michelles_book_nook's reviews
256 reviews

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

⚠️ CW: murder, child abuse, domestic abuse, rape, paedophilia and mentions of drug abuse and addiction ⚠️ If you want a book that will make you question every single character multiple times then this one is for you! For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night. Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying. And with the killer poised to strike again, the trip of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock. This book had me absolutely hooked from the very beginning and even when I did put it down I was still thinking of the plot and the characters and trying to figure out who the murderer was. Karin Slaughter is a new author to me, and this is only the second book I've read by her, but she's quickly becoming a fast favourite! Especially with her Will Trent series as I love that the books can be read as a series or easily picked up as standalones with no issues. The only reason I dropped this down a star was because of the mass amount of characters, and in parts it did feel a bit overwhelming trying to remember everything and everyone. Overall, I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read more by this author.

Content Warnings

Run on Red by Noelle W. Ihli

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

⚠️ CW: stalking, abduction, drug abuse, human trafficking, murder and mentions of sexual assault and rape ⚠️ If you're looking for a read that will really get your heart racing with fear then you need to read this book! A rural country road. No cell signal for miles. A terrifying game of cat-and-mouse. By the time Laura and Olivia notice the headlights tailing them through the hills, it’s too late. What seems, at first, like a case of road rage quickly unfolds into a heart pounding chase, and a battle for survival. Who are the men in the truck? What do they want? And can Laura and Olivia outrun, and outsmart, them long enough to call for help, even if it means taking their chances in the hills on foot? As their situation grows more perilous, the girls realize that the real terror has only just begun. But flight won’t save them from their pursuers. If they’re going to make it home alive, they'll have to fight. This book was such a fast paced, terror inducing read and it really gives you that uneasy and eerie feeling that you get when you first think you're being followed, before it unfolds into a wildly thrilling and twisty book that I just couldn't put down. I loved how the intensity and that feeling of having no way out ramped up with each chapter. It is truly so well written from the emotions it conjures to the short chapters that really build the suspenseful 'life or death' feeling. Overall, I highly recommend this read and I can't wait to read more by this author.

Content Warnings

The Wreckage of Us by Dan Malakin

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

⚠️ CW: murder, mental health, suicidal ideations, self harm, drug use, stalking, rape, underage relationships, domestic abuse ⚠️ If you're looking for a read to get you into the spooky season mood that will keep you guessing until the very end then this one is for you! Astrid Webb is missing. The police have found her car crashed near the woods, the driver's door open and the seat spotted with blood. But there's no sign of Astrid herself, a chronically ill woman who rarely left her house, and who surely couldn't have left the scene of the accident without help. Her husband Bryan is sure that she's alive because after all, this isn't the first time she's vanished, only to reappear without explanation. But as the days pass, Bryan starts to look like a suspect in his wife's disappearance, perhaps in her murder. Yet little do the police know, Bryan isn't telling the whole truth. Not about Astrid's stalker, their broken-in back door or the threatening messages she received. And it seems as if both Astrid and Bryan have something to hide. This book had me absolutely hooked from start to finish! It is so suspenseful and chilling, and so perfectly written in a way that just when you think you've figured everything out another twist drops and demolishes what you thought you knew. It is one of those books that's hard to review without giving spoilers though, but trust me it's just such a perfect way to kick off spooky season. Overall, I highly recommend this book and can't wait to see what Dan Malakin drops next.

Content Warnings

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

⚠️ CW: stalking, drug abuse, murder ⚠️ If you're looking for a read that gives you the best influencer drama that turns into a psychological thriller then you need to read this book! Meredith is stalking her best friend. Aspen Palmer, with her millions of followers and beautiful family, has everything Meredith wants. The worst thing is, she showed her how to get it. And now she's dead to her. Yet, little does Aspen know that Meredith has found the perfect way to get revenge. But she knows that Aspen won’t go down without a fight. Nothing gets in the way of her perfect life, but Meredith made Aspen and she knows exactly how to break her too. This book was everything I needed right now. It has lived rent free in my head since I picked it up and if I had the chance I would have easily binged it in one sitting. It was filled with twists and turns and so much suspense that it had me absolutely hooked. I'm a big Jesse Sutanto fan and she never fails with her incredible writing but this book is definitely in my top 3 faves by hers. Overall, I loved this read and highly recommend it!

