michelles_book_nook's reviews
257 reviews

The Summer Children by Dot Hutchison

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

⚠️ CW: murder, domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, paedophilia, rape and sexual assault ⚠️ I think at this stage it's safe to say that Dot Hutchison has become one of my favourite authors! 😍 When Agent Mercedes Ramirez finds an abused young boy on her porch, covered in blood and clutching a teddy bear, she has no idea that this is just the beginning. He tells her a chilling tale of an angel that killed his parents and then brought him here so Mercedes could keep him safe. His parents weren’t just murdered. It was a slaughter, a rage kill like no one on the Crimes Against Children team has seen before. But they’re going to see it again. An avenging angel is meting out savage justice, and she’s far from through. One by one, more children arrive at Mercedes’ door with the same horror story. Each one a traumatized survivor of an abusive home. Each one chafing at Mercedes’ own scars from the past. And each one taking its toll on her life and career. Now, as the investigation draws her deeper into the dark, Mercedes is beginning to fear that if this case doesn’t destroy her, her memories might. This was one hell of a read. It had me hooked and feeling a rollercoaster of emotions all the way to the end. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the way Dot Hutchison is able to write such dark and gut wrenching situations is so hauntingly beautiful. Overall, I highly recommend this book and the series as a whole but please check the CW's before reading.
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The Roses of May by Dot Hutchison

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

⚠️ CW: murder, eating disorder, rape and suicide ⚠️ Dot Hutchison really nailed it again with this one! Four months after the explosion at the Garden, a place where young women known as the Butterflies were kept captive, FBI agents Brandon Eddison, Victor Hanoverian and, Mercedes Ramirez are still entrenched in the aftermath while helping survivors in the process of adjusting to life on the outside. With winter coming to an end, the Butterflies have longer and warmer days of healing ahead. But for the agents the impending thaw means one gruesome thing, a chilling guarantee that somewhere in the country another young woman will turn up dead in a church with her throat slit and her body surrounded by flowers. Priya Sravasti’s sister fell victim to the serial killer years ago. Now she and her mother move every few months, hoping for a new beginning but when she ends up in the madman’s crosshairs the hunt takes on a new urgency. Wow I think it's safe to say this author has become one of my new favourites! Her writing style is so hauntingly beautiful and captivating that I just speed through her books, and if this one is anything like the first book is this series then it will stay with me for a long time after. It is so hard to review without giving spoilers but it is filled with twists and turns and a bombshell ending as well as the creepiest dual pov chapters that will give you all the eerie feels. Overall, if you love dark serial killer reads then this series is definitely one to pick up!
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The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

⚠️ CW: kidnapping, paedophilia, sexual assault, rape, childhood trauma, murder and suicide ⚠️ If you like darkly challenging and emotional  thrillers that really get under your skin then this one is for you! Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden. In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees and a collection of precious 'butterflies' who are young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens. When the garden is discovered and a survivor is brought in for questioning, FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself. As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding. Wow this book had me absolutely hooked. It was such an emotionally and mentally challenging read but it also had an extra element of creepiness because it all felt so real. Dot Hutchinson writes in such a haunting but beautiful way that really brings the story to life and truly makes you feel so many of the emotions of the victims throughout. Overall, I highly recommend this book, but please take into account the CW's as it is quite graphic and disturbing.
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Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker

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challenging dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

⚠️ CW: murder, domestic abuse, drug use, addiction, child abuse, sexual abuse, rape and mental illness ⚠️ This is one of the hardest hitting true crime books that I've read in a long time! One spring evening in 2010, Shannan Gilbert went missing in the Oak Beach, Long Island. No one who had heard of her disappearance thought much about what had happened to her as she was a Craigslist escort who had been fleeing from one of her customers, but no one could be sure why. The Suffolk County police seemed to have paid little attention to the case, until seven months later when an unexpected discovery near the remote Gilgo Beach turned up four bodies. But none of them were Shannan. They were Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello. Like Shannan, all four women were petite, in their twenties, and had come from out of town to work as escorts, and they had all advertised on Craigslist and its competitor, Backpage. But unbeknownst to everyone, this was just the tip of the iceberg. This case is equally heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time. The fact that these poor women and their families were unable to get any justice solely based on how their case was treated due to their work is mind boggling to me. They were all human beings and deserved to be treated as such. As for the writing though, I absolutely loved how Kolker humanised these women after how they were treated and portrayed their stories with empathy, care and compassion, as well as giving their stories so much attention in the impeccably detailed research he did. Overall, I highly recommend this book!
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Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter

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mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

⚠️ CW: murder, racism, child abuse and mentions of drug use ⚠️ If you're looking for an incredibly explosive, mind boggling and page turning read then you need to read this book! In October 2003, Luke Ryder was found dead in the garden of his family home in London, leaving behind a wealthy older widow and three stepchildren. Nobody saw anything. Now secrets will be revealed, live on camera in a genius true crime tv show. A group of experts re-examine the evidence with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on? Or does the truth lie closer to home? This read was absolutely incredible and read like a true crime book. The twists and turns were utter perfection and I would have happily binge read this in one sitting if I could. From the dynamic between the characters, to the mixed media throughout, to the unravelling storyline. Everything was perfect. And this may just be my new favourite read of the year! Overall, I highly recommend reading this one if you're a crime fiction fan.
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The Cutting Season by M.W. Craven

