WE WERE LIARS By E. Lockhart

June 7, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WE WERE LIARS By E. LockhartWe Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Series: We Were Liars #1
Published by Delacorte Press on 5/13/14
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Romance, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 256
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Short and Sweet Review

We Were Liars, focuses on Cadence Sinclair and her wealthy family. Cadence visits the family’s private island every summer and she looks forward to seeing her cousins Johnny and Mirren and her crush Gat. We’re introduced to a bit of mystery mainly because Cadence had some kind of accident but she doesn’t remember what happened, so that story unravels throughout the book. We also see how the wealth affects the family and how the adults try to win their fathers favor in order to inherit things from the island. The book started off slow, but the more we get into family dynamics and seeing Cadence slowly remember what happened to her is when things start to pick up. Cadence had some kind of accident where she is blocking out what happened the night of it. I liked that Cadence, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat were a group that didn’t want their parents to influence them and they made a group called the liars. The relationship between Cadence and Gat is interesting because her family obviously thinks she’s above them because of their social status. When we get to the end of the book the ending surprised me but it all made sense, and I really enjoyed it. This book is a good read for the summer and its short and will keep you guessing, I’m interested to see what the next book has in store!

Filed Under: Reviews

WHERE ECHOES DIE By Courtney Gould

June 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WHERE ECHOES DIE By Courtney GouldWhere Echoes Die by Courtney Gould
Published by Wednesday Books on 6/20/23
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 346
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Beck Birsching has been adrift since the death of her mother, a brilliant but troubled investigative reporter. She can’t stop herself from slipping into memories of happier days, longing for a time when things were more normal. So when a mysterious letter in her mother’s handwriting arrives in the mail that reads Come and find me, pointing to the small town at the center of her last investigation, Beck hopes that it may hold the answers.

But when Beck and her sister Riley arrive in Backravel, Arizona, it’s clear that something’s off. There are no cars, no cemeteries, no churches. The town is a mix of dilapidated military structures and new, shiny buildings, all overseen by a gleaming treatment center high on a plateau. No one seems to remember when they got there, and when Beck digs deeper into the town’s enigmatic leader and his daughter, Avery, she begins to suspect that they know more than they’re letting on.

As Beck and her sister search for answers about their mother, she and Avery are increasingly drawn together, and their unexpected connection brings up emotions Beck has fought to keep buried. Beck is desperate to hold onto the way things used to be, but when she starts losing herself in Backravel—and its connection to her mother— she risks losing her way back out.

Short and Sweet Review

Ever since the death of her mother, Beck hasn’t been quite right, she’s always thinking about her mom and why she was obsessed with a town called Backravel. When Beck gets a note in the mail in her mothers handwriting saying Come and find me, Beck thinks this is her chance to go to Backravel and get some answers. In Backravel, Beck and her sister Riley quickly learn that things are off in this town. People have memory lapse and they always seem to turn to the town founder and his daughter Avery. Beck and Avery are drawn together and Beck seems to be slowly finding answers about her mother, but the longer she stays in Backravel the more she begins to lose herself.

Where Echoes Die, was an interesting read, Beck is on the hunt for answers about Backravel a town her mother was obsessed with. She brings her sister Riley along not necessarily being completely honest about what they’re doing there. Ever since her moms death Beck has been trying to find what drew her to Backravel, Beck has also been a shell of her former self. When Beck and Riley see how strange things are in this town, including the fact that they don’t have a church or any cemeteries they just brush it off, until they see how strange the townspeople act. Beck knows the only way to get answers is to talk to the town leader Ricky and the only way to get to him is through Avery. Avery has an air of mystery about her, but for some reason her and Beck click. There is a bit of romance between the two, I wasn’t really invested in this relationship mainly because of the thing that’s affecting everyone in town. It was interesting that everyone gets treatment by Ricky. I did like that Beck was getting some answers about her mom and what exactly kept bringing her back to this town. The ending was good and I didn’t want to put the book down, I wanted to know what was going to happen.

