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thebookpear's reviews
163 reviews
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
his was such a refreshing read! A story about a chance encounter between two women who couldn’t in more different places in their lives. Lila, a 25-year-old bride at the Inn for her wedding and Phoebe, her marriage just dissolved, escaped to the Inn to end her life. Phoebe is such a unique character, she is raw, broken, honest, and so funny. I am a huge fan of the dark humor threaded throughout the story. Lila’s energy is also the perfect complement to Phoebe’s. The Wedding People felt very real and relatable while also making me want to be friends with the fictional characters.
🎧 Helen Laser did an excellent job portraying Phoebe’s devastation, dark wit, and ultimate hopefulness. The pacing was so engaging, there was never a moment I wanted to stop listening to this story.
🎧 Helen Laser did an excellent job portraying Phoebe’s devastation, dark wit, and ultimate hopefulness. The pacing was so engaging, there was never a moment I wanted to stop listening to this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Miscarriage and Death of parent
The Unraveling by Vi Keeland
medium-paced
4.0
The Unraveling was perfectly paced and I was on the edge of my seat following the characters navigate their emotional entanglements. I loved that Keeland made the reader a voyeur in therapy sessions throughout the book, the information learned in these sessions felt forbidden. The Unraveling was twisted and addictive, I sincerely enjoyed it. Vi Keeland needs to write more thrillers STAT!!
House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Sarah Pekkanen hit the mark with this psychological/domestic thriller. The House of Glass follows the Barclays, a wealthy family whose nanny tragically died amid a custody battle in their contentious divorce. Their daughter Rose is experiencing traumatized mutism and Stella, a lawyer with her own painful past must observe them to make a custody recommendation. Through Stella’s point of view, I was thoroughly creeped out by the Barclays. Their big historic house and Rose, their young daughter, were vaguely threatening and I was stressed for Stella. My only note is that I don't think we need as much of Stella's background story but overall, I really enjoyed this book! I did not see any of the twists coming!
Laura Benanti did a wonderful job narrating. I felt the tension of each scene in her voice which really upped the anxiety factor.
Laura Benanti did a wonderful job narrating. I felt the tension of each scene in her voice which really upped the anxiety factor.
What We'll Burn Last by Heather Chavez
emotional
tense
slow-paced
3.75
A community marred by the 16-year-old disappearance of two teens, Grace and Adam, is now faced with a similar disappearance of a young girl in the present. Neighbors are pointing fingers at neighbors, all the while the earth is burning. A wildfire is slowly crawling closer and closer to Plumas County. Grace’s little sister Leyna is still haunted her sister’s disappearance and can’t help but draw connections to this recent tragedy. What We’ll Burn last read like a slow simmering family suspense. I struggled with the pacing a bit, but I enjoyed following Leyna try to solve the mystery of the missing teens of Plumas Country. This is my third book by Heather Chavez and I will continue to pick up anything she writes!
Our Kind of Game by Johanna Copeland
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
4.0
A solid debut character-driven revenge thriller! Our Kind of Game is unexpectedly dark (check cw), but it was oooh so fun that it was set in my area. Joanna Copeland got all the details of living in Northern VA just right. I loved the dual timelines and multiple POVs and how they all connected in some way.
The Best Lies by David Ellis
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.5
David Ellis is such a great writer. He does it allllll in The Best Lies. It is a complex and layered mystery for the crime solvers and there are twisty surprises throughout to satiate the thriller lovers. The short cliffhanger chapters kept the narrative moving and held me in RAPT attention. The Best Lies is different than Look Closer, it is more of a crime fiction/action thriller (think lawyers, FBI, the mob). I am happy to report that I loved both! Look Closer is my number 1, but The Best Lies was excellent.