9/10
This was the first book I had read by Alex Micahelides and it was truly a great reading experience. The plot and characters
formed a suspenseful storyline and I found that I could not put the book down. After reading the book, I wondered to myself how authors
write novels. Do they think of the ending first and then base the story off of that? Or do they make up a character and want to form a story
around them? The book got me thinking about how exactly mystery authors write their books because I did not anticipate the ending to be the
way it was. Overall, a great book to read if you are a mystery fan.
6/10
After reading Alex Micahelides' "The Silent Patient", I was looking forward to reading another book written by him. However, "The Maidens" did not live up
to my expectations. The storyline was interesting, however, the characters were not captivating at all and their descriptions lacked originality. I found myself annoyed at the characters, making it difficult
to enjoy the book. The plot of the novel was very slow and the ending was too rushed and not realistic at all. This book was written after "The Silent Patient" and wonder
if Micahelides felt pressured by the high remarks of his previous book when writing "The Maidens".
8/10
Laura Dave's "The Last Thing He Told Me" was a perfect vacation book to read. During my trip to Nepal and Bhutan, I was excited after a long day of touring and hiking to shower and
cozy up into bed and read. The book had a good plot that was entertaining and kept me eager to keep reading to find out the ending. While the plot was good, I had trouble giving the book a 10/10
because Dave could have done a better job at writing the main character, Hannah. Hannah is a woodworker who marries a man who disappears after his company goes through a scandal. After his disapperance she suddenly
has detective skills that solve the disappearance of her husband. There was no background of Hannah to suggest she is a critical thinker or a rebel as she risks her life to find the answers to her husband's disappearance.
If anything, her character was so oblivious to the signs that her husband was lying about something since the day they met, but she never questioned anything or thought twice about it so it was really confusing to see her play a detective role at the latter end of the book.
Her character was unrealistic and I could not help but notice that. Like I said, the plot was good and it is being made into a limited series tv show which I am excited to watch.
4/10
After reading "The Writing Retreat", my one takeaway is that Julia Bartz has quite an imagination. The premise of her book revolves around a psychopathetic murderer who kills authors,
steals their books, and publishes them in her own name all while the authors she plans to kill explore their sexuality throughout the storyline...Her mix of dark crime and erotic fantasy was not my favorite
and I believe she overdid it by combining two genres into one book.
I was interested 10% of the time and the other 90% I was so eager to finish because I
could not stand the characters or how unrealistic the story was (at least to me). Julia Bartz also tries to weave in themes of sexuality and womanhood, but her message comes across forced and inorganic which I find sloppy as a writer.
9/10
"Wrong Place Wrong Time" consumed my Memorial Day Weekend in the best way possible. It is an impressive and thrilling book with just the right amount of plot twists to keep
readers engaged and eager to devour more. I can not count on two hands how many times I sat up from my beach chair saying "No way", "WHAT", or "Thats crazy". Mcallister has written
an epic mystery that you can't put down. While the plot is fantastic, I also enjoyed dissecting some of the writing decisions made my Mcallister. During the first thirty pages of the book, I pondered why Gillian Mcallister decided to write in third-person narrative versus first-person narrative.
While she writes in third-person, there is one main character who readers follow throughout the book. So why not write it in first-person if Mcallister is going to write in a way that connects readers to the main character and have them
feel the same confusion, excitement, and anxiety as that character? Well, if there is anything I learned from reading "Wrong Place Wrong Time", it is that Gillian Mcallister is meticulous about details.
Although, she is able to write in third-person and create a itimiate connection between the main character and the reader, her third-person narrative allows for the ability to switch between character perspectives which was crucial to her plot and the solving of the mystery. Her third-person narrative also strengthened her mystery
as readers may believe they are being given unbiased and objective information about characters, allowing them to think they can solve the mystery before the end of the book. However, while all information given to the reader during a certain chapter is objective, each subsequent chapter gives further context and reveals a new perspective on the characters
and the crime, keeping readers on their toes. I believe word, language, and punctuation choice are decided by authors with purpose and I enjoyed dissecting some of the choices made by Mcallister in "Wrong Place Wrong Time" to better understand the plot of the book and Mcallister's writing process.
7/10
"The Last Flight" by Julie Clark follows the story of two women eager to escape their troubled lives, yet ultimately realizing escape only temporarily delays the confrontation one must face in order to truly overcome life's challenges and burdens. While the book's plot is interesting and Clark sprinkles in the right amount of twists and turns, I would not
consider this a thrilling page turner. The middle of the book is slow and as a reader, I felt as though the characters were unoriginal and their actions were predictable, not something one expects to see in a mystery novel. Overall, it was a good book to read on my vacation as the flow of the plot was interesting and easy to follow.
7/10
'The Guest List' is the first book written by Lucey Foley that I have read. I really enjoyed the way
she writes her books from the perspective of each character in the book, it keeps the reader on their
toes. I also thought it was interesting how Foley wrote from the perspective of all the main characters except
for one. Throughout my reading experience I kept thinking how did she write this? Did she think of the ending first and work her
way back? Why did she exclude one character's perspective? This book is one of many in which I wish I could attend a bookclub
with the author and ask her about her writing process and where she draws her inspiration from when creating characters. Although
I enjoyed the book, the beginning and middle felt slow and Foley ended the book in haste. It felt like a Thanksgiving meal.
It takes days and weeks to prepare, but only an hour to eat your meal. I wish there was more to the ending that I could have savored.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and have several of Foley's other books on my list for what to read next.
7.5/10
I consumed "The Perfect Marriage" within 24 hours on the beaches of the Maldives. There is no better feeling than
laying in paradise engrossed in a mystery novel. As I read the book, I kept a list of suspects I thought was the murderer, yet,
the murderer never made my list. Although it was a gripping novel, the author tried too hard to make the ending make sense. The hardest
part about being a mystery writer is keeping readers on their toes, but also delivering a shocking, yet, realistic ending. The way the author wrote
the book from two points of views made the ending not make sense. *SPOILER ALERT AHEAD*. How can she give us a false and inaccurate first person point of
view of the murderer throughout the whole book that contradicts the ending? It was a crazy twist, but it did not make sense at all. If you do not care about
endings making sense, this is the book for you.
7/10
'The Wife Upstairs' is extremely reminiscent of 'Verity' by Colleen Hoover, a little too reminsicent.. Similar characters,
romance, and plot twist, not much else to say about the book. I looked up the date the two books were published and 'Verity' was published in 2018 while 'The Wife Upstairs' was
published in 2021.. I don't love how unorignial the plot and characters are, but it was a really good vacation read while I was in Croatia.
7/10
Six characters, one island, and many many secrets.. Unlike, 'The Wife Upstairs', Rachel Hawkins' 'Reckless Girls' has a very unique plot and I really enjoyed reading this book.
While the plot was interesting, I thought the ending was very abrupt and I wish the author had taken more time with it. I am finding that crafting an ending to a mystery novel is like cooking
an over easy egg. Cook it for too little, the egg will not be cooked enough and is not enjoyable. Leave it on the pan for too long, the egg will not be runny. An ending to a mystery should be a perfectly runny over easy egg,
leaving readers satisfied. While the ending was not satisfying, I still believe it was a well written book and recommend it for your next beach day.