ARC REVIEW: The Secret – by K.L. Slater @bookouture

Title: The Secret
Author: K.L. Slater
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
First published: July 27th 2018
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: July 4th 2018 
Pages: 

“Sometimes you know what’s good for you but you go and do just the opposite anyway.”

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

The fact is that I’m a huge fan of K.L. Slater‘s psychological thrillers, so any time I see a new title popping up, my heart skips a beat. The Secret is without doubt another great title to welcome to the family. While not my absolute favorite of the bunch, there is no doubt that this newest psychological thriller is a very strong read with an ending that will leave you gaping at the last page and unable to utter something coherently. Oh yes, you might think you have this story all figured out early on (I’m including myself here), but this is all a smokescreen. The Secret has a couple of masterly incorporated plot twist bombs included that will shake you to the core and will dishevel you. Did I have a very STRONG dislike for Louise? Yes. Did I think Alice was a mayor pushover? Yes. Did those things sometimes frustrate me? Most definitely. But despite the unlikeable characters that made you want to hit something or someone and talk sense into them, you will find yourself completely hooked as you try to figure out what is really going on. And if you like surprises, you will be in for a real treat with the final reveals. Make sure to add The Secret to your wishlist if you are a psychological thriller fan, because this story is one of those rollercoaster rides that starts out slow but will have you breathless by the final page!

The sisters Alice and Louise used to be close, but their different personalities made them drift apart. But as Louise is struggling to juggle her new promotion at work with her eight-year-old son Archie, she has been starting to drop him off at her sister Alice’s flat. As Alice starts spending more time with Archie, she is starting to suspect something is off… And she has the feeling Archie might be hiding a secret or two. He isn’t the only one hiding something though…

Let me tell you a secret: the secrets and twists in The Secret will have you flabbergasted by the time you reach the last page. Oh yes, you will be in for one hell of a surprise and shocking ending with this one… Make sure to brace yourself. It is true that the strong dislike for one of the main characters did get a little frustrating, but the story would not have been the same otherwise and the suspense and general plot made up for it. What a read!

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WWW Wednesdays #177 – July 4th

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 SO excited to be reading The Secret by K.L. Slater right now! I’m a huge fan of her psychological thrillers and I’m positive this will be yet another winner. I’m also starting Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut as part of my promise to read more (modern) classics this year… Well see how that one goes I guess.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

1. Saigon Dark by Elka Ray (3,5/5 stars) REVIEW
Saigon Dark is without doubt an interesting read. The main character Lily’s situation is a very complicated one and while I don’t agree with her actions, I can see how grief can make people do things they normally wouldn’t. There is no doubt she saved the girl from more abuse and neglect in the years that followed, but denying her the truth about her past isn’t exactly ethical either. It was interesting to see how things slowly started to unfold though, although I still would have wished a less abrupt ending. I’m having a feeling especially fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy this one.

2. One To Watch by Rachel Amphlett (4,5/5 stars) REVIEW
Detective Kay Hunter is without doubt one of my new favorite characters and I just love spending more time with her. My experience with book number three One To Watch was no different and I literally devoured this story in one sitting. Highly addictive, well written and a plot and plot twists that will keep you hooked until the very end! Oh yes, if you are a fan of the genre, you are missing out if you don’t read this series. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed by Kay Hunter and her investigations.

3. Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios (4/5 stars) REVIEW 08/07
Bad Romance will make you feel uncomfortable, frustrated, outraged and basically an emotional wreck. Oh yes, this is not an easy read and painfully accurate in describing how a toxic relationship can destroy a person. I could have done without the love triangle, which put kind of a damper on things for me, but overall Bad Romance is a very strong read that will stay with me for a long time. Emotionally draining, but o so satisfying in the end.

4. Harry Potter Y La Camera Secreta by J.K. Rowling (4/5 stars) NO REVIEW
I always love rereading the HP series and when I was thinking of which Spanish read to pick up, I decided to treat myself and read book number two in Spanish. It’s not my favorite of the series, but I had so much fun reliving the story anyway! There will be no review as I did one a few years ago of the English version, but my experience was pretty similar. I also can’t believe how easy it was to read in Spanish! Using the language all day every day definitely does help. xD

5. Prodigy by Marie Lu (4/5 stars) REVIEW 16/07
I’m trying to take my goals more seriously so this is me trying to finish another pending series. I actually read book one back in 2015, so it was about time I picked up the sequel… I really enjoyed this one as well, although the double love triangle was a bit of a let down. I’m looking forward to the final book though!