Where Echoes Die, has a great premise and it is an engaging read, especially when we learn about Becks mom and what it is about the town of Backravel that makes it different. I do wish that the pacing was better, otherwise this is an interesting read for people who like mysteries with a bit of sci-fi.

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THE NIGHT IN QUESTION By Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

May 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE NIGHT IN QUESTION By Kathleen Glasgow and Liz LawsonThe Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow, Liz Lawson
Series: The Agathas #2
Published by Delacorte Press on 5/30/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 415
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Last October, Alice Ogilvie's ex-best friend, Brooke Donovan, was killed—and if it weren't for Alice's unlikely alliance with her tutor, Iris Adams, and her library of the complete works of Agatha Christie, the wrong person would almost certainly be sitting in prison for the crime. The Castle Cove police aren't exactly great at solving crimes. In fact, they're notorious for not solving crimes.

Which is why, on the night of Castle Cove High's annual Sadie Hawkins dance, Alice takes the opportunity to explore Levy Castle—the site of one of Castle Cove's most infamous deaths. Mona Moody—­the classic film star—died there almost a century ago, and Alice is pretty sure the police got that invest­igation wrong, too. But before she can even think about digging deeper, she walks right into the scene of a new crime. Rebecca Kennedy, on the ground in a pool of blood. And standing over Kennedy? Another one of Alice's ex-friends—Helen Park.

The Castle Cove Police Department thinks it's an open-and-shut case, but Alice and Iris are sure it can't be that simple. Park isn't a murderer—and the girls know all too well that in life, and in mysteries, things are rarely what they appear to be. To understand the present, sometimes you need to look to the past.

Castle Cove is full of secrets, and Alice and Iris are about to uncover one of its biggest—and most dangerous—secrets of all.

Short and Sweet Review

Alice and Iris are back to solve another mystery in The Night In Question. Castle Cove High School’s annual Sadie Hawkins dance is being held at Levy Castle, and Alice thinks this is the perfect time to do some exploring. Levy Castle is where the famous actress Mona Moody died almost a century ago, and knowing Castle Cove police Alice thinks that investigation wrong, but she doesn’t have much time to think about that because she just walked in on Kennedy laying on the ground in a pool of her own blood and Park standing over her. Castle Cove police believe this is an open and shut case, and Park is about to face some serious charges, but Alice and Iris believe they can help her. This case involves more than meets the eye and this time the girls are about to look into the past to help them in the present.

After solving Brooke Donovan’s case, Alice and Iris have learned that the Castle Cove Police aren’t always reliable or competent when it comes to these matters so they decide to offer their new found expertise to try to prove Park’s innocence. Alice and Iris find themselves in dangerous situations that always put me on edge because they’re usually on the right trail but some people don’t want them to be and they end up in more trouble just for thwarting the police. I love how Alice still uses what she has learned from Agatha Christie novels and applies it to solve mysteries. I will say that I do love the friendship between Iris and Alice, they’re an unlikely pair and I think they still have a lot to learn about each other. They do get on each others nerves and still may say things to trigger or set the other one off but they do genuinely care for each other, and we see their friendship grow and evolve. We also get to see our other friends who help with the mystery solving: Raf, Neil, Spike, Zora, and Angelik. All of the characters add something to this book that truly makes it special. I will say this mystery is pretty complex and it not only involves what happened to Kennedy but also Mona Moody. I love the direction that this book took and we see Iris and Alice become better detectives but also learn that this is a dangerous job especially when others don’t want you to succeed. We also get to see a bit more of Alice’s parents in this book and see their relationship and how much their absence has actually affected Alice.

Everything about this book was amazing to me. I did end up figuring out who the culprit was but that didn’t ruin anything for me mainly because trying to figure out what their motive was and learning about it was crazy. I love this series, it’s actually one of my favorites and I just can’t get enough of Alice and Iris and their crew of mystery solvers. I’m excited to see what book 3 has in store!

Filed Under: Reviews

ALL THE DEAD LIE DOWN By Kyrie McCauley

May 15, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ALL THE DEAD LIE DOWN By Kyrie McCauleyAll the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 5/16/23
Genres: Gothic, Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Young Adult
Pages: 363
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace—an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate.

Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice’s peculiar girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice’s eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is quickly drawn in by Evie’s compelling behavior and ethereal grace.

But as Marin settles in, she can’t escape the anxiety that follows her like a shadow. Dead birds appear in Marin’s room. The children’s pranks escalate. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, leaving mutilated animals in its wake. All is not well at Lovelace House, and Marin must unravel its secrets before they consume her.

Short and Sweet Review

After the passing of her mother, Marin is now alone in the world. When Marin gets a surprise invitation from Alice Lovelace, an old friend of her mother’s to come and nanny for her over the summer she accepts. Thea and Wren are a bit strange, Thea likes to bury her dolls and hold funerals for them and Wren just goes out of her way to try to make Marin leave. Evie the girls older sister comes back unexpectedly and that when things really start to get weird at Lovelace house. Marin has to figure out what’s going on before she’s taken down too.

The atmosphere in All the Dead Lie Down is what really makes the book amazing. Marin needs to be at Lovelace house because she doesn’t really have any where else to go. Alice Lovelace is an author and she shuts herself in a room most of the time, so Marin mainly interacts with Thea and Wren. The girls play some practical jokes on Marin, but she has nowhere else to go so she tries to brush it off and try to get the girls to accept her as their nanny. When Evie the oldest sister comes back home, Marin starts to see strange creatures in the woods that leave other animals mutilated. Marin ends up having to tutor Evie and there’s some romance there but I wasn’t really feeling it mainly because they tended to have their romantic moments during times when a lot was going on around them. It was interesting to learn the secrets that the girls were hiding and the final thing we learned really made my jaw drop.

All the Dead Lie Down, is a captivating book and I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed the creepy atmosphere and learning about the girls and the history of Lovelace. Marin is a lot braver than me because I would have been out of there! If you want a chilling book that’s full of surprises to read this summer than this is the book for you!

Filed Under: Reviews

THIS IS NOT THE REAL WORLD By Anna Carey

May 12, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THIS IS NOT THE REAL WORLD By Anna CareyThis Is Not the Real World by Anna Carey
Series: This Is Not the Jess Show #2
Published by Quirk Books on 5/24/22
Genres: Dystopian, Mystery & Detective, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 288
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Months after Jess escaped from the set of Stuck in the ’90s, the nostalgic reality show she believed was her real life, the teen star is getting to know the outside world for the first time. But she can’t outrun her fictional life forever—or the media empire that owns it.

After Like-Life Productions tracks her down and forces her boyfriend to return to the show, Jess teams up with an underground network fighting to uncover Like-Life’s schemes. To expose the truth, Jess must go back to the set and take Like-Life down from the inside . . . but getting revenge might just cost her everything.

Short and Sweet Review

Jess and Kipp have been in hiding for months, but Life Like Productions (LLP) have finally tracked them down and force Kipp to return to Swickley to finish out the rest of his contract. Jess knows that she needs to go back for Kipp, but she’s also helping Beyond1998 a group that is trying to expose LLP for who they really are and they need someone on the inside to get the intel. Even though Jess used to be the star of the show her return isn’t the welcome home she thought it would be and some people are really out to get her.

I felt bad that Jess and Kipp were thrown back into a life that they tried so hard to leave and now they’re back on set and you can tell that people are treating them like they’re less than. Anyway the other actors on set are not right, they think what they’re doing is right and they basically profit off of exploiting Jess’s life. Theres also Chrysalis one of the producers and she’s trying to keep Jess on a tight leash. There’s always cameras following Jess and she usually has a mic so she has to be careful about sneaking around set and that’s when things are pretty suspenseful because we don’t know if she actually got away with anything or if someone was watching the whole time.

