Book Review: 11/22/63 by Author Stephen King

11/22/63 by Stephen King

B&B RATING: 3/5

MOOD: If you’re looking for an escape to the past and another reason to hate 2020, this one is for you.

Synopsis

Jake Epping is an ordinary man in love with Fat Burgers at his favorite hole-in-the-wall diner. Little does he know, eating at that particular diner will change his life. When the diner’s owner, Al, tasks Jake with using a rip in time to go back to 1958 to complete something Al couldn’t finish. The goal? Change the past and kill Lee Harvey Oswald - saving John F. Kennedy from being assassinated.

While back in time, Jake, now going by the alias of George, falls in love with a lanky woman, Sadie, who changes his perspective on his world in 2011 and the world of 1958 he stepped into. There’s a fury of activity, of the obdurate past trying to stop Jake/George from being changed, and a whole history of small harmonies helping and hurting him along the way.

Jake/George has five years to change the course of history. Can he do it? Can he save Kennedy, change the course of history, and change the world as we know it? What will happen with the ripple effects of small changes throughout the way? Will the time rip, the bubble per se, still exist?

Review

I hated this book. There were so many parts of it that left me questioning things, logically, that I couldn't place and couldn’t fit and made me so frustrated, I almost DNF’d it several times. It easily could have been 400 pages shorter. I loved Sadie as a character, but I couldn’t stand Jake/George. Sadie, while she started as a typical 1950’s housewife, she had a streak in her that built a fire in me that smoldered throughout the book. She’s the reason I finished it.

The story itself, the plot, the characters - I admit, it was good, hence the three-stars. I’ll give King that, he knows how to paint a scene and picture, and it’s no wonder several of his books have been turned into movies, TV shows, and how much success he has garnered. To me though, it was too much. I don’t need to know how the mold on the walls ran into the green crayon girls drawn with the black shoes, with the boxspring and no mattress while the carpet sags and looks like it hasn’t ever been cleaned and blah blah blah. I get it. The room is dirty. Your character is living in a shit-hole. Move on.

While the character, Jake/George, was moving through the story, it was easy to start getting confused. As someone who enjoys a bit of bubbles during story-time, it made it hard to keep up at times. So many Georges. Several times “we couldn't fall in love,” or “of course I didn’t do that,” only to find out ten sentences later that, of course, he did. Why write that you didn’t do it only to contradict yourself a sentence later? It felt like filler to me.

I’ve grown to realize that Stephen King is not for me. I know he has a cult following. Plus, what the ever-loving fuck is up with King writing about animal abuse? It has literally no place in the plot, it does not advance the story, and doesn’t do anything other than give the reader a potential shock, or in my case a feeling of extreme disgust. I got about 300 pages into The Stand and had to stop because of the description of the animal neglect. Why? I just don’t understand. Maybe I’ll finish that one some day, but not anytime soon.

In the end, fuck this book.

Drink Pairing:

Shots of burning whiskey while chowing on the greasiest burger you can find.

Book Review: MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

B&B RATING: 3 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for something to make your stomach absolutely turn while you turn some pages, this ones’ for you.

Synopsis

Noemí is a socialite preoccupied with her fun-filled, party-hopping endeavors when a disturbing letter arrives from her recently married cousin, Catalina. The rambling letter makes no sense, but causes concern with Noemí’s father, who sends Noemí to check out what’s going on - is something wrong with Catalina’s new life with her new husband Virgil? Sure, he’s broke and not up to her uncle’s snuff, but Catalina was so happy when they wed.

Arriving at her new home, High Place, Noemí starts to understand that something is not right with this place. The house is plagued by cold and dampness, the latter causing mold to spring up in all corners and crevices of the decaying Victorian mansion. Francis, a withering image of his cousin Virgil, offers Noemí little respite or insight into the quiet and bizarre rule-laden world that is High Place. Noemí is kept away from her cousin and only allowed supervised visits after much protest. Through fever dream nightmares and a constant feeling of being watched, can Noemí figure out what is going on to save herself and her cousin? And what in the world is that buzzing noise!?

