Tag Archive for: Thriller

Review: When I’m Dead

Review: When I’m DeadTitle: When I'm Dead
Author: Hannah Morrissey
Series: Black Harbor #3
Genre(s): Thriller
Pages: 320
Source: Library
For: Book of the Month
Rating:
Sexual Content: 2 Flames

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There's content in this book that may be triggering to some readers. I've tried to include the possible triggers in this book at end of my review.
Goodreads Synopsis

On a bone-chilling October night, Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp investigates the death of her daughter’s best friend. Hours later, the tragedy hits even closer to home when she makes a devastating discovery--her daughter, Chloe, is gone. But, not without a trace.

My Thoughts

WHEN I’M DEAD was my October 2023 pick for Book of the Month (BOTM) and I read it as part of the BOTM challenge I’m doing this year.

WHEN I’M DEAD isn’t really a sequel to HELLO, TRANSCRIBER and THE WIDOWMAKER because it focuses on other characters. There are a few secondary characters that are in each book, but the main commonality between the three stories is the setting–Black Harbor, Wisconsin. I love the Easter eggs in THE WIDOWMAKER and WHEN I’M DEAD that unite the stories as a series.

I thought the story was captivating, emotional, and suspenseful. I love Morrissey’s prose. It’s so descriptive and beautiful. (Although, if I heard “shadow of a doubt” one more time, I might have screamed.) I really liked that the story’s told from multiple POVs. I loved the different look into what was going on and I thought each POV was unique and made the story better.

Just like its predecessors, WHEN I’M DEAD is a very dark thriller that kept me guessing until the end. It’s thought-provoking and deals with subjects like bullying, suicide, and parent / child relationships.

I really liked the characters in WHEN I’M DEAD. I especially liked Rowan and Axel’s because of their need to find their daughter, Chloe, and their self-doubt in wondering whether they were good parents and really knew their daughter. There was so much more emotion in this story than the previous two, which kept me reading and thinking about the story when I wasn’t.

I’m so glad I read all three books in the Black Harbor series even though I could have just read WHEN I’M DEAD without really missing anything. I look forward to any other books in the series as well.

Have you read WHEN I’M DEAD? If so, what did you think?

Trigger Warning

There is a trigger warning for suicide, bullying, death of a parent, death of a child, and death of animals.

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Review: The Widowmaker

Review: The WidowmakerTitle: The Widowmaker
Author: Hannah Morrissey
Series: Black Harbor #2
Genre(s): Thriller
Pages: 304
Source: Library
For: Personal Interest
Rating:
Sexual Content: 1.5 Flames

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There's content in this book that may be triggering to some readers. I've tried to include the possible triggers in this book at end of my review.
Goodreads Synopsis

A wealthy family shrouded in scandal; a detective tasked with solving an impossible cold case; and a woman with a dark past collide in Hannah Morrissey's stunning new Black Harbor mystery, THE WIDOWMAKER.

My Thoughts

As I said in my HELLO, TRANSCRIBER review, I found out WHEN I’M DEAD, one of my Book of the Month (BOTM) books, is the third book in the Black Harbor series. I wanted to read it this month so I decided to check out the first (HELLO, TRANSCRIBER) and second (THE WIDOWMAKER) books from my library.

Even though THE WIDOWMAKER is the second book in the Black Harbor series, it’s not really sequel to HELLO, TRANSCRIBER. Investigator Kole, now Sgt. Kole, does return as a secondary character, but the commonality between the two stories is the setting–Black Harbor, Wisconsin–the most crime-ridden city in the state. And, THE WIDOWMAKER’s told in a dual POV.

I thought the story was captivating and suspenseful. I love Morrissey’s beautifully descriptive prose. Because of the dual POV, it took me a few chapters to understand what was happening. At that point, I zipped right through the story. When I wasn’t listening to the audiobook, I was thinking about the characters and their lives.

THE WIDOWMAKER is a very dark thriller that kept me guessing until the end. It’s very thought-provoking and deals with hard subjects like child abandonment, abuse, and sexual assault.

I liked both of the main characters. I also liked the narrators for the audiobook. They both did a great job bringing Morgan and Investigator Hudson to life. I thought some of the secondary characters were a bit flat and could’ve been fleshed out more. I liked the little Easter eggs pointing to HELLO, TRANSCRIBER when Hudson was interacting with and talking about Sgt. Kole.

Even though I wouldn’t have missed anything by skipping HELLO, TRANSCRIBER and THE WIDOWMAKER, I’m glad I decided to read both of them. I liked getting to know Black Harbor and its people and I’m even more excited to finally read WHEN I’M DEAD.

Have you read THE WIDOWMAKER? If so, what did you think?

Trigger Warning

There is a trigger warning for suicide, suicidal ideation, death of a parent, child abandonment, child abuse, spousal abuse, and sexual assault.

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Review: Hello, Transcriber

Review: Hello, TranscriberTitle: Hello, Transcriber
Author: Hannah Morrissey
Series: Black Harbor #1
Genre(s): Romance, Thriller
Pages: 304
Source: Library
For: Personal Interest
Rating:
Sexual Content: 3 Flames

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There's content in this book that may be triggering to some readers. I've tried to include the possible triggers in this book at end of my review.
Goodreads Synopsis

Every night, while the street lamps shed the only light on Wisconsin's most crime-ridden city, police transcriber Hazel Greenlee listens as detectives divulge Black Harbor's gruesome secrets. As an aspiring writer, Hazel believes that writing a novel could be her only ticket out of this frozen hellscape. And then her neighbor confesses to hiding the body of an overdose victim in a dumpster.