This book was pretty good, we didn’t know who we could trust, but there was always an end goal. Things got dangerous on set and there were some twists that I wasn’t expecting. I will say the book is short so things felt rushed, the ending shows that not everything has a happy ending but I was pretty pleased with how everything was wrapped up.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE LAST ONE TO FALL By Gabriella Lepore

May 1, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE LAST ONE TO FALL By Gabriella LeporeThe Last One to Fall by Gabriella Lepore
Published by Inkyard Press on 5/9/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 316
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Six friends. Five suspects. One murder.

Savana Caruso and Jesse Melo have known each other since they were kids, so when Jesse texts Savana in the middle of the night and asks her to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse, she doesn’t hesitate. But before Savana can find Jesse, she bears witness to a horrifying murder, standing helpless on the ground as a mysterious figure is pushed out of the fourth floor of the warehouse.

Six teens were there that night, and five of them are now potential suspects. With the police circling, Savana knows what will happen if the wrong person is charged, particularly once she starts getting threatening anonymous text messages.

As she attempts to uncover the truth, Savana learns that everyone is keeping secrets—and someone is willing to do whatever it takes to keep those secrets from coming to light.

Short and Sweet Review

Savana and Jesse have been friends since they were kids, so when he texts her late at night asking her to come to Cray’s warehouse she doesn’t question it. When Savana arrives she sees someone falling from one of the windows, turns out it was murder. Now Jesse, Savana, and three others (Tara, Owen, and Freddie) are being looked at for murder. Everyone has their secrets and Savana has been getting anonymous text messages about what will happen if the wrong person is implicated.

The Last One to Fall, starts off in a timeline before the murder and we see everything that leads up to what happens. I liked this because we got to see the dynamic between the group of friends. Raf is the teen who gets murdered and he has a pretty manipulative personality and to be honest I’m not surprised one of his friends finally had enough. We alternate between Jesse and Savana’s POV. Jesse has more of a hard home life and Savana is there for him, so when it looks like Jesse is the main suspect Savana tries to help prove his innocence. Savana wasn’t in the warehouse like the others so she isn’t really looked at that closely but she does start to try to unravel everyones stories. It’s not hard to tell that Savana is on Jesses side and she won’t let him go down for something he didn’t do. This book held my attention with all of the secrets and twists. Savana and Jesse were characters you could relate to. I did enjoy seeing the snippets of news articles and the police interviews. When we did get to the timeline after the murder it was interesting to see how everyone started turning on each other. Even after death Raf was still very influential in this group of friends.

The Last One to Fall, held my attention until the very end and the mystery was told very well. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, and this one is full of shocking revelations and twists and turns to keep you guessing!

Filed Under: Reviews

LYING IN THE DEEP By Diana Urban

April 29, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

LYING IN THE DEEP By Diana UrbanLying in the Deep by Diana Urban
Published by Razorbill on 5/2/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Romance, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 382
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

After being jilted by her ex-boyfriend and best friend, Jade couldn't be more ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime—11 countries in 4 months, all from the luxurious Campus on Board ship—and to wedge an entire globe between her and the people who broke her heart.

But when Jade discovers the backstabbing couple are also setting sail, her obsession with them grows and festers, leading to a shocking murder. And as their friends begin to drop like flies, Jade and her new crush must race to clear her name and find the killer they're trapped at sea with....before anyone else winds up in body bags.

Short and Sweet Review

Jade recently got dumped by her boyfriend who just so happened to leave her for her ex best friend, Lainey. So now Jade is ready to embark on a campus on board cruise visiting 11 countries in 4 months. What Jade wasn’t expecting was to see that Lainey and Silas have also come along. Jade becomes obsessed with trying to figure out why those two basically did her dirty and soon enough someone on board gets murdered and Jade and her crush Felix try to solve the mystery before one of them is next.

