Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book.
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Before the train has left the station, England’s most accomplished new detective already is on a suspect’s trail, and readers will be delighted to travel along.
Myrtle Hardcastle has no desire to go on a relaxing travel excursion with her aunt Helena when there are More Important things to be done at home, like keeping close tabs on criminals and murder trials. Unfortunately, she has no say in the matter. So off Myrtle goes—with her governess, Miss Judson, and cat, Peony, in tow—on a fabulous private railway coach headed for the English seaside.
Myrtle is thrilled to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Bloom, a professional insurance investigator aboard to protect the priceless Northern Lights tiara. But before the train reaches its destination, both the tiara and Mrs. Bloom vanish. When Myrtle arrives, she and Peony discover a dead body in the baggage car. Someone has been murdered—with Aunt Helena’s sewing shears.
The trip is derailed, the local police are inept, and Scotland Yard is in no rush to arrive. What’s a smart, bored Young Lady of Quality stranded in a washed-up carnival town to do but follow the evidence to find out which of her fellow travelers is a thief and a murderer?
Title: The Shadows Author: Alex North Genre: Thriller Publisher: Macmillan Audio Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Audiobook Release Date: July 7, 2020 Rating: ★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
You knew a teenager like Charlie Crabtree. A dark imagination, a sinister smile–always on the outside of the group. Some part of you suspected he might be capable of doing something awful. Twenty-five years ago, Crabtree did just that, committing a murder so shocking that it’s attracted that strange kind of infamy that only exists on the darkest corners of the internet–and inspired more than one copycat.
Paul Adams remembers the case all too well: Crabtree–and his victim–were Paul’s friends. Paul has slowly put his life back together. But now his mother, old and senile, has taken a turn for the worse. Though every inch of him resists, it is time to come home.
It’s not long before things start to go wrong. Reading the news, Paul learns another copycat has struck. His mother is distressed, insistent that there’s something in the house. And someone is following him. Which reminds him of the most unsettling thing about that awful day twenty-five years ago.
It wasn’t just the murder.
It was the fact that afterward, Charlie Crabtree was never seen again…
The haunting new thriller from Alex North, author of the New York Times bestseller The Whisper Man.
Review:
Twenty-five years ago, Charlie Crabtree murdered his friends. Crabtree inspired copycat murders years later. Paul Adams was one of his friends, who left after the murder. Now, Paul’s mother is sick and he’s had to return to his hometown. Another copycat murder has just occurred, and it has distressed his ill mother. Everyone suspects there may be a connection between this recent murder and Crabtree because he was never seen again after killing his friend twenty-five years ago. The police have to look into this possible connection.
This audiobook switched between two narrators, Detective Amanda Beck and Paul Adams. Paul’s narrative switched between the present and his experience with Crabtree as a teenager twenty-five years ago. Since the current murder and the past one were so similar, I kept getting the two situations mixed up. It was difficult to differentiate between the two murders while listening, but it probably would have made more sense if I was reading it.
I didn’t really understand the ending. Everything happened quite quickly. There were a bunch of quick explanations, including introducing some characters who played an important part in the solution, but weren’t in most of the book. The whole story talked about the murder from twenty-give years ago, yet they were trying to solve the current one. This ending wasn’t as clear and concise as I expect for a thriller.
This thriller audiobook didn’t work for me.
Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Whisper Man by Alex North
Have you read The Shadows? What did you think of it?
Title: Confessions on the 7:45 Author: Lisa Unger Genre: Thriller Publisher: Park Row Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: October 6, 2020 Rating: ★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
From master of suspense Lisa Unger comes a riveting thriller about a chance encounter that unravels a stunning web of lies and deceit.
Everyone has a secret… Now she knows yours.
Selena Murphy is commuting home from her job in the city when the train stalls out on the tracks. She strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat, and their connection is fast and easy. The woman introduces herself as Martha and confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.
But days later, Selena’s nanny disappears.
Soon Selena finds her once-perfect life upended. As she is pulled into the mystery of the missing nanny, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, Selena begins to wonder, who was Martha really? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover.
Expertly plotted and reminiscent of the timeless classic Strangers on a Train, Confessions on the 7:45 is a gripping thriller about the delicate facades we create around our lives.
Review:
When Selena Murphy is riding the train home one evening, she tells a woman that her husband is having an affair with their nanny. A few days later, the nanny, Geneva, disappears. Her disappearance is suspicious, and Selena worries about the stranger on the train who knows about Selena’s husband’s affair. Selena hopes that the police won’t make a connection between her husband’s affair and Geneva’s disappearance. When the stranger starts texting Selena out of the blue, she has to wonder if that woman is connected to Geneva.
This story was told from multiple perspectives. It was confusing at the beginning because the first few chapters each had a different perspective. The stranger that Selena met on the train even gave a fake name, which was confusing since it happened right when the characters were being introduced. Some of the chapters only used a character’s perspective once or twice, which I think could have been removed or changed to a main character to make it a little simpler to follow.
The characters did a lot of reflecting on what was going on in the story. Since the characters spent a lot of time thinking about the events, the twists were easy to figure out before they happened. There was also a lot of unnecessary background on the characters. They had detailed life histories, which were thought out and provided motive and connections, but they didn’t really progress the story.
This was a good crime story, but not as suspenseful as I expected.
Thank you HarperCollins for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Someone’s Listening by Seraphina Nova Glass
When I Was You by Amber Garza
About the author:
Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of eighteen novels, including CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 (Oct. 2020). With millions of readers worldwide and books published in twenty-six languages, Unger is widely regarded as a master of suspense. Her critically acclaimed books have been voted “Best of the Year” or top picks by the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, Amazon, IndieBound and others. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.
Have you read Confessions on the 7:45? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“I was the girl who survived.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda.
