WWW Wednesdays #138 – May 24th

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 still reading the Reading Alley ARC The Last Valentine by Felix Alexander, which is turning out to be another interesting read. I don’t have much left, so I will most likely finish it today… And as soon as I do, I will continue with another ARC: Feel Me Fall by James Morris. I’ve read a few of his stories in the past and enjoyed them, so I’m definitely looking forward to this one! The blurb sounds just too good. I’ve also finally picked up my copy of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott again, and this time I’m going to stop procrastinating and just finish this classic. Maybe the cold weather will set the right atmosphere?

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

1. Be My Killer by Richard Parker (4/5 stars) REVIEW 
As soon as I read the blurb I just knew I had to read this story. I have a weak spot for serial killer thrillers and the one described in Be My Killer sounded like a true ‘beauty’. And I was right, because the murders were both gruesome, twisted and disturbing in general. Suspense and plot twists are stacked up to dangerous heights until you find yourself unable to stop reading until you reach the last page… I didn’t like every character and had some minor problems with the credibility, but that didn’t stop me from reaching the last page in record time. And what a ride!

2. One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (4,5/5 stars) REVIEW
One Of Us Is Lying ended up being even better than I thought it would be. Sure, the characters started out as cliches, but they were really easy to connect to and ended up growing into something so much more… The writing style is highly enjoyable and only adds to the fast pace of this story. The plot twists are excellent as well and all in all I had a great time reading it. More than recommended!

3. Secrets Of The Dead by Carol Wyer (4,5/5 stars)  REVIEW
Those who follow my blog probably know I’m a big fan of the mystery/thriller genre, and this sequel is without doubt another winner. From the enjoyable writing style, fast pace and misleading plot twists to the fact that Secrets Of The Dead has a serial killer; this book just ticked all the right boxes for me. I love it when a psychological thriller is actually able to surprise me! Because I was definitely in the dark about the ‘who’ until the moment it was all revealed.

4. Words In Deep Blue by Cath Crowley (4/5 stars)
I’ve actually just realized this is book number 600! since I started this blog! I still can’t wrap my head around that number… And such a wonderful story to reach that mark with as well. Words In Deep Blue has the most gorgeous cover and is a YA contemporary romance story that partly takes place in a book shop. I love the idea behind the Letter Library and all those letters being included in between chapters were a really nice touch. I literally flew through the pages and finished it in less than a day and really enjoyed it, although the love triangle did become a bit annoying.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

The first title I’m going to pick up as soon as I finish my current ARCs is Love, & You, a poetry bundle written by fellow book blogger (ChicNerdReads) Gretchen Gomez. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about it and I can’t wait to finally read it myself! I also need to read both The Gypsy Moth Summer by Julia Fierro and The Breakdown by B.A. Paris as their publish dates are coming closer. I’m looking forward to both! And the fantasy ARC Heartborn by Terry Maggert is also still on my list.

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ARC REVIEW: Secrets Of The Dead – by Carol Wyer @carolewyer @bookouture

Title: Secrets Of The Dead
(DI Robyn Carter #2)
Author: Carol Wyer
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: May 30th 2017
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: May 21st 2017
Pages: 314

“If she was asking for his help it could only mean she was doing something she shouldn’t. He liked that about her; she was ballsy, daring and usually right.”

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

I really enjoyed reading the first book of this series, Little Girl Lost, earlier this year and I have been keeping an eye out for the sequel ever since. I admit it wasn’t love at first sight, but I’ve grown to like Robyn Parker and the way she isn’t afraid to step on a few toes to get things done. In Secrets Of The Dead her detective skills are tested again with another difficult case. It’s another serial killer thriller and I think I enjoyed it even better than the first; this book definitely doesn’t suffer from the so-called ‘weak-sequel-syndrome’. Secrets Of The Dead starts out strong and stays that way until the very end. The writing style is enjoyable, the pace is fast and the many many plot twists will have you on the edge of your seat the whole time. I actually thought I had it all figured out a few times during the story, but it ended up being a false alarm every single time. The sign of a well executed plot twist if you ask me! The serial killer is an interesting one and I particularly liked the fact that you are able to take a peak inside his head in the chapters that are told from his POV. They added to the whole suspense of the story without slowing down the pace and only increased my curiosity about the identity of the killer. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot to avoid spoilers, but if you are looking for a well written psychological thriller packed with misleading plot twists and an intriguing case, Secrets Of The Dead is calling your name. Another note: it can also be read as a stand-alone.

