ARC REVIEW: The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jónasson

Title: The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jónasson
Pages: 400
Published by: Michael Joseph 
Publication date: 10th June 2021
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis:

‘Teacher wanted on the edge of the world…’

Una is struggling to deal with her father’s sudden, tragic suicide. She spends her nights drinking alone in Reykjavik, stricken with thoughts that she might one day follow in his footsteps.

So when she sees an advert seeking a teacher for two girls in the tiny village of Skálar – population of ten – on the storm-battered north coast of the island, she sees it as a chance to escape.

But once she arrives, Una quickly realises nothing in city life has prepared her for this. The villagers are unfriendly. The weather is bleak. And, from the creaky attic bedroom of the old house where she’s living, she’s convinced she hears the ghostly sound of singing.

Una worries that she’s losing her mind. And then, just before Christmas, there’s a murder…

Book haul – April 2021

Hey guys! Today I am bringing you my first proper book haul of 2021. Most of these I either bought or did a swap for them and a couple I got for free. I don’t think there’s too many books here, but, at the same time, I should not be buying this many when I already have a massive TBR pile. Anyway, else get into it!

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The Desolations of Devil’s Acre by Ransom Riggs: I can’t believe this book came out in February 2021. It honestly feels like it came out last year and I had to double check that it was definitely released this year. This is the last book in Ransom Rigg’s Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series and I loved it so much. I thought it was a great ending to this series and I’d definitely like to read it again at some point.

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant: This one came out in June 2020 and has been compared to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. There was a lot of hype when it first came out, but I actually haven’t seen anyone mention it since. I purchased the Illumicrate edition, which is stunning and it’s got me excited to read it now! I don’t know too much about the story other than it’s set in Paris in 1828 and the citizens are mourning their failed revolution. I really hope it lives up to the hype.

ARC REVIEW: The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson

Title: The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson
Pages: 400
Published by: HQ
Publication date: 18th February 2021
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis:

There’s a serial killer on the loose.

When bodies start washing up along the banks of the River Thames, DI Henley fears it is the work of Peter Olivier, the notorious Jigsaw Killer. But it can’t be him; Olivier is already behind bars, and Henley was the one who put him there.

The race is on before more bodies are found.

She’d hoped she’d never have to see his face again, but Henley knows Olivier might be the best chance they have at stopping the copycat killer. But when Olivier learns of the new murders, helping Henley is the last thing on his mind . . .

Will it take a killer to catch the killer?

Now all bets are off, and the race is on to catch the killer before the body count rises. But who will get there first – Henley, or the Jigsaw Killer?

September 2020 Wrap Up!

Hey guys! Today I am sharing my September wrap up with you and I’m not sure what happened this month but I fell flat on my face as I only managed to read four books. I actually wanted to read about ten so I’m really disappointed that I read so little. Hopefully I can do better next month as there’s some new releases coming out that I’m really excited about!

Before I get into my September wrap up, there’s one book I finished last month (the last day of August) that I missed off my wrap up, so I just want to quickly go over that now. I read We Will Be Watching by Ruth Ware. It’s a short story about a group of work colleagues who attend an escape room as part of a company away day. It’s not the fun-filled day they were anticipating though, as the four characters all have secrets and with each new room they enter, a secret is exposed. I’d actually love for this to be a full-length novel because it was so creepy and for a short story it actually had so many exciting twists.

Now that I’ve shared my thoughts on Ruth Ware’s short story, here’s my September wrap up:

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You Again by Debra Jo Immergut: While the concept of this sounded really unique, I didn’t enjoy it very much. This is the second book by this author that I haven’t enjoyed so I’m just going to assume that her writing isn’t for me. The story is about a middle aged-woman who is haunted by her younger self, which causes her to start reliving all her old memories and her once promising career as an artist, which she pushed aside for her husband and children. I thought the story was interesting but I struggled with the writing. It’s written quite disjointed, which makes it rather confusing at times and hard to follow. While I personally didn’t enjoy this writing style, I think it’s interesting enough that others will. The story seems to have many different meanings and would be good to discuss in a book club.

