Scan barcode
snugglesandpages's reviews
245 reviews
Bunny by S.E. Tolsen
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Bubby is dark, atmospheric and incredibly cinematic. I could see the gruesome scenes playing out in my mind. Literally feel them. Heart pounding. Stifled breaths. The tingle of uneasiness down my spine like someone was watching me.
I loved the first person / multiple-POV narration, it made it all the more creepier for me. Honestly, Aunt Bunny is one of the most terrifying and unhinged characters I have ever read. Thank god for sweet Goober, our doggy hero and his intuitive POV 🐶.
Shit really hits the fan in the last 100 pages, and suddenly we go from creepy sinister body-snatcher vibes to all out gore. It was so wild it left me utterly speechless.
Beneath the twisted supernatural elements of the story, there are well explored themes of alcoholism and the psychological effects it has on the family, especially a child living within that toxic environment. How the demon of addiction possesses the body and mind to a point where the lines between fact and fiction and blurred.
Bunny is the first novel from husband and wife writing duo, Emma Olsen and Vere Tindale published under the pseudonym S.E Tolsen. It's hella creepy and a MUST for your Halloween TBR. If you are looking for a twisted and haunting read that will literally infiltrate your reality, this is your book!
I loved the first person / multiple-POV narration, it made it all the more creepier for me. Honestly, Aunt Bunny is one of the most terrifying and unhinged characters I have ever read. Thank god for sweet Goober, our doggy hero and his intuitive POV 🐶.
Shit really hits the fan in the last 100 pages, and suddenly we go from creepy sinister body-snatcher vibes to all out gore. It was so wild it left me utterly speechless.
Beneath the twisted supernatural elements of the story, there are well explored themes of alcoholism and the psychological effects it has on the family, especially a child living within that toxic environment. How the demon of addiction possesses the body and mind to a point where the lines between fact and fiction and blurred.
Bunny is the first novel from husband and wife writing duo, Emma Olsen and Vere Tindale published under the pseudonym S.E Tolsen. It's hella creepy and a MUST for your Halloween TBR. If you are looking for a twisted and haunting read that will literally infiltrate your reality, this is your book!
Ripper by Shelley Burr
4.0
Seventeen years ago, the little town of Rainier was rocked by a serial killer. Now, to help the town stay afloat, those closest are in talks with a true crime tour company about adding Rainier's dark past to their walking tour, highlighting the death of 3 people. Only not everyone is on board. So when the body of the tour guide is found in the fountain, killed in the same manner as one of the victims 17 years ago, the town is thrown into chaos as they begin their desperate search for
Shelley brings the town of Rainier to life with an array of complex characters and an atmospheric setting perfect for lovers of Aussie crime fiction. The building tension will draw you in as you take grapple to solve the mystery, only nothing and no one is as it seems.
Reading the blurb, I had no idea that RIPPER would be connected to Shelley's debut thriller, WAKE. So imagine my delight when Lane, our PI with a fractured past, enters the chat. Without spoiling WAKE for those who haven't read it (and you really should because it is fantastic), we last saw Lane being convicted and sentenced to prison. This is where we now find him three years later, and in the same prison as Jan Henning-Klosner, the the man infamously known as the Rainier Ripper.
When Lane interjects during an inmate attack on Jan that saves his life, the prison governor places Lane in the infirmary with him in hopes he can extract information about any unknown victims. Including the identity of Jane Doe, referred to as Eva Novakova, whose body was found buried and with her baby cut from her stomach. 🤯
Do you have to read WAKE to read RIPPER? It would definitely help to know Lane's back story, and it's important to note that the whodunnit would be spoilt if reading RIPPER first as it is mentioned during Lane's chapters, so I would suggest reading WAKE first to enjoy the unravelling of both mysteries.
*A big thank you to the team at @hachetteaus for gifting me a copy of RIPPER.
Shelley brings the town of Rainier to life with an array of complex characters and an atmospheric setting perfect for lovers of Aussie crime fiction. The building tension will draw you in as you take grapple to solve the mystery, only nothing and no one is as it seems.
