The Younger Wife - Sally Hepworth

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dr. Stephen Aston is getting remarried, and to a woman younger than his adult daughters. But then something happens.
This is a book of secrets and dysfunctional family. And I was here for it.

The book switches perspectives at the chapter breaks. I didn't mind this. It was interesting to see each character's thoughts. While I didn't think it was incredibly suspensful, I liked the plot and pacing. And I loved to dislike several of the characters.

Content: I can't give any without giving away some of the plot. Just know that if you are a sensitive reader, this might not be the book for you.

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A Stranger's Game - Colleen Coble

A Stranger's Game by Colleen Coble
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Let me preface this by saying I love Christian fiction books. They are some of my favorites I've read through the years. I've even liked some of Colleen Coble's books. However, I have not found many to love in recent years. Especially by established authors. I feel like they are either 1) trying to push out books so quickly they lack a compelling, cohesive story line and/or a good editing process or 2) they feel like they have enough of a loyal following that they don't need to put out quality writing. Just my opinion. And this book is no exception.

I had read such great reviews on A Stranger's Game that I even moved it to the top of my TBR. From the start, I was baffled by how it's received an average of 4.14 starts on Goodreads. So I kept reading, thinking it surely had to get better. It didn't. At least not for me.

In A Stranger's Game, Torie Bergstrom is a hotel heiress who decides she needs to research her friend's death. So she goes undercover at the hotel her aunt manages and her father and she own to figure it all out.

Wait! What? Your telling me NO ONE on that island or at that hotel recognizes her through 300+ pages of this book. When she's the owner's daughter...on the board...in national newspapers. Oh, and spent summers/grew up (it was never clear which) on the island and in the hotel until she was 10. Apparently not. The only one who recognizes her is a guy who works in politics in DC.

So many plot lines. Definitely an instance of trying to do too much and none of it well. We're left floating on the war games/sub stealing plot. The Torie's mom's death plot is just like "meh...I pushed her; it was an accident."

So many loose threads. Who killed Bella? What business did the guy who "masterminded" this plan (or was it his mom's plan) have that failed that caused him to develop this elaborate plan to take out everyone in the Federal Reserve? It just...none of it made practical sense.

And, whoo. Don't get me started on Torie and Joe interfering with all the evidence all the time and the investigation. Shouldn't they be in jail too? There's no way a self-respecting police force would let that happen. And let's just talk about Joe. Really? How does he know how to do all the things in security and the military. He's a marine biologist who works 20 hours a month in security at the hotel??!?!

Why would the guy booby trap the tree house and lie in wait to abduct Torie and Hailey? How could he know they'd be there? Climb it? Not to mention the minor thing where Torie just climbed the tree the first time but uses the step boards the second.

Just so much about the entire book doesn't make sense. I could go on and on with holes and contradictions that should have been caught in editing.

I hate to say it, but I'm starting to give up on Christian fiction by well-rated authors. I've read fewer and fewer over the years and become more and more disappointed.

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The Woman in the Window - AJ Finn

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Probably more 2.5 stars for me. I'm not a huge fan of unreliable narrators (I think I'm just over it as I liked the first few I read) and saw several of the twists before they were revealed. That being said, several in my book club really enjoyed it.

Anna suffers from agoraphobia and spends her days watching old movies, watching her neighbors, drinking, and helping where she can on an agoraphobia chat room. One evening she glimpses a scene she shouldn't have through her camera lens and it all starts unraveling.

If you read this book, I recommend devoting at least a good hour to get into it. I was so confused from probably the first 60+ pages because I was reading in small chunks. Once I sat down and read for an extended time, it began to come together for me.

The old movie references meant nothing to me as I hadn't seen or heard of most of them. However, if you are a classic movie buff, I can see that having an appeal.

There were a few twists that I didn't see coming until right before they were revealed. However, others I saw pages and pages away. If unreliable narrators are your thing, you might like it more than I did.

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The Family Upstairs - Lisa Jewell

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This book was all kinds of messed up.

When Libby Jones turns 25, she receives notice of her inheritance from her dead parents: an empty mansion in an upscale part of London. It's all downhill and nuts from there. I particularly didn't like Lucy's point of view. I don't find that it added much to the overall story. So much in this book was disturbing and convoluted yet not much of it was really surprising or suspenseful. Thankfully it was at least a quick read.

