Home Before Dark By Riley Sagar

Rate: 4.1 ⭐

'Every house has a story to tell and a secret to share.'

This book is all over the book community. So despite my reservation  about it, I was in the mood for some Spooky horror stories. Well, It was good but  not great.

Maggie Holt has just been called to her father’s will reading. Maggie’s dad is infamous because he wrote a book  called House of Horrors about him and his family in Baneberry hall. The family only last 20 days as they were haunted by ghost. Maggie has asked her father and mother many times through her life what was real. Even on her father’s death bed when asked all he could say was he’s sorry. Maggie is shocked when goes to the will reading and the Baneberry house is in the will to her. So She goes to this  house to find out what really went down.

' I do believe that things happen. Things we can’t explain away, no matter how much we try. The uncanny '

The twist was so good. I have many theories of what going to happened throughout the book. But I've proven false.The Snake scene in the 'House of Horror' freaked me out royally.The horror part of this book do not live up to the hype. And Sometimes I find the female protagonist very annoying. The narrative of bouncing back from Maggie to her dad’s pov from House of horrors but I really enjoyed it as we would learn more about what was true. It’s a good mix of horror and mystery. The twist are good and through out, which makes for an easy fast paced read.

It was a thriller with some ghost story. I Look forward to read more of Riley Sagar books 💫. Now i know Why He's book is so hyped. He has a way with his words. I'm really enjoyed this book.Hope find other book good as well.

What You Wish For By Katherine Center

Rate 3.9 ⭐

"We didn’t fix everything for each other—but we didn’t have to.
We just made a choice to be there."

This is heartbreaking , hopeful,full of grief and definitely heat your heart type of book. Everything about this book is slow ride going into town. This book was finding courage and hope when you have none. It will give you the strength to motivate yourself and go through tough times.

This novel starts very slowly as we get to know Sam, Samantha Casey, just at the time that the principal of her beloved elementary school passes away. He wasn’t just the principal, he was a hero in their rural hometown.So When Sam learns who the new principal is, she is frantic.unrequited crush, Duncan Carpenter, is back in her life and is now her boss, or that this new Duncan is nothing like the man she remembers. Gone is the sweet, goofy man with an infectious joy. New Duncan is an authoritarian killjoy who is obsessed with safety and intent on transforming Kempner into a glorified prison.
She has a long history with Duncan Carpenter as she worked with him for two years at a previous school. she had a major “crush” on him but never acted on it. But Now He is rigid,no smile in his face.

The story is common trope where a girl has a history with someone and then he shows up in her new life. Sam is changed from the mousy girl to a colourful bright happy girl and So is Duncan. He had to go through so many things that changed him completely. Now Sam intent on Duncan to help him remember who he used to be. If she happens to lose her heart to him all over again in the process—well, that’s a risk she’ll have to take.

But for me the novel is quite predictable and they are both hiding secrets. Turns out they both have a problem with telling the people they love how they really feel and opening up to them, including any physical or emotional trauma. If you want a light beach read this would be just the ticket. It was light read, motivational and hopeful at the time.

"Never miss a chance to celebrate."

What you wish for is compassionate story of grief and resilience. It is also a vital reminder that joy is not just something that happens to us but also something we have the power to choose.

The Family Upstairs By Lisa Jewell

Rate 4.5 ⭐

Henry and Lucy grew up in the gorgeous mansion that is The Chelsea Mansion with their rich, socialite parents.. That is until New families begin to move in and their entire lives are flipped upside down. One day everyone disappears, everyone except their parents, an unidentified man found dead after a suspected suicide pact and a baby. When they are found they notice the baby is well looked after.. But there is nobody there to do so. That baby is Libby and she's now turning 25 meaning that the lavish Chelsea Mansion is now hers and she's curious to find out all about it, the house AND the families who lived there..What did happened behind closed doors?

"It all happened so slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly, the change to our parents, to our home, to our lives after they arrived. But that first night, when Birdie appeared on our front step with two large suitcases and a cat in a wicker box, we could never have guessed the impact she would have, the other people she would bring into our lives, that it would all end the way it did.

We thought she had just come to stay for the weekend."

This story is wonderful with many dark aspects,depth to all the characters. The story told by Henry who grew up in this house point of view. 

 Lucy her younger sister perspective  who live in france lead an miserable life and had two childern .

Lisa did a fantastic job developing all the characters and putting layer after layer of motivation of what ultimately happens.The book start slow paced but in the middle of the book it really takes off. The story told alternation between past and present. I loved trying to figure out the mystery of who was who and what their motives were. I also really enjoyed how dark the book was, especially from Henry's perspective, even if he did weird me out and has a evil soul.I finally understand why he did or what he did it. His obsession over Phin is eerie but I also feel bad for him. How weak he was for Phin.The ending where the book ends I really hoped Lisa gave us an another epilogue for Henry and Phin.