Reading the blurb, I had no idea that RIPPER would be connected to Shelley's debut thriller, WAKE. So imagine my delight when Lane, our PI with a fractured past, enters the chat. Without spoiling WAKE for those who haven't read it (and you really should because it is fantastic), we last saw Lane being convicted and sentenced to prison. This is where we now find him three years later, and in the same prison as Jan Henning-Klosner, the the man infamously known as the Rainier Ripper.
When Lane interjects during an inmate attack on Jan that saves his life, the prison governor places Lane in the infirmary with him in hopes he can extract information about any unknown victims. Including the identity of Jane Doe, referred to as Eva Novakova, whose body was found buried and with her baby cut from her stomach. 🤯
Do you have to read WAKE to read RIPPER? It would definitely help to know Lane's back story, and it's important to note that the whodunnit would be spoilt if reading RIPPER first as it is mentioned during Lane's chapters, so I would suggest reading WAKE first to enjoy the unravelling of both mysteries.
*A big thank you to the team at @hachetteaus for gifting me a copy of RIPPER.
The Love Contract by Steph Vizard
4.0
The Love Contract is a fantastic debut that delivers what I think to be a unique and refreshing take on the rom-com genre.
📖 Zoe is desperate to have a baby, and when her long-term relationship ends, she decides to have a baby on her own. Easy breezy. Only Zoe soon finds that securing baby Hazle a spot in childcare is like waiting for rain in a drought, useless and disappointing (points if you can tell me the movie that line is from?). Enter the Dick Next Door, aka Will Flemming. Workaholic Lawyer and Zoe's nemesis. When a mishap leads to Will's boss mistaking him as Hazle's father and recommending he be the first dad at the firm to use their new parental leave policy, Zoe and Will enter a 'contract' One that has Will playing Manny to Hazle for the next three months, giving Zoe more time to find childcare and Will that one step closer to becoming a partner at his firm. As they get deeper into their ruse of a fake relationship, lines are blurred, feelings are felt and clauses are amended, but Zoe's big secret could ruin it all.
💭 The building romance between Zoe and Will felt authentic. They are both equally strong and intelligent characters willing to do just about anything for what they love. For Zoe that's Hazle and for Will, it's his job, so seeing Will evolve and come to realise what he truly wants is one of my favourite aspects of the story.
I also really like how Steph shone a light on the reality of being a working mum. The roadblocks Zoe faced trying to secure childcare for Hazle in time to return to work, but most of all, the inequity women face in the workplace once they have children is all too real.
Thank you to the team at @harpercollinsaustralia for sending me an early copy of The Love Contract. I'll definitely be looking out for future work from this standout Aussie romance author
📖 Zoe is desperate to have a baby, and when her long-term relationship ends, she decides to have a baby on her own. Easy breezy. Only Zoe soon finds that securing baby Hazle a spot in childcare is like waiting for rain in a drought, useless and disappointing (points if you can tell me the movie that line is from?). Enter the Dick Next Door, aka Will Flemming. Workaholic Lawyer and Zoe's nemesis. When a mishap leads to Will's boss mistaking him as Hazle's father and recommending he be the first dad at the firm to use their new parental leave policy, Zoe and Will enter a 'contract' One that has Will playing Manny to Hazle for the next three months, giving Zoe more time to find childcare and Will that one step closer to becoming a partner at his firm. As they get deeper into their ruse of a fake relationship, lines are blurred, feelings are felt and clauses are amended, but Zoe's big secret could ruin it all.
💭 The building romance between Zoe and Will felt authentic. They are both equally strong and intelligent characters willing to do just about anything for what they love. For Zoe that's Hazle and for Will, it's his job, so seeing Will evolve and come to realise what he truly wants is one of my favourite aspects of the story.
I also really like how Steph shone a light on the reality of being a working mum. The roadblocks Zoe faced trying to secure childcare for Hazle in time to return to work, but most of all, the inequity women face in the workplace once they have children is all too real.
Thank you to the team at @harpercollinsaustralia for sending me an early copy of The Love Contract. I'll definitely be looking out for future work from this standout Aussie romance author