There was one quote I liked, and it even applies here:
"They weren't bad books," Phin countered patiently. "They were books that you didn't enjoy. It's not the same thing at all. The only bad books are books that are so badly written that no on will publish them. Any book that has been published is going to be a 'good book' for someone."

This book definitely qualifies as one I didn't enjoy.

Content Warnings: Language, abuse in many forms

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Never Have I Ever - Joshilyn Jackson

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm waffling between 2 and 3 stars on this one.

Amy is happy with her life as wife, "stepmonster," and mom and doesn't think anything can shatter her peaceful existence...until Roux shows up in her neighborhood and on her doorstep. Roux brings with her information about Amy's past and objectives all her own.

I feel like Amy's character has depth and nuance but all the rest were pretty static. There were definitely some twists I didn't see coming, which I always appreciate in a book.

Content Warnings: language, violence, sexual content (of a disturbing nature)

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Follow Me - Kathleen Barber

Follow Me by Kathleen Barber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book takes a look at the potentially extreme costs of an online social media influencer. Audrey has thousands of followers on Instagram, sharing every aspect of her life with them. When a new job causes her to relocate to DC, she doesn’t realize the opportunity presented to one of her more obsessive followers

Probably a 3.5 for me, rounded up to a 4. I liked it. I was definitely interested in figuring out what was actually going on, although I had my ideas. It was compulsively readable. However, there were definitely some things about the book I didn’t like as well.

I like suspense books and always have in the back of my mind wonderings about what I share online, even though that’s mainly to friends and family. So when I got an email from NetGalley about reading/reviewing this book early (thanks, NetGalley and the publisher!), I jumped on it.

The characters were just not very likable…pretty much any of them. Which means that while I loved the plot and the suspense, I didn’t really like the characters.

Also, I was still left with some questions at the end where I felt like previous details indicated something else. So I might reread it for those clues. A few questions stemming from the ending itself as well. It ended rather abruptly.

Worth the read if you like suspense.

Content Warnings: Some language and slightly open-door romance.


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The Mother-in-Law - Sally Hepworth

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lucas and her MIL, Diana, have always had a rocky relationship. So when Diana is found dead, suspicion abounds.

This book is told primarily from Lucy & Diana's perspectives, and alternates between past and present. I liked the back story pieces. It gave such understanding and depth to some of the characters.

Worth reading if you like domestic suspense.

I gave it 3 stars, but it was really more 3.5 for me. So take that with a grain of salt.

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The Chalk Man - CJ Tudor

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Chalk Man is told in two story lines: 2016 and 1986. The story revolves around a group of kids who were friends in the 80's and then focuses on one of those friends (Eddie) in the more present day. The book begins with a tragic accident that helps shape one of the key story lines.

The book was pretty interesting. A little too creepy at parts for me. Some of the story lines kept me guessing until they were almost revealed. Others I figured out early. Pretty much everything was revealed by the end.

Everyone in my book club liked it or loved it. For me, it's probably a 2.5. I didn't really like it, but it was better than okay.

Definitely try to read it in larger chunks. I started out reading just a few pages or a chapter at a time as that's what my schedule allowed. And I think that caused me to be a bit confused at time. Once I sat down and read the last half in a long reading block, things clicked better for me.

Head's Up: Abuse, abortion, violence that got a bit descriptive

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Not If I Save You First - Ally Carter

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maddie's father is a secret service agent and her best friend is the president's son. All seems good until there's a threat and Maddie's father relocates them to Alaska. However, trouble follows eventually.

I enjoyed the character of Maddie. She was equal parts girly and grit. And I really liked the story until towards the end. As it got closer to the end, I'm not sure if I was rushing to read and missed things. If it was because the formatting on the ebook I was reading got wonky. Or if the writing just got sloppy. But there were many things that just didn't make sense as things were supposed to be coming together instead. Without that, this probably would have been a 4 or 4.5 star book for me.

It was also a very clean book for YA, which I always appreciate. There was some violence, but it wasn't gruesome or graphic at all.

