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188 reviews

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

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4.0

A Head Full of Ghosts has bounced around my TBR list for a bit and kept working it's way up the list from the countless recommendations from people. I finally caved and jumped right in.

I'd say my favorite part about the whole book was the fact that I went into it thinking it would just be "another exorcism book" but was happily surprised with the near-constant ear worm working it's way into my brain - okay IS this just another exorcism book OR is this a sad story about mental illness being addressed by religion? That alone kept me reading.

I enjoyed the characters quite a bit, but felt like a lot of natural empathy for Merry was placed when I almost feel guilty for not feeling as empathetic for Majorie herself. For this, I bumped my rating down to 4/5 but that's easily my own fault.

I'm incredibly excited that I enjoyed this book so much, and like mentioned before, it really offered up an interesting look into mental health and they way the church/horror fanatics perceive it. Even if the entire premise for the book was literally about a possession and exorcism, I enjoyed that it kept me thinking and in the end, still left things fairly open-ended with us and Merry reminiscing on the events that occurred and how they shaped Merry into who she became.
Final Girls by Riley Sager

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3.0

Actual rating: I'd give this one a 3.5 stars/5 stars

I was stoked when this one was chosen for our book club, it had been on my list AND I kept hearing about Riley Sager's amazing thrillers. One of those 2 birds with 1 stone type of situations. But alas, it was an okay read. Keep in mind, I've been on a huge Thrillers kick with books lately and after a while, I feel like they start kind of meshing all together. Remember that warning when reading this review.

Pros: I love the whole "Final Girls" idea. I had never heard of the term and was instantly interested just based off of this little group of survivors who were coined as a part of this niche club. The characters were well developed and realistic. The horrific traumas they went through mixed slasher movies with a realistic feel which I appreciated. The book overall was a doozy for me, the twists were great and unexpected and even the end was far from what I predicted - marking it a good Thriller in my mind.

Cons: I'm just so tired of these newer thrillers who throw the main character into a whirl-wind of drug and alcohol abuse. I understand the context needed, I understand it helps paint a picture of the "victim filling the void". I just feel like a lot of story lines have stayed the same lately - girl goes through event, we spend the majority of the book watching her cope by way of substance, girl doesn't remember events, book makes us think she's nuts, insert huge twist here, great ending (usually). I'm chalking it up to being a realistic and relative way to live through a trauma that unfortunately happens in real life. However, I think in terms of books, we should tone down the "book makes us think she's nuts" because of substance abuse part of it all.

Final Thoughts: This one was an okay/good read. I was interested the whole time, and surprised at the end and couldn't believe that I also fell in love with Coop. What the heck COOP. I was happy and content with the wholesome wrap-up at the end and pleased to see that Quincy was finally healing as a Final Girl.

Note to self: maybe take a break from thrillers for once (yeah good luck, self).
Wool by Hugh Howey

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3.0

Rating: 3/5

Alright. I've let this one marinate in my head for a little bit since finishing it, HOPING that I would feel like I could bump up it's rating a little bit and give it the praise it deserves. But, I'm going to have to keep it at a solid 3. Here's why.

For starters, the dystopian genre is one that I love and cherish BUT can only allow myself to visit a couple times a year. And for good reason! Dystopian books all have one very important thing in common, they're all about dystopian worlds (crazy right?) It's hard to find one that really peaks my interest that stands out among the rest.

That being said, this was a great story. The world was unique and interesting, I really enjoyed the characters, and there was plenty of heartache and emotional twists and turns that kept me intrigued. But, this was a long book. I had a hard time keeping the motivation going on it. I usually try to keep an open mind on these sorts of books because it's understanding that it takes a mountain and a half to even just describe the setting of these dystopian worlds - to get the reader to feel like they fully understand the environment. But this one took a long time to even get going, personally I had a tough time keeping interested even knowing that things were ultimately going to speed up.

I'll probably go on to read the rest in the series because it really did hook me at the end! It just definitely tested my patience to get there.
Educated by Tara Westover

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4.0

Actual Rating: 4.5/5

This book was... a doozy. I've been 12 pages from the end for a solid 6 days and couldn't bring myself to finish it quite yet. This was an incredibly difficult read, but equally as hard to put down or get out of my head. I've recently gotten into reading more memoirs, but find them personally tricky because of the heartache that usually accompanies them. But boy, I felt a little unprepared about how punch-gut Educated would be.

I had kept hearing about this one but it was fairly far down on my TBR list. When I finally started it, I decided not to look into Tara Westover or her story before reading her memoir. I'm quite happy I did, and instead got to "meet" her through her own words and story. I knew just the most basic premise of everything and enjoyed learning more as I read.