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I’m reading Hell To Pay by Rachel Amphlett next, both because I need to catch up with the series ASAP and I want to find out what happens next. I haven’t read a Stephen King in ages, so of course I have to remedy this and I’m picking up Misery soon. I’m also finally picking up my first Dutch read of the year: a Dutch translation of The Year Of The Rat by Clare Furniss (Het Jaar Dat The Wereld Op Zijn Kop Stond). Fingers crossed it won’t take me too long to actually read it haha. My newest TBR jar pick is Thin Wire by Christine Lewry, a memoir about a woman addicted to heroin and her mother. I’m having a feeling it’s going to be a tough read, but the blurb sounds pretty good.

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WWW Wednesdays #165 – February 28th

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 still reading All Things Bright And Strange by James Markert, a historical fiction read with a touch of fantasy and magical realism. I’m hoping to finish it by the end of today! As soon as I do, I will continue with The Last Star by Rick Yancey. I had put it on hold to read a few urgent NG ARCs first, but I should be able to squeeze it in now and just get it over with (does it show I’m not all that excited to finally read it? xD)

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

1. The Visitor by K.L. Slater (4,5/5 stars) REVIEW
It doesn’t really come as an surprise, but K.L. Slater has done it again and created a brilliant psychological thriller. The pace is slower and the main focus is on the characters, but the plot, secrets and plot twists will help you keep focused until the very end. Because you will soon discover that key information about Holly’s past is being held back on purpose, making you want to keep reading to find out what really happened as well as making you wonder what it has to do with her current situation and fear. The final plot twists and reveals are mindblowingly good! I definitely didn’t see those coming… Although the ending did feel a bit too neat. Still, this was without doubt a very good read.

2. Proof Of Lies by Diana Rodriguez Wallach (3,5/5 stars) REVIEW
I have a weak spot for both an international setting and the whole spy/conspiracy theory element, so reading Proof Of Lies was an easy choice. Both these elements were what made this first book of a new series into a succesful and entertaining read for me. While I can’t say I liked the main character, not only because she is over dramatic and whiny, but also because she is quite naive and doesn’t seem to care about possible consequences of her actions, I somehow still very much enjoyed reading about her search for her sister. The non stop action and international setting in the second half definitely had a lot to do with that. I did wonder about the credibility of it all (A teenager in Europe without supervision?? Everything that happens to them in general??), but I guess at least the second part can be explained away by the conspiracy itself. All in all without doubt still a very entertaining read and I will be looking forward to read the sequel.

3. Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe (4,5/5 stars) REVIEW 06/03
Boy, this book was GOOD. It’s not the easiest story to read and there are a lot of trigger warnings involved for those who are sensitive to violence, abuse etc, but if you can stomach them, you will find Barbed Wire Heart is one hell of a ride. It’s a trigger-happy crime story with a high dose of girl power, adrenaline, action, a splash of family drama and plot twists that you won’t see coming. From the writing style to the underlying feminist message, the originality of the plot and the excellent character development… This story simply blew me away.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I need to read Lies That Bind by Diana Rodriguez Wallach soon to get the review ready for my very first blog tour… And after browsing my backlist, I’ve decided to read My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult soon as well. I really enjoy reading her books, so I’m looking forward to it! I’ve heard it’s a real tearjerker though. I also need to read My Sweet Friend by H.A. Leuschel soon. My newest TBR jar pick is still Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke.

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ARC REVIEW: The Visitor – by K.L. Slater @bookouture @KimLSlater

Title: The Visitor
Author: K.L. Slater
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
First published: March 2nd 2018
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: February 22nd 2018
Pages: 252

“She’d learned the hard way that it was far better to plough through life than to just let it happen to you.”

