Charlie to see inside the car’s trunk. As they travel an empty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly worried Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s suspicion merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?

What follows is a game of cat-and-mouse played out on night-shrouded roads and in neon-lit parking lots, during an age when the only call for help can be made on a pay phone and in a place where there’s nowhere to run. In order to win, Charlie must do one thing–survive the night. (Goodreads)

Before I begin my review I thought I’d share my quest in attempting to obtain an eARC of Survive the Night. I requested it on NetGalley and as I had been approved for two Riley Sager’s previous books : Final Girls (2017) and Home Before Dark (2020), I figured for sure I’d be approved. Well that little bubble of arrogance was burst when I was turned down not only on NetGalley but also Edelweiss. Disappointed, yet still determined, I emailed the publisher explaining that I was turned down but that I was a huge fan of the author. I even provided links to my reviews of not only Mr. Sager’s books but other ones from Dutton Books that I had been approved for and reviewed. Much to my dismay I was politely told that they’d keep me in mind. And you know what happened? Crickets. Over the last several months I tried reaching out a couple of more times, but fearing that they might think me a stalker and take out a restraining order against me, I finally gave up. Then I began to sulk and thought to myself that if Dutton Books no longer thought I was good enough to read and review their books, fine, I wouldn’t! I know. This wasn’t my finest moment. Well, I’ve made it past my rebellious sulk, splurged and bought a copy, and I’m glad I did because I gobbled up Survive the Night in one sitting.

I have to be honest and say I had a problem with Charlie in the beginning. I mean, who gets into a car with a stranger shortly after their best friend falls victim to a serial killer who’s been stalking the campus and still hasn’t been caught? And this isn’t the only questionable decision she makes through the next six hours. However, the more I found out about Charlie’s background the more I was able to give her a little leeway. Charlie is obviously an unreliable character, but I wound up finding her surprisingly likable and sympathetic even though I wanted to take her by the shoulders a few times and shake her. Unsurprisingly, given this is Riley Sager, there is more than one twist. A couple I saw coming, but one, concerning Josh, I did not. For all that a good portion of the story takes place in a car, the pace is surprisingly fast and I found it impossible to put down. The ending left me a little torn as I’m not thrilled with who Charlie winds up with, but it’s imaginative and unique which is another aspect that Sager is known for.

Overall, Survive the Night is another winner that will standout in this year’s crowded field of new thrillers, thanks to its engaging protagonist, nostalgic setting of the 90s and creative inclusion of classic cinema. Riley Sager is someone who’s not afraid to take chances with his stories and characters, which is why he’s become one of my favorite authors in the mystery/thriller/horror genres in such a few short years. As most of you know I try to avoid spoilers of any kind in my reviews, and with this I’ve taken particular pains not to because I think it’s a story that’s even more enjoyable if you go in blind. Whether you’re already a fan of Sager, or if you’re new to his writing, but you’re looking for an unputdownable read, you’re going to want to snap this up from your favorite book retailer or local library!

The Gentleman’s Daughter (The Gentleman Spy Series #2), By Bianca Schwarz ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Espionage, Historical Fiction, Misogyny, Mystery, Physical Abuse, Regency England, Romance, Secret Societies, Sex Trafficking, Sexual Abuse, Suspense, Trauma

Thanks to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 6th, 2021

352 Pages

Synopsis: The Gentleman’s Daughter is the second in a darkly entertaining historical romance mystery series set in Regency London…

Sir Henry, secret agent to the crown, must marry a lady above reproach to afford his illegitimate daughter entrance into society. After narrowly escaping marriage to a highborn bigot, he takes an assignment in Brighton, leading him to an abandoned abbey full of dark whispers, and a sinister secret society, the very one Henry has been investigating for three years.

Isabella is as beautiful as she is talented, but falling in love isn’t part of her plans. She only wants to paint, forget her painful past, and keep her overbearing mother at bay. But gaining one’s independence isn’t easy for a woman in 1823, so Isabella embarks on a fake courtship with Sir Henry. Soon, love and a painting career no longer seem so utterly incompatible.

But when the man Isabella fears most kidnaps her, all appears lost. Realizing the kidnapper is part of the same organization he is investigating, Henry chases after them. Entrapped in a web of secrets, both Henry and Isabella must face old enemies, and fight for their happily ever after. (Goodreads)

The Gentleman’s Daughter is a wonderful sequel to The Inkeeper’s Daughter, that much to my delight, surpasses the first book in The Gentleman Spies series.

I was immediately pulled into the story and easily finished this in two sittings. Like its predecessor, this is not your typical frothy Regency romance, as it deals with much darker themes such as: sex trafficking, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and espionage. 

My main issue with The Innkeeper’s Daughter was that I was uncomfortable with the romance between Henry (who is in his 30s), and Eliza (who is barely 18). Thankfully the age difference between Henry and Isabella is not such a yawning chasm. Although their romance is a slow burn through much of the book, I almost immediately loved them as a couple and was rooting for them the entire time. There are some fairly steamy scenes between the two, but they’re well written and believable. While I thought the middle of the book was noticeably slower than the rest, this wasn’t a huge issue and it didn’t take long for the action to pick back up. The ending wrapped up any loose ends ends which left me quite pleased.

Although The Gentleman’s Daughter is the second book in this series, you needn’t have read the first as this does an excellent job recapping without taking away from the current storyline. What I love about this series thus far is though it maintains the Regency setting which I love, Bianca Schwarz is unafraid to go deeper and darker, which makes The Gentleman Spies series quite unlike most others of its genre.