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Review: Providence

Title: Providence
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Random House
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: June 19, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the acclaimed author of YOU comes a novel that is part love story, part detective story, and part supernatural thriller.

Growing up as best friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe are the only ones who truly understand each other and their intense connection. But just when Jon is ready to confess the depth of his feelings, he’s kidnapped by his substitute teacher, a discredited scientist who is obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and has a plot to save humanity.
After four years in captivity, Jon finally escapes, only to discover that he now has an uncontrollable power that endangers anyone he has intense feelings for. He runs away to Providence to protect Chloe while he searches for answers. Across town from Jon, Detective Charles “Eggs” DeBenedictus is fascinated by a series of strange deaths–young, healthy people whose hearts just . . . stop. Convinced these deaths are a series of connected, vigilante killings, he jeopardizes his job and already strained marriage to uncover the truth.
With heart, insight, and a keen eye on human frailty, Kepnes whisks us on a journey through New England and crashes these characters’ lives together in the most unexpected ways, exploring the complex relationship between the powerful and the powerless, love and identity, self-preservation and self-destruction, and how the lines are often blurred between the two.

Review:

This is a great thriller. Throughout the book, I had no idea how it would end, but I was satisfied with the final pages.

This was quite an emotional story. Both Jon and Chloe struggled with the loss of each other. It was heartbreaking to see them apart, because they really were meant to be together.

Jon’s condition reminded me of the main character in the Joe Hill book Horns. In that book, the character grows horns, like the devil, and people tell him their worst secrets. He can’t escape it, just like Jon.

I have never read any Lovecraft stories before, but now I’m tempted to. Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

TBR Thursday – June 21

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 Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

I’m planning on starting this series soon.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Quirk
Source: Purchased
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Review:

I had heard so much about how good these books are, that I had to try it for myself. I loved it!

I really liked the mystery of Jacob’s family history. His grandfather had a mysterious past that Jacob’s father never believed, but Jacob wanted to believe in his grandfather’s stories. He was so drawn to it that he ended up in the ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. But then he learns that their story isn’t finished yet.

One of my favourite parts of this book is the photos that are placed throughout the story. I was curious about whether they were real or if they were staged for the book. At the end, the author talks about how he found these photos over years of going to garage sales and meeting interesting people. Some of the photos may have been created with a trick of the light, or maybe there really are these peculiar children living in Miss Peregrine’s house somewhere.

I loved this book, but I was disappointed in the movie. I wished they had made it into a trilogy. The story is much more than just the first book, so I wish they had made more than just one movie about it.

Have you read this series? What did you think of it?

‘Waiting on’ Wednesday – June 20

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 The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she–or anyone–saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings–massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.

Yet it’s immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp’s twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present.

And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.

What book are you waiting on this week?

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Cosmic Avengers

Title: Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Cosmic Avengers
Author: Brian Michael Bendis, Steve McNiven, Sara Pichelli
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Marvel
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Release Date: August 28, 2013
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

There’s a new rule in the galaxy: No one touches Earth!

But why has Earth suddenly become the most important planet in the galaxy? That’s what the Guardians of the Galaxy are going to find out!

Join Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and–wait for it–the Invincible Iron Man as they embark upon one of the most explosive and eye-opening chapters of Marvel NOW! The secrets these galactic Avengers discover will rattle Marvel readers for years to come! But while London deals with a brutal invasion by the Badoon, the fate of the Guardians may have already been decided millions of miles away! Why wait for the movie? It all starts here!

Review:

The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are some of my favourite Marvel movies. This is the first Guardians of the Galaxy graphic novel I’ve read, and I enjoyed it.

This story is a great intro to the Guardians. It starts with Star-Lord’s parents meeting. They had a different life than in the movie, but it still ended in his father leaving Earth. His father was not a nice person in this story, which is not surprising from the movies.

One change that I didn’t like was Groot! He is adorable in the movie, but he looks like a giant tree monster in this graphic novel. I guess that’s how he was originally drawn, but he is just so cute in the movie that it was a little scary to see this version of him.

I will definitely look for more Guardians of the Galaxy graphic novels! Have you read any? What did you think of them?