Review

I had really mixed feelings about this one. I finished it in a few days, so clearly it wasn’t bad. It also wasn’t… great. I wanted it to be great. I also don’t have a lot of experience with Gothic novels, this being one of the few that I have read before. I was into it, but mostly because it just became outlandish. It’s hard to describe it without giving away crucial elements of the book - and that is making it even harder to explain my fury.

Drink Pairing:

A glass of NyQuil, mixed with Percocet. Yikes.

Why I've Been Missing

My brother, Adam, was one of the most amazing people I knew. Smart. Kind. Loving. Caring. Thoughtful. Always there for me no matter what I needed. Day or night, during a storm or heaven forbid a Packer Game, it didn’t matter. He would be there. When I was getting a divorce last year, he helped me pack, move, listened to me cry at all hours of the night, move again, change cities three times before I was settled, cry some more, and then cry again.

When he got married last year, it was one of the happiest times in our lives. He was 35 years old, found the love of his life, and was moving forward with trying to start a family. He was getting “to the good part,” the part he had always been waiting for. The part of life he always wanted. A wife. Children. His own little family. He was living on the lake and had a plan - a good plan, the best plan.

Despite the changes and challenges going on in my personal life, he was always there. No matter what. He was my original Partner-In-Crime, the OG Cop to my Robber, my Ride or Die, and often just my unspoken best friend that I loved more than life itself. This world - my world, his world, our world - would have been crumbling around us and it didn’t matter. We had each other despite being a few cities apart.

He was the one constant in my life, never changing, always loving, always caring, always there.

And now he’s not.

COVID-19 came and ruined everything.

Adam was snatched up by COVID on April 11th, 2020.

My brother. The one who understood me. The person who I would silently communicate with across the room with just a look. My snapchat buddy. My puppy-dog loving brother. My just-married-and-starting-a-family-brother. Gone.

I can’t go into the details of how the disease got him, or what it was like to say good-bye for my 15-minutes in the hospital, or how lonely and isolating this whole experience has been having this happen in the middle of a pandemic. It’s too personal. Too painful. Too…. everything. Just know this has been the singularly most profound and devastating experience of my life. Grief has hit me like a freight train fueled by crack on an all-night bender determined to rob me of all of my faculties, and I’m still just now recovering some of them (like my ability to write and communicate effectively and do simple math).

Adam was my favorite person in the whole world. More than a brother, but my very first friend, my best friend.

I miss you Big Bro. Save me a seat wherever you are. Love, your Lil Sis.

Book Review: THE CHESTNUT MAN by Søren Sveistrup

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup 

B&B RATING: 4 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for Something gruesome, Creepy, chill-inducing, with unexpected turns along the way, this one is for you.

Synopsis

Rosa Hartung, a political figurehead, has spent the last year grieving the presumed death of her missing daughter, Kristine. Detective Mark Hess has just landed at the Major Crimes Division after a bumpy incident at Europol, desperate to get back to his normal routine. Detective Naia Thulin is requesting a transfer from the Major Crimes Division to NC3, the new Cyber Crimes unit. What do Rosa, Kristine, Hess, and Thulin have in common?

The Chestnut Man.

A serial killer leaves small dolls made out of matchsticks and chestnuts as a calling card at the scene of his murders, and he is ravaging Copenhagen. He is maiming his victims in the process of his deranged killing spree and tormenting Rosa in the process: one of her daughter’s fingerprints has been left on each of the chestnut men left behind. A pandora’s box explodes with possibilities - is Kristine still alive? How did the Chestnut Man get her fingerprints? Kristine was never found and her presumed killer had already confessed, been tried, and convicted for her murder.

Who is this mystery psychopath? And where is Kristine?

Review

I had some pretty mixed feelings about this book. I loved the intrigue and suspense created throughout and the constant cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. I could not stand reading about the child abuse, and those who are triggered by rape (which I am) should be wary of jumping into this one. There were several times I had to put it down and return to it at another time, reaching for my the comfort of my dog and warm tea or a very large glass of something prior to being able to continue. At the same time though, I also think that is one of the markings of a good book - something that makes you feel more than you would on any other day. It’s a story that is moving.

