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reading_under_covers's reviews
1584 reviews
D7 by Philip Fracassi
4.5
"Whatever's fueling this place...it ain't the power company. And it ain't natural."
D7 by Philip Fracassi is the latest from the Shortwave Media novella collection and, like all the others I've read, it's a true banger.
The setting, the atmosphere, and just how quickly Fracassi paces the story to land those punches made for this to be such an enjoyable read!
This is very much a "read-in-one-sitting" story and reminded me a lot of sitting around a campfire and telling ghost stories.
I wish this book was longer, but it still managed a whole lot in the pages it did have.
Thanks to Shortwave Media for the early copy for review - out May 27!
D7 by Philip Fracassi is the latest from the Shortwave Media novella collection and, like all the others I've read, it's a true banger.
The setting, the atmosphere, and just how quickly Fracassi paces the story to land those punches made for this to be such an enjoyable read!
This is very much a "read-in-one-sitting" story and reminded me a lot of sitting around a campfire and telling ghost stories.
I wish this book was longer, but it still managed a whole lot in the pages it did have.
Thanks to Shortwave Media for the early copy for review - out May 27!
What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator by Barbara Butcher
4.0
No One Was Supposed to Die at this Wedding by Catherine Mack
4.0
"Everything that can go wrong will. Don't say I didn't warn you."
While filming the movie adaptation of her novel, Eleanor is invited to a surprise wedding for her best friend Emma (who also happens to be the star of the movie) and Fred (the lead man in the same movie). What should be a fun-filled weekend, soon becomes tense when Emma receives an anonymous letter saying someone will die at the wedding π
Eleanor Dash is back in NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE AT THIS WEDDING by Catherine Mack!
Much like the first novel, this book was so much fun! The footnotes added an extra layer to the story and I loved how meta it made everything feel.
The chaos was absolutely present (in the best way!) and I loved getting to see all the characters we've gotten to know back at it again in a brand new setting.
I'm looking forward to where these characters and the story go from here!
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for the early copy for review. This book is out now!
While filming the movie adaptation of her novel, Eleanor is invited to a surprise wedding for her best friend Emma (who also happens to be the star of the movie) and Fred (the lead man in the same movie). What should be a fun-filled weekend, soon becomes tense when Emma receives an anonymous letter saying someone will die at the wedding π
Eleanor Dash is back in NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE AT THIS WEDDING by Catherine Mack!
Much like the first novel, this book was so much fun! The footnotes added an extra layer to the story and I loved how meta it made everything feel.
The chaos was absolutely present (in the best way!) and I loved getting to see all the characters we've gotten to know back at it again in a brand new setting.
I'm looking forward to where these characters and the story go from here!
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for the early copy for review. This book is out now!
The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan
4.0
This was such a fun time! And a great way to kick off the new Percy, Annabeth, and Grover adventures!
Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein
5.0
Pleased to report that I loved this one!
The characters were incredibly messy(!!), which made them feel very real, the lakeside small town was everything I hoped it would be, and the grief of losing a parent both before and after they passed felt very profound.
This book had me feeling every emotion and is one I can easily see myself revisiting in the future!
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy for an honest review!
The characters were incredibly messy(!!), which made them feel very real, the lakeside small town was everything I hoped it would be, and the grief of losing a parent both before and after they passed felt very profound.
This book had me feeling every emotion and is one I can easily see myself revisiting in the future!
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent
Such Quiet Girls by Noelle W. Ihli
4.5
βAt this point, my entire life was a detour. The last thing I needed was another one.β
Jessa is driving the children on bus 315 from school to daycare when she hits a detour on their normal route. As she takes the new turn, they're confronted by a man in a van with a gun and all eleven of them are kidnapped and deposited in a shipping container buried 20 feet underground. Time and air are running out in this pulse-pounding, gut-wrenching thriller.
SUCH QUIET GIRLS is my second read by Noelle W. Ihli (RUN ON RED being my first) and dang, does she know how to write a claustrophobic, heart-racing thriller!
This story was based on real events (which I'm unfamiliar with) that made it even harder to read at times, knowing that this wasn't just a fully imagined scenario π
I loved the characters and the rotating POVs (12-year-old Sage did annoy me at times, especially listening on audio), and seeing their growth throughout the story was really beautiful!
Thanks to Libro.fm for the ALC - I highly recommend listening to the audiobook of this one!
Jessa is driving the children on bus 315 from school to daycare when she hits a detour on their normal route. As she takes the new turn, they're confronted by a man in a van with a gun and all eleven of them are kidnapped and deposited in a shipping container buried 20 feet underground. Time and air are running out in this pulse-pounding, gut-wrenching thriller.
SUCH QUIET GIRLS is my second read by Noelle W. Ihli (RUN ON RED being my first) and dang, does she know how to write a claustrophobic, heart-racing thriller!
This story was based on real events (which I'm unfamiliar with) that made it even harder to read at times, knowing that this wasn't just a fully imagined scenario π
I loved the characters and the rotating POVs (12-year-old Sage did annoy me at times, especially listening on audio), and seeing their growth throughout the story was really beautiful!