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

I have become a big fan of K.L. Slater‘s psychological thrillers over time, so of course I had to add The Visitor to my list of most anticipated releases as soon as I first heard about it. I have been looking forward to pick it up ever since, and there is one thing for sure: The Visitor without doubt doesn’t disappoint. This newest title has the same high quality of writing and plot development I have become used to associating with her work. The Visitor is psychological thriller at its best! This is mostly a character-driven story and has a dual POV structure. The story switches between Holly and David as the plot develops, the present linking the two different storylines as they are slowly getting more intertwined. Holly’s past is the main focus of the intrigue and secrets and plays a big role in the many plot twists that will be revealed as you keep reading. As a reader, you are completely left in the dark about what exactly happened to Holly, although I did have some vague ideas and some of it turned out to be true. BUT. The final plot twists and reveals basically left me speechless and I don’t think anyone would have been able to guess it all. I just love with when a story manages to surprise me! That said, I can’t say I was a big fan of Holly. The character development is very well done though, and helps turn The Visitor into another success. Fans of character-driven psychological thrillers will have a blast reading this one!

Holly left her home town for Manchester a few years ago, hoping to start over and have a brighter future. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned and now she is back home licking her wounds. She needs a place to recover and think of a plan on how to get her life back on track… The elderly Cora Barrett offers to take her in, which Holly gladly accepts. What she doesn’t know, is that next door neighbor David sees everything that happens on Baker Crescent. He doesn’t like to leave the house, and watches his street to keep his friends and neighbors safe. A harmless eccentric or is something else in play? And will Holly’s past come back to haunt her?

It doesn’t really come as an surprise, but K.L. Slater has done it again and created a brilliant psychological thriller. The pace is slower and the main focus is on the characters, but the plot, secrets and plot twists will help you keep focused until the very end. Because you will soon discover that key information about Holly’s past is being held back on purpose, making you want to keep reading to find out what really happened as well as making you wonder what it has to do with her current situation and fear. The final plot twists and reveals are mindblowingly good! I definitely didn’t see those coming… Although the ending did feel a bit too neat. Still, this was without doubt a very good read.

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WWW Wednesdays #164 – February 21st

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 Visitor by K.L. Slater, one of my most anticipated releases this year and I story I have been looking forward to. And so far it is definitely a winner! Her books are excellent in general, and The Visitor has the same high standard I’ve become used to over time. I also picked up The Last Star by Rick Yancey, but since I’m not really looking forward to it, I will most likely end up putting it on hold temporarily and read a few upcoming NG ARCs instead.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

1. The Art Of French Kissing by Brianna R. Shrum (3,5/5 stars) REVIEW
If you like fun, light, cute, slightly cheesy and entertaining YA contemporaries with a healthy dose of romance, you will be in for a treat with this one. The Art Of French Kissing incorporates the whole cooking competition theme very well and all that food talk is probably one of the reasons I loved this book the way I did. The bantering and revenge element between the main characters worked better for me than I thought it would, and definitely added it’s own spice to the plot.

2. What Blooms From Dust by James Markert (4/5 stars) REVIEW 22/02
What Blooms From Dust was a slowburner for me, but once the dust had settled down I found myself completely and utterly hooked. This is an example of a story where magical realism simply works, and only enhances the reading experience instead of complicating it. Magical, mystical and a healthy dose of mystery around Nowhere and its inhabitants… You will want to keep reading until you reach the final page and find out all about Nowhere and its mysteries. Recommended!

3. Wires And Nerve by Marissa Meyer (3/5 stars) REVIEW 26/02
While it was great to visit the original characters again, I do think a lot of them felt really different from the way they behaved in the original books. Take Thorne: he was one of my favorite characters, but I seriously couldn’t stand him in the graphic novel. Also, I wasn’t a big fan of the graphics in general. The lack of detail, overly simply graphics and overall blue tone just didn’t manage to convince me. As a whole, I feel this graphic novel was quite a disappointment and doesn’t live up to The Lunar Chronicles.

4. The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter (5/5 stars) REVIEW 26/02
I am almost ashamed to admit it, but I had never read a Karin Slaughter book before I started The Good Daughter even though her books are wildly popular and they belong to one of my favorite genres. But no longer, because now I’ve tried her work I have become an instant fan. WOW! That woman can write… It was without doubt a highly intense read with a lot of complicated, disturbing scenes and elements and trigger warnings are in place for violence, abuse, rape among other things. The school shooting scenes are also a painful reminder of what happened in Florida recently… There is no denying the story and it’s many subplots, twists and turns are brilliantly executed and I take my hat off for it. Say hello to my very first 5 star read of 2018!