I had a strong dislike for Thulin, and a strong love for Hess. I identified with Hess so much, having had something tragic occur and then working your way through the pieces of a shattered existence, trying to live while managing to just survive. There were a lot of characters that made small, fleeting appearances that gave less depth to the book than I would have liked.

The creep-factor was high up there for this one. I felt myself being sucked in, pulled in, unable to let go at several points (I won’t go in detail as I don’t want to spoil it!). I didn’t see most of the twists coming and when the killer was revealed, I was in complete shock, though it all made sense.

Drink Pairing:

A tumbler of Grey Goose, neat, mixed with an empty stomach just to be safe.

Book Review: THE HOLDOUT by Graham Moore

THE HOLDOUT by Graham Moore

B&B RATING: 4 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for A courtroom drama and murder mystery combined with amateur detective bravado, this one is for you.

Synopsis

Maya Seale was one of the notorious jurors responsible for letting Bobby Nocks go free for the kidnapping and assumed murder of teenaged Jessica Silver. Now, ten years later, Maya is a successful criminal defense attorney working at a prestigious firm in downtown L.A when she gets roped into a reunion of the original 12 jurors in the Jessica Silver murder. One of them has some incredible new evidence to blow the whole case apart, though what that is is anyone’s guess.

Things take a turn when one of the jurors winds up dead, sparking a new investigation, new allegations, and a new arrest. Will the old set of jurors band together to solve the murder, or will they tear each other apart in their own framed defenses? Time to play jury, judge, and executioner…

Review

I really loved this book! There was a lot going on all at once, and it flipped between the current time in Maya’s point of view to the past, a chapter from the point of view of each member of the jury giving the whole thing an interesting perspective. The writing was a little slow at first, but once I crested the first 50 pages I had a hard time putting it down.

Maya was a likable character, and relatable. She had very little direction in her life until this jury summons put her in a unique position, tearing away her veils of normalcy and exposing her raw self underneath, the self that she had always been meant to be. As someone who has had more than their fair share of wandering through the “normal” stages of life and then wondering, “Well, what the fuck do I do now?” it was comforting to find a strong female lead that found her decisive part of herself after the storm struck. Gives broads like me some hope.

Drink Pairing:

A glass of Chandon Blanc de Noir, mixed with a little bowl of raspberries.

Book Review: THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides

THE SILENT PATIENT by

Alex Michaelides

B&B RATING: 5 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for something you just can’t put down and grips you unexpectedly, this one is for you.

Synopsis

Alicia Berenson, a renown painter, is living her dream life with her steamy husband Gabriel, a high-fashion photographer. The two of them make a striking couple, turning heads wherever they go. You can smell the sex in the room whenever the two are around each other. That is, until one day Alicia snaps and shoots her husband in the face at point-blank range. Now, Alicia is locked up in The Grove, a psychiatric facility, as she has not uttered a word since the police knocked down her door that fateful night. Her silence has been puzzling to everyone and anyone, no one can make her talk.

Theo Faber is determined to change that. A psychotherapist at an upstanding institution with his whole career ahead of him, Theo decides to jump at the opportunity to treat his dream patient: Alicia Berenson. Theo leaves his sparking career for The Grove which is under constant threat of being shut down. He is determined to help Alicia speak, and the two are set onto a twisting intermingled path that will forever bind the two of them in the most uncharacteristic of ways.

Review

I was obsessed with this book from the first few lines I read. I needed to read it, and a book is worth 5-stars to me when it consumes your thoughts. Not only was I thinking about this one during the day, I DREAMED of it the two nights in between finishing it. I had a hard time focusing on other things because I knew something big was afoot with this, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

The ending I didn’t see coming at all. It was a slow-burn with the stories interwoven so well, with just enough backstory of the characters to keep me enthralled. I was on the edge of my seat with each page turn wondering when the shoe was going to drop. The way that Theo and Alicia were brought to life in the book made me feel like I knew them, like I had known them my whole life, despite having only been acquainted with them a few days. The writing was evocative, making me feel all sorts of emotions all of the place, never quite settling on one.

