THERE’S NO WAY I’D DIE FIRST By Lisa Springer

December 1, 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.

THERE’S NO WAY I’D DIE FIRST By Lisa SpringerThere's No Way I'd Die First by Lisa Springer
Published by Delacorte Press on 9/5/23
Genres: Contemporary, Horror & Ghost Stories, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 292
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Seventeen-year-old Noelle Layne knows horror. Every trope, every warning sign, every survival tactic. She even leads a successful movie club dedicated to the genre. Who better to throw the ultimate, most exclusive Halloween party on all of Long Island?

With some of the top influencers in her school on the guest list, including gorgeous singer-songwriter Archer Mitchell, her popularity is bound to spike. She could really use the social boost for an upcoming brand expansion. Nothing is going to ruin this party.

Except…maybe the low budget It clown she hired for a stirring round of tag. He axes one of her classmates. From the looks of his devilish grin and bag full of killer tricks, he's just getting started.

A murderous clown is out for blood, but Noelle has been waiting her entire life to prove that she’s a Final Girl.

Short and Sweet Review

Noelle loves horror movies, she knows all the tropes, and survival tactics, she’s even in charge of the movie club at school. So Noelle decides to throw a halloween party and invites all the cool kids and even hires a clown. Unfortunately, this clown isn’t for show, he’s there to kill the party guests and even know’s some of their secrets. Noelle know’s she’s going to survive this because she’s final girl material.

This book was not good at all. Noelle loves horror movies and in her head because she has watched so many she thinks that makes her qualified to survive. When this killer clown named Gage crashes her party, well actually she paid for him but he goes off script, anyway she just know’s she’s going to survive hence the title of the book. There was nothing redeeming about this book, Noelle was rich and so were all of her friends but even with that fact Noelle thought she was better than them. I think my biggest problem was when this clown is going around killing everyone and Noelle is just thinking of movie plots and how she was going to survive, honestly there was no sense of urgency from her. The clown? He was ridiculous too. He also had no urgency, he came in to kill these kids but at one point he decides to use the bathroom in a birkin bag. I will say that scene had no business being as detailed as it was and it was just unhinged and from then on I knew this book wasn’t going to get any better… shitting (excuse my language) in a birkin bag?!? Just crazy. Anyway the motives of Gage the clown aren’t original and he could have done better than crashing a party full rich kids with no care, had no effect on them whatsoever. The ending was also trash and I kind of wish Noelle was not the final girl.

Overall, this was not a good book. I’m kind of upset that I’ve read two bad horror books in a row but oh well.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE FEAR By Natasha Preston

September 1, 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 FEAR By Natasha PrestonThe Fear by Natasha Preston
Published by Delacorte Press on 3/1/22
Genres: Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 346
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

It’s just a stupid meme that’s going around their small fishing town in the dead of winter—people reposting and sharing their biggest fear. But when her classmates start turning up dead—dying in the way that they said scared them the most—Izzy knows it’s no joke.

With each death hitting closer to home, Izzy sets out to try to stop the killer. Could her older sister’s friend Tristan have something to do with the deaths? He’s given her some strange vibes. Or what about his brooding cousin, Axel? But he’s in her classes at school. He’s not a murderer . . . is he? Izzie’s soon on a path that will lead her right to the killer . . . and her own worst nightmare.

Short and Sweet Review

There’s a meme going around asking about peoples biggest fears and the teens in Izzy’s town are reposting it thinking it’s a harmless thing. When Izzy finds one of her classmates dead she realizes that its more than just a game and there’s a killer out there.

This book has a pretty cool plot but the execution is bad. We have our main character Izzy who didn’t share the meme and she’s the one who finds the first victim, and because of this she thinks she’s qualified to investigate. I found Izzy to be the most insufferable character, she was just annoying and she wouldn’t listen to people to leave things alone and stay in her lane. Izzy would go around thinking she knew who it was and just going around pining murders on everyone is not a strategy. Even though Izzy didn’t share the meme and reveal her fear she ends up becoming someone the culprit wants, because she doesn’t know how to leave things alone and she kept interfering with things she shouldn’t have been. She kept messing with one of her classmates, Axel, accusing him of the murders and then she would get upset because he wanted to keep his distance from her. Izzy was just a hot mess, I get why she would want to figure things out but honestly she was better off keeping her distance. I figured out who the culprit was and it was intersting because we got to see their POV for a few chapters. I will say I didn’t like the ending it felt abrupt and I think that happens with a lot of Prestons books.

Overall, this book was not for me. There’s just something about Natasha Preston books that I don’t jive with, I keep reading them because the synopsis sounds great but them when I start reading the execution is just off and the book falls flat and unfortunately that’s what happened here.