Content Warnings

Undoctored: The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients by Adam Kay

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

⚠️ CW: miscarriage, rape, sexual assault, homophobia ⚠️ Yet another great non-fiction medical read by Adam Kay! With his stethoscope now hung up, Adam shares more suture-splitting anecdotes from both on and off the wards. From the hilarious to the profoundly moving, from the first days of medical school to life after the NHS. This book had me absolutely hooked just like all of his previous books. I absolutely love the brutally honest and hilarious stories that Adam Kay writes about that give such a perfect portrait of healthcare, including the good, the bad and the ugly. Overall, if you like medical non-fictions and unique views of healthcare in the UK then I highly recommend this book and all of Adam Kay's previous books too.

Content Warnings

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

⚠️ CW: school shooting, murder, fatphobia, racism, homophobia, ableism, mental illness, child abuse and mentions of paedophilia ⚠️ This book is so hard hitting and had me hooked from the very beginning! Eva never really wanted to be a mother, certainly not the mother of a boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher who had tried to befriend him. Now, two years after her son's horrific rampage, Eva comes to terms with her role as Kevin's mother in a series of startlingly direct letters with her absent husband about their son's upbringing. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about motherhood. This book is so incredibly chilling, heartbreaking and truly makes you consider the nature vs nurture debate. I regularly had to put it down and really think about the psychological side of this story, it was definitely a lot to consider but the characters and plot lived rent free in my head even when I wasn't reading and I think it will stay with me for a long time. I'd previously watched the movie of this but the book is on a whole different level that I can't even explain properly, it's one of those that you just have to read to understand the emotional rollercoaster. Overall, I absolutely adored this book from the way it was written to the hugely thought provoking plot, and I highly recommend reading it but please take the CW's into account because this is a very difficult read.

Content Warnings

Conviction by Jack Jordan

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

After That Night by Karin Slaughter

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

⚠️ CW: drug abuse, rape, infertility, stalking, suicide, misogyny, homophobia, domestic abuse, torture ⚠️ This book was such a dark and emotional rollercoaster but I couldn't stop reading it! Sara doesn't think about that night, about the attack and the man who did it, and the way it tore her world apart. She thought that night was over. Until a new victim appears and now a young woman's life depends on Sara uncovering exactly what happened after that night. This was my first Karin Slaughter read and it definitely won't be my last. As you can tell from the list of CW's this was a very dark and difficult read but it was written so impeccably. One minute I was crying and the next I felt like my heart stopped with the suspense and anticipation. The way Karin Slaughter so perfectly portrayed the life long impacts of rape/assault, especially psychologically, was done so well. I absolutely loved this book and the only reason I dropped it down a star is because the chapters are quite long and a few times I felt like I needed a break mid chapter after reading certain chapter's contents and I'm not a fan of putting a book down mid chapter. Overall, I think this book was incredible and I highly recommend it. It will easily be in my top 10 at the end of the year!

Content Warnings

The Pram by Joe Hill

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

⚠️ CW: miscarriage, animal death, murder ⚠️ If you're looking for a book that will give you that eerie sense of dread then this is the short story for you! A husband’s obsessive desire for a child leads to an unexpected manifestation of his yearning in a nightmarish dream. Willy and Marianne’s farmhouse in Maine has acres of meadow and fresh air, and a lonesome bridle path in the forest along which Willy daydreams and ambles. When he’s loaned a decrepit old pram to cart his groceries home, the rickety squeak of the wheels comforts him. And so do the sweet coos of a baby that Willy knows can’t be real, or can it? This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It fills you with such a creepy sense of anticipation that only grows the more you read. The twist was so good and even though you sort of know where the book is going it still gives you goosebumps with the petrifying ending. Overall, I really enjoyed this short story and I highly recommend it for any gorey thriller or horror lovers.

Content Warnings

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

⚠️ CW: paedophilia, grooming, domestic abuse, narcissism, murder ⚠️ If you're looking for a book that you can't put down then this one is for you! When podcaster Alix Summer and the unassuming Josie Fair meet by chance while celebrating their 45th birthday's at a local pub they don't realise it yet but their lives will never be the same. Yet a few days later they bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Josie says she thinks she would be an interesting subject for Alix's podcast. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Alix agrees to a trial interview and indeed, Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated. Alix finds her unsettling but can't quite resist the temptation to keep digging. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has cajoled her way into Alix's life and home. But soon Alix begins to wonder who is Josie Fair really is and what she's capable of. This book had me absolutely hooked! It was so unsettling but I just couldn't stop reading. And just when you think you've figured everything out, you are hit with twist after twist. Even the ending left me reeling and questioning what was the truth. Overall, I absolutely loved this read and highly recommend it!

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michelles_book_nook's reviews 256 reviews

michelles_book_nook's reviews
256 reviews