Drink Pairing:

A glass of sauvignon blanc, mixed with a bunch of chocolate to help you cope.

Book Review: THE SUN DOWN MOTEL by Simone St. James

THE SUN DOWN MOTEL by Simone St. James

B&B RATING: 3 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for a weird ass unrealistic ghost story (yes, I know how that sounds), then this one is for you.

Synopsis

Carly has a family secret - that her Aunt Viv up and disappeared from her job at a motel 35 years ago. Vanished, without a trace. No one has been able to find her, much less had the courtesy to look. With the recent passing of Carly’s mom who refused to speak about Viv, Carly decides to take the investigation into her hands and find out what the f*%$ happened to Aunt Viv. She lands herself some rag-tag friends who are determined to help her find out what happened, Carly starts along the same path as Aunt Viv.

Told from two points of view - Carly’s and then a play-by-play of events from Aunt Viv herself, a near mirrored story unfolds before your eyes. Set in the 70s, Viv is desperate to get away from her vanilla existence and is destined for New York. Along the way she lands in a blip of a town called Fell, accidentally lands the night clerk job of The Sun Down Motel. Something was not right with the hotel, and it catches Viv up before the first night ends. Things get more complicated the longer she stays, until one day, she no longer exists. Just Vanishes.

At the end of the day the question remains - What happened to Aunt Viv?

Review

Um. Snore. Seriously? I know Simone St. James as a cult following for her books, and hey, that’s awesome. For me though, thins one struck all of the wrong chords. There were too many things that that didn’t seem to add up and were unrealistic beyond reasonable liberties. For one, no one moves into a stranger’s apartment within ten minutes of meeting them, becoming instant best friends. That just doesn’t happen, at least not in my world, not the world here in America. Men don’t come out of the woodwork like that. No one is that obsessed with their teeny tiny hometown. Not to mention the plethora of other logistical issues and useless sub-plots that didn’t add to the story.

What really got me were the mistakes in the writing. Not punctuation or verb tense, but issues with the story itself. There were several times where a character wouldn’t have their cell phone on them, but were able to check the time…. on their phone. Or scorning certain reading material, only to fall asleep reading it because it gives nostalgic comfort from being read so many times about 200 pages. When things like that happen I start I find I’m unable to let go of it, and then I start looking for them. It gets to be one of the few things I can think of, not allowing me to concentrate on finer aspects of the book.

I would have given this a two-star rating, but, there were some parts that were pretty clever and I enjoyed. There is some of the ugly side of mental illness (not enough to be a trigger warning in my opinion, but as always, be cautious), that I will always respect authors for including. Overall, this one wasn’t for me, thought it deserved that third star

Drink Pairing:

Several glasses of Spumanti Andre so you physically feel how terrible this book mentally makes you feel.

Book Review: THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY by Ruth Ware

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

B&B RATING: 3.5 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking to feel confused about what time period you’re in, this one is for you.

Synopsis

Hal is living on her own, working days and nights on the pier as a fortune teller to make ends meet. Money is getting tighter and with winter coming, she knows it’s only going to get tighter, not to mention the debt collectors that keep hounding her want their share of her earnings yesterday. It seems too good to be true when a letter shows up unannounced stating that her grandmother has passed, leaving her an inheritance. Hal know’s it can’t be her - her last living relative died with her mom three years ago. But, this could be exactly what she needs to get out of the hole she is buried in, being able to eat and pay rent in the same month while not freezing to death.

To pull it off, Hal will have to assume characters she never has before - granddaughter, niece, cousin, all while making it past the legal tape and piles of paperwork sure to come her way. Can she pull it off - assume someone else’s identity, claim an inheritance she’s undeserving of, and manage to make it out alive?