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

⚠️ CW: violence, murder and cannibalism ⚠️ If you're looking for a dark and thrilling crime fic then this one is for you! Dangling from a hook in a meat packing plant isn't how DS Washington Poe wants to spend his weekend. He's been punched and kicked and threatened, and when a contract killer arrives it seems things are about to go from bad to worse. He goes by the name of the Pale Man and he and his straight razor have been feared all over London for twenty years. But Poe knows two things the Pale Man doesn't. Although it might seem like a hopeless situation, Poe has planned to be here all along. More importantly, a nerdy, computer whizz-kid called Tilly Bradshaw is watching his back. And now things are about to get interesting. This short read was a good introduction to these characters for me as this is my first time reading from this author and these beloved characters. It really gripped me throughout but I don't think this read allowed me to get to grips with the characters like a full length book would so I hope to read more from these characters in the future so I can get to love them as much as everyone else. As I always say, I think short stories are so hard to get right but this one was written really well. Overall, I definitely recommend giving this one a read.
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The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

⚠️ CW: murder, child abuse, domestic abuse, gaslighting, rape, blackmail, grooming and suicide ⚠️ Wow Lisa Jewell certainly didn't disappoint with this sequel to The Family Upstairs and I absolutely adored it! On an early June morning in London a bag of human bones is discovered on the foreshore of the Thames leading to DCI Samuel Owusu being called to the scene as he quickly sends off the bag for forensic examination. The bones are those of a young woman, killed by a blow to the head many years ago. Also inside the bag is a trail of clues, in particular the seeds of a rare tree which lead DCI Owusu back to a mansion in Chelsea where, nearly thirty years previously, three people lay dead in a kitchen and a baby waited upstairs for someone to pick her up. The clues point toward a brother and sister in Chicago searching for the only person who can make sense of their pasts and with four deaths, an unsolved mystery and a family whose secrets can't stay buried forever the story is far from over. This book was so intricate and complex from start to finish and had me absolutely hooked. The breadcrumb trail of information throughout as you slowly piece together various pov's, character developments and pieces from the first book truly grip you and take you on such an incredible rollercoaster ride of twists, turns and shocking revelations. Overall, I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
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The Ski Trip by Sarah Clarke

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

⚠️ CW: death, murder, violence, sexual assault, stalking, infertility, kidnapping and mentions of addiction ⚠️ This was an incredibly thrilling rollercoaster filled with twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end! When four friends embark on a boys skiing holiday in the Alps, they anticipate a weekend of fun, drinking, and some healthy competition on the slopes but their trip is cut short when one of them falls to his death. Tom’s widow, Zoe, travels to France with her friend, Ivy, to collect his body. While Zoe is consumed by grief, Ivy starts to question everything. The slope Tom fell from wasn’t even dangerous and tensions between the group were at breaking point in the days before his death, but if Ivy’s suspicions are correct it means that Tom was killed by one of his closest friends. And they are still in the chalet. This book had me absolutely hooked and I couldn't put it down! It's one of those reads where just when you think you've connected all of the dots, new information or evidence is dropped that makes you question everything and everyone. It is such a deeply complex storyline and I loved the intricacies of the plot and the characters connections. Overall, I loved this book and can't wait to read more by this author.
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A Welcome Reunion: A Short Story by Lucinda Berry

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

4.0

⚠️ CW: violence, murder, child abuse, mental health and mentions of self harm and rape ⚠️ If you loved The Perfect Child but wanted more from the cliff hanger ending then you need to read this book. Janie is the last person Hannah and Christopher Bauer want to see again but Janie’s moved back to Clarksville and she’s no longer the frail child that Hannah and Christopher adopted over 11 years ago who destroyed their lives. Now Janie is out of juvenile detention and publicly promoting her new tell-all memoir. At just 18, Janie has a violent and tragic story to share brimming with grisly details. However, Janie has now taken a new name and claims to have reformed her sociopathic ways and she’s ready to make amends. But when the Bauers refuse to meet with her, she takes matters into her own hands. After Piper, the social worker, formerly assigned to the case makes disturbing revelations about Janie’s calculated behavior, the Bauers brace for Janie’s next move, determined to protect their family at all costs. This short read was a great follow on from The Perfect Child and I loved the gripping tale of what happened next with Janie and the Bauer's. It's one of those that is really hard to review without giving spoilers but I loved the terrifying return of Janie. Overall, I highly recommend this one!
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I'm Not Done with You Yet by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

⚠️ CW: gaslighting, racism, toxic friendship and murder ⚠️ If you're looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat then you need to read this one! Jane is unhappy and struggling writer trapped in an underwhelming marriage with husband Ted, scraping by to pay for a mortgage for a house and a life that she’s never really wanted. There’s only ever been one person she cared about, one person who truly understood her, Thalia, Jane’s best and only friend nearly a decade ago during their time together at Oxford. But then the night of the formal which should have bound them together for good, drove them apart. Until now, because after years of searching Thalia is everywhere as she tops the New York Times bestseller list. And now Jane has found Thalia after all these years, she won’t let her go. This book had me absolutely hooked and I just couldn't put it down! It was so incredibly gripping and twisty, and it left me obsessed until the very end. From the characters, to the plot, to the ending. Everything was perfect. Overall, I adored this read and cannot recommend it highly enough.
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