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I have been misbehaving on NG recently, so I have three NG titles coming up next as a result. The first, Proof Of Lies by Diana Rodriguez Wallach, is the first book of a series I need to read so I can get on track for the sequel I will be joining the blog tour of in March (due March 15th!). Next is Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe, a thriller that sounds SO good and can’t wait to dive into. I also need to read All Things Bright And Strange by James Markert. I just couldn’t resist requesting it after What Blooms From Dust… My newest TBR jar pick is still Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke.

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Teaser Tuesdays #166 – February 20th: The Visitor

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’m currently reading one of my most anticipated releases this year: The Visitor by K.L. Slater! I’m seriously addicted to her psychological thrillers and I’ve been waiting impatiently for this one ever since I first heard about it. I’m currently out of town, but I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed I’ll be able to squeeze in at least a little reading time to continue this one!

My teaser (2%):

“Once the process has started, it’s difficult to back out. It’s so much harder to hold your hands up and tell the truth than to just let it play out and see where things go.”

What are you reading right now?

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WWW Wednesdays #163 – February 14th

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?

It is likely I’ll actually finish The Art Of French Kissing by Brianna R Shrum before this scheduled post goes up, since I don’t have all that many pages left… But as I’m typing this, I still haven’t finished it yet. 😉 I needed something light and fluffy after Lilac Girls and picked up this title on a whim after browsing the NG Read Now section. YA contemporary romance isn’t really my genre, BUT I can really enjoy them if they are done right or if I’m in the right mood. And this one was definitely a perfect match for me. Sure, it’s a bit cheesy and there are cliches, but it’s easy to read, cute and there is a LOT of food talk involved. Basically, this book makes me crave all kind of delicious food! I also read a few pages of What Blooms From Dust by James Markert, which I will pick up again today. I’m mighty confused so far though!

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

1. Take The Key And Lock Her Up by Ally Carter (2,5/5 stars) REVIEW 18/02
Unfortunately, Take The Key And Lock Her Up is by far the weakest book of the trilogy and it’s sad to see a series end on this note as it started out so promising. One of the biggest problems I had was with the main character Grace. Her whole attitude, dialogue and actions seriously annoyed me and it was one of the reasons the final book didn’t work for me. I wasn’t 100% convinced by the writing either, but this is probably mostly related to Grace and her dialogue. And the whole love triangle and romance put a damper on things as well. As for the plot… If you look critically, nothing much is actually happening during this final adventure, or at least I missed the intensity and suspense.

2. Hollo by Devon Michael (4/5 stars) REVIEW 19/02
If you are looking for an endearing, whimsical and magical read, Hollo is a great choice. From the writing style to the worldbuilding, characters and descriptions; you will be enchanted by Hollo and her magical world of Thedes and enjoy her journey. Hollo is perfectly suited for the younger YA fantasy fans despite the magical battles and some details, and it has another bonus in the form of a romance-free story! I can definitely recommend this one.

3. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (4/5 stars) REVIEW 16/02
This was actually a buddyread with wonderful Nicki @ Secret Library. I’m so glad I finally got the chance to read this one! I can definitely understand the love for this historical fiction read now, although I do admit it left me with a huge book hangover. Especially the WWII holocaust camp scenes are intense and gruesome! My favorite POV of the three is definitely Kasia, although I did warm up to Caroline as well after a while. Her chapters were without doubt a welcome break in between the other two POVs… I really didn’t like Herta though, although I guess that is kind of natural with her being a camp doctor and doing the things she does? Her POV does add dept to the story. More in my review…

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I’m SO excited that after my current reads I’ll be finally picking up my very first Karin Slaughter book The Good Daughter! I know I’m more than fashionably late to the party, but I’m having high hopes of becoming an instant fan of her work. I also need to read The Visitor by K.L. Slater, a title I have been looking forward to a LOT. I also should pick up The Last Star by Rick Yancey to get rid of another unfinished series on my list… I can’t say I was a fan of the first two books, so it will probably be a bit of a struggle reading that one though. And I have a new TBR jar pick after waaaay too long! *drumroll* Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke. This one does have a low rating and a lot of mixed reviews, and this was definitely a cover buy. 😉 I’m curious what I will make of it though.

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