This was a good mystery I wasn’t sure what was going on until the end and then it just all made sense. I will say Jade is not my favorite character, she was too impulsive and just made bad decisions. I will say seeing Jade constantly obsess over Silas and Jade was exhausting. Jade used to date Silas and be friends with Lainey so when she sees that their also on this trip she tries to talk to them and even when they try to avoid her she still doesn’t get it. There was a bit of a romance between Jade and Felix, mainly because Jade was trying to use Felix to make Silas jealous but I guess somewhere in there they ended up liking each other. The first murder doesn’t happen until maybe 100-150 pages in but that’s when things start to get interesting. There’s a boat full of people and Jade is mainly hanging out with the college kids and somehow most of them have ties back to Lainey whether they know it or not. Jade looks guilty mainly because she doesn’t know how to let things go so she looks like a vengeful manic to some of the other people on the boat. I will say the first murder really surprised me but the other two kind of seemed unnecessary.

I liked that the mystery took place on a cruise ship, because there’s really no place for the suspect to run. There were some twists which were interesting, the ending was a little lackluster. I will say overall this was a good mystery but some things could have been better especially our main character Jade.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE SILENCE OF BONES By June Hur

April 19, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE SILENCE OF BONES By June HurThe Silence of Bones by June Hur
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 4/21/20
Genres: Historical, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 343
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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I have a mouth, but I mustn't speak;
Ears, but I mustn't hear;
Eyes, but I mustn't see.

1800, Joseon (Korea). Homesick and orphaned sixteen-year-old Seol is living out the ancient curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Indentured to the police bureau, she’s been tasked with assisting a well-respected young inspector with the investigation into the politically charged murder of a noblewoman.

As they delve deeper into the dead woman's secrets, Seol forms an unlikely bond of friendship with the inspector. But her loyalty is tested when he becomes the prime suspect, and Seol may be the only one capable of discovering what truly happened on the night of the murder.

But in a land where silence and obedience are valued above all else, curiosity can be deadly.

Short and Sweet Review

It’s 1800 and we’re in Joseon, Korea. Seol is an orphan and is indentured to the police bureau, and she is given the task of helping an investigator look into the murder of a noblewoman. As their investigation progresses, Seol forms a friendship with the investigator but things take a turn when he becomes one of the suspects.

The synopsis is what drew me into this book, to go back in time in Korea sounded amazing, and also a mystery? Count me in. Unfortunately this book wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. Seol lives by strict rules because she’s basically a servant so she can’t speak out of turn, but luckily for her Inspector Han has a sort of respect for her opinions. Korea in the 1800s is so interesting, the noblewoman was also a Catholic and that is looked down upon which is why she was killed, for her beliefs. Seol and Inspector Han do the basic detective work, going around talking to people who knew the noblewoman and dig deeper into her life. Sadly a few more people are killed and time is running out to find the killer. We see Seol do her own detective work and she starts to question whether Inspector Han is the man she thought he was. We also have a side plot of Seol trying to find her older brother, whom she was separated from as a child.

All of the elements of the story were great, unfortunately I found myself confused more often then not. I think it was all of the characters and names and just trying to remember their importance. Also the first half of the book didn’t really hold my attention and that might have been because of what I mentioned above, but the second half of the book is where things started to pick up for me and I was interested to see how the mystery would wrap up.

I would recommend this book, it was fun getting transported to Korea and solving a mystery and you can really tell that things that are acceptable now were looked down upon then. Seol is an interesting character to follow and she had character development as the book progressed and her story is an interesting one.

Filed Under: Reviews

MY FLAWLESS LIFE By Yvonne Woon

April 14, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

MY FLAWLESS LIFE By Yvonne WoonMy Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 2/14/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 345
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

At the most elite private school in Washington, DC., whenever anyone has a problem that they need to go away, they hire Hana Yang Lerner.

Hana is a fixer. She knows who to call, what to say, and how to make sure secrets stay where they belong—buried. She can fix anything. Except her own life, which was destroyed when her father, senator Skip Lerner, was arrested for an accident that left one woman nearly dead.

Now Hana’s reputation is ruined and her friends are gone. So when she gets a job from an anonymous client called “Three” to follow her former best friend, Luce Herrera, Hana realizes this might be her way of getting back her old life.

But the dangerous thing about digging is that you never know what you’ll unearth. As Hana uncovers a dark truth about her supposedly flawless classmates, she’s forced to face a secret of her own.