Filed Under: Reviews

AGAIN AGAIN By E. Lockhart

August 11, 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.

AGAIN AGAIN By E. LockhartAgain Again by E. Lockhart
Published by Delacorte Press on 6/2/20
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 288
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?

After a near-fatal family catastrophe and an unexpected romantic upheaval, Adelaide Buchwald finds herself catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times--while finally confronting the secrets she keeps, her ideas about love, and the weird grandiosity of the human mind.

Short and Sweet Review

In Again Again we meet our main character Adelaide, who is trying to figure out how to feel about her brothers drug addiction and her struggles with a recent break up and having feelings for someone new. We also see Adelaide’s story play out in different universes of this could have happened or maybe not depending on the choices she made.

I like the idea of seeing how what ifs would play out but the way it was written in this book was very confusing to me and I had trouble following along. I couldn’t tell which what if I was reading so that didn’t help. Besides that I did like seeing how Adelaide’s relationship with her brother was different and how they were working on repairing it. I wasn’t into the romance because that’s where most of the what ifs came into play.

There’s really not much to say about this book, it’s kind of repetitive. I did like that the book was short and I was able to finish it in one sitting. I wish the multiple universe aspect Lockhart was going for would have been better executed and maybe the book would have been an easier read.

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ONE OF US IS BACK By Karen M. McManus

August 9, 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.

ONE OF US IS BACK By Karen M. McManusOne of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus
Series: One of Us Is Lying #3
Published by Delacorte Press on 7/25/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 362
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

It’s been almost two years since Simon died in detention, and the aftermath has been hard to shake. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation outwitted a vengeful copycat. Now the entire Bayview Crew is back home for the summer, and everyone is trying to move on.

Only, this is Bayview, and life is never that simple.

At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the Bayview Crew disappears, it’s clear this “game” is serious—and whoever’s in charge isn’t sharing the rules. Or maybe there aren’t any.

Bronwyn. Cooper. Addy. Nate. Maeve. Phoebe. Knox. Luis. Kris. Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things could start getting deadly.

The thing is, Simon was right about secrets—they all come out eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.

Short and Sweet Review

It’s summer in Bayview and all of the Bayview crew are back together. You would think after Simon’s death two years ago and another group stopping the copycat that this would be the end, but nope someone is targeting the group again. It starts with a sign on a billboard then one of the crew members goes missing. Simon warned everyone before he died that secrets will come out, and there’s a few more Bayview has to give.

I love this series and as happy I was to hear there was going to be an installment I don’t think this book was needed. We’re back in Bayview and this time everyone is there, but we only get the POVs of Addy, Nate, and Phoebe. I understand Phoebe and Addy but not really sure we needed Nate. Phoebe is trying to figure out if her brother is a psychopath and we need Addy because Jake is back and we need to follow her thoughts and emotions through it all. If I had to guess why we got Nate maybe it was so we could see how he’s trying to better himself and also his relationship with Bronwyn. Anyway, Jake is out and about on probation so when the “games” are starting he looks like the number one suspect except that’s too easy. I honestly think Jake was there to throw us off and it’s funny because he’s still a horrible person so it very well could be him. When we get to the end and everything is explained it just feels like it was out of left field, because really how out of whack can one town be? Anyway in this book we get our normal something is happening that shouldn’t be, lets do a little investigating, something happens to one of our members, and we were a little off but now we know who the suspect is.

I do enjoy this series but I do feel like everything here was so convenient and out of nowhere that it worked but also made me feel like this shouldn’t have been a new book. I liked seeing all of the characters together and how the characters from the first book were like mentors to the characters from the second book, they had a great friendship with each other. Definitely recommend this series books 1 and 2 were amazing this book threw me for a loop.

Filed Under: Reviews

HOUSE OF ROOTS AND RUIN By Erin A. Craig

July 5, 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.

HOUSE OF ROOTS AND RUIN By Erin A. CraigHouse of Roots and Ruin by Erin A. Craig
Series: Sisters of the Salt #2
Published by Delacorte Press on 7/25/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Gothic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 544
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Despite dreams of adventures far beyond the Salann shores, seventeen-year-old Verity Thaumas has remained at her family’s estate, Highmoor, with her older sister Camille, while their sisters have scattered across Arcannia.
When their sister Mercy sends word that the Duchess of Bloem—wife of a celebrated botanist—is interested in having Verity paint a portrait of her son, Alexander, Verity jumps at the chance, but Camille won’t allow it. Forced to reveal the secret she’s kept for years, Camille tells Verity the truth one day: Verity is still seeing ghosts, she just doesn’t know it.
Stunned, Verity flees Highmoor that night and—with nowhere else to turn—makes her way to Bloem. At first, she is captivated by the lush, luxurious landscape and is quickly drawn to charming, witty, and impossibly handsome Alexander Laurent. And soon, to her surprise, a romance . . . blossoms.
But it’s not long before Verity is plagued with nightmares, and the darker side of Bloem begins to show through its sickly-sweet façade. . . .