Detective Robyn Carter and her team are to investigate the death of a young mother who is found drowned in her own bathtub. When they find a receipt saying ‘all debts paid’, Robyn knows she has another complicated case on her hand… Because it has all the signs of being another serial killer. When a second victim with a similar receipt is found, her suspicions are confirmed, and now she will have to race against the clock to find the killer before he strikes again. Robyn doesn’t seem to have much time, as the bodies are starting to pile up quickly… Will she be able to solve the puzzle on time? Because no obvious links are being found between the two victims, and the pressure is building up fast.

Those who follow my blog probably know I’m a big fan of the mystery/thriller genre, and this sequel is without doubt another winner. From the enjoyable writing style, fast pace and misleading plot twists to the fact that Secrets Of The Dead has a serial killer; this book just ticked all the right boxes for me. I love it when a psychological thriller is actually able to surprise me! Because I was definitely in the dark about the ‘who’ until the moment it was all revealed.

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WWW Wednesdays #137 – May 17th

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 another psychological thriller ARC and Bookouture read: Be My Killer by Richard Parker. And as things are going, I’ll probably be finishing it later today because I’m flying through this story! I’m also just about to pick up my copy of One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus; another ARC I requested after a recommendation and a title I’m really looking forward to.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

(Doing this part slightly different this week since I already had written short ramblings/reviews of four of these titles for my Bout Of Books wrap up anyway… I like the look of it though; should I keep it this way in my next WWW???)

1. Roses Of May by Dot Hutchison (3,5/5 stars) REVIEW 
While not as strong or twisted as the first book, I still very much enjoyed Roses Of May. Especially the final part had a very fast pace and the writing style is very enjoyable to read. The serial killer and plot itself are both intriguing and the chapters with the killer’s thoughts added another level of suspense. I also might or might not have squealed when I saw my name mentioned in the story (doesn’t happen often, trust me!). The plot twists are interesting as well, although I did find out the killer’s identity early on. Without doubt still recommended though!

2. Liar by K.L. Slater (4,5/5 stars) REVIEW
Liar turned out to be another excellent psychological thriller read full of surprises. I found myself literally flying through the pages as I kept wondering about the chapter the story started with… Because Liar both started and ended with a bang. This is unreliable narrating at its best, and I loved every single minute of the ride. More than recommended for fans of the genre!

3. Aurabel by Laura Dockrill (1,5/5 stars)  REVIEW
I really wanted to enjoy this one and I still love the cover, but unfortunately I just couldn’t. I felt like it was as if I were reading in a foreign language I could only barely understand for most of the ride and I had a REALLY hard time finishing this one. In fact, I would probably have DNFed it if it wouldn’t have been an ARC. A little note: after some investigation, I found out this is actually a sequel and it becomes clear as you are reading Aurabel that a lot of both background AND essential information is missing if you don’t read the first book. That said, I don’t think this story has convinced me enough to actually try and read the first book. Unfortunately it ended up being a quite painful experience reading Aurabel.

4. Manipulated Lives by H.A. Leuschel (4/5 stars)
I have been wanting to pick up this collection of short stories about different characters dealing with the consequences of manipulators for a long time now, especially since I’ve seen various glowing reviews in the past. And I’m definitely glad I finally picked it up, because I really enjoyed reading them. Every story deals with a different angle and the stories are truly fascinating. My favorite story would be between the second and the third story; my least favorite probably either number four or five, but this doesn’t mean they were still good. If psychology fascinated you or you enjoy realistic fiction in general, Manipulated Lives is definitely a great read.