REVIEW: You Again by Debra Jo Immergut

Title: You Again by Debra Jo Immergut
Pages: 432
Published by: Titan Books
Publication date: 4th August 2020
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis: 

Abigail Willard first spots her from the back of a New York cab: the spitting image of Abby herself at age 22 – right down to the silver platforms and raspberry coat she wore as a young artist. But the real Abby is now 46, married with a corporate job and two kids. Was this merely a hallucinatory side-effect of working-mom stress? A message of sorts, sent to remind her of passions and dreams tossed aside? Or something more dangerous?

Abby continues to spot her double around her old New York haunts and soon, despite her better instincts, she finds herself tailing her lookalike. She is dogged by a nagging suspicion that there is a deeper mystery to figure out, one rooted far in her past. All the while, Abby’s life starts to slip from her control: her marriage hits major turbulence and her teenage son drifts into a radical movement that portends a dark coming era. When her elusive double presents her with a dangerous proposition, Abby must decide how much she values the life she’s built, and how deeply she knows herself.

Massive Book Unhaul! (40+ Books)

Hey guys! Today I am bringing you my biggest unhaul ever. Unfortunately I only have space for one bookshelf and that got full pretty quickly. I have a couple floating bookshelves and some other places to store my books but I completely ran out of space early this year and had multiple piles on the floor. It was terrible. I sorted through all my books and I found just over forty that I have no desire to keep hold of. That actually created a lot more space for me and I have some room for some other books now, yay! Here are all the books I’m getting rid of:

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Strange the Dreamer & Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor: I finally read this duology this year and unfortunately I didn’t like it. I thought it was too focused on romance rather than the mystery of Weep and each characters ability/power. It had a lot of potential but it didn’t work out in the end for me. Sad to see these go despite not enjoying them but I’d rather they go to someone who likes the author and/or wasn’t able to buy the hardbacks.

Top 5 Wednesday: Unanswered Questions

Hey guys! Today I am bringing you another Top 5 Wednesday post about unanswered questions. Basically I’m going to have a mini rant about some of my most annoying unanswered questions in certain books and I hope you enjoy! Just so you are aware, there’s potential spoilers.

Unresolved plot line: What happened to Kellen’s shadowblack?

As much as I love this series, I’m still annoyed that the plot line I was most invested in and mentioned in every review, never got resolved! Sure, we got a book about it and that was great, but Kellen doesn’t find a cure in the end and he doesn’t even seem to have a view on his shadowblack. Does he care that it will drive him mad eventually? I suppose it would have been a downer with it being the last book but some clarification about his shadowblack would have been appreciated! For me, this will forever be the one plot line that sounded exciting, but ended up being the most underwhelming.

July 2020 TBR

Hey guys! It’s officially July and that means a new TBR! I have a stack of unread books on the shelf behind my bed so I’ll be concentrating on these this month. I’m going to try and get through as many as I can, but I’ve set myself a target of 10. I think that is doable so let’s get into it! Here’s what I want to read:

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Crownbreaker by Sebastien de Castell: I’ve said enough about this series already, you don’t need to read even more about it! It’s time to finish it and I hope it’s a good ending for such an awesome series.

He Started It by Samantha Downing: I loved Samantha’s first book so I was really excited to get my hands on her newest book. I believe this one is about family secrets and always being there for one another despite how bad some of those secrets are. But it also comes down to trust and whether the ones closest to you the most dangerous. It sounds like another dark thriller so I can’t wait to get stuck in!

June 2020 Wrap Up

Hey guys! Today I am sharing with you my June wrap up and I read a lot of books this month. I read 10 books and two short stories. I only set out to read six this month so to actually end up doubling that is crazy! This lockdown is working wonders for my TBR pile. Here’s what I read:

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The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson: My first one star rating of the year, unfortunately. I really didn’t enjoy the first book in this series and I wasn’t expecting to like the second one, either. At the same time, I did not expect it to be even worse than the first one. There wasn’t really any plot and the main character turned into a complete idiot and decided to leave her loved ones to live with a stranger she just met? That doesn’t make any sense. The cliffhanger at the end wasn’t enough to convince me to read the third book and I believe this series is unfinished and has been for a few years now. So even if I did like these books, there’s no point continuing the series.