Genre: Mystery

YA Mini Reviews: The Inheritance Game and Majesty

Posted January 25, 2021 in Books, Reviews / 4 Comments

The Inheritance Games was one of my most anticipated books of 2020, so I was excited to be able to squeeze it in as my last book of the year! The description was giving me major The Westing Game vibes, one of my favorite middle grade novels, so I was excited to dive into the story. As expected, it was a very twisty plot with Barnes’ signature plot twists, puzzles and opportunities for readers to be kept on their toes. The whole wish-fulfillment premise was really fun (who doesn’t like to daydream what they’d do if they unexpected came into […]

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson | Review

Posted April 13, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 7 Comments

There’s nothing like reading a book that completely pulls you out of a reading slump, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson did the trick for me while in a anxiety induced quarantine reading slump that lasted throughout most of March. I enjoy the thriller genre but rarely find them to be 5 star reads for me, however this story managed to satisfy and surprise me, and even though I “guessed” some of the mystery (which can be a little disappointing) there were still several twists I did not see coming! Following protagonist Pippa, a high school […]

Little White Lies (Debutantes #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Review

Posted January 27, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 4 Comments

Debutantes, high Southern society, and a mystery are all right up my alley when it comes to premises for YA novels, so I was so looking forward to Little White Lies which gave me major Pretty Little Liars vibes. Jennifer Lynn Barnes did not disappoint, with a YA novel that focused on strong female characters, high society scandals and some serious twists at the end! Plot Like any good YA mystery book, Little White Lies has a somewhat absurd (in the best way) premise. Sawyer, independent daughter of a flaky single mom living above a bar and working as an […]

This is Our Story by Ashley Elston | Review

Posted December 9, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 4 Comments

There’s nothing like reading a book set in autumn during the actual autumn season, and This is Our Story was my quintessential fall read this year. Though published back in 2016, the book has been on my radar since Kristin recommended it a few years back in her Autumn Book Recommendations video. Her recommendation plus the beautifully haunting cover made it a book that survived on my “Want to Read” shelf during my recent Goodreads reorganization and I’m so glad that I finally got around to it this year! Similarly to what Kristin mentions in her video (which I had […]

A Psalm for Lost Girls by Katie Bayerl | Review

Posted February 18, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 3 Comments

If you follow my reviews at all, you know I’m fascinated by YA books that incorporate the theme of religion into them. As a Religious Studies major in college (think of it as “comparative world religion” rather than theology) I was fascinated by studying different customs, rituals, rites of passage, etc. So when I read the synopsis for A Psalm for Lost Girls I was hooked. Focusing on the events AFTER the death of the protagonists sister (Tess) who was thought to be a miracle worker, it follows a town’s trek to have the sister canonized as a Catholic saint […]

The Au Pair by Emma Rous | ARC Review

Posted January 21, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 3 Comments

*Many thanks to Berkely and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!* In today’s over saturated world of mediocre thrillers, it can be hard to find one that simultaneously manages to surprise me and that’s well written. So many thriller novels I actually find work better for me in a movie format, so I’m always on a hunt for a solidly written mystery/thriller that manages to create an unsettling, atmospheric world on the page. That’s exactly what I experienced with The Au Pair to my delight, and found myself completely immersed in a mystery that not […]

The Death of Mrs. Westaway | Review

Posted November 19, 2018 in Books, Boyfriend Book Reviews, Reviews / 2 Comments

“Après moi, le déluge.” -Attributed to Louis XV, later quoted by Mrs. Westaway. Well alright alright alright. This was a fun one, rabid readers. As a big fan of Agatha Christie, my eyebrows pricked up when in the preview blurb for this book Ruth Ware was honored as “The Agatha Christie of our time.” ‘Oh yeah? … We shall see…’ I thought, and downloaded one of her other books, The Woman in Cabin 10. I thought that one was great… ‘till the very end where there was a pretty substantial shark jump. But hey not even Agatha Christie churned out […]

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas | Review

Posted October 8, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 12 Comments

I’m always proclaiming my love of thrillers, yet it feels so rarely do I find YA thrillers that don’t leave me feeling disappointed. They’re often predictable, unbelievable, or over dramatic and lack the ominous feeling that I crave when diving into a thriller. When I heard about The Cheerleaders, I was immediately struck by how simple (and unsettling) the cover was, so I decided to add it to my TBR, hoping it might stand out. I’m happy to report that it did indeed stand out and proved to be an unsettling and surprising story that left my thriller craving self […]

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson | Review

Posted April 9, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 10 Comments

You know when you are so certain you are going to love a book that you break all book buying bans to pre-order it and already have a place of honor waiting for it on your shelves? That’s how I was about Truly Devious- I loved the Shades of London series by Johnson that I binged last fall and I was super excited for a novel that included mystery + boarding school so I was expecting it to be a 4-5 star read, easily. So you can imagine my disappointment when I was finding myself bored with the novel I […]

Dangerous Boys Aren’t Nearly As Dangerous As Girls

Posted August 21, 2017 in Reviews / 10 Comments

I have to admit, I bought Dangerous Boys several years ago and had been waiting to read it for a time when I really wanted a treat, as I loved Dangerous Girls so much that I thought another thriller by the author would DEFINITELY deliver. And while Dangerous Girls will still hold a place in my heart as one of the greatest YA thrillers of all time, I was just so disappointed by Dangerous Boys. Perhaps it was the lack of the courtroom drama/unsolved crime element to the book, or perhaps I was comparing it too much to the author’s […]