5. Stardust by Neil Gaiman (3,5/5 stars)
It’s basically a miracle I could even see the cover of this one with all the dust it has collected for years… I’m glad I finally picked it up! Stardust is one of those exceptions where I have actually seen the movie first, something I prefer not happening because it alters the reading experience. It’s probably what happened here as well, because I kept thinking of the movie as I were reading Stardust… And I think this is one of the rare cases where I actually enjoyed the movie better than the book. It’s an entertaining and well written fantasy read, but it reads a bit slow and not as good as my Neil Gaiman favorites.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

After my recent Bookouture thriller request binge (five in one week and I’m not even sorry!), I urgently need to read more NG ARCs to keep my ratio above 80% (yes, somehow I never actually dived below that mark; don’t ask me how that miracle happened xD)… First up is another thriller and sequel I’ve been looking forward to: Secrets Of The Dead by Carol Wyer. I also need to read Feel Me Fall by James Morris; I’ve read two of his previous stories in the past and enjoyed both, so I’m looking forward to it. The fantasy ARC Heartborn by Terry Maggert is also on my list… And I want to read And I Darken by Kiersten White ASAP so I can dive into my sequel ARC with time to spare. I can’t wait to finally read this series!

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WWW Wednesdays #124 – February 15th

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 still reading the Rebel Of The Sands sequel, and I can’t wait to properly dive into the story later today. It took me a little longer to finish my review than I thought, but no more excuses now. Traitor To The Throne it is! I haven’t made any progress with my newest audiobook (Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison) this week though…

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* The first book I finished since last week is Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer, a new detective series I requested after hearing a lot of great things about it. It’s definitely a worthy psychological thriller! Lots and lots of plot twists and the writing style is really enjoyable… I wasn’t a fan of all the characters and there were a couple of cliches, but the rest of this messed up story makes up for it.  And even though I saw part of the ending already coming, a couple of facts/twists will definitely surprise you!
* I then read Rebel Of The Sands by Alwyn Hamilton, a book I’ve been posponing for way too long if you ask me. I finally picked it up after receiving an ARC of the sequel, and I’m glad I finally gave this story a chance. I loved it even better than expected! I’ve fallen in love with the worldbuilding, characters and writing style and I’m already reading the sequel right now.
* The last book I finished was The Five Stages Of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson. I’ve been posponing this TBR jar pick for way too long and I’m glad I finally gave it a go. I still have to read the previous TBR jar pick as well (Little Women), so I won’t be picking a new one until I do. This one was better than expected even though some of the story was a bit weird (especially the whole Death thing and Andrew himself). The story is without doubt original and I liked the graphic novel bits with patient F.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I have two pending ARCs next: A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles and The Last Gods of Indochine by Samuel Ferrer. (Ok, actually I have a whole mountain of pending ARCs, but I’m going to try and read these two first…) I also want to read both The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller and Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken VERY soon. So many books and so little time!

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WWW Wednesdays #123 – February 8th

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 one of my pending Netgalley ARCs, Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer. I requested this one after hearing a lot of great things about it, and it definitely doesn’t disappoint so far. I’m also about to start Rebel Of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton… I’ve been wanting to pick that one up for a while, and now I’ve been approved for the sequel there is really no excuse to pospone it any longer. 😉  I haven’t made any progress with my newest audiobook (Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison) this week though.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* The first book I was able to finish since last week is Missing by Monty Marsden. This one sounded like such an intriguing read and I still like the setting in Italy, but it took me a long time to finish it. I know this story is actually a translation, but it just all felt too chaotic and it took a long time before things started making sense. The many POV switches distracted from the main plot and had me confused which characters were actually important in the story. Claps was an interesting character though.
* I then read The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak, which was actually published yesterday. It’s such a brilliant read! I completely fell in love with the writing style, plot and characters and it just such a great feel-good story full of nostalgic feelings and flashbacks to the 80s. And even though I grew up in the 90s myself, it was really easy to connect to the story anyway.
* The last book I managed to finish is The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. I was really looking forward to this one and maybe my expectations were just too high, but this story wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I was actually confused by the chapter introductions for a while and didn’t get a proper feel for the story straight away. I’m not saying I didn’t like it, but it took me longer than I thought I would to finish it and frankly I expected something a little more ‘mindblowing’. Note to self: get the Chaos Walking sequels ASAP!