Educated was the perfect amount of heartbreak, dedication, and triumph. It read like fiction at some points, which almost makes her story even more terrifyingly sad. The book left me feeling empowered and proud of Tara while also opening my eyes a little more to how up-bringings and extreme religious beliefs can still have such a tight grasp on people.
Parkland: Birth of a Movement by Dave Cullen

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5.0

Extremely well done. I (along with anyone who probably took AP English courses throughout High School) read Columbine by Dave Cullen for assignment way back when and was hooked immediately to his writing style and journalistic approach. Columbine is a book that sits on my shelf now, well-loved and well-read. It's one that sticks in my head out of many of my owned books. When I heard that Cullen would be writing a book on Parkland, I was hopeful and immediately excited. This book did not let me down.

Dave Cullen leaves no stone unturned in his writing. His Columbine coverage was extensive and well thought out, making it both hard to read but also extremely interesting. He starts Parkland by insisting on only covering the aftermath - the survivors, the victims, and what the Parkland tragedy changed in the world. I at first surprised, as Columbine was mainly centered on the shooters and the events as they unfolded in the school. But surprise led way quickly to satisfaction as he spent minimal time on the events inside the school and instead focused greatly on the events that happened outside the school (in the nation) because of that one day.

Does he offer many differing viewpoints on what the book and topic is about (i.e. gun control)? No, not really. But he sticks to his journalistic background and reports on the facts - which in this case strongly support gun control. I have seen some ticks down on ratings because of this, but in reality, when writing about a topic that is so largely debated, it's going to be hard to please everyone. I loved how he took my viewpoint and secured it through facts and interviews with the survivors and people involved.

Parkland was not a quiet subject matter. It was highly reported on and it was hard not to learn about it. Dave Cullen took this and used it to his advantage by following the kid's stories as they took on a nation that was/is largely against them. I loved his approach to this entire book - taking the spotlight away from the attacker and instead insisting that we focus on the good that comes out of the tragedy. In a time where it seems that every week is full of events such as this, it's encouraging to hear the stories about the kids that lived through hell and are turning it into stories of hope and change.

This was easy to rate a 5/5 and would do it again. Read this book.
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh

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3.0

Actual Rating: 3.5/5

Let's start with this: personally, The Water Cure was not a super easy book to read. My attention drifted sometimes, I went into it with high expectations from the "Handmaid's Tale meets The Virgin Suicides!!" tagline slapped on it, and I was already confused by the large variety of mixed reviews I had seen on it. But heck, I actually really ended up enjoying it in the end despite some things.

I'm unsure if "Feminist Dystopian Novel" is a great way to describe this one. I feel as if it toes the line of all those genres, however it's fairly on it's own for what it is. I don't really know how else to describe it, so let's get into just my pros and cons.

PROS - interesting story line that had a good amount of promise to it to keep the story alive, interesting characters that held unique but memorable qualities, visually appealing (i'm a sucker for this book cover), BUT the overall pro, it was written beautifully. Sophie Mackintosh's writing is awesome in this. It's unique and eloquent while still adding little bits of terror without making it seem dark. I had to re-read a couple parts because the events occurring were things of horror but they were written so effortlessly and polished that it helped the book keep it's odd, dream-like composure.

CONS - I'm not sure I loved the format of this. It bounced from sister to sister narratives in the beginning, stuck with Lia in the middle, and then bounced back to Grace towards the end. Their narratives sounded the same which was mildly confusing. The ending came with very little closure and left me wondering what this world they avoided forever was really like (which I also see the benefit of ending it like that - I'm just impatient and curious), the middle took me a bit to get into it - I just felt like the "days" kept dragging on with little change, and the Mother and King narrative was decently predictable but also not really wrapped up towards the end.

All in all, this was an okay book in my opinion. It's hard to classify what genre it is because it sways between wanting to be in a dystopian universe while wanting to reach the standard of a feminist story-line. And it was okay. I'm glad I read it and stepped outside of my box on this one.
No Exit by Taylor Adams

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4.0

We live in an extremely fast digital era, where every single book marked "thriller" is seemingly picked up instantly to become the next best show/movie on netflix. Yes, although we all know the book is almost always better, No Exit is the first read in a hot second that I feel like was practically made for a dramatic screenplay. But this isn't about a movie, this is about the book so let's crack into it.

Darby, an innocent college student just trying to make amends with her dying mother, tries to fight a road trip against a blizzard and ultimately loses. The weather forces her to stop at your average American rest stop, complete with shitty coffee and odd characters. All of a sudden she finds herself not only knee-deep in snow trying to get cell service, but also suddenly knee-deep in the middle of a kidnapping.

