ARC REVIEW: Blink – by K.L. Slater

Title: Blink
Author: K.L. Slater
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: February 16th 2017
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: January 26th 2017
Pages: 295

“You don’t always know how you’re going to react to a sudden tragedy breaking your life into little pieces.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I have been looking forward to read another K.L. Slater book ever since I finished Safe With Me last year, and this second book simply blew me away. Her debut psychological thriller was already good, but Blink was just BRILLIANT. Basically I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time trying to figure out what was going on, and I ended up being SO wrong about everything. This title is without doubt psychological thriller at its best! Excellent prose, excellent plot and plot twists, excellent use of suspense, excellent character development… Blink has all the right ingredients for a great story. The main characters are maybe not all that likeable, but I personally didn’t care. The fact that the main character seems to be paralyzed and in coma but is actually awake is truly fascinating and adds another excellent plot twist to the story. I loved every single minute of Blink and it doesn’t happen often that a plot is able to mislead me that much. More than recommended if you like the genre!

Three years ago, Toni’s five-year-old daughter Evie disappeared after school. The police were never able to find a trace of the little girl; there were no witnesses or evidence to give them a solid lead. But Toni belives her daughter is still alive. And as she begins to piece together her memories of the events around her daughter’s disappearance, the full story of her past begins to reveal itself… Will Toni find a way to make herself heard and find her daughter before it’s too late?

This title will definitely appear on my list of favorite psychological thrillers. Blink basically has everything I look for in a good thriller and I enjoyed every single minute of it. The ‘paralyzed’ chapters and the flashbacks are without doubt intriguing and add an extra original touch… The plot twists are excellent and had me guessing until the very end. Some of them are so shocking you would have never seen them coming!

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Teaser Tuesdays #125 – January 31st: The Rest Of Us Just Live Here

TEASER TUESDAYS is a weekly book meme hosted at The Purple Booker. To participate, just open the book you are currently reading to a random page, and choose two ‘teaser’ sentences from somewhere on that page. (no spoilers!)

One of the books I’m currently reading is The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. I have been wanting to read another of his books for a while now, and the Beat The Backlist challenge is the perfect excuse to pick up my title. I’m not really that far into the story yet and I won’t finish it before the end of today… Hopefully before the weekend though!

My teaser (54%):

“In this moment, he’s never been more right. I’m the one here who’s least wanted. Without another word, I put the car in gear and drive off down the road.”

What are you reading right now?

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It’s All About Books is now also on Instagram!

I have never considered creating my own bookstagram before, mostly because I (UNFORTUNATELY) don’t own as many physical books as I would have liked due to the country I live in, and tend to read mostly e-books on my kindle. I’ve learned to love my kindle, but it’s still not the same… Then I saw this post at Lectito with 20 January Bookstagram favorites and I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to gawk at all those gorgeous bookish photos anymore. So… It’s All About Books is now also on Instagram!

I’ve added a few photos since I started my account last week, all either with my kindle or furry friends… Although I’m hoping to start taking photos of some of the physical books I own soonish. I’ve been too busy browsing other bookish accounts for now; my thumb is getting tired of hitting the like button all the time haha.

Feel free to follow me at yvo_about_books so I can start stalking your bookish photos as well. 😉 😀

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ARC REVIEW: No Excuses Detox – by Megan Gilmore

Title: No Excuses Detox
Author: Megan Gilmore
Genre: Non Fiction, Cookbooks, Health
First published: February 21st 2017
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Finished reading: November 4th 2016
Pages: 208

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Ten Speed Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I actually read this cookbook by Megan Gilmore last November as part of the promise to myself to start eating healthier, but I haven’t published my review before since No Excuses Detox is actually going to be published recently next month. The cover and promise of quick, affordable and delicious food recipes that will make it easy to follow a healthy lifestyle every day had me sold straight away. This cookbook focuses on showing everyone that it is doable to start changing your eating habits and that there are literally ‘no excuses’ to be posponing the change. No Excuses Detox talks about the most common excuses and shows a wide variety of recipes that will please even the most complicated eater. I do admit I wasn’t convinced by everything that was talked about in the introduction and I think some of the points were a bit too complicated to be called simply ‘no excuses’. That said, the recipes are without doubt excellent and I liked that the author showed just how cheap a healthy meal can be. I have quite a few marked and I will be looking forward to try out more.

In this cookbook, the author presents a collection of 100 recipes that are both quick to prepare, affordable, delicious and family-friendly. These recipes will make it easy to follow a healthy lifestyle every day and convince even the most complicated eater. Recipes for traditional comfort food favorites have been altered to make them both healthy and still taste as good as their counterparts. It also gives answers to all most common excuses for posponing a change, and shows that being ‘too busy’, ‘healthy food is expensive’ and ‘healthy food probably won’t taste good’ are no excused to stick to a healthy diet.

I always enjoy browsing cookbooks for more healthy recipes, and No Excuses Detox was without doubt a little goldmine. I don’t agree with everything that is said in the introduction about the common excuses, but I did enjoy the different recipe chapters. From budget and family-friendly recipes to variations of your favorite comfort food; if you are looking for a book that might help you start eating healthier, this one is worth the try.

