YVONNE’S SHORTIES #303 – Falling // Finlay Donovan Is Killing It #20booksofsummer22

Time for another round of Yvonne’s Shorties! This time around an action thriller and cozy mystery that were both fantastic reads.

Title: Falling
Author: T.J. Newman
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Action
First published: July 6th 2021
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Finished reading: June 11th 2022
Pages: 304

“It was the same impulse that stopped them from saying the things they wanted to say, doing the things they wanted to do, being who they wanted to be. They’d do it tomorrow. Next time. Later. And now, too late, they realized that tomorrow had never been a guarantee.”

There has been a lot of hype around Falling when it came out last year, and I knew that I wanted to read it as soon as I first read the blurb. I love a good action-focused thriller, and it can’t get more exciting than having the main action taking place way up high on board of a plane… It’s true that this kind of plot has been done before both in books and movies, but I personally don’t mind a possible lack of originality as long as the story delivers a thrilling and action-packed ride. And that is exactly what Falling did for me! Sure, I did wish the motivation behind the attack would have been more original and I did guess who was the back-up plan on board almost immediately. Sure, there are some cliches involved and things can be said about the same kind of plot being done before. BUT. I was personally simply too busy turning those pages to really care about all that. This was exactly the kind of fast-paced, exhilarating and action-packed thriller I was craving; the tension never faltered and the stakes were high, and I was all in for the whole ride. Falling would definitely make for a great action movie! What I liked is that the story gave us multiple POVs, which enabled us to follow perfectly both what was happening on the ground, in the cockpit and in the cabin. It was easy to start rooting for the different characters and I liked how everything was wrapped up in the end. All in all definitely a winner for me!

Title: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It
(Finlay Donovan #1)
Author: Elle Cosimano
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
First published: February 2nd 2021
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Finished reading: June 15th 2022
Pages: 363

“My Google search history alone was probably enough to put me on a government watch list. I wrote suspense novels about murders like this. I’d searched every possible way to kill someone. With every conceivable kind of weapon.”

There has been so much hype around this title, and you all know how hyped books and me tend to get along… I was worried how I would react to Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, but I kept seeing raving reviews and in the end I simply had to give in and read it myself. I’m definitely glad I did, because I ended up having such a fantastic time with this story! This first book of a series that I’m having a feeling will become a favorite is completely over the top, absolutely bonkers and I loved every single minute of it. The writing style, the main characters and their development, the humor, the plot, the bookish element… There is so much to love in Finlay Donovan Is Killing It and this story is absolutely worth the hype around it. The main character Finlay is definitely part of the reason this story works so well; I grew fond of her immediately and between her struggles, fierce personality and clumsiness she was the perfect character to turn this story into the hilarious cozy mystery it is. I wasn’t even bothered by the cheating and love triangle vibe, which is saying a lot… I was too busy following Finlay and Vero around as they unskillfully execute and then try to hide what they did. True, there is a complete lack of credibility and things are way over the top, but it completely works in this story as it is ment to be that way. This first book was fast-paced, absolutely hilarious and very cleverly written; I cannot wait to read the sequel for more Finlay and Vero!