Thanks to Libro.fm for the ALC - I highly recommend listening to the audiobook of this one!
The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis
3.5
"Once the vultures swoop toward the trees, it means that the danger has passed. Death has already come."
Odelia Babel, the matriarch and widow of the Babel family and CEO of their sustainable fashion company, has invited her three adult children on safari to celebrate her upcoming wedding to Asher, one of her employees and 25 years her junior. Not everyone is happy about these upcoming nuptials and, before long, tragedy strikes and Odelia is found dead.
THE SAFARI by Jaclyn Goldis offers up the messiest of family dynamics, the pedastalling of the deceased, and a vacation where the differences between wild animals and human nature blends in an intense manner.
I loved the safari setting - seeing the game drives and the history the family had in this place was very fascinating. I also loved the drama within the family - rich people behaving badly will forever be one of my favorite tropes!
However, I found the story to be extremely predictable, which left me yearning for that wow factor or even feeling satisfied by the end of it all.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review - out May 20!
Odelia Babel, the matriarch and widow of the Babel family and CEO of their sustainable fashion company, has invited her three adult children on safari to celebrate her upcoming wedding to Asher, one of her employees and 25 years her junior. Not everyone is happy about these upcoming nuptials and, before long, tragedy strikes and Odelia is found dead.
THE SAFARI by Jaclyn Goldis offers up the messiest of family dynamics, the pedastalling of the deceased, and a vacation where the differences between wild animals and human nature blends in an intense manner.
I loved the safari setting - seeing the game drives and the history the family had in this place was very fascinating. I also loved the drama within the family - rich people behaving badly will forever be one of my favorite tropes!
However, I found the story to be extremely predictable, which left me yearning for that wow factor or even feeling satisfied by the end of it all.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review - out May 20!
The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
4.0
Lord Caterham and Bundle might just be my favorite father-daughter duo to date! They were so much fun and easily the best part of this story!
Murder Land by Carlyn Greenwald
3.5
Loved the setting - an amusement park in California with hidden secrets and a missing animatronic bear - and I felt like I could smell the hot dogs and feel the heat of the first day of summer!
The characters were great and diverse as well, which made it fun and easy to root for them, and it was interesting to see their dynamics morph with one another.
Despite that, and maybe this leans more into the YA factor, but when tragedy strikes, everyone just sort of moves on with their evening (and things get extremely ~dark~) and that felt lackluster to me. I think the author may have been trying to keep the energy light for this summer thriller, but send these teens to therapy stat!!
This was an overall fun read that I think will hit with a younger audience in a stronger way!
Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the early copy for review!
The characters were great and diverse as well, which made it fun and easy to root for them, and it was interesting to see their dynamics morph with one another.
Despite that, and maybe this leans more into the YA factor, but when tragedy strikes, everyone just sort of moves on with their evening (and things get extremely ~dark~) and that felt lackluster to me. I think the author may have been trying to keep the energy light for this summer thriller, but send these teens to therapy stat!!
This was an overall fun read that I think will hit with a younger audience in a stronger way!
Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the early copy for review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder
The House That Held Her by Ellis Hart
4.0
"The house looms behind me, its dark windows hollow and knowing, like it's watching."
Margot and her husband Nate have just moved to a massive manor in Florida for a fresh start where no one knows them. Hawthorn Manor, and its late previous owners George and Cecilia Hawthorn, loom over the small town and Margot soon learns that there are more than just secrets within its walls...
THE HOUSE THAT HELD HER by Ellis Hart is a fantastically eerie, haunted house debut that will make you squirm and gasp for air.
The humidity and dampness is felt throughout this story as a hurricane approaches the small town and the secrets everyone appears to be keeping are slowly being extracted by Margot.
The puzzles within the story added their own layer of mystery and, once I got over some of her questionable choices lol, Margot was an easy protagonist to root for!
I think the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, but the setting and the atmosphere surrounding it really sold it for me!
Thanks to Ellis Hart for sending me a copy for review and congrats on this tremendous feat!
Publication Date: May 11
Margot and her husband Nate have just moved to a massive manor in Florida for a fresh start where no one knows them. Hawthorn Manor, and its late previous owners George and Cecilia Hawthorn, loom over the small town and Margot soon learns that there are more than just secrets within its walls...
THE HOUSE THAT HELD HER by Ellis Hart is a fantastically eerie, haunted house debut that will make you squirm and gasp for air.
The humidity and dampness is felt throughout this story as a hurricane approaches the small town and the secrets everyone appears to be keeping are slowly being extracted by Margot.
The puzzles within the story added their own layer of mystery and, once I got over some of her questionable choices lol, Margot was an easy protagonist to root for!
I think the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, but the setting and the atmosphere surrounding it really sold it for me!
Thanks to Ellis Hart for sending me a copy for review and congrats on this tremendous feat!
Publication Date: May 11