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 started with Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira yesterday since I needed a change of genre after Stillhouse Lake… Somehow I didn’t think another thriller would have been able to live up to that story right now. I’m keeping my fingers crossed the change of genre will work, because I want to continue with Girl In Snow by Danya Kukafka afterwards… And I’ve read about 30 pages of Sister by Rosamund Lupton (which I’m actually reading in Dutch) and the struggle is real haha. I’m not convinced so far and I’m not sure if it’s because of the language barrier or the story itself…
- WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?
1. The List by Patricia Forde (3/5 stars) REVIEW
The List is without doubt based on a very fascinating and original concept I would easily have given the highest rating for. The language elements are very interesting as well and this was definitely my favorite element of the story. That said, it did take me way longer than expected to read this Middle Grade story and I had difficulties connecting to both the writing style and the characters. I ended up having mixed thoughts about The List, but I guess the story can go either way for you.
2. The Breakdown by B.A. Paris (4/5 stars) REVIEW
I’m aware that The Breakdown has been receiving a lot of mixed reviews, but I personally had a really positive experience reading this psychological thriller. Then again I’m a sucker for any story with an amnesia/dementia angle and I found this element very well executed in The Breakdown. I didn’t particularly like Cass or the other characters, but the character development and growing forgetfulness and paranoia was brilliantly executed. In short I would definitely recommend giving this one a chance if you like the genre.
3. Confess by Colleen Hoover (2/5 stars) REVIEW TODAY
First of all I have to say that Confess by no means is a bad read, and I’m probably partly to blame for this story and me not being a right match. The writing style is just so readable and I do love the idea of the confessions turned into art and the way confessions are incorporated into the story itself. Confess isn’t just another sappy romance story and has a few very dark themes, but in the end it was the instalove overdose and inability to tolerate the main characters that ruined the reading experience for me. Oh well, I guess we can’t like them all… And what I said before is true: Colleen Hoover is always able to provoke very strong reactions with her stories whether they are positive or negative. And that is always a good sign.
4. Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine (5/5 stars) REVIEW 20/07
Wow. Just WOW. I will need time to cool off, because this thriller has been one hell of a ride… Stillhouse Lake is hands down one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year and just so damn intense! Highly creepy serial killer: check. Intriguing plot and plot twists: check. Constant suspense and feeling something is off: check. Brilliant writing style that keeps you on the edge of your seat: check. Inability to trust any character: check. Being sure you figured it all out and finding out you’re wrong over and over again: check. Very realistic character development: check. Do I have to go on? Dark, twisted, messed up and oh so good… I’m going to keep my fingers crossed I will be able to squeeze out a somewhat more coherent review by tomorrow.
- WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?
I’m getting closer towards my goal of finishing most of the ARCs on my Netgalley shelf, which means only one NG title on here: The Girls In The Water by Victoria Jenkins. I’ve heard lots of great things about that one! I also want to read The Secret Of Heaven by Felix Alexander, a Reading Alley ARC that will help me change genres a bit. And…. *drumroll* I’m finally going to read Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton! I’ve been posponing it for way too long now, so fingers crossed I will be able to move it to my currentlyreading pile by next week. My newest TBR jar pick is still Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard, which I’m hoping to read before the end of this month.
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Hooray! I’ve finally found someone who had exactly the same reaction to Confess as I did! I just couldn’t stand the characters at all. They were so hopelessly useless. I skim read the last third just because I wanted to know how it all turned out, but I found it a trial. And such a shame when the idea of the confessions and the art was good! Hey ho, you can’t like them all!! 🙂
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Yeah this pretty much sums up my experience as well… I was tempted to DNF but saw it through until the end to see how it turned out. Good to hear I wasn’t the only one!
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You’re so fast jesus christ! I can barely read two books in one week! 😀 I am excited for Girl in Snow!
