Posts Tagged: Thriller

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Review: Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

Posted by 4 Comments

I received this book for free from Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Little Darlings by Melanie GoldingLittle Darlings Published by Crooked Lane Books on April 30th 2019
Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller
Source: Crooked Lane Books
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

“Mother knows best” takes on a sinister new meaning in this unsettling thriller perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own…creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things.

A month passes. And one bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. But when they’re found, something is different about them. The infants look like Morgan and Riley―to everyone else. But to Lauren, something is off. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to scream, These are not my babies.

Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren will risk the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw…she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life.

Compulsive, creepy, and inspired by some our darkest fairy tales, Little Darlings will have you checking―and rechecking―your own little ones. Just to be sure. Just to be safe.

This one messes with your head, guys! I love psychological thrillers, and this had me totally creeped out from very early on. It also had me puzzled with the mystery of the fairy-tale-like storyline. With each new chapter we’re given a new layer of this mystery that makes absolutely no logical sense, but can’t deny that it’s all happening. I kept wondering if this was just a big mind-game with a huge twist that would turn everything on its head. Or if I was just completely overlooking a small detail that would make everything clear. I loved it!

Being a mother myself, I couldn’t help but relate to what Lauren was going through. The exhaustion, the lack of help, the loneliness that comes from having a new born (I can’t even imagine with twins). It’s something almost all new mothers will feel at one point – the loneliness even if you’re never technically alone, not having anyone else understand what you’re feeling. I found Lauren incredibly easy to connect with and empathize with. Her voice is genuine. Her fear, her doubt – even in regards to her own sanity, her love for these new babies in her life were all so palpable. Even though this is written in 3rd person, which I was a bit worried about at first, I found myself engrossed by these characters.

The story is told in alternating POVs. One being Lauren, the other being Harper – the local detective who found Lauren’s story a bit too unusual to leave alone. Harper is also a well rounded, flawed character who has her own issues that make her feel connected to Lauren. Having this second POV makes the mystery all the more eerie – as Harper finds pieces of the puzzle that make your skin crawl. It can’t be all in Lauren’s mind if Harper is seeing it too, right!? AAAAH!

Little Darlings is a gripping and disturbing psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat – and your sanity.

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Review: City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong

Posted by on 03/04/2019 • 0 Comments

I’ve always been a fan of Kelley Armstrong ever since her Women of the Underworld series. While this one isn’t paranormal, it still has an air of fantasy in it when we’re taken into this secluded town where people go to escape their tragic or criminal past. 

This town is hidden from the world, and as you can guess comes with a side of mystery and even horror. Casey is brought there to try and find out why their people are disappearing and coming up murdered. The whole seclusion aspect makes this story so compelling and eerie. It’s sort of like a post-apocalyptic world where you have limited supplies and every skill is put to good use, and wandering off a bit too far from the edge means you’re likely…

Not What I Wanted: #PrettyBoy Must Die by Kimberley Reid

Posted by on 02/21/2018 • 3 Comments

I wanted to love #PrettyBoy Must Die and I did NOT. It’s not even entirely easy to pin point where it went wrong and why I am not here salivating over its goodness? It’s got a teen CIA agent who is undercover, a mystery and some twists. My issue was that even though so many exciting things were happening in the story. I was not invested in the happenings. I did not care about the main character or the secondary characters and I didn’t really care about what was going on.

I didn’t passionately dislike or like the book so I basically have no idea how to rate it. Objectively, its not a terrible book but I do think that the writing might be part of the reason why I…

A Fun Read If A Little Romance Heavy: There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Posted by on 10/11/2017 • 2 Comments

While I admittedly have some complex feelings about Anna and the French Kiss, I can wholeheartedly say that I enjoy Stephanie Perkins’ writing style and that when I heard about There’s Someone Inside Your House, I was extremely excited to see how her unique writing style would translate across genres.

It did take me a while to get into There’s Someone Inside Your House so it is slow-going but as soon as things started getting bloodier and gorier, I was HERE FOR IT and I just got sucked in.

While it does kind of suck it took me a while to get into There’s Someone Inside Your House, I think it also makes sense because it is drawing from the classic horror movie, Scream and classic horror movies take time…

Blog Tour: Like/Try/Why And Then There Were Four by Nancy Werlin

Posted by on 06/07/2017 • 5 Comments

Today Xpresso Reads is on the blog tour for AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR and I am going to be doing a round of Like/Try/Why. Lez goooo

Like Rocks Fall Everyone Dies by Lindsay Ribar –> Try And Then There Were Four by Nancy Werlin

Why: So ROCKS FALL, EVERYONE DIES is actually a very underrated title that needs more love so I am trying to push both books with this rec. Both books have families that cannot be trusted, secrets and psychological thriller vibes.

Like Mystic River by Dennis Lehane –> Try And Then There Were Four by Nancy Werlin

Why: MYSTIC RIVER is somewhat of a classic psychological thriller AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR has similar vibes complete with bizarre twists you didn’t really think would occur.

Like Pretty…

The Infinite Variants of YA: The One Where Caleb Roehrig Chooses b/w an Alpaca and a Pony

Posted by on 03/28/2017 • 0 Comments

HELLO and welcome back to this fancy feature that Nick (Nick & Nereyda’s Infinite Booklist) and I are collaborating on! This month I have a really fun interview to share with the famously amazing Caleb Roehrig to share with you. He is hilarious and just as much fun to talk to as his book is to read! If you haven’t already read Last Seen Leaving, get on it because its a YA mystery you don’t want to miss. NOW. PLEASE PUT YOUR HANDS UP (or flail around, I don’t have a preference) for Caleb Roehrig!!!

asdas

1. You’ve travelled A LOT. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to live and why?

Oh, man. I have definitely done a lot of travel, and I’ve…

A Fun Mystery: To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough

Posted by on 02/17/2017 • 6 Comments

This book has an unfortunate cover given that its insides are so different. To Catch a Killer as pitched as being great for fans of Veronica Mars yet this cover screams cheesy mystery. Luckily, To Catch a Killer is a well-written mystery that is fun to follow along and hella engaging. It is one of those books you are going to stay up reading saying just ONE MORE CHAPTER (spoiler alert, its never one more chapter, its usually the entire fucking book.)

Sometimes I’ll read mysteries and wonder how the MCs have the resources and ability to solve the big case just based on educated guesses but To Catch A Killer throws in forensics into the mix and everything is GREAT. EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE. I totally guessed the murderer a couple pages in but…

5 Reasons Why You Should Read Vicarious by Paula Stokes

Posted by on 08/24/2016 • 6 Comments

If you read Paula Stokes’ guest post on the blog the other day, you’ll know that it is not secret that she is a talented writer but Vicarious blows that out of the water. Liars, Inc. was the last thriller she wrote and one I rated 4.5 stars because of how amazing it but Vicarious is EVEN better and kept me EVEN more at the edge of my seat and holy crap the climax of this novel almost killed me. 

5 Reasons Why You Should Read Vicarious

1. The main character. Stokes’ always writes great characters and this book is no exception. Winter is a complex character with a backstory that will make you want to shelter her from the world. Winter is BADASS but her past has left a…