Top Ten Tuesday – Books To Read At The Beach

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Books To Read At The Beach. Here’s my list:

1. I See London, I See France

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2. Save the Date

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3. The Brightsiders

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4. Stay Sweet

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5. Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power!

6. The Summer of Jordi Perez

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7. Everything Everything

8. One of Us Is Lying

9. S.T.A.G.S.

10. We Were Liars

(All photos taken from Goodreads)

Review: A Study in Treason (The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries #2)

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Title: A Study in Treason (The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries #2)
Author: Leonard Goldberg
Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: June 12, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A continuation of USA TODAY bestselling author Leonard Goldberg’s The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Treason is a new intriguing locked room mystery for Joanna and the Watsons to solve.

The following case has not previously been disclosed to the public due to the sensitive information on foreign affairs. All those involved were previously bound by the Official Secrets Act. With the passage of time and the onset of the Great War, these impediments have been removed and the story can now be safely told.

When an executed original of a secret treaty between England and France, known as the French Treaty, is stolen from the country estate of Lord Halifax, Scotland Yard asks Joanna, Dr. John Watson, Jr., and Dr. John Watson, Sr. to use their keen detective skills to participate in the hunt for the missing treaty. As the government becomes more restless to find the missing document and traditional investigative means fail to turn up the culprit, Joanna is forced to devise a clever plan to trap the thief and recover the missing treaty.

Told from the point of view of Dr. John Watson, Jr. in a style similar to the original Sherlock Holmes stories, A Study in Treason is based partly on facts in our world and partly on the facts left to us by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Full of excitement and intrigue, this mystery is sure to be enjoyed by fans of Sherlock Holmes as well as the works of Laurie R. King and Charles Finch.

Review:

I loved this adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.

This story follows the daughter of Holmes, who is now married to the son of Watson. Watson is also in this story, though he had a stroke so he isn’t able to do much physical work.

I really liked how this story followed the same style of the original Sherlock Holmes stories. The story was told by John Watson Jr. Though Joanna didn’t know her father, Sherlock, she inherited his talent for deduction. She also likes to study different areas of interest, like tobacco and languages, just like Sherlock.

The ending of the story was good too. The culprit was who I suspected. But it was a very clever mystery. It played out just like a Sherlock Holmes mystery, with very complex and hidden clues.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – June 18

It's Monday! What Are You Reading

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

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This weekend I finished A Study in Treason by Leonard Goldberg.

What I’m currently reading:

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I’m currently reading Ordinary People by Diana Evans.

What I’m reading next:

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Next I will be reading Providence by Caroline Kepnes.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – June 17

Here’s my weekly wrap up!

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

Save the Date ★★★★★
A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns ★★★★
Tell Me No Lies ★★★★★
Lumberjanes, Vol. 2: Friendship to the Max ★★★★★
Soulstruck ★★★★★
My Name is Victoria ★★★★★

I did 5 weekly blogging memes:

I also wrote a post about an author event I went to last month where I saw Victoria Aveyard speak:

Author Event: Victoria Aveyard

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays in Bed With… Ordinary People

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 reading Ordinary People by Diana Evans.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Evoking the sharp insight of Little Fires Everywhere and the sweep of NW, an incisive portrait of the bliss and torment of domestic love.

Hailed as “one of the most thrilling writers at work today” (Huffington Post), Diana Evans reaches new heights with her searing depiction of two couples struggling through a year of marital crisis. In a crooked house in South London, Melissa feels increasingly that she’s defined solely by motherhood, while Michael mourns the former thrill of their romance. In the suburbs, Stephanie’s aspirations for bliss on the commuter belt, coupled with her white middle-class upbringing, compound Damian’s itch for a bigger life catalyzed by the death of his activist father. Longtime friends from the years when passion seemed permanent, the couples have stayed in touch, gathering for births and anniversaries, bonding over discussions of politics, race, and art. But as bonds fray, the lines once clearly marked by wedding bands aren’t so simply defined.

Ordinary People is a moving examination of identity and parenthood, sex and grief, and the fragile architecture of love.

What book are you in bed with today?