Time for another round of Yvonne’s Shorties! This time around a thriller and a sci-fi/urban fantasy read that both had its ups and downs, but as a whole were still solid reads.

Title: The Sorority Murder
(Regan Merritt #1)
Author: Allison Brennan
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: December 28th 2021
Publisher: MIRA
Finished reading: January 7th 2023 
Pages: 417

“It didn’t sit well with Regan, either. Something was off… It wasn’t the first time she’d thought that, but the feeling was getting stronger.”


REVIEW

I’ve been meaning to try this author and series for a while, and I thought getting an ARC of the sequel would be the perfect motivation to finally do so. I always love a good murder mystery and podcast angle, so I’ve been looking forward to read The Sorority Murder. As a whole, this turned out to be a great start of the series! I still love the premise and the podcast element is developed very well. It was interesting to see the story develop along with the podcast, and the mystery around Candace’s death and disappearance was intriguing. I do have to say that the pace was considerably slow especially in the first half, and there was a lot of repetition going on until new witnesses and evidence started to appear. As a result, the story felt a bit overlong, and it took me a while to get a proper feel for the story. I also guessed who was behind it pretty easily, as there aren’t really all that many viable suspects presented in the first place. That said, the second half did pick up and while things can be said about the credibility of the final scenes, they did work on an entertainment level. I wish there would have been more development of Regan’s character, but I guess the whole mystery around what really happened to her son does make you want to pick up the sequel ASAP. I know that is what I’m going to do at least!

Title: Random Sh*t Flying Through The Air
(The Frost Files #2)
Author: Jackson Ford
Genre: Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy
First published: June 16th 2020
Publisher: Orbit
Finished reading: January 9th 2023 
Pages: 480

“But it’s like the ending of Game Of Thrones. You can wish as much as you want, but it will still suck, and it will suck for all eternity.”


REVIEW

I know this is not my typical genre, but there was just something about this series that had me intrigued immediately, and I couldn’t resist adding it to my shelves. The catchy titles as well as the blurbs only made me want to start reading the books even more… And I finally did so last October. I loved my time with the first book, and I’ve been meaning to pick up Random Sh*t Flying Through The Air ever since. True, these books are basically absolutely bonkers, but they are also extremely entertaining if you don’t take the credibility of it all too seriously. Teagan Frost makes for such a brilliant character, and her sarcastic and blunt humor is simply spot on for me. The team in general is basically a bunch of misfits thrown together, but they work surprisingly well together. I was curious to see how the dynamics would be after what happened in book one, and while I do think the first one is stronger, Teagan’s POV is without doubt still the star of the show and I loved the banter. Like with the first book, I wasn’t as charmed by the other POVs. I know Matthew is basically the villain here, but I never warmed up to his character and I didn’t like spending time in his head. His mother Amber’s POV is even worse, and I basically despised her for letting things happen without doing something about it. There were a couple of twists I didn’t see coming, and one in particular will hit hard… Make sure to brace yourself! The plot itself is fast and has plenty of action and danger to keep you busy; the natural disaster element and aftermath only adds more urgency to it all. As a whole, while I do prefer the first book and I wasn’t a fan of Matthew and Amber’s POVs, there is no doubt that Random Sh*t Flying Through The Air was still an entertaining ride with plenty of banter to balance out the heavier moments. On to book three it is!

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