thebookpear's reviews
120 reviews

Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

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4.75

The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas

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tense slow-paced

3.0

I was interested in this book because of the comparison to White Lotus. While there are some similarities, like broody rich couples on vacations in a creepy hotels, it did not thrill me as much as the show. The Sleepwalkers is told in long form letters that are unfinished due to damage to the paper they are written on. The plot was very disjointed. I think it was written this way on purpose, but I had hard time following the story. I am not entirely sure I understood the ending. There is an audience for this book! It is incredibly unique and lovers of cerebral literary fiction on the weirder side will enjoy this one.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

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Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh

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dark tense fast-paced

5.0

FIVE STARS! Wow, I loved this thriller. I have read a lot of thrillers marketed "in the vein of Strangers on the Train", Kill for Me, Kill for You did it in such a unique way. The pacing was just right, I was totally engaged from page one and I read it in two days. The multiple POVs worked well and the POV of the investigator gave it a crime fiction feel that I loved.

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No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez

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medium-paced

3.25

I think I might have missed something, I’m confused about the motivation for everything?! The first 50% was so so good!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are foster children placed at Wild Meadows farm with an abusive foster mother, Miss Fairchild, in the 1990s. In the present day, the three sisters have learned to cope with their past in different ways. Those coping mechanisms are put to the test when they receive a call from a detective that bones have been found at Wild Meadows and they need to return to the place where their childhood trauma took place.

Darling Girls is told in multiple POVs and the characterization is excellent. I loved each sister. We learn about their lives before foster care and how they came together under Miss Fairchild's "care". Jessica, Norah, and Alice's stories are heartbreaking and you can't help but empathize with each of them. This is a DARK psychological thriller with twists and a jaw dropping satisfying ending. I have read a few Sally Hepworth novels and I love that Darling Girls is much darker than her previous books. I will always pick up Hepworth's new releases!

4.5 stars!

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