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For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.
But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?
A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.
I borrowed a bunch of Hepworth’s books after loving the last one I read; The Good Sister.
The Quotes
“Even after all these years, yearning for the love and attention of someone who couldn’t give it to her was much more comfortable than actually receiving it.”
“Some people are so busy chasing perfection they don’t appreciate the wonders right in front of them”
“When cruelty becomes familiar in your tender, adolescent years, of course you start to become comfortable with it. You believe you deserve it. But you don’t.”
“When it came to vengeance, Miss Fairchild preferred to play the long game.”
The Narrator(s)
Jessica Clarke. I enjoyed her narration more than Barrie Kreinik’s for The Good Sister.
My Thoughts
I didn’t enjoy this one as much as The Good Sister but I thought it was pretty good too. I’m discovering that I often find the author’s stories predictable but I still really like their storytelling style and I’m happy to read more. It’s the psychological horror that gets me; the author writes those emotional scenes so well and I find myself feeling all the feelings. This book features motherhood, foster children, and the complicated issues that come with that. I loved the story overall, but I have to say that I found the last chapter unnecessary and unrealistic. It was a twist for shock factor but it doesn’t make sense to the story, in my opinion, and it not only weakens the shock factor but the whole psychological horror aspect. It was a great story up to that point.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines—one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker—featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.
When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.
Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.
Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.
Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.
I’m reading all of King’s books and Holly Gibney is one of my favorite characters.
The Quotes
“He’s dangerous because he thinks he’s sane.” She pauses. “To belabor something else that’s obvious, he’s not.”
“The bastards don’t get to win.”
“It’s not courage she lacks, it’s the fundamental self-worth necessary to call someone out on their hurtful behavior.”
“…because deeply religious people in every sect or faith can always find justification for what they want to do in one holy book or another.”
The Narrator(s)
Jessie Mueller, with an afterword read by Stephen King. Seriously, Mueller is damn good, but even more so, she can sing! There are parts in the book where music and performance comes in, and Mueller delivers so well I am in awe.
My Thoughts
I know many King fans are lukewarm about Holly but I love her and can’t get enough of her. This book’s story isn’t the best compared to the previous Holly stories, but I still love it because of Holly and her friends. I’m glad to see Jerome, Barbara, and Izzy again, and I love seeing how they have all grown in so many different ways. I also fell in love with Corrie as a character and I’m hoping we’ll see her again in future books. There was some mention of the possibility of Izzy joining Holly as a PI, and honestly, I’m so excited about the prospect of that as well as seeing more of Corrie in future books. I don’t care what others say, this book made me want more Holly books!
The story itself is good, but it’s tough to compare King’s books because he’s got so many amazing books. I think my biggest complaint is that there weren’t enough supernatural elements here although I wonder if that’s the point. I’ve always loved that while King writes about supernatural monsters, he also often makes a point that some of the worst monsters are the real life ones. To be fair though, despite not having enough supernatural elements, I did enjoy the book very much. I had about three hours left of the book just before bed and it got so thrilling I couldn’t sleep and ended up staying up to finish it, so I’d call that a win.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Sally Hepworth, the author of The Mother-In-Law delivers a knock-out of a novel about the lies that bind two sisters in The Good Sister.
There’s only been one time that Rose couldn’t stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be…dangerous.
When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple.
Fern’s mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of what families keep hidden.
I have enjoyed Sally Hepworth’s books in the past and this one sounded good.
The Quotes
“The library belongs to everyone. The library, Janet used to say, is one of only a few places in the world that one doesn’t need to believe anything or buy anything to come inside.”
“I’d always found there was something agreeable about people who liked dogs and something untrustworthy about those who didn’t.”
“If it were up to me, every child would have a year in the library before they went to school.”
“Sisterly relationships are so strange in this way. The way I can be mad at Rose but still want to please her. Be terrified of her and also want to run to her. Hate her and love her, both at the same time. Maybe when it comes to sisters, boundaries are always a little bit blurry. Blurred boundaries, I think, are what sisters do best.”
The Narrator(s)
Barrie Kreinik. She was overall good, but there were times when her voices for each character was inconsistent and I wasn’t sure who was talking.