'All my father’s opinions were either black or white; things were either right or wrong, good or bad: there was no nuance to his world view.'

This has the most twisted and darkest of books, depth in all the characters, as revelation after revelation unfolds which makes for an uncomfortable and never less than a compelling reading experience. also liked the fact that it was told from multiple perspective.
All in all I liked the family upstairs, it was a good read. I will for sure be picking up more by Lisa Jewell.

Verity By Colleen Hoover

Rate 4.2 ⭐

"Find what you love and Let it kill you"

My First thought after reading fifty percent of this book, It made me disgusted, horrified, sick to my stomach. There are so many dark thoughts involved in this book. I couldn’t take it. I was so horrified by the event that took place in this book. It really gutted me.

This book involves Lowen A struggling author who get a offer of a lifetime by co-author with Verity Crawford in her famous series.In Verity Office she discover an unfinished autobiography of Verity she never intended anyone to read. Page after page of bone chilling admission and involving what happened when her daughter died that day . Lowen's feeling for Jeremy intensifying day by day.

'If an attraction is present between two people, those two people can only be one of two things, involved or not involved. There's no in-between'

This book shook me to my core. It contents is not for everyone . There is some fucked up shit happening here. This book is an emotional rollercoaster.I could not put down this book. I have to finish it as soon as possible. I am not easily triggered by many things but this book got to me. I want to spoil it but I can't do this without giving further details. It's not easy to fathom all that shit happening by a mother to her daughter. So sickening

'Its clear thar verity was a master at manipulating the truth. The only question that remains is which truth is she manipulating?'

This is a amazing romantic psychological thriller. CoHo made this book wonderful with thriller and some romance into it. Not for everyone obviously. The darkness that pore out of these characters are hard to describe. There are some wild things happening here that I loved it. The story unexpected cause no one ever written something like this. It not easy but CoHo made the creepiness in this book intesnifying. The writing, the character, the plotline is so beautifully written. This book made my mind blown. The ending Oh my god! The ending made me shook again.I didn't expect that to happen.

I don't really felt good about this book but also love the characters, emotionally charged actions.I think this book should come with a warning for weak minded people. This book is can be described by maddening, horrifying, creepy, bold and unputdownable. This story will crawl over your mind and had the power of take over and demand your attention.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41957126-verity

Evvie Drake Starts Over By Linda Holmes

Rate 4 ⭐

This book is a debut novel so I was really impressed with this well written book.This book is cute, cozy and simple kind of book that I was in the mood for. This Book is set in a small town of Maine and tell the story of Evvie and Dean Two very different indviduals who was hurting and need help to get over their personal traumas.

Evvie Husband, a doctor in their small town whom everyone loved died the same day one year ago when Evvie was planning to leave him. She was wallowing in guilt that she didn’t love him as much as everyone thinks.This book deals with marriages in outside word seems to perfect. And Dean Murphy the formar major League pitcher who were force to out of the game because he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house.
Evvie is an incredibly relatable main character for me, she just cares so much about her image and what other people think of her, and she has this deep-rooted anxiety that she denies to everyone including herself. As much as I love Evvie’s character though, her best friend Andy is my favorite character in this book.

This book isn't just a romance book and it was so much more than that.It shows guilt,secrets, moving on with life when it become so hard.The friendship between Evvie and Dean and Evvie and Andy were the heart and soul of this story.

The strength and importance of human connection and relationships is at the core of Evvie Drake Starts Over together with a fun romantic element and the impact of time on friendships.

The book isn't super deep or life changing.
This book is easy to read, light, funny, that is perfect for a summer read.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3598356346

Love In English By Karina Halle

Rate 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I started  reading this book in a whim. First I wanna say, I loved  all of Karina Halle books. She never dissapoints me. She writes with all of her heart. I never read one of her books and not feeling turbulent or cried after.This book made me feel so damn much.

I felt like I had to cling to every moment, every second, make it count. I feared it was already too late.

This book is heart wrenching, stomach twisting,burning fire  romance book. I went from feeling all la-la-la I’m in love to my heart hurting to being giddy to and then back to my heart hurting and trying not to cry. This is deeply emotional , strong and powerful book.

Mateo was passion. He was now full of the life we both sought after all these years.

Mateo and Vera meet in spain In a language program. Where Meteo had gone to improve his english. Vera was a College student who want to travel but have no money so she participate in teaching spanish english in exchange to live there freely for one month.

"Love is like a thief, it robs you of all thought and logic, and all you have left is a heart that you can only pray is strong enough to survive the rest.”

They have a love story that will burn coil.Love has no time limit,no regard  for age,religion, race.They fall in love at the wrong time in a wrong place. I am not supporting what they did or how they did it. They should have done it better. Yeah they suffer the consequences, most  painful  way for not to do it right. At one point, I was like leave them alone.Let them be. They suffered so much just because they fall in love. He will do anything for her. Suffering  be damn. I love Vera and Mateo so much. Yes,They are at fault, but thats why they still stick together with all the hardships. They had their love that is true so whatever they go through made them more stronger.

