Tag Archive for: 3 Stars

There’s Someone Inside Your House

There’s Someone Inside Your HouseTitle: There's Someone Inside Your House
Author(s): Stephanie Perkins
Genre(s): Horror
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 304
Length: 9h 26m
Narrator(s): Bahni Turpin
Source: Owned
Reason(s): None
Rating:
Spice: 1.5 Flames

My Thoughts

While I thought THERE’S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE was a fun slasher story, I’ve decided that I like this genre better in movie form. The story definitely felt reminiscent of some of my favorite slasher movies (Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, etc.), but I feel like the written aspect of the story slowed the slasher aspect down. Also, since I watched the Netflix adaptation last year, I thought the reason for the killing spree was more interesting that what happened in the book.

Tress of the Emerald Sea

Tress of the Emerald SeaTitle: Tress of the Emerald Sea
Author(s): Brandon Sanderson
Genre(s): Fantasy
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 369
Length: 12h 27m
Narrator(s): Michael Kramer
Source: Owned
Reason(s): Recommended
Rating:
Spice: 0 Flames

My Thoughts

I’m glad I had a chance to read TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA. It wasn’t what I was expecting, though. I enjoyed the book, but I didn’t love it. Part of the issue for me was Hoid, the narrator (not audio). I didn’t like his way of telling the story. I’m not a huge fan of 4th-wall-breaking, unless it’s in movies or TV shows, because it usually takes me out of the story and I want to be immersed.

I did like Tress and most of the other characters. I also liked the overall story of her defying the king’s order of leaving her little island in search of her lost love while traveling through dangerous spore oceans. I also liked the ending and the fact that Sanderson left it open so he can write more stories in this universe.

After doing some research, I’ve now realized that this book is part of Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. While TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA is a standalone novel, it has connections and some shared characters to other series and books.

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The Last Word

The Last WordTitle: The Last Word
Author(s): Taylor Adams
Genre(s): Thriller
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 352
Length: 9:57
Narrator(s): Carlotta Brentan, Jim Meskimen
Source: Owned
Reason(s): BotM Backlist
Rating:
Spice: 0.5 Flames

My Thoughts

I read THE LAST WORD pretty quickly. The suspense kept me reading, but I figured a lot of it out by the end. The author going crazy because of a 1-star review on Amazon was a fun premise, but I didn’t like the “book within a book” idea. Every time the narrative switched over to horror novel Deek was writing, I just kept waiting for that part to end. I especially hated the ending of his novel and gritted my teeth during his acknowledgments. I wish he had gotten what he deserved. I also disliked the male narrator during those parts.

THE LAST WORD dealt with some pretty heave topics–death of a child, death of a parent, grief, and suicidal ideation. I actually preferred the non-thriller part of the story more than the actual thriller. I liked Emma and Laika a lot. I liked her story with Shawn, and I would’ve much preferred reading a whole story about them.

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The Boyfriend

The BoyfriendTitle: The Boyfriend
Author(s): Freida McFadden
Genre(s): Thriller
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 364
Length: 9h 13m
Narrator(s): Victoria Connolly, Robb Moreira
Source: Owned
Reason(s): Book of the Month
Rating:
Spice: 1.5 Flames

My Thoughts

THE BOYFRIEND is my first Freida McFadden book. While it wasn’t my favorite thriller, it kept me reading and the ending was way different than I was expecting. I’ll definitely give McFadden another go.

The two POVs and timelines were interesting. At first, I didn’t like them because of how McFadden seemed to be setting up one of them. (I mean who writes a book from the killer’s POV from the get-go, right?) Fortunately, I realized there had to be more to what seemed to be happening. I didn’t like the characters very much and I thought one of them was really stupid on more than one occasion. I’m glad I stuck with the story, though, because the twist was a lot of fun because it was so unexpected. For quite a bit of the story, I kept trying to figure out who the killer was. I did figure it out before the big reveal, but only just.

Stuck with You

Stuck with YouTitle: Stuck with You
Author(s): Ali Hazelwood
Series: STEMinist #2
Genre(s): Romance
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 127
Length: 3h 22m
Narrator(s): Meg Sylvan
Source: Library
Reason(s): None
Rating:
Spice: 3.5 Flames

My Thoughts

STUCK WITH YOU is my least favorite of the STEMinist Novellas. Normally, instalove doesn’t bother me, but I couldn’t get over part of the premise. I liked the idea of them being stuck in the elevator together so they could air out their grievances, but Erik’s thoughts on why Sadie was mad at him was just too much for me.

I did like Sadie and Erik’s chemistry, and I think I might’ve liked this one better had it been a fully fleshed out novel.