Book Reviews by Caleb

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica My rating: 2 of 5 stars This book has its moments, mainly in the beginning, but left me thinking, “Did it seriously just end like this?” Listening to this at times was a little challenging. Not only are we following different perspectives, but we are also jumping back and forth between past and present. The book was enjoyable for the most part, though the ending felt rushed and honestly weird. I came away feeling like the author was looking for a way to end the book as quickly as possible and just picked a character to pin it on. Reflecting on the ending while I was driving, I actually started talking to myself about how I think the wrong character was chosen as the antagonist. Strong shout-out to the narrator; I’m glad I listened to this on audio. As a slower-than-average reader, I think I would have been more irritated by the ending if I had sunk more time into this book than I actually did. Rating: 2.25 ⭐️ View all my reviews

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter My rating: 5 of 5 stars After hearing several people talk about how dark and gritty Pretty Girls was, I decided to pick it up and see what everyone was talking about. This is, without question, the darkest and most suspenseful book I've read. While some of the material in this book is extreme, the way that Karin Slaughter is able to write about the subject of sexual assault/violence shows how a seasoned author can handle difficult topics. She walks a fine line between talking about it and exploiting those situations just for the sake of it. Without spoilers, the revelation that Claire experiences near the halfway mark actually left me with my mouth open. I do think this book is more than just a thriller, some might even consider it horror. I would caution readers that struggle with sensitivities around topics of sexual violence, domestic violence and murder that you may want to approach this book with caution because this may not be for you. This ...

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter My rating: 5 of 5 stars From the very first chapter I could tell this book was going to be special. This book makes you want to continue reading even after the book has already ended. The way it leaves the subtlest of clues throughout and then you can see all of them being fit together at the end makes the reader feel like they were oblivious the entire time. The use of the time jump toward the middle of the book also gave this book some fresh air, by introducing new characters to the story that were crucially needed. One of the best books I have ever read! View all my reviews

My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney My rating: 5 of 5 stars First time Alice Feeney reader here and I'm glad to say I'll definitely be checking out some more books from her! This book kept me flipping the page until that explosive ending. To be honest, I really don't think I can describe all the twists and turns that are throughout this book. It's probably best just to experience it for yourself. If I were to give her one note, I'd maybe try either adding another twist in the beginning third of the book because the last ~67% is jammed packed with secrets and surprises that maybe could have been spaced out a tad more to make the entire book feel the same. I'm definitely a little nervous to start another one of her books because of the great impression this one left on me. Here's to hoping that the next pick from her makes me love this author even more! View all my reviews

I Want Your Family by Daniel Hurst My rating: 3 of 5 stars Review: I recently joined NetGalley in hopes of starting this journey as a novice reviewer. As I was looking through titles that were available to request, I came across *I Want Your Family*. Instantly the title of this book grabbed my attention. This book follows two characters narrating their stories. Sadie, who is a wife and mother of two, definitely has a purchasing problem which is how we are introduced to the other main character, Luna. She is a delivery driver who ends up bringing all of Sadie's packages to her basically every day. Luna uses this opportunity to take advantage and I can only imagine every time she stops by Sadie's home she is thinking, I want your family. I thought that the characters of this story are very well fleshed out. Not only do we get a good look into the lives of each of our characters, we can see the motives and logic behind each of their actions. I felt that for the most part even w...

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review: I picked up this book as part of my Book of the Month subscription for the month of January. Most of the books that I have been reading recently have been from the Mystery/Thriller category and after reading the description of this book, that a returned missing girl was basically refusing to cooperate and keep details of her disappearance a secret, I knew I had to pick this as part of my monthly selection. The short chapters in this novel kept the pace moving perfectly for this kind of thriller. The author does move between the character of Ellie and detective Chelsey in rotating chapters which also helped me stay engaged in the book. To me, it keeps the story moving while giving each character time to develop. There was one moment in the last quarter of the book that made me audibly say to myself Ohhhhh, that I did not see coming! For me I would say that any fan of Mystery/Thriller content would find this book ...

The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall My rating: 3 of 5 stars First I would like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me the opportunity to receive this audiobook ARC of The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall. I have read one of Kate's previous books, A Killing Cold, through audio and was extremely happy with my choice. That led me to want a copy of her latest work. After reading the synopsis of the book, I was left intrigued and hoped that the audio would pull me in just like A Killing Cold's audio had. Unfortunately, I didn't get sucked into this book until nearly the halfway mark. I felt that the pacing at the beginning was almost dragging compared to the back half, which I think heavily contributed to me not getting quite the same feeling I had before. I will say though that Kate did an amazing job at the end of bringing out the twists and turns that I expected she'd have. This story is told following an "above, then below" alternating p...

The Inmate by Freida McFadden My rating: 3 of 5 stars Review: I chose this because one of my friends recommended that I give Freida McFadden a try at last. For my first experience with her, I found *The Inmate* very enjoyable, however I think some of the twists at the end were a little "out there." The fast-paces storytelling that McFadden employs was a sure way to suck me into the book right off the bat. She has a way with keeping the light twists coming throughout each ending to a chapter. However I think that may actually do a disservice in this instance because at the end I almost felt like some of the twists were too good to be true. For me it almost bordered on unbelievable the way some events played out. The epilogue at the end though did help some in this regard, because it is told by Brooke's son and it clarified some confusion I had in the last third. I think for thriller lovers like myself, you will find this book satisfying and fairly enjoyable. If you are ...

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review: Being my first time reading, or listening in this case, to a Kate Alice Marshall book, I was excited to see how this would turn out. I discovered this book browsing the Libby app and decided to give it a try. I had a long drive coming up and with listening to this at 1.5x speed, I knew I could wipe out a good chunk of it on the drive. This turned out to be a wise use of my time. After learning the characters names and figuring out some of their personalities, the audiobook was easy to follow along with. Since thrillers are a favorite of mine, I enjoyed Kate's use of her past and present as a method of keeping the story flowing. For me, listening as each chapter ended on a new twist or piece of information about our main character Theo's life kept me wanting to keep the book going, whether in my car or while I was home listening through my AirPods. Kate masterfully used events in Theo's past to move the...