8 Year Blogiversary and an Announcement

Today marks 8 Years since I started my blog!

I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has followed, liked, commented, and shared my posts. I have read some amazing books and met some amazing people, all due to my time in the book blogging community. Thank you all for being a part of it!

Eight years is much longer than I ever thought I’d stick with this little blog. I’ve been considering making a change for awhile, though, and now that I am caught up and have posted reviews for all my ARCs, I feel like this is a good time to step away from blogging. While I reserve the right to always change my mind and come back, as of right now, I am planning this to be my last post. You can still catch me over on Goodreads and The Storygraph (I haven’t really fully acclimated to The Storygraph  yet, but I think you can connect with people by usernames – mine is “stephaniesbookreviews”) and I do plan to continue blog hopping occasionally so I can stay up to date on good book recs and what all of my blogger friends are up to.

Thanks again for all your support over the last 8 years!

-❤- Stephanie

Review: Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Meet Chloe Sevre. She’s a freshman honor student, a legging-wearing hot girl next door, who also happens to be a psychopath. Her hobbies include yogalates, frat parties and plotting to kill Will Bachman, a childhood friend who grievously wronged her.

Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinical study for psychopaths—students like herself who lack empathy and can’t comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. The study, led by a renowned psychologist, requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements.

When one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan into action, she’ll be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths—and everybody knows you should never trust a psychopath.

Never Saw Me Coming is a compulsive, voice-driven thriller by an exciting new voice in fiction, that will keep you pinned to the page and rooting for a would-be killer.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

Never Saw Me Coming publishes September 7, 2021. 

I will admit that I wasn’t expecting much from this one. There’s no shortage of stories of anti-heroes and vigilante women and I thought this would end up being more of the same. However, Never Saw Me Coming surpassed all of my expectations. I enjoyed this book so much!

I think part of what sets the book apart from similar stories is that it’s not just about one psychopathic woman. Chloe is one of several students getting a free ride to college to be part of a study on psychopathy. While the subjects aren’t supposed to know who each other are, Chloe discovers a few of them and we also get POVs from some of them, as well – Charles and Andre. Charles is exactly the kind of character you would think of when you hear about a Washington DC-based psychopath. Andre has faked his way into the program for the free tuition and is a much needed dose of empathy to help level out the other perspectives. Even though there’s definite anti-hero vibes from Chloe and Charles, I did find myself liking them. I thought they were well-written and it showed how easy it is to be taken in by such manipulative behavior.

I thought the mystery was well done, as well. I suspected numerous characters at different times and while I did ultimately guess who the killer was, it wasn’t until close to the actual reveal.

Overall, I really enjoyed Never Saw Me Coming. While so many books with similar themes have let me down, this one actually lived up to it’s potential and surpassed my expectations. The characterization was very well done and the writing was addictive. My only nitpicky complaints are that there were times – especially in the beginning – where there was some info-dumping about psychopathy that I thought could have been incorporated into the narrative a little more seamlessly and I thought things were wrapped up a little too easily at the end. Those things definitely didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the over all story, though, and I am definitely going to be on the look out for Kurian’s next book.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Funny Friday

Funny Friday started as book-related humor and then shifted into COVID-19 humor. I decided to stop limiting it to one thing and it will now be whatever I find that’s funny and relevant to me.

Review: The Other Me by Sarah Zachrich Jeng

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Two lives. The one you wanted. The one that wanted you.

Her birthday should be like any other night.

One minute Kelly’s a free-spirited artist in Chicago going to her best friend’s art show. The next, she opens a door and mysteriously emerges in her Michigan hometown. Suddenly her life is unrecognizable: She’s got twelve years of the wrong memories in her head and she’s married to Eric, a man she barely knew in high school.

Racing to get back to her old life, Kelly’s search leads only to more questions. In this life, she loves Eric and wants to trust him, but everything she discovers about him—including a connection to a mysterious tech startup—tells her she shouldn’t. And strange things keep happening. The tattoos she had when she was an artist briefly reappear on her skin, she remembers fights with Eric that he says never happened, and her relationships with loved ones both new and familiar seem to change without warning.

But the closer Kelly gets to putting the pieces together, the more her reality seems to shift. And if she can’t figure out what happened on her birthday, the next change could cost her everything…

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

The Other Me publishes August 10, 2021. 

I thought The Other Me had an intriguing premise and while it was an entertaining read, I didn’t feel it fully lived up to it’s potential.

The story opens with Kelly going to her best friend’s art show, feeling a little disillusioned with her own lack of success. When she steps through a door to another room, she suddenly finds herself in a completely different setting. She’s inundated with memories of a life she didn’t live. And she just kind of goes with it. While I was really invested in wanting to figure out what was going on, I thought far too much of the book was made up of Kelly comparing her memories of this life to her “real” life and wanting to go back. Very little actual plot progression happened until the final chapters.