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I’ll probably pick up my Netgalley copy of Traitor To The Throne by Alwyn Hamilton as soon as I finish the first book… Although I have been wanting to read both The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller and Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult for the Beat The Backlist challenge as well.  My latest TBR jar pick is still The Five Stages Of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson…

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Teaser Tuesdays #126 – February 7th: Little Girl Lost

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!)

I’ve been away for the last couple of days and somehow thought I had posts scheduled until today… But apparently I was wrong. Oops?! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend… I personally didn’t read much while I was away, but I have a great excuse: one of my best friends got married last Saturday! :D

I picked up my ARC of Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer on the drive over, and while I didn’t have time to finish it yet, I’m really enjoying this psychological thriller so far. Lots and lots of messed up characters and twists, and I will be looking forward to find out exactly what is going on.

My teaser (38%):

“They are clearly talking about me. One of them is right. I don’t want to be pretty. I don’t want to look nice. I know what happens to pretty girls.”

What are you reading right now?

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WWW Wednesdays #122 – February 1st

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 The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness; I’ve been wanting to read another of his books for ages now and I’m glad I finally decided to pick one up. It’s not as mindblowingly good as I thought it would be so far though… I’m also reading Missing by Monty Marsden, a pending Netgalley ARC I wasn’t able to read before the publish date last December. Lastly, I’ve started a new audiobook: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. So far it’s without doubt interesting, although it’s going to take me some time because the file is HUGE (18+ hours…)

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* The first book I was able to finish since last week is Stake-out by Lily Luchesi, a paranormal fantasy story with vampires I ended up enjoying a lot better than I thought I would given I’m normally allergic to fanged characters. There were a bunch of other supernatural creatures as well and I liked the whole clash between ‘real’ world and supernatural.
* I then finished Blink by K.L. Slater, which was BRILLIANT. I was already looking forward to this psychological thriller, but boy this one is definitely a treat. Basically I was 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. Excellent prose, excellent plot and plot twists, excellent use of suspense, excellent character development… The main characters maybe are not all that likeable, but I didn’t care. I loved every single minute of this story anyway. Also the ‘paralyzed’ chapters are without doubt intriguing and add an extra original touch…
* And just when I didn’t think it could get better, I was presented with another title that would give me a book hangover. I had already heard great things about Making Faces by Amy Harmon, and that’s why I basically broke down the request button as soon as I saw it at Netgalley. All the raving reviews were right: this story is a little masterpiece. I fell in love with both the characters, writing style and plot, and this story will definitely stay with me for quite some time. Sure, some of it might be a little cheesy. But if you have characters like Fern, Bailey and Ambrose, it’s really easy to forgive the story for it. I LOVED the war veteran elements as well; it’s such an important topic and definitely deserves more attention.
* The last book I picked up on a whim after browsing my kindle: The Wrong Side Of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne. It turned out to be a bittersweet read after all the immigration chaos that is going on right now in the US IRL… I did appreciate the immigration elements in the story, but it took me a while to really connect to the main characters and it all just felt a bit too cheesy for me. Not a bad read, but maybe not exactly for me.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

The first book I’m picking up next is another pending Netgalley ARC: The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak, which is due to be published next week. I also want to read Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult, as well as the ARC Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer. My newest TBR jar pick is still The Five Stages Of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson.

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