My Thoughts
This is one of the best mystery thrillers I’ve read in a while. I was so incredibly invested in the story and it really felt like I had my heart in my throat for most of the second half of the book. The first half was also very interesting because Fern’s POV read like a wholesome romance, while Rose’s POV was so sad and difficult to read at times.
I did figure out early on what was happening, but it didn’t ruin the story for me because the journey from beginning to the end was just so good. These are some of the most interesting characters I’ve come across and I especially love Wally/Rocco’s character. To be clear, some of these characters aren’t necessarily good people and I do question some of their actions, but they are so interesting to read about and get to know as we move through the book.
It’s early in the year and I already feel like this may be one of my favorite books this year. I would be very happy to be proven wrong because that only means that I’ll have many more great books to look forward to, but this one was just incredible.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains. In the aftermath of her death, that estate—along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish—pass to her adopted son, Camden.
But to everyone’s surprise, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.
Ten years later, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.
Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.
But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. As Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will—and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.
This book caught my attention last year but I didn’t get around to reading it. I saw that the author has a new book coming out this year, so I thought I should probably read this one first.
The Quotes
“I hope you never have to watch the one person you love most in the world, the person who loves you just as fiercely in return, lose that love, day by day, bit by bit, a steady draining away until there’s nothing left. Until they’re just a person who sleeps inches from you at night, and eats meals across a table from you, and reads books at your side, even smiles at you or laughs with you, but whose heart has shut you out forever.”
“There should be some kind of warning when your life is about to change forever.”
“The truth isn’t some finite thing, it’s what we all choose to believe.”
“I had just turned forty, an interesting point in a woman’s life, the age at which she finally begins to feel like she might have finally become the person she was meant to be.”
The Narrator(s)
Dan Bittner. Eliza Foss. John Pirhalla. Patti Murin. They all did a very good job. The storytelling felt seamless and very natural. I loved it.
My Thoughts
The story itself was pretty good, but I think what I loved most about it was the storytelling style. I love the way things were revealed, the way the twists were doled out, the way we are able to guess at some things and be surprised at others. The funny thing is I’m usually a character-driven reader, but I don’t think I like any of the characters in the story very much at all. However, I did find them all very interesting, and I love hating some of them. I was very much invested in each of their individual stories as well as their interlocking stories, and even though I found Cam boring and Jules suspicious, I was still rooting for them somehow. I enjoyed this story very much and I’m definitely looking forward to other books by the author.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.
What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.
For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.
The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.
Enjoy the flight.
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
I love thrillers and I was really excited about the premise and the fact that the author used to be a flight attendant.
The Quotes
“You don’t think everyone actually lives, do you? Most people just exist and roam around. It’s a choice, to actually live.”
“Accept the given circumstances and deal with what you can control. Don’t waste time on what you can’t.”
“Everyone dies. No one escapes it. It’s the only fair thing in the world. Sometimes you’re young, sometimes you’re old, sometimes you deserve it, sometimes you don’t.”
The Narrator(s)
Steven Weber. He was absolutely fine.
My Thoughts
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It really could’ve been a great story but there were several issues with it that I couldn’t ignore. I won’t speak to the accuracy of flight and crew details because I’m obviously not an expert on these things, but the biggest thing for me is that the plot device just didn’t work. I’m usually not a stickler for details and as a reader, I want to enjoy the story so I try not to be nitpicky, and try my best to suspend belief, but the one thing that I need is for the characters and their motivations to make sense. I’m a character-driven reader; I don’t need to like the characters, but I need them to make sense and I need them to be interesting.
The plot was so weak because the bad guys’ motivations didn’t make sense at all. They had no real plan, no rhyme or reason to their actions, there was no true conviction, and their actions contradicted their words and what they said were important to them.
What I love about thrillers are the feelings of high stakes and being on the edge of my seat, but I couldn’t enjoy this one because I was just like, wtf are they doing?, why are they doing this when they said they wanted that?, and finally, who cares? It didn’t feel important to me, the characters didn’t feel real, the scenario didn’t feel real, I couldn’t take it seriously.
My Rating
⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual grueling match of stamina and wits known as The Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour without ever stopping… with the winner being awarded “The Prize”—anything he wants for the rest of his life. But, as part of this national tournament that sweeps through a dystopian America year after year, there are some harsh rules that Garraty and ninety-nine others must adhere to in order to beat out the rest. There is no finish line—the winner is the last man standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside aid whatsoever. Slow down under the speed limit and you’re given a warning. Three warnings and you’re out of the game—permanently…
“They’re animals, all right. But why are you so goddam sure that makes us human beings?”