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ARC REVIEW: Stake-out – by Lily Luchesi

Title: Stake-out
(Paranormal Detectives #1)
Author: Lily Luchesi
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
First published: May 19th 2015
Publisher: Vamptasy Publishing
Finished reading: January 25th 2017
Pages: 128

“Who would’ve guessed that, in this world, there were vampires, werewolves and specters lurking around every corner; that evil witches who lived for centuries were being burned to to death a few miles away?”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I confess I’m normally not a fan of vampire stories and tend to stay away from them, especially since I seem to dislike about 99% of them. But when I was approached with the question if I wanted to read the Paranormal Detectives series, something about the description caught my attention and I decided to give it a go. And even though I’m normally allergic to fanged characters, I enjoyed Stake-out a lot better than I thought I would. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the vampire element didn’t seem to bother me, which can probably explained by the fact that the vampires are properly scary without all the ‘sparkling’ and cheesiness. I found Stake-out quite a refreshing story and I liked that it had other supernatural creatures; the vampire/creature hunting is a very interesting angle as well. The story was both easy and entertaining to read, although I do have to admit the amount of question marks used can get a bit annoying. The plot and characters make up for it though, and I loved the flashbacks/past life subplot. If you like a good paranormal fantasy story that isn’t fluffy or overly romantic, Stake-out is without doubt a great choice. I will be reading and reviewing both sequels soon!

When Detective Danny Mancini finds out the murder suspect he is following is actually a 200 year old rogue vampire, nobody actually believes him. The department put him on early retirement despite his many years of service, and things are getting worse from there. Then, two years later, the beautiful Detective Angelica Cross shows up at his doorstep and offers him to join a secret branch of the FBI. She wants him to track down Vincent, the vampire that ended is career two years ago. But Danny’s new life will need some time getting used to…

Stake-out isn’t just another vampire story. Sure, vampires play a big role, but the plot is more about hunting supernatural creatures and following the main character Danny as he slowly comes to terms with his new world working for the secret branch of the FBI. I especially enjoyed the flashbacks and past life elements and I will be looking forward to find out how the story continues.

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Stacking The Shelves #8 – January 28th

Stacking The Shelves is hosted at Tynga’s Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

# Netgalley ARC #

• Making Faces by Amy Harmon
• Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer

• Final Girls by Riley Sager
• Renegade Red by Lauren Bird Horowitz

# Sent By Author #

• Manipulated Lives by H.A. Leuschel
• Riven by Belina Crawford

• Americosis Vol. 4 by Haydn Wilks
• Four Days by Jamie Campbell

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! ❤

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ARC REVIEW: Don’t Look Behind You – by Mel Sherratt

Title: Don’t Look Behind You
(Detective Eden Berrisford #2)
Author: Mel Sherratt
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: January 31st 2017
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: January 23rd 2017
Pages: 252

“You don’t see it coming. They manipulate you, they smother you with love and affection, making out you’re the only thing that matters in their lives, and by the time you realise who they really are, it’s too late. They have you.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I read the first book of the Detective Eden Berrisford series some time last year, and when I saw the sequel was about to be published I couldn’t help myself and grabbed a copy. I have to say Don’t Look Behind You by no means suffers from the so-called ‘weak-second-book-syndrome’! In fact, I enjoyed this psychological thriller sequel significantly better than the first book, and that says something. First of all, the writing style is excellent and really makes it that much easier to enjoy the ride. Don’t Look Behind You reads like a train and the amount of plot twists is just right. And while I had some minor problems with the main character Eden in the first book, she is really starting to warm up to me despite the fact that the recent problems in her private life does make her look more like the typical cliche detective character. Is this bad? In this case I don’t think so, because it makes her so much more ‘real’ and her private connection to the recent events is intriguing. I could also really appreciate the fact that the whole abuse theme was given such a big role and was portrayed so realistically. It’s a very important topic not nearly enough people are aware of, and on top of that it’s also refreshing to read about after one too many typical murder/missing person case. All in all a great read and I will be looking forward to the next installment of the series!

Three women are brutally attacked within days of each other in the small city of Stockleigh, and it is up to Detective Eden Berrisford to figure out who is behind the attacks. Are they random acts of violence or are the cases linked? Eden also has to keep contact with the women at a safe house, all hiding from their abusive men, since there have been some problems lately. As the investigation closes in on the attacker, Eden might end up being in danger herself… Will she be able to stop him on time AND keep the women safe?

If you are looking for a fast-paced and well written psychological thriller with a slightly different angle than usual, Don’t Look Behind You is without doubt a great choice. It’s actually the second book of a series, but in this case can also be read as a standalone without missing too much background information. The writing style, realistic feel of the story and the whole abuse topic definitely turn this title both a refreshing and entertaining psychological thriller!