Short and Sweet Review

Its been years since the events of House of Salt and Sorrows took place. Now Verity the youngest sister is seventeen and she still lives in Highmoor with her eldest sister Camille, while the rest of their sisters have left and are scattered about. When Verity gets a letter from her sister Mercy explaining that the Duchess of Bloem wants Verity to come there and paint a portrait of their son Alexander. Verity is excited about the opportunity and wants to go, but Camille gives her a hard no, that’s when Verity learns that she’s able to see ghost. Verity ignores Camilles warning and goes to Bloem anyway and she learns that being at Bloem is more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

Verity has lived at Highmoor her whole life and when she gets Mercy’s letter she knows this is her time to explore the world around her and see what’s out there. Camille immediately shuts down the idea and after they have an argument Camille reveals to Verity that Verity is able to see ghost and she doesn’t want her at Bloem sounding like a mad woman. Verity still feels like she needs to get away and she goes to Bloem with her sisters warning at the back of her mind. At Bloem Verity meets Dauphine, Gerard, and Alex. At first everything seems normal and Verity does her job starting the portrait of Alex. Alex and Verity begin to develop a relationship, these two have a lot in common, mainly how they’ve been sheltered. The Duke Gerard is a botanist and he has some weird plants growing in his greenhouse. Verity sees a lot of weird things at Bloem and she’s having trouble sleeping and she’s hearing things. Verity is determined to find out what’s going on at Bloem and she has to use her ability of talking to ghost to see if she can learn anything. Alex and Verity get engaged and that’s when things really take a turn, more unexplainable things are happening and Verity really has to dig deep to seem like she’s sane.

This book gives off a different feel than the first one, but the writing is hauntingly beautiful. I love the feel of a dark mansion with plants growing everywhere and the ghost also add to the gothic and horror theme. Alex and Verity have a slow burn romance and I also liked the representation of Alex, he’s in a wheelchair, but he does most of the things he wants in life and he’s special. There’s a lot of twists and turns in this book and even if you think you know what’s going to happen there’s another twist. I throughly enjoyed this book and loved seeing the secrets unravel and how Verity dealt with her new found freedom. If you enjoyed the first book, definitely get your hands on the sequel!

Filed Under: Reviews

FAMILY OF LIARS By E. Lockhart

July 3, 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.

FAMILY OF LIARS By E. LockhartFamily of Liars by E. Lockhart
Series: We Were Liars #0
Published by Delacorte Press on 5/3/22
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 294
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

A windswept private island off the coast of Massachusetts.
A hungry ocean, churning with secrets and sorrow.
A fiery, addicted heiress. An irresistible, unpredictable boy.
A summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.

Welcome back to the Sinclair family.
They were always liars.

Short and Sweet Review

Family of Liars is the prequel to We Were Liars and our main character is Carrie, Johnny’s mom. We see what Carrie’s life was like on the island during her teenage years. She tells Johnny’s ghost a story of a time she did something really bad and we follow Carrie as she goes back and tells her story. During the summer the family spends time on their private island and it seems like a regular summer until Carrie’s cousin comes and brings along some boys as guests. Carrie tries to be a good hostess but she’s not that good on it, she’s hooked on pills and half the time she feels drowsy and weak, she also sees the ghost of her dead sister Rosemary who drowned a year ago. Carrie ends up falling for one of the boys but unfortunately he has eyes for her sister Penny which enrages Carrie. This is where the story really picks up. Carrie is always comparing herself to her sisters and she usually sees herself as less than. Anyway jealousy is the name of the game and that is mainly Carries whole story for why she ends up doing what she does. I will say that like We Were Liars things don’t pick up in this book until the whole story is revealed and at that point the book is basically over but the reveal makes the book.

Overall, this book has the same feel as the first and the family really is full of liars. I did like the reveal at the end but the pacing is too slow for me when its trying to build up to the climax. These books are entertaining to read and its really the ending that makes them as good as they are, but I’m not sure that small portion makes up for the rest of the story.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE CHEERLEADERS BY Kara Thomas

June 16, 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 CHEERLEADERS BY Kara ThomasThe Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
Published by Delacorte Press on 7/31/18
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 402
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.