Goodreads synopsis:
Everyone knows the story of “the girl from Widow Hills.”
Arden Maynor was just a child when she was swept away while sleepwalking during a terrifying rainstorm and went missing for days. Strangers and friends, neighbors and rescue workers, set up search parties and held vigils, praying for her safe return. Against all odds, she was found, alive, clinging to a storm drain. The girl from Widow Hills was a living miracle. Arden’s mother wrote a book. Fame followed. Fans and fan letters, creeps, and stalkers. And every year, the anniversary. It all became too much. As soon as she was old enough, Arden changed her name and disappeared from the public eye.
Now a young woman living hundreds of miles away, Arden goes by Olivia. She’s managed to stay off the radar for the last few years. But with the twentieth anniversary of her rescue approaching, the media will inevitably renew its interest in Arden. Where is she now? Soon Olivia feels like she’s being watched and begins sleepwalking again, like she did long ago, even waking outside her home. Until late one night she jolts awake in her yard. At her feet is the corpse of a man she knows—from her previous life, as Arden Maynor.
And now, the girl from Widow Hills is about to become the center of the story, once again, in this propulsive page-turner from suspense master Megan Miranda.
Check out my review for The Girl from Widow Hills here.
Have you read The Girl from Widow Hills? What did you think of it?
Title: Willa the Wisp (The Fabled Stables #1) Author: Jonathan Auxier, Olga Demidova (illustrator) Genre: Children’s, Fantasy Publisher: Puffin Books Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: October 20, 2020 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The first book in a magical chapter-book adventure series by the Governor General Award-winning author of Sweep.
Auggie Pound is eight years old and has the greatest job of all time: he cares for all the animals in the Fabled Stables. The Fabled Stables house the rarest creatures in existence–all of them one-of-a-kind. Auggie’s job is to care for these creatures, as well as track down and safely capture endangered magical beasts in the wild. Some mornings, he arrives to find an empty stall with the name of a new creature to rescue. One day, the Stables rearrange themselves out of the blue, creating a new stall. The sign over the gate says, “Wisp.” But what is a wisp and where is it? All Auggie can see is a moonlit swamp stretching out before him. Then a hungry HOWLLLLLLL rings out in the darkness. It’s up to Auggie to go into the swamp to find the wisp before it’s too late.
Review:
Auggie is a little boy who is in charge of The Fabled Stables. The Fabled Stables holds many one-of-a-kind creatures. One day, a new stall appears for an unknown creature. Auggie ventures into the swamp in the new stall and discovers a Wisp named Willa. He has to protect her from hunters, who are trying to capture Willa before she disappears when the sun rises.
I loved the variety of magical creatures in this story. There were some creatures who were based on things in real life, such as a tarantula who was as big as a person named a Garantula. There was a stick-in-the-mud named Fen, who could transform into any item that Auggie needed at the moment, such as a rake. There was also Willa who was a wisp, a creature that is born one day but disappears when the moon sets.
In an author’s note at the beginning of the book, the author says that he wrote this book to be read out loud to children. Some books may read well, but don’t sound the same when they’re read aloud. Sometimes in stories with magical creatures, their names can be complicated and difficult to pronounce. Though there are made-up creatures in this story, their names are easy to say. Some of the dialogue rhymed, which makes it fun to read as well.
This is the great first story in the Fabled Stables series!
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier
Have you read Willa the Wisp? What did you think of it?
TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.
My pick this week is The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con #2) by Ashley Poston.
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.
Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year’s ExcelsiCon isn’t her last, she’ll consider her career derailed.
When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That’s easier said than done when the girls step into each other’s shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these “princesses” race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: All This Time Author: Mikki Daughtry, Rachael Lippincott Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Publisher: Simon and Schuster Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: September 29, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Kyle and Kimberly have been the perfect couple all through high school, but when Kimberly breaks up with him on the night of their graduation party, Kyle’s entire world upends—literally. Their car crashes and when he awakes, he has a brain injury. Kimberly is dead. And no one in his life could possibly understand.
Until Marley. Marley is suffering from her own loss, a loss she thinks was her fault. And when their paths cross, Kyle sees in her all the unspoken things he’s feeling.
As Kyle and Marley work to heal each other’s wounds, their feelings for each other grow stronger. But Kyle can’t shake the sense that he’s headed for another crashing moment that will blow up his life as soon as he’s started to put it back together.
And he’s right.
Review:
Kyle and Kimberly were the perfect couple all through high school. On graduation night, Kim tells him she wants to break up while they’re driving after a fight. Then, they’re in a car accident. When Kyle wakes up with a head injury, he finds out that Kim is dead. Kyle struggles to get over his injury and his broken heart, until he meets Marley. Marley has also lost someone close to her, so she understands what Kyle is going through. They start a relationship that seems great, until Kyle has another accident. He has to put the pieces of his life back together a second time, but this time everything has changed.
This was a heartbreaking story about loss. Kyle and Marley lost people who were very close to them. They went through different stages of grief, including survivor’s guilt. They both survived tragic accidents which killed their loved ones, and they didn’t think they deserved to live after that. Since they were both experiencing the same feelings, they can relate to and support each other.
This story was so sad, until a shocking twist two thirds of the way through. I thought I knew where this story was heading, but I was completely wrong. This story kept my heart pounding right until the end. The ending was surprising and perfect for this heartbreaking story about love and loss.
I highly recommend this beautiful story.
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
Have you read All This Time? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.
The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco. The expected publication date is October 27, 2020.
Goodreads Synopsis:
From the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series comes a new blockbuster series…
Two sisters.
One brutal murder.
A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself…
And an intoxicating romance.
Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.
Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…
![Review: The Shadows [audiobook]](https://jilljemmett.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/book-review-banner.jpg?w=960)