PROS: I thought it was an extremely creative story line (not to mention perfect to read this while it's still a never-ending winter here in Fargo). I think it had the perfect amount of gore without being overly disgusting (which I have learned is a very fine line that many thrillers toe). But the part I loved most, I literally saw nothing coming. This is the book to read if you like twists that will literally confuse the heck out of you (also maybe a con? That's to come). I felt like every paragraph kept me turning the pages because things kept happening - things I couldn't even have guessed were about to happen.

CONS: I haven't read anything else from this author, so the writing wasn't quite what I expected. The characters were okay, but still held their ground okay with the story line. The book covers 13 hours of being stranded at the rest stop - a lot can happen in that amount of time BUT it's also hard to keep track. Although the author put nice little checkpoints in amongst the story (the Garfield clock helped me immensely) and sectioned the book into time checkpoints, it still was a large chunk of chaos that I had to keep track of. But I chalk this up to the fact that I would probably feel the same confused chaos if this was actually happening to me. And lastly, yeah. A lot of these twists in the plot seem MAYBE plausible at best. What are the odds that all these connections would happen and that the gun would easily transfer hands so effortlessly every time someone would attempt to kill someone? Some things were a little far fetched, but ultimately did help move the book along in a thrilling way and outright shocked me, so I can't complain too much.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book! It was right up my alley with a solid story line and I'm always excited when the reading world hops on the hype train for a new thriller. I loved the cinematic feel this book had to it without even being on a screen, it was fast paced and exciting to read. Although the twists and turns seemed a little outlandish at times, I DID just recently brag that I was getting too good at predicting twists in all these new thriller releases so this must just be karma putting me in my place. A solid and cold read - I will now probably always keep a knife and a cellphone charger on me while at rest stops.
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

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3.0

Actual Rating: 3.5/5

This one I didn't love but I also didn't dislike it. I'm pretty in between on it which ultimately took the rating down in my opinion. Let's crack into it -

Pros: I shall start by saying I LOVE Joe Hill. I love the idea of him taking after his dad writing horror, I like that he obviously has a passion for it, and I can't wait to read NOS4A2 (which is a long time coming - it's been sitting on my bookshelf for a solid year, I just haven't had the dang time). So I was finally excited to cross this one off my list. I liked the idea of the story, the characters were appropriately likeable (which I find important in horror - you don't want to spend 300+ pages rooting for someone you hate). The ghost was different and unique, he harnessed qualities that I personally haven't found yet in other ghostly figures in books. Although mildly batshit crazy, the plot carried itself well with realistic things and happenings.

Cons: This was a long book, which is FINE except it did not hold my attention super well. It starts off fairly fast, all of a sudden we're already in the thick of it all. So it was a surprise that literally the book and story line lasts the whole book. I feel like it could have succeeded regardless, even losing a couple fluff pages. When I'm rating a horror book and thinking about what I liked and didn't like about it, honestly I tend to really focus on whether it did it's job scaring me. This one, deemed super scary by a whole bunch of people, did not give me shivers. Which is okay, I feel like it's rare to find something that really gives me the creeps these days.

All in all, I went into this with high expectations (I really need to stop doing this). It was an okay read, it was entirely entertaining, I loved the dogs, and all was good. I'm glad I finally read it and I'm excited to see where Joe Hill's writing has grown since this release.
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

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4.0

Going to start this one out by saying sorry to everyone that I haven't jumped on the Lisa Jewell bandwagon until now. Holy heck, chalk her up to being one of my auto-buy authors from here on out. Also here to be transparent and real so I have no issue admitting that I literally dragged my feet on finishing this one because I just really didn't want it to end - yeah it's pretty good.

Then She Was Gone is about a young girl that goes missing and her mom's life that comes after which consists of sadness and filling the void and suspicions and yadda yadda - we've heard this all before. But where this one varies is the characters, unique twists, and everything in between. The story was dark and twisted but Laurel (and all the other characters) were realistic and relatable. They had human emotions that weren't dramatized for the sake of a thriller novel. The book does a great job feeding you slight hints to pick up on throughout, so the ending/twists were fairly transparent. But I will note that even though I ended up guessing the end chapters in advance, I was still thrown for loops and felt like it did it's dutiful job of freaking me the heck out.

I wholeheartedly think that Lisa Jewell has taken the same (a bit tired) story line and turned it into something equally exciting and nauseating-ly tough to read in parts. Like previously mentioned, I will be reading her other books. Her writing has my entire attention from here on out.