'You and I, we were always a memory in the making.'

The heart has no regard for what is right or wrong. It just react and feel.You don't get to leave just because it's hard. You don't get to pretend you don't love him because you think that will make it easier on you.

Love In english is wonderfully written,gut wrenching, painful read with flawed characters and a strong plot. It's a story about true love and what people willing to sacrifice in order to hold on to it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21899546-love-in-english

The Silent Patient By Alex Michaelides

Rate 5⭐ 

I was so excited to read this book for a long time. One month ago I bought this book. I would say one thing that is definitely not what I expected. This is so much more than just a psychological thriller. This is a page-turner, very developed and smartly written book. I can't get this out of my head for two days. Alicia was a painter and her husband Gabriel was a Fashion photographer . To the outside world they were so much in love with each other but one day without any explanation Alicia shot her husband. After that, all the questions she gets, but she didn’t answer any of them .Nor did she speak when she was sentenced with Gabriels murder. She was silent . Like she forgot to speak. But she paint a portrait and the portrait name was Alcestis.

If Grief can be called easy

It was a greek myth.Alcestis is a myth of self secrifice. I absolutely loved how the writer made revolving this story around this myth. The story is telling by Theo Faber the psychotherapist at the Grove and Alicia through Alicia's Journal.Nothing is at it seems in this novel. This is story of complexity and mystery. You have to find out the truth. Throughout the whole book, you would be questioning why she did that, when they are so in love.Why was she so afraid and why didn’t she silent now after murdering her husband.

There so much pain everywhere and we just close our eyes to it. The truth is we're all scared. We're terrified with each other. I am terrified of myself and of my mother in me

But love can't be always be easy, you saying you love her but show her different thing.

The Last five chapter when it get to the main point, you would be shocked, knew instantly why she did it or if she even did it. I never once felt like I had a grasp on how this story will end. You would doubt yourselves over and over in this story. Main character Theo and alicia truly unforgettable characters. I'm not going to tell all the details. If you love a thriller book I definitely recommend to you to read it. One of the best book I read this year. I devoured it in one sitting. This is a book showing dark psychological thriller, infidelities, murder and revenge.If you love thriller you definitely read this book.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40097951-the-silent-patient

Perfect Strangers By J.T Geissinger

Rate 5 ⭐ 

Oh My God! What did I just finished? This book gave me whiplash. I'm not exaggerating one bit. This book is amazingly wonderful. Can't even describe how much I like it. It has a book within a book. I hope you will get it. Olivia is depressed after a tragedy happened and took her daughter away from her two years ago. She was on vacation at paris When she met the perfect stranger James the Artist.

"I am thee and thou art me and all of one is the other. And feel now. Thou hast no heart but mine.”

I can't even express my emotion and give nothing away. There’s a huge plot twist at the end.It will make you angry,frustrated and horrified. I had felt all this emotion to that point. when I am so sure before the last five chapter that they'll live happily after BAMMM! There it is.

'Every love story has a beginning. That was theirs. One look, one locked gaze and they were both done for '

I don't know at this point what I should think of this book. There are so many story behind this book. I hate the direction of the book it took but I also loved it. It was a huge change from all other romance books and so much better. It shocked me so much that I gasp out loud. And I swear when I finish reading this book I stare off into space for ten minutes and think what the hell did i just read? And I really don't want to spoil it so you have to read it.

"There exists a field, beyond all notions of right and wrong. I will meet you there.”

This quote at that time makes me ugly cry. The situation, the illusion or the reality. I feel so bad for Olivia. So freaking bad. The thought of her this way again made me horrified. Thank god she made a different epilogue or I don't know what would I do. Probably sending a hateful message to email J.T Geissinger. But truly I was super confused which one is real and which one is the book Olivia Written. It was very well written book.J.T Geissinger is one talented writer and I love her so much. It was very romantic ,tragic, hopeful and deep emotion swirling in every page of this book.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/49730872

The Outside By Stephen King

4.5 Star 

'Reality is thin ice, but most people skate on it their whole lives and never fall through until the very end. We did fall through, but we helped each other out. We’re still helping each other.'

Stephen King amaze me every single time. While I read a lot of books it's not often i find a book that i don't want to put down at all. This book make me wake up early so that I can finish this book. Stephen King writing has it's own style. This is a powerful story that pulls the reader into the middle and will not let them go. He has a way of endearing the reader to his characters and bringing his characters alive with just the right amount of details. This book deal with a real life crime story and had some supernatural venture. Truly a master story teller. Although, I find it little off at the end. However, as a whole this book totally worth it. If you want to read a thriller, slow building mystery book this is definitely one you should try first.

Sypnosis

An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories.

An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36124936-the-outsider