“Any game looks straight if everyone is being cheated at once.”
“Crowd was to be pleased. Crowd was to be worshipped and feared. Ultimately, Crowd was to be made sacrifice unto.”
“They walked on, somehow in step, although all three of them were bent forever in different shapes by the pains that pulled them.”
The Narrator(s)
Kirby Heyborne. Not a big deal but there were some parts where I felt his inflection didn’t fit the part. Otherwise, it was good listening.
My Thoughts
Stephen King’s psychological horror is always so chilling to me. I’ve read this book before but had forgotten much of it and recently I’d been wanting to read it again because the movie was coming out later this year. I’d been wondering how this could be a full length book when all they do is walk and nothing else happens.
Well, never underestimate the power of King’s storytelling. There are backstories, conversations, philosophizing… in addition to the things happening directly to the plotline. It turns out reading about their walk itself is incredibly fascinating, sometimes horrifying. King is so good at describing the feel of the ground, the movement of their feet, the landscape they walk across, and so much more. But still, the best parts are the psychological thought processes as they walk.
There’s a challenge among some fans of the book where they walk while listening to the audiobook according to the rules of the story. They walk for the whole time they’re listening to the book, and they’re not supposed to go slower than the walkers in the book. It sounds “fun” and immersive, and maybe one day, when I’m a lot fitter, I’ll do it.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.
In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.
Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.
This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It’s a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.
“That’s how you know you’re home, I think, no matter how far you’ve gone from it or how long you’ve been in some other place. Home is where they want you to stay longer.”
“People say that where there’s life, there’s hope, and I have no quarrel with that, but I also believe the reverse. There is hope, therefore I live.”
“Religion is the theological equivalent of a quick-buck insurance scam, where you pay in your premium year after year, and then, when you need the benefits you paid for so—pardon the pun—so religiously, you discover the company that took your money does not, in fact, exist.”
“This is how we bring about our own damnation, you know-by ignoring the voice that begs us to stop. To stop while there’s still time.”
The Narrator(s)
David Morse. It was perfectly fine and I enjoyed it very much.
My Thoughts
I liked it very much but I’d hope to like it more. I’d heard so many people hype it up so maybe I went in with overly high expectations. The story itself was really good but not what I expected. I thought it was going to be some kind of church horror in the vein of the movie Midnight Mass, but it wasn’t. Which is completely fine, I like where the story went too!
It was very slow burn, taking fifty years to come to fruition, and it was very interesting to see the characters develop over that time; the way they grow up and grow old, the way their beliefs and values evolve, everything they do to bring them where they end up. I’ve said it before that one of the reasons I love SK’s books so much is because he’s so good at character study. This book was amazing for that, and it’s still one I really enjoyed reading, even if I don’t love it as much as SK’s other books.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
College student Devin Jones took the summer job at Joyland hoping to forget the girl who broke his heart. But he wound up facing something far more terrible: the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and dark truths about life – and what comes after – that would change his world forever.
A riveting story about love and loss, about growing up and growing old – and about those who don’t get to do either because death comes for them before their time. It is at once a mystery, a horror story, and a bittersweet coming-of-age novel, one that will leave even the most hard-boiled reader profoundly moved.
People say this is a good one (but they’re all good!).
The Quotes
“When it comes to the past, everyone writes fiction.”
“When you’re twenty-one, life is a roadmap. It’s only when you get to be twenty-five or so that you begin to suspect that you’ve been looking at the map upside down, and not until you’re forty are you entirely sure. By the time you’re sixty, take it from me, you’re fucking lost.”
“It’s hard to let go. Even when what you’re holding onto is full of thorns, it’s hard to let go. Maybe especially then.”
“My father had taught me – mostly by example – that if a man wanted to be in charge of his life, he had to be in charge of his problems.”
The Narrator(s)
Michael Kelly. No complaints, I enjoyed it.
My Thoughts
This one was interesting because I had such a feeling of nostalgia while reading it even though it’s my first time reading it. There’s just this feel to the story and the writing, and maybe it’s because the setting is in an amusement park and that always brings back memories of when you were a child.