Review

First off, I have to say that I love Ruth Ware. LOVE. TURN OF THE KEY? Brilliant! so much depth and intrigue, I couldn’t get enough. WOMAN IN CABIN TEN? Also pretty dang good. But this one? I wanted to love it so bad. I wanted to, but I just couldn’t. HE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY had all of the makings of a stellar book. The plot was intriguing, there were some good twists and turns, the characters were deeply flawed in that lovable but relatable way; there were too many things that struck me the wrong way.

First, I kept feeling like I was reading a book set in the 1920s, only to be repeatedly fooled by Hal pulling out her iPhone and various other forms of technology, all the while being in a house that doesn’t have modern heating. Second, I had a hart time keeping everyone apart because there were too many similarities, and at points I had no idea how some characters were related even tangentially. I found myself flipping back to earlier pages in the book more than a few times to sort things out. Last, the part about the loanshark (trust me, you’ll know), seemed taken straight out of a 1970s mafia movie and nothing how it works in the real world. Now, that could be my naiveté speaking, but, well, it seemed that aliens would be more believable.

Otherwise, the prose was done well, and the descriptions helped me feel like I was there. I could smell the dampness of the rug and feel the chill through my skin, penetrating my insides. Those elements of a classic Ruth Ware were there and were the reasons I kept going. I admit, I put it down after the first 30 pages, read a few different books, and then picked it back up. I’m glad I did.

Drink Pairing:

A glass of spicy pinot noir, mixed with some cookies to keep you going.

Book Review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

The family upstairs by Lisa Jewell

B&B RATING: 3 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for a mystery masking as a thriller with cultish vibes but not really, yeah, this one is for you.

Synopsis

Libby works as a kitchen designer, loving her little life, living in her little basement apartment in London. She knew she was adopted and that her deceased parents had been rich, but unbeknownst to Libby, she would inherit an entire house in the fashionable upscale Chelsea neighborhood on her 25th birthday.

After visiting the house and doing some quick research, Libby learns a tragedy plagued the house and a suicide kool-aid pact had happened, resulting in three dead and her being left behind in her crib with a strange piece of memorabilia. Out of nowhere, Libby now has a torrid past that she is desperate to uncover, and is determined to do such with the help of one of her colleagues and an investigative journalist who had been digging for the scoop years ago.

What is Libby going to find? That she is the product of a cult? What happened to her glorious socialite mother and her bullhorn father?

Review

Uuuuuugggghhhhh. This book had so much hype surrounding it, and there was a lot of book-club vibes circling it in the Insta community. Everyone has their own style of books that speak to them, but if this one had a language - to me - it would be a mute.

The story was told from three separate points of view - Libby, presumably was the main character and was in present-day, finding out what was going on about the house (but told in a third-person narrative?). There was a second woman, Lucy, who’s story seemed pretty disconnected, morbid, also present-day, also third-person narrative, and took awhile to realize how she was related. Then there was Henry who was telling a first-person narrative about what it was like to live in the the mysterious house back when everything was changing and falling apart. The mixed points of view with the back and forth made it semi-difficult to keep me interested. I wanted to hear more about what Libby was going through, and I could really care less about what was happening with Lucy. The subplots surrounding Henry were mediocre at best.

The story itself had good structure and interesting details, but not enough to keep me going. It took me several weeks to finish it, and the book wasn’t interesting enough for me to take it with me on vacation. I kept having to remind myself to read it and unceremoniously watching more and more TV, having this book become a chore I kept procrastinating on.

I know there are very avid fans of Lisa Jewell, and that’s completely okay! There are authors I love that strike a shitty chord in others, and that’s also okay! It wasn’t a bad book in the end, it just wasn’t for me.

Drink Pairing:

Several Irish coffees to help you stay buzzy but awake, mixed with dry toast to match the flavor of the book.

Book Review: BABY TEETH by Zoje Stage

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

B&B RATING: 5 / 5

MOOD: If you want to be grateful for your child, for your normal existence,and the absence of someone trying to kill you - read this one.