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Haha I’m not sure if it’s that fast as I see others reading over six a week… xD I’m really looking forward to Girl In Snow, especially since Bookishly Ever After is turning out to be a dud. 😉 Happy reading
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Stillhouse Lake definitely needs to move up on tbr list now! Glad to see you loved it!
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YES I can highly recommend that one! It was SO good up to the point I’m struggling to write a coherent review. 😉
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Confess wasn’t my favorite CoHo book. I think it’s probably my least favorite. Awesome job on getting close to finishing your ARCs on Netgalley! 😀
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Hmm my reaction makes sense then… My least favorite is between this one and Ugly Love I think. And I’m hoping to reach the five or less pending NG titles some time soon so I can go back to my other reads! It’s SO hard not to binge request new titles though haha.
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Really looking forward to reading Stillhouse Lake now!
A,d finally, FINALLY (!!!!!!) Sharon Bolton! 😂
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I can highly highly recommend Stillhouse Lake! And yes I know, I should have picked up Now You See Me ages ago haha.
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Colleen’s books do provoke strong reactions. I agree! Have a great week! 🙂
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That’s good to hear! Have a great week as well! 🙂
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Stillhouse Lake is sooo good isn’t it. It seems to get a lot of bad reviews because of the ending but I thought it worked out really well and makes me want more. Caine is such a great writer.
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I liked the ending as well, mostly because it means we will have something to look forward to when the sequel comes out! It was my first experience but I’m definitely reading more of her work ASAP.
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Wait, Rachel Caine writes thrillers?! I had no idea! And now I might have to go and pick up Stillhouse Lake. 🙂
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It’s impressive how diverse her books were! I have her The Great Library books on my TBR and can’t wait to get to those after Stillhouse Lake.
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That’s so cool! I loveeeee her Great Library series. I’ll definitely have to look into this one now.
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We hope you enjoy ‘Beautiful Broken Things’, the cover is just gorgeous! Have a great reading week! 😊.
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I know right? The cover is one of the reasons I first added it to my TBR: 😉 Have a great week!
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I’m so glad that you liked Stillhouse Lake! I wasn’t sure how good it would be because I hadn’t really heard much about it and I knew it was Caine’s first time writing an adult thriller, but now I’m definitely going to have to check it out!
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I definitely can’t wait to read her other books after Stillhouse Lake… You wouldn’t guess it being her thriller debut, because it’s GOOD.
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Wow! Lots of great books this week! Sorry that Bookishly Ever After isn’t working out for you. Hope you read a book that’s better!
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I picked up Now You See Me after it and it’s definitely a lot better so far! 🙂
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Awesome!
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I love the cover of Girl in Snow, it looks really intriguing! I’ve been thinking of picking up Beautiful Broken Things too. I hope you enjoy it!
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I really like the cover of Girl In Snow too! I hope we will both enjoy Beautiful Broken Things when we get to it. 🙂
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I feel like I may have heard of Beautiful Broken Things along the way, I’m curious about this title now that you’ve mentioned it lol. I have a confession (see what I did there? lol), i have NEVER read a Colleen Hoover book since I arrived tardy to the party. I do own It Ends With Us & have been eyeing it recently to start however, I’m very much aware of the controversy attached to Hoover. This is probably why I haven’t picked it up but recently I saw her newest book floating around & my interest has reignited so, I will def check her out. Now You See Me looks VERY interesting, look forward to your thoughts 🙂
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Haha love that! CoHo books can go either way with me but It Ends With Us is definitely my favorite so far. Not that cheesy and actually quite dark for a contemporary romance… And very well written. Now You See Me is really good so far by the way! Just love that Jack The Ripper plays such a big role in this thriller. ❤
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I loved reading your thoughts on Stillhouse Lake! That’s my next book club pick and I can’t wait to read it. I’m sorry Confess wasn’t a hit for you, though.
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I hope you will enjoy Stillhouse Lake as much as I did! 🙂
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