I don’t necessarily like Devin’s character – he seemed a little too girl-crazy, but at the same time that’s pretty on point for a young 21-year-old and I’d be a hypocrite if I said I wasn’t affected by hormones at that age too. He was relatable though, and honestly, all the things that annoy me about him are probably things about myself in my 20s that I cringe to remember. Perhaps that’s the reason why this book feels so familiar and nostalgic even though I’m reading it for the first time.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, SK has a real knack for storytelling and pulling you into the story. I don’t consider him a horror writer, he transcends genres and can write anything. I love this one because it gives so much even though it’s one of his shorter novels. The angst of a teenager, the mystery of a serial killer, the found family aspect (and you know I love found family stories!), the friendships and connections, all of it and more.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.
Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.
The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah’s friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.
She never returns.
2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.
‘DIG HERE’ . . .
A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma and dark secrets lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s remarkable new novel.
For the Reading Challenge(s): None
The Reason
It was my online bookclub’s BOTM for December.
The Quotes
“Men don’t know, she thinks, they don’t know how having a baby makes you protective of your skin, your body, your space. When you spend all day giving yourself to a baby in every way that it’s possible to give yourself to another human being, the last thing you want at the end of the day is a grown man wanting you to give him things too.”
“Kim sometimes thinks that women practice being mothers on men until they become actual mothers, leaving behind a kind of vacancy.”
“She thinks, You didn’t see the look he gave me just now on the stairs. You don’t know how he looks at me when you’re not in the room; the way his voice sets hard like stone, his eyes bore through me like lasers. You really don’t know.”
My Thoughts
I was very disappointed with this book. I had heard good things about the author and was eager to read a delicious mystery but this story fell flat for me.
The biggest issue I had with the book is that the characters are very one-dimensional and I didn’t connect to any of them at all. Many of them acted inconsistently, and any personality they had were often told to us, rather than shown. The one character that had any depth at all was the boyfriend, Zach, and while I hated him as a character, I thought his portrayal was incredibly scary and accurate. Other than Zach, none of the other characters made sense, which was obviously a detriment to the story. The plot only made sense because the characters didn’t make sense, which ultimately means that the story doesn’t work.
This was my first Lisa Jewell book, and based off this book, I probably wouldn’t bother with any more of her books, but I’ve been told that this isn’t a good representation of her works so I might try another one eventually.
My Rating
⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars.
Since then, she has been drifting. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced of Ben’s innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard her brother’s? Ben was a misfit in their small town, but was he capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back?
She begins to realise that everyone in her family had something to hide that day… especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years later, the truth is going to be even harder to find.
It’s a buddy read and I enjoyed Gillian Flynn’s other books!
The Quotes
“I was not a lovable child, and I’d grown into a deeply unlovable adult. Draw a picture of my soul, and it’d be a scribble with fangs.”
“You think you know the answer, you’re going to find peace? Like knowing is somehow going to fix you? You think after what happened there’s any peace for you, sweetheart? How about this. Instead of asking yourself what happened, just accept that it happened.”
“Don’t be discouraged – every relationship you have is a failure, until you find the right one.”
“I appreciate a straightforward apology the way a tone-deaf person enjoys a fine piece of music. I can’t do it, but I can applaud it in others.”
The Narrator(s)
Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, Robertson Dean. They were all great, I loved listening to the audiobook!
My Thoughts
Funny story; apparently I read this book before in 2016 and forgot that I read it. I forgot pretty much everything about it, to the point that the final reveal at the end didn’t even occur to me and surprised me all over again! Which is pretty great, tbh, because I got to experience it all over again for a second time.
This was another buddy read and as always, I loved the experience of reading it with other readers and reading their comments about the book. One of the things I love most about Gillian Flynn is her ability to write flawed and unlikeable characters and yet make you root for them, understand them, put yourself in their shoes.
Libby is very flawed, but I love that she’s also very self-aware about her flaws. She’s not as self-aware about her strengths but that’s a lot of us. She’s relatable that way. Once things started getting into motion, I felt her compulsion to find out more about what happened to her family. I would feel the same way too. I would need answers. It’s such a painful thing to have happened at all, and I get that having answers don’t erase that bad things happened, but it does help to have questions answered.
Completely worth reading/rereading!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