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Friday Finds #118 – January 27th

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the most interesting books I’ve encountered during the last week and have added to my neverending TBR list on Goodreads. Below a selection of my newest additions; click on the book descriptions to go to its Goodreads page! 😀

My finds:

BOOK REVIEW: Unhooked – by Lisa Maxwell

Title: Unhooked
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
First published: February 2nd 2016
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Finished reading: January 22nd 2017
Pages: 352

“Hers might never be calm or easy paintings, but those canvases are the way she keeps herself centered. She needs to create, or she will lose herself bit by bit to her fears and delusions.”

I had this book by Lisa Maxwell on my radar for a long time, so I was really excited when I saw it was offered as one of the free reads at RivetedLit. I read a sample of Unhooked some time last year and remember being thoroughly impressed by the beginning of this Peter Pan retelling. I was more than excited to be finally continuing this story, but as things advanced and the revamped Neverland worldbuilding was revealed things fell a little flat for me. The beginning was without doubt the strongest part of this book even though it has a minimum amount of ‘magical’ elements. The rest just didn’t live up to expecations… It might be the hint at a love triangle, it might be the whiney main character, but I didn’t enjoy Unhooked as much as I thought I would. The writing style was very enjoyable to read in general; the pace was fast in the beginning, but slowed down considerably later on despite the action scenes. In fact, it took me a lot longer than expected to read it and I barely finished it on the last day the book was available. Such a shame, because it sounded so promising!

Gwendolyn Allister has been on the run her whole life, all because her mother believes that monsters are hunting them. This time her fear has brought them to London, far away from the life she had trying to build for the last two years, but luckily she will still have her best friend Olivia with her for the summer… Their vacation won’t be what they were expecting though; both Gwen and Olivia end up being kidnapped by shadowy creatures and taken to a world that cannot be real. Has Gwen’s mother been right all this time after all? Gwen finds himself in Neverland, but it’s nothing like the original stories. Will she find a way to rescue Olivia and go back to her own world before it’s too late?

I have to admit, both the cover, blurb and preview had me literally ‘hooked’. I was really looking forward to continue reading Unhooked, but unfortunately the story started to fall flat for me as I continued reading and discovering more about the revamped Neverland. It’s not that I don’t like the mixed up ‘good’ and ‘bad’, but both the romance and some of the main characters were really starting to get on my nerves. The ending wasn’t really satisfying either… What was a very promising and enjoyable start with a spark, soon started to sizzle out and didn’t manage to convince me in the end.

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WWW Wednesdays #121 – January 25th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’m currently reading two pending ARCs… The first is Blink by K.L. Slater, which I will continue as soon as I finish the other one: Stake-out by Lily Luchesi. I’m normally not a fan of vampire stories, but I’m enjoying this one a lot better than I thought I would. Scary vampires and vampire/creature hunters without it being fluffy? Definitely positive for me! Also, since I haven’t been making progress with Little Women due to a mountain of pending ARCs, I’ve decided to put it on hold and no longer mention it until I have made serious progress again.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* First up is the YA Spring/Summer edition of Buzz Books which I downloaded on a whim. I won’t be reviewing this one on my blog, but this edition shows that we have some great YA books to look forward to this year! I’ve already had the pleasure to read The One Memory Of Flora Banks by Emily Barr, which is in one word BRILLIANT. Other titles that stood out for me after reading the previews were Flame In The Mist by Renee Ahdieh, Future Threat by Elizabeth Briggs, Roar by Cora Carmack, This Is Really Happening by Erin Chack, How To Be A Supervillian by Michael Fry and Rebels Like Us by Liz Reinhardt. What a great selection of promising stories from a variety of different genres!
* I then decided to finally pick up my copy of The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken as part of the #beatthebacklist challenge. I’m still ashamed it took me over TWO years to pick up this copy, although it looks like I have been punished enough because I have been missing out on a great story. The plot might not be all that original, but the writing style is great and I liked the character (minus a few small complaints). I will definitely pick up at least book two next month!
* The next book I finished was Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell, which I read over at RivetedLit for free. It was a close call, since I finished it on the last day the book was available… When I first started reading it, I was more than excited about this Peter Pan retelling, but as things advanced and the Neverland revamped worldbuilding was revealed things fell a little flat for me. It might be the hint at a love triangle, it might be the whiney character, but I didn’t enjoy Unhooked as much as I thought I would. The ending was not that satisfying either.
* The last book I finished since last week is Don’t Look Behind You by Mel Sherratt, which is actually the second book in the Detective Eden Berrisford series. I enjoyed this psychological thriller so much better than the first book! The main character Eden has started to warm up to me, although now some problems in her private life have been revealed she does look more like the cliche detective character. Still, the case in Don’t Look Behind You felt just so much more intriguing than the first book and the whole abuse topic is without doubt a very important one. The story reads like a train and the writing style is very enjoyable to read; the amount of plot twists just right. I will definitely be looking forward to the next installment of this series!

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

Next up are two Netgalley ARCs: Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer and Making Faces by Amy Harmon.  I have one of Harmon‘s other novels on my January TBR, but I’ve decided to read this one first since it’s an ARC and all. I also want to read Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult…  And my newest TBR jar pick is still The Five Stages Of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson.

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