My Thoughts

I found out WHEN I’M DEAD, one of my Book of the Month (BOTM) books, is the third book in the Black Harbor series. I wanted to read it this month so I decided to check out the first (HELLO, TRANSCRIBER) and second (THE WIDOWMAKER) books from my library.

I’m glad I decided to read HELLO, TRANSCRIBER. It was a captivating romantic thriller. Thanks to Morrissey’s beautifully descriptive prose, I zipped right through it by staying up all night listening to the audiobook. It hooked me right from the beginning and has left me thinking about the characters and their relationships.

HELLO, TRANSCRIBER is more than a thriller with romantic fluff. It’s also a thought-provoking story that deals with hard subjects like spousal abuse, depression and suicidal ideation, homo- and transphobia, and drug use in minors.

As I read HELLO, TRANSCRIBER, I could see the big twist at the end. Knowing about the twist didn’t ruin the suspense or story for me, though, because I still wanted to know how everything would play out. View Spoiler »

Before I started reading HELLO, TRANSCRIBER, I thought the series was a classic series with the same characters in each novel. However, I’ve since learned that the sequels are companion novels with different characters that take place in Black Harbor. Despite this, I look forward to reading both sequels and any others Morrissey writes.

Have you read HELLO, TRANSCRIBER? If so, what did you think?

Trigger Warning

There is a trigger warning for suicide, suicidal ideation, cheating on a spouse, spousal abuse, homo- and transphobia, and drug use.

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Review: The It Girl

Review: The It GirlTitle: The It Girl
Author: Ruth Ware
Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 423
Source: Library
For: Personal Interest
Rating:
Sexual Content: 0.5 Flames

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Goodreads Synopsis

April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford. Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends--Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily--during their first term. By the end of the second, April was dead.

My Thoughts

I knew if I wanted to get over my reading slump, I needed to read a thriller or a romance. I decided to go with a thriller and read THE IT GIRL by Ruth Ware.

THE IT GIRL’s my first book by Ruth Ware. I’ve heard great things about some of her other books and THE IT GIRL seems to be the new hottest thing.

The premise of THE IT GIRL really drew me in. I love dark academia and psychological thrillers. I loved reading why everything happened the way they did and what lead up to the main “thing.” I really enjoyed the split narrative: 10 years in the past when the “thing” happened and the present when some of the circumstances of the “thing” are questioned.

Don’t let yourself get caught up in what-ifs. That way madness lies.

I especially loved the setting of THE IT GIRL. Even though Pelham College is a fictitious college in Oxford, I loved experiencing how one of the most prestigious schools in the world functions. Oxford’s so different from anything I experienced in school here in the US. It was very interesting to learn more about the English education system.

The characters in THE IT GIRL were interesting to me. I didn’t like April very much. She was a spoiled rich girl with entitlement issues. I didn’t feel like her friendship with Hannah was very believable. I think April only “befriended” Hannah because Hannah was easy to manipulate. I thought Hannah was an okay character. I just wish she had more backbone and stuck up for herself more. I really liked Will, but I can’t say why.

THE IT GIRL’s ending was really good. I wasn’t disappointed in learning how it all came together. I’ll definitely give Ruth Ware another go.

Have you read THE IT GIRL? If so, what did you think?

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Review: The Good Sister

Review: The Good SisterTitle: The Good Sister
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre(s): Romance, Thriller
Pages: 309
Source: Own
For: Book Club
Rating:
Sexual Content: 2 Flames

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There's content in this book that may be triggering to some readers. I've tried to include the possible triggers in this book at end of my review.
Goodreads Synopsis

Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights, and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be ... dangerous.

My Thoughts

I was really excited to read THE GOOD SISTER because my IRL friend Jenny recommended it to our book club and I usually enjoy the same type of thrillers she does. We decided to read it as September’s book and I’m glad we did so I’d read it sooner rather than later.

I loved THE GOOD SISTER. It was a fantastic story that kept me reading until I was done with the book. I saw the big twist coming a mile away; it didn’t ruin the suspense or story for me, though, because I still wanted to know how everything would play out. I wasn’t disappointed.

I really liked the characters in THE GOOD SISTER. I liked that even though I guessed the twist, I still kept wondering if I was right. I also loved that a couple of the main characters were neurodivergent. I have sensory issues, not to the extent Fern does, though. I really connected with that aspect of Fern’s character.

Angry is just a pen name for sad…. In my experience, nine times out of ten if you are kind to the angry person, you will calm them down and find out what is really going on with them.

I would’ve given THE GOOD SISTER 4 stars, except near the end Hepworth perpetuated the stigma that people diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are violent psychopaths. BPD’s misunderstood even among the psychological community. Those trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) understand BPD the most. I simply wish she had talked to a DBT-trained psychologist or someone who’s diagnosed with BPD before she used BPD as one of the reasons why the antagonist did what they did.

I don’t think cancelling someone is the right answer, though, because it takes away from what’s important—educating as many people as possible to help break the stigma surrounding BPD and other mental illness. Because of this, I’ll continue to read and, most likely, enjoy Hepworth’s novels.

Have you read THE GOOD SISTER? If so, what did you think?

Trigger Warning

There is a trigger warning for sexual assault, loss of a child, and loss of a parent.

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