The Marsh King's Daughter - Karen Dionne

A Penguin First to Read ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.

It was a good life. Until it wasn’t.

Helena is the daughter of a notorious child abductor who is dubbed The Marsh King. Two years into her mother’s captivity Helena is born, her mother wasn’t even seventeen.

The Marsh King taught his daughter everything he knew about hunting and tracking. Now Helena needs to use those skills to hunt him down.

I liked the struggle that Helena relays on her emotions around her father. Yes, to us he was a horrible monster and there were no buts on what we should feel, hate and disgust. On Helena’s part though, her life was very much normal. For 12 years she did not know any better. Her mother never told her and her father was her idol in the world that only consisted of the three of them and a couple National Geographic’s. It does not matter what Helena learned later, she will always love her father that she remembers as kind, the one that taught her all her life skills. She knows what he did was horrible, the kidnapping and abuse to herself and her mother, and she does hate those things about him but that doesn’t mean she cannot be conflicted at times.

It was a quick read but with difficult subject matter (rape, domestic abuse, child abuse).

Bad Housekeeping (An Agnes and Effie Mystery #1) - Maia Chance

A NetGalley e-book in exchange for an honest review. A cute, and blundering, whodunit. The main character reminds me of a wannabe Stephanie Plum, down to the crazy family members, driving around a huge classic car, hot guy in jeans, and the sane and actual capable characters that help her save the day. I would recommend this to those that like cozy mysteries. It is set in a quaint little town with people that you can see as your neighbors and friends. There are not overly gory details or explicit situations (keep in mind someone is murdered and there are consenting adult characters). Agnes Blythe is having the week from hell. Her “boy genius” boyfriend has left her for the towns Pilates instructor and her temp job has ended and school this semester is not an option since the ex has aligned himself to be her graduate adviser. To top it off she literally trips over a dead body. The dead body of a strangled woman she was just seen arguing and threatening to strangle to death the night before. Making the situation worse is that Agnes is not alone as the prime suspect, her Great Aunt Effie is also being pegged as a prime suspect and it is in Effie’s Stagecoach Inn that the body is found. To cloud the situation even further, the woman that is killed does not have a short suspect list. The two women take off to investigate these suspects in a blundering fashion and also learn the meaning behind returning home.

Perfect Ten - L Philips

A Penguin First to Read ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Cover love! 

The cover got my attention and the synopsis made me think it would be a cute quick read.

I liked the witty banter that the narrator had with the reader, and there were a few scenes that seemed genuine and caught my attention. Overall though, the characters were just whiny dramatic kids. The initial romance was too quick to start and too quick to fizzle out. 

Maybe I just don’t remember what it was like to be a teenager that’s love struck or maybe that type of behavior just is not real and totally an over dramatic stereotype, but you do get caught up in it even if you want to punch some of the characters.

I really wanted to love it but it was just a strong like. It was a quick easy read and entertaining. Maybe it would have been better if the characters were college aged and the author could add more maturity into the character development and less vapid behavior.

The Party - Robyn Harding

A NetGalley e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah Sanders is turning 16! She is about to have a sleepover party full of food, games, and unbeknownst to her parents, booze, drugs, and boys. It’s all fun and games until someone loses their eye.

Jeff and Kim can’t believe that their oldest child is 16 already. Their perfect little girl is growing up. Kim is the perfect parent and works hard to maintain her perfect reputation within the community. So when she wakes up in the middle of the night from a wine and Ambien sleep with her daughter at the end of the bed with her hands covered in blood she is just a little shocked.

As the nights event unravel the truth is exposed about the Sander’s and all those involved in that horrific night. Are the Sander’s at fault for not babysitting the party? Are the kids at fault for sneaking in the booze and drugs? Or did the train wreck start before Hannah and her friends were even born?

This book not only exposes a family’s secrets but the horror and pressure that teenagers face to fit in and be cool. How one child can be the driving force of a chaos that will lead to a lifetime of disfigurement and regrets.

I liked the basic plot of this story. The party, the accident and the follow up could happen to any family. The struggle with the teenage relationships, the trying to fit in and be cool of children and parents alike is relatable. The internal struggle that Hannah feels over wanting to be liked an popular and the horrible bullying that her one time friend faces felt natural. Yes, you wanted to punch and kick and scream at the characters. How can they not see how stupid they are. Well, humans are emotional and messy creatures. We do the best with what we know at the time we are faced with the decision. I think the author did a good job with showing that.

Hex - Thomas Olde Heuvelt

They’re the faces of Black Spring. And when they try to smile, it looks like they’re screaming.

This book… I will never sleep again.

I am easily scared and was worried that this book would be too much for me. That being said, the first 2/3 of this book was not scary at all to me. Katherine, the Black Rock Witch, is almost a joke at the beginning. I mean, every time she was mentioned I kept seeing a young mummified woman that was a gray Sally Ragdoll with a bright orange construction cone on her head… does not really inspire fear.

Slowly though, very slowly, the plot and tension thickened. By the last third of the book I was terrified. Still not scared over the witch, she did make me feel uncomfortable but she herself did not overly inspire my horror.

Great read, just not alone, or at night…

The Bravest You - Adam Kirk Smith

A NetGalley e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I think this is a great self-help book for those that think they are stuck in a rut. I pretty much have the same day Monday-Friday, with dinner being the main point of change. I am not unhappy with my life but there are definite days where I ask myself, why am I not doing more?

I like the workbook style of the authors narration. The pointed questions to get you as the reader thinking about your life in relation to what is being discussed in the current chapter. 

I did wish there were more real life examples. The author did play it safe and used very well-known public figures and not always recent ones. 

I liked the authors different take on bravery, that it can even be found in the smallest of actions. When I was pre-high school I was terrified of people. I was overboard shy and only talked and felt comfortable around people that I had known a long time. I was told to make an effort by my English teacher to just smile at one person every day. It was a huge thing for me at that time since I only stared at my feet or my book. She helped me see that being brave is more than running into battle and this book made me think of the same thing.

You - Caroline Kepnes

The story is a house with a loose mouse running around inside.

Wow...can you say twisted? Creeptastic? This book is jam packed with insane, psychotic, obsessive and manipulative scenes. Who is the most insane though?

Joe Goldberg works at a bookstore. He meets Beck and instantly becomes obsessed with her. Just like he did Chandra, who we only get snippets of history on. Joe manages to implant himself gradually into Beck's life. He saves her, he hacks her email, he watches her through her open windows.

Guinevere Beck is a writer and college student. She comes into the bookstore where Joe works and starts her manipulative games. She likes the attention she gets from wearing no bras and short skirts. She keeps her windows wide open and does not have curtains up. She displays herself to the world, and to Joe who happens to sit on the bench outside.