Short and Sweet Review

When students at Hana’s elite private school in Washington D.C need a problem to go away they hire her, she’s a fixer. She can fix most of her classmates problems, the one thing she’s having trouble fixing is her own life. After her Senator father was arrested for an accident that nearly left a woman dead, Hana’s reputation was ruined and all her friends left her side. When someone contacts Hana for a job that includes following her former best friend, Luce, she takes it hoping this could help her get her old life back. The more Hana tries to figure out with Luce the more she has to dig into her own past and face everything that has happened.

It took my a while to get into this book, but once I did it really held my attention. I liked seeing how Hana used her contacts to fix problems. We get to see how the events of Hana’s father has affected her life, and how she’s dealing with everything or trying to avoid it. The case that she’s currently working on concerning Luce also involves Hana’s past and Hana knows she has to confront her past in order to solve this case. The plot was interesting and the pacing was great. Hana had a lot of character development and she realized that its never too late to fix your mistakes. Hana also teamed up with James, a friend from childhood and I liked the teamwork between them and seeing them reconnect. It was fun seeing Hana talk to other classmates and following leads, the life of a fixer is very interesting although it seems like a lot of work. I will say that the book went back and forth between the past and present and sometimes it was hard to tell what time period I was reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Seeing Hana take this case that’s really about her and she didn’t even know it was great. There were some things that surprised me but these elements were beneficial to the story and really worked. Hana was a good character and someone to relate to she wasn’t perfect, she had her flaws, but she was willing to work on it. This book was engaging and I would recommend it.


Filed Under: Reviews

LIAR’S BEACH By Katie Cotugno

April 12, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

LIAR’S BEACH By Katie CotugnoLiar's Beach by Katie Cotugno
Published by Delacorte Press on 5/2/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Michael Linden—or just Linden to his preppy boarding school pals—doesn’t belong in wealthy, storied Martha’s Vineyard. But when his roommate Jasper invites him to spend the end of summer at his massive beachfront home, August House, Linden tries his best to fit in. Linden wouldn’t call it lying, exactly. Though it turns out August House is full of liars.

Then someone is found unconscious in Jasper’s pool, and everyone has something to hide—Jasper, his beautiful sister Eliza, their older brother Wells, and their friends. The accident is written off as just that—an accident—but Linden begins to wonder...

Enter: Holiday Proctor. Linden’s childhood friend, and the one person on the island who knows the truth about Linden. There’s nothing Holiday loves more than a good old-fashioned mystery and she’s convinced there's a potential killer on the Vineyard. The only question is…who?

Short and Sweet Review

Michael Linden isn’t wealthy, but he tries to keep up appearances for his boarding school friends. Linden is invited to Martha’s Vineyard by his roommate Jasper, which is where he meets, Wells and Eliza, Jasper’s siblings. After a party one night someone is found unconscious in the pool and it is written off as just an accident but Linden begins to wonder if there’s more to what happened than what’s being said. Holiday is one of Linden’s childhood friends and just happens to be staying at Martha’s Vineyard too and has a love for a good mystery. Together they’ll try to figure out if this was an accident or intentional.

Liar’s Beach was a good mystery it’s a new take on the novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The plot was engaging and we’re introduced to most of the characters in the first few chapters. After the person is found in the pool we see Holiday and Linden go around the island looking for clues and try to find leads but there wasn’t much for them to find so their theories were mainly speculation. I didn’t like Lindens character, he was too busy trying to fit in that he didn’t realize how awful he treated those around him. Linden was also more concerned about getting with Eliza to realize that she wasn’t exactly perfect. I would have preferred that Holiday was the narrator instead she just seemed more likable and wasn’t quick to jump the gun like Linden. The ending was okay I guessed who the culprit was mainly from the process of elimination but also there was a bit of a cliffhanger. I think it would be interesting to see these characters in another book and hopefully Linden has some more character development.

Overall this was a good beach mystery and it’s great for summer. There were a lot of good elements and some things that didn’t work but I would still recommend it and I’d be interested in seeing a sequel.

Filed Under: Reviews