Synopsis

On the outside, it’s easy to think Suzette is living the dream. With a husband hot enough to cook bacon off of, a dream home designed by the two of them, and living as a stay-at-home-mom to a spitting-image daughter, how could she not be? What lies beneath the surface is a family living two lives - one where 7-year-old Hanna is a sweet darling to her doting father, all while she is an unholy terror to her mother. Suzette sees the ugly, twisted side of her little girl who chooses to be mute, torturing her family further with her refusal to communicate.

With a calculated wit and cunning intelligence that most adults don’t posses, Hanna does some unthinkable acts in trying to get rid of her mom, hoping to have Daddy all to herself. Through getting kicked out of any school she’s put in to, to punishing Mommy for the many doctor’s appointments relating to her silence, winding up to the sweetest pouty faces switching on and off when Daddy’s home, Hanna is a conniving child intent on one thing: getting rid of Mommy, one way or another.

Suzette is under constant torment by her daughter and just doesn’t understand why she is the object of such scorn and hatred. Hanna gets too much pleasure out of playing her terrifying games with Mommy to stop, and each time she ups the stakes until only one of them can remain: Hanna or Suzette.

Review

I LOVED this book. Everything about it. I can’t think of an element of it that I would have wanted different. The story itself is written from two points of view - Suzette’s and Hanna’s. Suzette makes for quite the sympathetic character, with a dark family past of her own and an auto-immune disease that keeps her on the edge. She does what she can to make sure that Hanna is taken care of, putting up with Hanna’s refusal to speak, her throwing objects and spitting food, slamming doors, and acting like a vicious dog in public.

Hanna on the other hand is loving the fear she sparks in her mother. Nothing makes her happier than seeing her mother caught off-guard, locking herself in her room, waiting for her husband Alex to come home and save the day. The dynamic between the two relationships - Hanna and her mother and Hanna with her father - is astoundingly well done. The complexity of all the little pieces, the story within the story, and the way the ending twists and merges takes it to a whole new level.

This book was written so well I found myself dreaming of it, wondering what Hanna was going to do next. I couldn’t put it down. I carried it with me everywhere I went, to each room in my house and every trip I took in case I had a down moment to read. It was enticing, cynical, engrossing, cringe-worthy at points, and overall one of my favorite reads of the year.

This is Zoje Stage’s debut novel, and if this is her debut, I cannot wait to see what else she has in store for us!

Drink Pairing:

A glass or five of Chandon Classic Brut, mixed with some chocolate covered blueberries.

Monthly Wrap Up - October

Recap

Spooky Season was filled with thrillers (surprise, surprise!), some that I couldn’t get enough of, and some that were just okay. There has been a lot of hype surrounding some of them, and right now, let’s just get down to it! Some of these have reviews coming that will be updated soonish (I hope!). It’s been a great month reading-wise for me, and I was able to crush six books. My favorite was easily BABY TEETH by Zoje Stage - if you’re into all things family drama and extremely creepy, this one is for you.

I also read my second Ruth Ware, THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10, and I have to say, I was underwhelmed. The first novel of hers I read was THE TURN OF THE KEY and I was 100% blown away by it! I read it in two sittings, the only thing separating me from finishing It in one sitting was the desperate need for sleep.

I’m finding a little bit of a theme here in some of my repeat author books. I’m discovering these amazing authors, like Ruth Ware and Riley Sager by their latest novels that are blowing-my-mind-amazing. I then go back through their catalog, and find that their previous books aren’t as good. It’s not discouraging by any means, but it actually gives me a lot of hope. I’m writing my own thriller novel and knowing that my first book will likely be rough, but also knowing I will hit my stride and find my audience is deeply encouraging.

So without further ado! Here are my October Six:

B&B Rating: 5 / 5

B&B Rating: 3 / 5

B&B Rating: 3 / 5

B&B Rating: 4 / 5

B&B Rating: 3 / 5

B&B Rating: 3 / 5

October has been a full month for me. A month full of changes, full of life and love, new experiences, both happy and sad tears, and a whole lot of work. I’ve seen Hamilton, met Chris Webby, had massive migraines, and drank a lot of wine. I’ve also taken active steps in my self-care, having taken more relaxing and luxurious baths this month than I have in the past year. I’ve been in my house for three months now, living, eating, breathing, sleeping, and have made some real progress to make this house a home, thanks to my incredible BF.