First there was the car accident--two girls dead after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know his reasons. Monica's sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they'd lost.

That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it's not that easy. She just wants to forget.

Only, Monica's world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad's desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn't over. Some people in town know more than they're saying. And somehow, Monica is at the center of it all.

There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn't mean anyone else is safe.

Short and Sweet Review

The town of Sunnybrook no longer has cheerleaders. After two died in a car crash and two more were killed by a neighbor and one committed suicide, the team was disbanded. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die and now five years later the faculty at the high school want to remember the cheerleaders they lost, but Monica isn’t sure she can handle all of the pain that comes with remembering. Monica decides to actually look into what happened five years ago and she learns that some people in town know a lot more than they’re willing to share.

There’s a lot of layers to this novel, it deals with a lot of tough topics: abortion, murder, and suicide. Monica is our main character and she’s been through a lot, she lost a sister to suicide and she recently had an abortion. Monica is asked by one of the teachers to participate in a memorial for the cheerleaders who died five years ago and this stirs up something in Monica. Monica starts to do a little digging into her sister Jen’s death and she ends up learning a lot. She finds Jen’s old phone and starts reading through the texts and she also finds some letters in her stepdads office, which leads her to believe that all of the deaths of the cheerleaders are connected. I liked the mystery of it all and also how Monica became friends with Ginny who was willing to help her with all the investigating. There was a lot of twists and turns when it came to Monica learning information about how the cheerleaders died and how what everyone thought was a closed case is actually something that should have been more closely looked at. I liked how real this book was in dealing with the tough topics, but I do wish Monica was able to confide in her friends. I also liked how we did get to see some things from Jens POV and see how she was feeling and what was happening during the time of some of her teammates deaths.

The ending of the book was pretty good and everything did make sense. I was also pretty surprised by the last chapter from Ginny but all in all it was good. The cheerleaders was a good book to read and it kept me engaged from beginning to end.

Filed Under: Reviews

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
Buy on Amazon

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

BORROW MY HEART By Kasie West

May 26, 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.

BORROW MY HEART By Kasie WestBorrow My Heart by Kasie West
Series: Borrow My Heart #1
Published by Delacorte Press on 6/13/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 275
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Wren is used to being called a control freak. She doesn’t care; sticking to the list of rules she created for herself helps her navigate life. But when a cute guy named Asher walks through the door of her neighborhood coffee shop, the rulebook goes out the window.

Asher is cute, charming . . . and being catfished by his online crush. So Wren makes an uncharacteristically impulsive decision—she pretends to be the girl he's waiting for to save him from embarrassment. Suddenly she’s fake-dating a boy she knows nothing about. And it’s . . . amazing.

It's not long before Asher has her breaking even more of her own rules. But will he forgive her when he finds out she's not who she says she is? Wren's not so sure. . . . After all, rules exist for a reason.

Short and Sweet Review

Wren has a list of rules when it comes to who she wants to date, but those go out the window when she overhears a guy get chastised by his friend for being catfished, So Wren takes it upon herself to pretend to be the online crush. Wren is a control freak and likes order, but for some reason being with Asher a boy she knows nothing about puts her at ease, until she realizes that at some point she’s going to have to break it to him that she isn’t the girl he thinks she is.

Borrow My Heart has a main plot which is Wren pretending to be Asher’s online crush, then we have two subplots, one that involves Wren’s absent mother and another in which a dog needs to adopted. It was interesting to see how Wren got herself in the situation, and how she had to adapt to all the things that Asher and his actual online crush messaged each other about. I did like seeing how Wren ended up liking Asher and they were very cute together and bounced off of each other well. I didn’t like that Asher’s friend Dale was around all the time he was one of the worst third wheels. The romance was cute but there’s always some bumps in paradise, and I won’t spoil it, but it was kind of surprising. The subplot with Wren’s mother was good because it showed us why Wren has trust issues, and Wren’s sister is still willing to make things work with their mom but Wren knows to keep her expectations low and that’s how she processes how her mom left them. Wren works at a dog shelter and there’s a dog named Bean who has been a resident at the shelter for a long time, and Wren and Asher team up to get Bean adopted.

Overall the book was cute, there were some points where serious topics were brought up. This whole scenario with Wren jumping in to save the day is very unlike her but Asher brings out a different side of her which is more fun. Asher and Wren were a cute pairing and sometimes you find your person when you least expect it. Also how can you not like someone who works at an animal shelter and is good with pets? This was a match made in heaven.

Filed Under: Reviews

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