Category: Book Reviews

All the Dark Places by Terri P..

Posted 07/23/2022 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I recently was given the opportunity by Kensington Publishing Corporation, via NetGalley, to read the debut thriller from Terri Parlato, All the Dark Places. I have to say, this debut novel is amazing. First, we have our characters. They’re well thought out, well planned, and very well written. Do we get all of the info about each of our characters right away? No. But that actually adds to the intrigue of the book. Something bad happened to Molly as a child. While it’ll take a while for you to find out what that is, and you’ll want to know, it doesn’t detract from the story to find out when you do. No matter what it is, every character with a backstory you need to know will have that backstory told, when the time is right. This book doesn’t beat around the bush. It gets right into the action. That is […]

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by..

Posted 07/22/2022 by Charli in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Most people probably don’t know this, because I don’t make it as obvious as I *could*, but I am a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is easily my favorite movie of all time. So when I see there are “sequels” to it, I have to try my best to read them. Or in this case, listen to them. Now, one reason why it’s taken so long for any sequels for The Nightmare Before Christmas to come out is because Tim Burton didn’t really want any. He was afraid that it would become a big thing with people going through the other doors and he just didn’t want that. At least that’s what I’ve heard – who knows? Well, if the above reasoning is true, then he’d be sorely disappointed in Long Live the Pumpkin Queen – because there’s a lot of going through the other doors. Granted, […]

The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs

Posted 07/21/2022 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Trigger Warnings: Murder, Child Murder, Gore, Descriptions of Dead Bodies, Animal Cruelty, Attempted Murder, Mentions of DNA modification and vaccines. In the early 2000s, I fell in love with a TV show called Bones. I would later discover that the TV show was loosely based on the Temperance Brennan series of books by Kathy Reichs. Earlier this year, I decided I was going to make it a point to read/listen to as many of those books as I could. I didn’t get too far in, but I knew I had the 20th book in the series, The Bone Code, in my NetGalley queue. I finally got off my butt and read it. First things first, you don’t have to read the Temperance Brennan books in order to understand what’s going on. You’ll be given enough details to help you figure things out if previous books are referenced. So don’t let […]

Influencer Island by Kyle Rutk..

Posted 07/20/2022 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Trigger Warnings: Murder, Gore, Sexual Assault, Drugs The premise of this book had me wanting to read it and so when I was granted an eARC I was thrilled. However, the book simply didn’t live up to expectations. First, none of the characters are in any way memorable. The only things I really remember about them are their names – Cal, Carrie, Tuck, Kiana, Bella, Nicki Mo, Trevor, etc.. But who they are, what they stand for? Not much to tell you because they just weren’t memorable to me. We didn’t get a decent enough background for any character to make them pop. Second, the POV just bounced around too much. Never knowing which point of view you’d get next or what they’d be talking about now didn’t set well with me. I like to have an idea of when point of view changes are coming and what’s going on. […]

Small Favors by Erin A. Craig

Posted 07/19/2022 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Trigger Warnings: Murder, Fire, Arson, Gore, Religious Fervor, Monsters, Animal Death I’ve had Small Favors in my TBR for well over a year. I actually own a signed hardcover copy of the book that I’d pre-ordered back before it came out. Now the book is out in paperback and I’m just now getting around to reading it. Go me. Erin A. Craig likes to do fairy tale retellings and from what I can gather, this one is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. At least that is what I’d guess from the favors – that was Rumpelstiltskin’s schtick after all. However, she does it in an unexpected way that makes you stop and think about it. It isn’t obvious at first. I love the setting of Amity Falls – an idyllic little town that is mostly self-contained, but still requires a little bit of help from the outside world. I honestly wonder […]