Who knew divorce would turn out to be the best thing that happened to me?

Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

final girls by riley sager

B&B RATING: 3 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for a book to make you constantly second guess yourself, this one is for you.

Synopsis

What was supposed to be a fun weekend with her friends in the woods turned into an unprecedented nightmare. Celebrating the birthday of her best friend and college roommate Janelle, Quinn and a group of friends plan to spend the weekend in Pine Cottage, a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Cell phones locked away in the car, an abundance of booze, creepy woods, and a random stranger showing up creates the perfect mix of heady teenage fun, sexual tension, and a creepy unease.

After a night filled with partying, the entire group of friends is slaughtered by a random stranger - with Quinn being the only one to make it out and without a memory of anything that happened - both her blessing and curse of that night. Coop, the police offer that finds her hysterical and covered in blood, becomes her saving grace as she swims through the media, now part of an exclusive club of Final Girls: a total of three women, Quinn now included, who survived brutal massacres.

Now, another Final Girl commits suicide, and the other, Sam, comes out of the woodwork to seemingly mess with Quinn’s mind. Pushing Quinn to the point of uncontrollable rage, making her double guess what happened that night in Pine Cottage, and flipping her world upside down, Quinn takes a deeper look into the two Final Girls’ past to piece together why Sam is here. What Quinn finds is unprecedented, sending her in a whirlwind unlike any other.

Review

Filled with twists and turns, you’ll need to hold onto your seat for this one. While not hard to follow, there were times I had to go back in the book to resolve the timelines in my head. The characters were well developed, and the arc on Sam was astounding to me. I found myself much more interested in her story than in Quinn’s, often reading into her past, trying to understand what lead her to reach out to Quinn. Some pieces just don’t seem to make sense.

I’m starting to identify what a classic Riley Sager is. He has three books out (in order): FINAL GIRLS, THE LAST TIME I LIED, and LOCK EVERY DOOR. I’ve read LOCK EVERY DOOR and just got LAST TIME I LIED from the library yesterday, getting ready to continue my Spooky Season reading. When reading LOCK EVERY DOOR a few months ago, I was absolutely obsessed with it, needing to know what happened, like I needed it to breathe. I’ll do a full review on that one soon (I’m going through a backlog of some things I ready this year). While he knocked it out of the park for that one, I didn’t feel quite that way about FINAL GIRLS, but I finished it in four days, so it definitely wasn’t a bad read.

I love the way Sager writes - from the first-person point of view, sucking you into what the protagonist is thinking. It helps to trap the reader in the many twists and turns the book takes, and man, there were many. The beginning was captivating. I kept questioning what I knew, often switching my opinion of who the Pine Cottage killer was several times throughout the read. I wasn’t expecting the ending,

Told as a tale of current, mixed with memories revealing themselves about the past, this will keep you guessing, second guessing, triple guessing, and then still wrong at the end.

Drink Pairing:

A glass of mid-range light and fruity moscato to tame the senses, while snacking on a classic cheese plate.

Book Review: RECURSION by Blake Crouch

RECURSION by Blake Crouch

B&B RATING: 3 / 5

MOOD: If you’re looking for something to take the edge off while you’re pondering why your time machine doesn’t work, this isn’t it.

Synopsis

Scientist Helena is researching a memory mapping chair to preserve the memories of her mother who suffers from dementia. During her research, Helena is approached by multi-millionaire Marcus Slade, who offers her an open checkbook and unlimited resources to build her memory chair. She succeeds, though the chair comes with an unexpected side effect: it sends people back in time, altering the course of the future.

Barry is a street-smart detective reeling from a melancholy past when his world collides with Helena’s in an altered timeline. Understanding that the chair is causing multiple timelines, they need to stop it from getting into the wrong hands. They take a wild hundred years, reliving the same lifetimes to stop the chair from creating mass chaos, who knows if they will succeed?