I also wanted a little more explanation of the futuristic, sci-fi things going on. There’s not a whole lot I can say about it without spoiling it, but I would’ve liked more time spent on it than the few flashes we get before the villainous speech towards the end. After that, I thought the ending was pretty anticlimactic and all the big lessons Kelly’s extolling are undermined by the changes she was able to implement in her own life.

Overall, The Other Me had an intriguing premise and some addictive writing, but I thought it was really repetitive and should have spent a little more effort on the sci-fi aspects of the story. I was also hoping for a more explosive ending. However, I did mostly enjoy my time reading this and will be on the look out for what Jeng writes next.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 3 Stars

Review: The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish

Synopsis from Goodreads:

It all happens so quickly. One day you’re living the dream, commuting to work by ferry with your charismatic neighbor Kit in the seat beside you. The next, Kit hasn’t turned up for the boat and his wife, Melia, has reported him missing.

When you get off at your stop, the police are waiting. Another passenger saw you and Kit arguing on the boat home the night before and the police say that you had a reason to want him dead. You protest. You and Kit are friends—ask Melia, she’ll vouch for you. And who exactly is this other passenger pointing the finger? What do they know about your lives?

No, whatever danger followed you home last night, you are innocent, totally innocent.

Aren’t you?

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review. 

The Other Passenger publishes July 20, 2021. 

When I pick up a Louise Candlish book I know to expect some addictive writing, stories of horrible people, and a great twist or two and The Other Passenger delivered on all counts.

I always have to commend Candlish’s writing. Though I did feel the story was a little longer than it needed to be, I had a hard time putting this one down. The plot also heavily involved the main character cheating on his girlfriend of ten years and even though I was disgusted by him – and most the rest of the characters – I still wanted to read it, which is not always the case for me. It did, however, bring my enjoyment of the story down a little.

There’s not a lot I feel like I can say about how the plot evolves without giving away some major spoilers. I will say that there were some fun twists. I had guessed part of the first twist, but there was another part of it that definitely surprised me. After that, I easily predicted the remaining twists, but I still thought they were well done and people who read less of this genre than I do might be more surprised than I was.

Overall, The Other Passenger had some fun – if predictable – twists and addictive writing, but the main plot line of infidelity brought my overall enjoyment down. I also thought there were parts that dragged on a little too long. This might not be my favorite Candlish book, but I will still be looking forward to whatever she writes next.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 3.5 Stars

Funny Friday

Funny Friday started as book-related humor and then shifted into COVID-19 humor. I decided to stop limiting it to one thing and it will now be whatever I find that’s funny and relevant to me.

Every time someone mentions how nice it is outside. I’m not an outdoorsy girl…

Review: Falling by T.J. Newman

Synopsis from Goodreads:

You just boarded a flight to New York.

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.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review. 

Falling publishes July 6, 2021.

T.J. Newman’s book journey is pretty much every aspiring author’s dream. After dozens of agent rejections, she gets signed by one that goes on to get her a seven figure book deal. As if that isn’t astonishing enough, she then sells the movie rights to the book in another seven figure deal. With that kind of hype, I had some pretty big expectations when I started reading Falling.

The story was incredibly fast paced. We mostly follow the POVs of the pilot, Bill, a flight attendant, Jo, the pilot’s kidnapped wife, Carrie, and an FBI agent, Theo – who also happens to be the nephew of the flight attendant, along with several others that are impacted by the terrorist threat. I thought the transitions between perspectives were well done and really helped move the story along. There are also several flashback scenes interspersed throughout the story that I wasn’t quite as impressed with, but some were definitely necessary.

I thought the characters were likable and easy to root for. While this wasn’t really a character-driven story, I did feel like I got to know and understand them. While I liked them, I didn’t always find them very realistic. With a couple of minor character exceptions, it was like they were all their very best, level-headed, most courageous selves. I think we would all like to think that we would respond well in a crisis, but I think it’s highly unlikely that there wouldn’t be at least a few cracks. Also, while on the subject of characters, I want to say that having one of the flight attendants nicknamed Big Daddy and constantly referring to him as just Daddy made me cringe every single time I read it.

With how much money this story sold for, I was expecting there to be a really fresh take on who the villains would be. I was waiting for some big conspiracy plot to emerge. I was a little disappointed that it ended up just being terrorists that hate America. And the twist on the “back-up” plan on board the plane was my very first guess.

Overall, I did enjoy Falling, but did I find it worthy of that jaw dropping deal? Not really. It was fast paced and entertaining, but even so, it took me almost a week to read it (which is several days longer than a book of this size normally takes me). I thought the plot was pretty formulaic and there wasn’t really anything fresh brought to the table. However, I do think it will make a great movie that I will definitely plan on watching.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 3.5 Stars

WWW Wednesday: June 9, 2021

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

What did you recently finish reading?

Every Last Secret by A.R. Torre. The ending let me down a bit, but this was a pretty good read, otherwise.

What are you currently reading?

The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it’s just ok for me so far. Most of the characters are insufferable and it’s really slow paced. It’s also told in alternate timelines and while I’m ok with the present timeline, I really dislike pretty much everything about the past chapters. I’m really hoping there’s a great ending or something to make this worth it.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Anne of Green Gables re-telling, so I’m very curious to see what this is like.