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Quick Reviews

Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was liking the story pretty well. I mean, it was typical Nicholas Sparks - not necessarily believable but still an enjoyable read. And then there was the author's note. And I realized I fell for a plot device. And I think I'm still kind of ticked off about that.

View all my reviews 1st to Die by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Super quick read. Definitely graphic in the crime content. But I loved the women and their connection.

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If I Live (If I Run #3) - Terri Blackstock

If I Live by Terri Blackstock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This books brings closure to the tale of Casey and her run from the cops trying to kill her. In book one, she had evidence about dirty cops. Through the three books, those cops are trying to find and murder her in the hopes of the evidence disappearing along with her. However, Dylan (a war veteran with PTSD) was also hired to track her down. This book wraps it all up.

I enjoyed it. I liked both Casey and Dylan and was rooting against the evil cops. I think some of the scenarios were fairly preposterous, but I was invested in the story enough to suspend disbelief. There were some surprises in this book that I didn't expect. All in all, it was a great conclusion to the series.

Do start with book one though. This is a series you can't read out of order.

I received this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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Threads of Suspicion - Dee Henderson (Evie Blackwell Cold Case #2)

Genre:  Christian Fiction, Suspense

Pages:  432 pages


Publishing Date:  May 2, 2017


Rating:  2 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

There was *a lot* going on in this book.  So much so that at times I lost track of cases and characters, and I think the characters lost track of their own thought flows.
Evie Blackwell and the Missing Persons Task Force she's been assigned to is on their first official cases.  Five cases; 5 task force members.  Evie is for some reason paired up with David Marshal even though they are working different cases.  All the other task force team members work solo and only pop up occasionally.
There are task for members, crime suspects, crime victims, witnesses, friends, love interests, famous people, security, hairdressers...just a lot of people and names to keep track of.  And so many story lines:  crimes for the task force, arson for not the task force, romantic ties, friendships, God, music, fan obsession.
I think this book just tried to do too much.  And I think I'm settling into the idea that Dee Henderson writes relationship novels not suspense novels.  As usual, Henderson brings in characters from her other stories and series.  On that note, I think it's time to reread the O'Malley series - her best work, in my opinion.

P.S.  Hate the cover.

Only Daughter - Anna Snoekstra

Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So this book was interesting. The main character was intriguing. Her motivations and impulses.
The story was definitely suspenseful and fast-paced. I didn't really figure it out until it was revealed. Then everything fell into place. So that's the best kind of suspense.
Some of it you had to suspend a little disbelief for, but I'm okay with that.
There is language and animal cruelty; a bit too much of each for my taste.

All the Missing Girls - Megan Miranda

Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.
The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.
Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.
Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.

My Thoughts:
I was confused through the first part of this book as it was written in such an interesting format.  At one point, the present jumps two weeks prior.  Then the author spends the rest of the book running the present day narrative backwards with flashbacks into a decade past.  It was an interesting format. 
I will say that I had good portions of the suspense figured out by the time they were revealed.  But not all. 
I did like exploring the deeper themes of who we are (or aspects of it at least) disappears over time as we grow and change. 
I think this would be a great book club book as it has a lot of fodder for discussion.

Nowhere to Hide - Sigmund Brouwer

March 25, 2014

Author:
–Sigmund Brouwer
Publisher:
  Harvest House Publishers
Release Date:
  March 1, 2015
Market:
  Secular
Genre:
–Young Adult, Suspense
Length:
–224 pages
My Rating:
   2.5/5

 About This Book (from Goodreads)

William King and Blake Watt have just settled into their senior year of high school when they receive a call for help--the authorities need to use their computer skills to track down a father who has failed to make child-support payments. The invitation to become cyber bounty hunters is so tempting, they don't stop to ask why they were chosen for this assignment.

As they learn more about the man they are searching for, they discover the true nature of their mission--to help the founder of a Seattle-based software company prove that he is innocent of a much different charge. But the scariest things they learn are why they were chosen and why they were supposed to remain in the background.

You'll love following the surprising twists and turns in this fast-paced young-adult thriller from a gifted storyteller who has nearly three million books in print.

How and Why I Acquired This Book

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.  It looked like an interesting YA read by an author I was not familiar with.

My Expectations about This Book

In starting this book, I didn’t realize it was actually the second book in a series, the first book being Dead Man’s Switch.  Had I known that ahead of time and read the initial book first, it might have changed some of my thoughts on this book.  It would have made some parts of the character interaction and the references make more sense.  Although Nowhere to Hide is readable as a standalone (as I did), I don’t think I would recommend it that way.

Also, since my review copy was digital it had several grammatical issues and mistakes as well as every few paragraphs the story was interrupted with either a tag line of the author’s name or a statement about not reproducing the text in any way.  Both things that a reader doesn’t need to deal with in the final digital and print versions, I’m sure.  But for full disclosure’s sake, I think that did interrupt the flow for me and make the reading less enjoyable.

CRITIQUE

Were my expectations met?

I expected an intense, fast-paced YA novel about two teens helping out the CIA while being students.  What I received was a fast paced novel, but about three teens on their summer break.  Well, really, just one teen, King, was the focus of the book.  MJ and Blake played roles intermittently but were not central to the story.  That was primarily King and CIA Agent Evans. 

Also, there wasn’t very much to do with computer skills or cyber bounty hunting.  Most of that was done by Blake, and you learn about it in hindsight during the first few chapters. 

Still an interesting story.  Also rather confusing at times.  In fact, I’m still not sure I fully grasped all of the plot twists and redirections.

Prose & Dialogue

For the most part, the scenes and the dialogue flowed well.  There were a few times I had to go back and re-read as I thought I had missed something. 

The descriptions of the settings were great.  Just enough detail to make you feel like you’re there but not so much you get bored.

I think that Brouwer nailed King’s dialogue as well as that of Evans and even some of the other CIA agents involved.  The parents and other two boys seemed more like caricatures than realistic, growing characters.

Characters & Points-of-View

I don’t know that I believed any of the characters or situations could occur in real life.  Two super-smart boys being raised and homeschooled on an island that houses a prison.  The CIA regularly utilizing the skills of said boys.  If it was true to life, homeschooling really has worked out for King and made him advanced well beyond his years. 

I don’t believe there were too many characters to keep up with.  Too many plot twists and one-eighties in the overall story, perhaps.

Story Structure & Pace

The pace of this story was quick, which will appeal to the YA audience targeted.  However, I am used to reading quick paced suspense books written on an adult level.  Yet this book confused me and completely lost me at times more than any of those adult books have.

At the start of the book, there is mention of Mr. King betraying his son.  By the final page, I still wasn’t really clear on what that betrayal was.  Was his dad in on the whole thing from the start with the tech guru?  I don’t think so but am not 100% positive.

Questionable Content

I don’t believe there is any truly questionable content.  Targeting an audience of teen male readers means that of course there are some references to bodily functions and smelly socks.  However, I wouldn’t say any of that is offensive.

Originality & Predictability

I will give the book this:  I was guessing clear to the final page.  And have still been guessing since I finished it.  So it’s a book that sticks with you as you try to figure it out.  The frustration is that I’m not sure it can be figured out.  Plus, the story wasn’t compelling enough for me to want to re-read the whole thing again with the added value of hindsight.

Audience Appropriateness & Appeal

The target audience is young adult.  I would even further define it as young adult (probably middle school through freshman) males.  There are only two female characters outside of the mothers, and all female characters definitely have a very background role.  So I don’t think this book would appeal as much to girls.

I do believe it would appeal to both conservative and mainstream readers.  As a movie it would probably be rated PG.

Engagement, Entertainment & Investment

The character of King and his dynamic with Evans is probably enough to pull off additional books in the series.  However, I would recommend reading them as a series and not as standalone titles

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I think this was an okay young adult suspense novel.  I appreciated the lack of vulgar language and sex that seems prevalent in so much YA literature these days.  I enjoyed the story line for the most part.  I was just frustrated by my confusion throughout.

Pros

·         A fresh approach to a YA world full of language and sex
·         An engaging character in King
·         Fast-paced

Cons

·         Confusing at times – perhaps reading the first book would help

 

**Review will be posted on The Christian Manifesto website 05.20.15