Review

Filled with highs and lows, it leaves you bolted to your seat and churning with questions, which is the powerful thing about Crouch’s writing. He has the ability to reel you in, catch you, then throw you back out to sea for more. I love the slow build of the characters, and the way that every page turn was a new twist waiting to happen.

There are two completely different lives in the mix; Helena’s, a whip-smart scientist who will change the world, and Barry, a detective trying to make it by in the wake of his personal tragedies. Two people who seem to be complete opposites end up intertwined in something that can only be described as tragically beautiful, emotionally trapping, and an endless love-story mixed with sci-fi undertones, painting this book an abstract dream.

I’ve read Blake Crouch’s novel Dark Matter, and I have to say, I felt like I was on a similar rollercoaster with this one. They had relatively similar plot-structure, same multi-dimensional feel, and the story craft was also very similar. If I hadn’t read Dark Matter, I probably would have liked Recursion a lot more. I haven’t ready Wayward Pines nor seen the show, so I can’t compare it.

If Crouch put’s out another book, I’m not sure if it will make it on my TBR list. Sci-Fi really isn’t cutting it for me.

Drink Pairing:

A glass of cheap Prosecco to get you through, mixed with a greasy grilled cheese with bacon.

Book Review: THE TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware

THE TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware

B&B Rating: 5 / 5

Mood: if your goal is to think everY noise in your house is a serial killer out to get you - I recommend this one.

Synposis

Rowan, a child-care provider in her early 30s, lands her dream job working as a live-in nanny in the remote Scottish Highlands. The salary and location seem too good to be true. What’s the catch? The family seems normal enough, if not ungodly rich. And her new quarters are gorgeous, with a private bathroom and enough space for a family in its own right.

The day Rowan moves in to her new position, the parents unexpectedly take off on a business trip, leaving her alone with the three little girls. The house - an old Victorian that collided with a modern smart house - has architecture like she has never seen before. Being a complete smart home, everything is controlled by an app, “Happy,” that Rowan thinks has a mind of its own. The house is wired everywhere - making her feel watched, listened to, and creeped out.

The girls are unruly, testing Rowan at every angle. She is determined to make it work, using every trick in the book while the parents are gone. It’s not the kids that are making Rowan second-guess her commitment though, it’s the house. With its smart technology ingrained everywhere from the kitchen to the bathroom, mixed with the mysterious sounds of what could only be a ghost or a serial killer roaming in the attic, Rowan feels both haunted and hunted. Something here isn’t right. Combined with the house’s tragic past, the recent history of four other nannies quitting in the span of a year, Rowan is determined to stay, despite everything going wrong, as if the house is driving her away. If only she knew her stay would end in a tragedy that would ultimately be blamed on her, taking away her freedom and potentially paying the ultimate price…

Review

I LOVED this book. I think obsessed would be the proper term. I devoured it in two sittings and had a hard time putting it down to sleep (the only thing separating myself and this read while I was on vacation). This is my first Ruth Ware novel, and it’s apparent I need to catch up to what I’ve been missing! She has a way of creating a world within a world, weaving a tale so rich and vivid it’s as if you’re living in it. I recently moved into a new (to me) house that’s over 50 years old that’s filled with its own creaks and shifts, making noise at all times of the day and night. I’ll admit, I felt like I WAS Rowan at times, jumping at every noise my old house made, constantly checking behind the shower curtain and turning on all the lights. Hey, I needed some comfort! I live alone!

Written from Rowan to her hopeful lawyer, her letters detail the harrowing incidents that led up to the fateful night that landed her in jail, awaiting trial. The writing is beautifully done, with the right amount of descriptive details to paint a picture, but leave a touch to the imagination. I ached for Rowan, feeling for her and connecting to her character in a way I haven’t felt in an eternity.

Drink Pairing

A whole bottle of Chandon Vintage Brut because you’ll be reading all day, mixed with as much peanut butter toast you need for comfort.