What are you reading?

Review: Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda

Synopsis from Goodreads:

We had no warning that she’d come back.

Hollow’s Edge used to be a quiet place. A private and idyllic neighborhood where neighbors dropped in on neighbors, celebrated graduation and holiday parties together, and looked out for one another. But then came the murder of Brandon and Fiona Truett. A year and a half later, Hollow’s Edge is simmering. The residents are trapped, unable to sell their homes, confronted daily by the empty Truett house, and suffocated by their trial testimonies that implicated one of their own. Ruby Fletcher. And now, Ruby’s back.

With her conviction overturned, Ruby waltzes right back to Hollow’s Edge, and into the home she once shared with Harper Nash. Harper, five years older, has always treated Ruby like a wayward younger sister. But now she’s terrified. What possible good could come of Ruby returning to the scene of the crime? And how can she possibly turn her away, when she knows Ruby has nowhere to go?

Within days, suspicion spreads like a virus across Hollow’s Edge. It’s increasingly clear that not everyone told the truth about the night of the Truett’s murders. And when Harper begins receiving threatening notes, she realizes she has to uncover the truth before someone else becomes the killer’s next victim.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley and Edelweiss. It does not impact my review. 

Such a Quiet Place publishes July 13, 2021.

I’ve been looking forward to Such a Quiet Place for awhile now. It sounded kind of mysterious and creepy and just look at that gorgeous cover! Unfortunately, I found the story rather disappointing.

I know to expect a lot of character development and a slower pace when I pick up a Megan Miranda book, but I thought this one was too slow. It was past the halfway point before anything even happened to actually advance the plot. I thought things might pick up after that, but it remained pretty slow and boring. I also wasn’t a fan of how the mystery slowly unraveled. Harper would just stumble into information and then make big assumptions on what must have happened. I found it pretty anti-climactic when it was all said and done.

Speaking of Harper, she was my greatest struggle while reading this. I spent over half the book being incredibly annoyed and frustrated with her for what a pushover she was. Now, I am a people-pleaser that avoids confrontation, so when I think someone is a pushover, it’s pretty bad. I could not, for the life of me, understand how she could just let Ruby move back into her house, take her car, etc. I didn’t care if Ruby was innocent or a murderer. Harper found her manipulative and untrustworthy and Ruby obviously had zero respect for her. And Harper just acted helpless to ever say no. There’s some things said about how she’s too trusting and that she felt a little guilty, but neither were enough to justify how she allowed Ruby to walk all over her. I’m getting mad all over again just thinking about it.

Overall, Such a Quiet Place was a disappointing read for me. While Miranda does character development and setting very well, those are the only positive things I can really say about this one. I absolutely could not stand how Harper acted and I found the mystery really lacking. However, I’ve seen some much more positive reviews for this book, so if you can handle how frustrating Harper can be, you might enjoy this more than me.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: How to Kill You Best Friend by Lexie Elliott

Synopsis from Goodreads:

If you suspected your best friend, the person you were closest to in the whole world, was a murderer, what would you do? Would you confront her? Would you help keep her secret? Or would you begin to feel afraid? Most importantly, why don’t you feel safe now that she’s dead? From the author of The French Girl comes a novel full of secrets, suspense, and deadly twists.

Georgie, Lissa, and Bronwyn have been inseparable since dominating their college swim team; swimming has always been an escape from their own problems, but now their shared passion has turned deadly. How can it be true that Lissa, the strongest swimmer they know, drowned? Granted, there is something strange about Kanu Cove, where Lissa was last seen, swimming off the coast of the fabulous island resort she owned with her husband.

Lissa’s closest friends gather at the resort to honor her life, but Georgie and Bron can’t seem to stop looking over their shoulders. Danger lurks beneath the surface of the crystal-clear water, and even their luxurious private villas can’t help them feel safe. As the weather turns ominous, trapping the funeral guests together on the island, nobody knows who they can trust. Lissa’s death was only the beginning….

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

How to Kill Your Best Friend publishes August 17, 2021. 

This is a good example on why you shouldn’t decide to read a book based on the title alone. I thought this would be fun and mysterious, but it was incredibly slow paced and a bit of a chore to get through.

The story is told in alternating points of view between Georgie and Bronwyn, with a few anonymous pages thrown in. The anonymous POV pages describe the various ways in which you might kill your best friend, which I wanted to like, but ultimately found kind of pointless. The chapters from Georgie and Bron weren’t much better. There were tedious amounts of detail and nothing happened for long stretches of time. I predicted pretty much every single twist, except for one surprise right at the end.

Overall, I found How to Kill Your Best Friend disappointing. The very slow pace and unlikable characters kept me from ever getting that invested in the story. I wish there had been more time spent exploring Lissa’s past and her relationships instead of just one or two stories and vague references to her unstable behavior. The only reason I’m giving this two stars instead of one is because it did manage to surprise me once at the end.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars