THE REAPPEARANCE OF RACHEL PRICE By Holly Jackson

May 3, 2024 by Leave a Comment
by Holly Jackson
Published by Delacorte Press Genres: Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase

Short and Sweet Review

Bel’s mom disappeared sixteen years ago when she was two. Now Bel is being interviewed for a documentary about the disappearance of Rachel Price. Bel was the only witness but as a two year old she doesn’t really remember anything. Bel just wants filming to end and for life to go back to normal, but that’s not going to happen because Rachel Price reappears. Rachel comes back with an interesting story about what happened and Bel can’t bring herself to believe her so she decides to do some investigating of her own.

I love Holly Jackson’s books all of them have been pretty good so I was excited when this one was released. I will say this book started off slow and it does pick up but not when Rachel comes back but when someone else goes missing. Bel grew up with her dad for most of her life except when he was in jail because he was a suspect in her mom’s disappearance. Bel is also close to her cousin Carter and her grandfather and aunt and uncle. Bel doesn’t know much about Rachel except for what she’s heard from other people. When Rachel comes back Bel doesn’t immediately warm up to her, she thinks something is off about Rachel. Bel teams up with Ash one of the cameramen for the documentary. I think Bel and Ash are more so friends than anything especially because we know that Bel has a history of pushing people away if they get too close. Bel starts digging into Rachels past and its interesting because Bel doesn’t trust Rachel and I know Rachel can tell but she just pastes on a smile and you can really feel the tension. I did like that Bel went around interviewing people who could have seen Rachel before she disappeared and just try to put the puzzle pieces together. I will say that there’s a lot of secrets that are revealed and they were juicy secrets and you don’t know who to trust. The further we go in the book the more on the edge of your seat you’ll be. I was just trying to figure out what was going on and I was not disappointed when the reveal happened.

This book was so good! It’s one that makes you want more. This is the kind of plot you see in true crime docs and it was well written! I loved the mystery behind it all and even though it starts off slow it definitely picks up and you’ll want to be buckled in. Pick this book up and don’t miss out!

Filed Under: Reviews

SECRET ADMIRER By R.L. Stine

April 26, 2024 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.

SECRET ADMIRER By R.L. StineSecret Admirer by R.L. Stine
Series: Fear Street #36
Published by Simon Pulse on 6/30/08
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 164
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Selena has it all. She just scored the lead in her high school play, and everyone adores her. So when she starts receiving dead flowers from a secret “admirer” named The Sun, she just assumes it’s a harmless fan.

But Selena soon realizes that The Sun is serious...dead serious. First, her understudy is injured in a suspicious accident. Then, a speeding car almost kills her! Selena doesn’t know what this psycho wants. All she knows is that her number-one fan has become her number-one nightmare.

Short and Sweet Review

Selena is a great actress and she’s about to audition for the lead in the schools next play. When Selena gets dead flowers from a secret admirer she just brushes it off as a harmless prank until it becomes obvious that she’s in actual danger.

I will admit the Secret Admirer was a better read than the last Fear Street book I reviewed which is a few posts down. Selena comes across as someone who mainly cares about herself and not anyone around her. When Selena starts getting these threats from the secret admirer she tries to confide in people but they think she’s just looking for attention. Anyway there’s three guys vying for her attention and she has her eyes on Eddy a college student who is at the play rehearsals as a student consultant. So I think Stine did a good job making it seem like the culprit was obvious but in the end it was someone/ else. There’s not a lot of substance to these books we have a main character who is going through some issue that comes across as spooky and then we have the ending. Overall Secret Admirer got the bad taste out of my mouth that The Dare left and hopefully the other Fear Street books can hold up too. I just think these books are fun to read for nostalgias sake. Pick these books up for a short thriller but keep in mind some are hit or miss.

Filed Under: Reviews

KILL HER TWICE By Stacey Lee

April 16, 2024 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.

KILL HER TWICE By Stacey LeeKill Her Twice by Stacey Lee
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on 4/23/24
Genres: Historical, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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LOS ANGELES, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically everyone, especially the Chow sisters—May, Gemma, and Peony—Lulu’s former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it’s Lulu when they discover a body one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills home where she lived after her fame skyrocketed.

The sisters suspect Lulu’s death is the result of foul play, but the police don’t seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to a cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.

Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat Lulu fairly—no matter her fame and wealth—the sisters set out to solve their friend’s murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu’s killer still on the loose, the girls’ investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a cold-blooded murderer.

Short and Sweet Review

Lulu Wong has become a star and is a familiar face to most but especially those who live in China town. The Chow girls, May, Gemma, and Penelope are former classmates and neighbors of Lulu so when they find a body they instantly know that it’s Lulu. When it becomes apparent that the police aren’t taking the investigation seriously, the girls start to investigate themselves but have to keep their wits about them because a killer is out there.

Kill Her Twice, mainly follows sisters Gemma and May as they try to solve the murder of a former friend Lulu Wong. We alternate between Gemma and May’s POVs as they each take on different clues and follow different leads to try to get closer to the truth. I did enjoy the fact that this took place in the 1930s and in Chinatown the descriptions felt realistic to what would have been going on during that time period. I also learned a lot about the history of Chinatown and during this period the girls are living in what is considered old Chinatown and its about to transition into the new Chinatown which is probably what is currently in LA now. I will say there’s also a lot of people looking down on the girls because they believe there should be a man around, but their father is currently sick and undergoing treatment. In Chinese culture it is believed that the number four is bad luck and their mom is currently pregnant so they’re kind of hoping for a boy. Anyway May and Gemma are two totally different characters and in this case I didn’t prefer one over the other I throughly enjoyed reading from both of their POVs. May is more cautious and as the older sibling she tries to please her parents and also look out for her younger siblings. Gemma is more carefree and she isn’t afraid to let people know what she really thinks about a situation and she happens to find herself in more trouble because of that. We also see a bit of their younger sister Penelope who wants to be a part of the action but is more of a background because she’s at home taking care of their mom but she does have great insights into how to solve mysteries from all of the novels she reads. The family owns a flower shop business which ends up being a good cover for when the girls need to go out investigating. I did like how invested they were to see that Lulu’s killer would be brought to justice. We see Gemma and May take on different angles to the mystery where May ends up going to the studio as an extra to try to learn more about Lulu, where Gemma ends up going to the coroner and meeting a doctor who knew Lulu. I will say I wasn’t sure who the murderer could be and when I got to the reveal I was surprised.

Overall, this was a solid mystery. Gemma and May are by no means detectives but I do love the time and effort they spent to make sure their friend’s case got the attention it deserved. This book was amazing and I loved the historical aspects as well as the cultural elements, I did learn a lot. May and Gemma are great characters basically Yin and Yang. This book was hard to put down and it’s definitely one I would recommend everyone reads!

Filed Under: Reviews

THE NATURALS By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

April 4, 2024 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 NATURALS By Jennifer Lynn BarnesThe Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: The Naturals #1
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on 11/5/13
Genres: Mystery & Detective, Romance, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 321
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But, it's not a skill that she's ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they've begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn't realize is that there's more at risk than a few unsolved homicides-especially when she's sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.

Short and Sweet Review

Cassie has the ability to read people and piece together things she notices about them to form a full picture. She’s had this skill for a while but its not anything she’s taken seriously until the FBI comes knocking and offers her the chance to join the naturals, a group of young adults with skills similar to her. Cassie accepts the offer in hopes that she can solve her mom’s cold case. Cassie is sent to live with the other naturals and hone her skills and look over unsolved crimes. There’s a new killer and this one is closer than anyone thought, and the naturals have to come together to solve this new case.

Cassie has the skills of a profiler, think about the FBI agents on Criminal Minds. When Cassie is recruited to join the naturals she meets, Michael, Dean, Lia, and Sloane. Each of these teens has a certain ability that allows them to figure someone out. Dean is another profiler, while Michael can spot someone’s emotions, Sloane is into math and statistics, and I think Lia is able to tell if someone is lying. Anyway they all live in this house together and they have FBI agents who are their mentors Agent Locke and Agent Briggs. I think this is different from other mysteries because of the profiling aspect. We get to see Cassie train and learn how to use her skills to be better. I will say because Dean was another profiler they had a connection but there was a love triangle. I found the love triangle to be unnecessary and I’m glad that by the end of the book we reigned that whole situation in. My least favorite character in this book was Lia, she just seemed like she enjoyed starting problems and for that reason she can go. We see Cassie learn what it takes to be a profiler and also she’s put in danger when someone starts to recreate her mothers murder and it seems like they’re trying to lure Cassie to the same fate. The ending was good but I will say it was kind of predictable but that could just be because I read so many mystery books that not much can surprise me.

Overall, this was a solid first book. I do think if you like Criminal Minds you’ll enjoy this book. I’m looking forward to reading the next books in the series just to see more growth from these characters and also to see how well they’ll solve future crimes as a team.

Filed Under: Reviews

FOUR LETTER WORD By Gretchen McNeil

March 26, 2024 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.

FOUR LETTER WORD By Gretchen McNeilFour Letter Word by Gretchen McNeil
Published by Disney-Hyperion on 3/5/24
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

For most of her life, Izzy has been looking forward to fulfilling her mother’s dream of studying abroad in Italy. Going into her senior year, Izzy is counting down the days until she can leave her humdrum life behind, until Alberto, a handsome and mysterious Italian exchange student shows up for his stay with her family. Now life in her hometown doesn’t seem so drab, as Izzy, and everyone else, is immediately charmed by Alberto and his irresistible accent.
But something about Alberto isn’t quite…right. As an avid true crime fan, Izzy has been following a serial killer case in San Francisco and the murderer, whose description bears a passing resemblance to the Italian exchange student living in her house, seems to have made his way north. As Izzy pays closer attention to Alberto—his actions, his temper—she finds more and more holes in his story that he has trouble explaining away.
When a local girl is murdered, Izzy thinks Alberto might not be who he seems. Worse, a series of “accidents” seem to target Izzy herself. In a race against the clock, Izzy must convince anyone that Alberto could be a notorious killer before another girl ends up dead.

Short and Sweet Review

Izzy has wanted to follow her mothers dream of living in Italy and now that it’s her senior year she’s counting down the days until she can leave. When Alberto an Italian exchange student comes for his stay with Izzy’s family things in town don’t seem so dull anymore. Alberto is able to charm everyone around him with his Italian accent and curiosity but Izzy feels that something is off with him. Izzy have been following a crime case about a serial killer in San Fransico and she thinks it may be Alberto. When a girl is murdered Izzy knows she needs to convince everyone around her about who Alberto really is before someone else ends up dead.

Let me start by saying I usually love McNeils books but this one was not good, in the slightest. I gave it a rating of 2 and I think that was being generous. Izzy and her family are dysfunctional, her dad is around but not really there and her mom has anger issues and is taking them out on people around her. The only thing that seems to make her mom happy is Albertos pressence. Izzy has a horrible best friend Peyton who has a boyfriend but likes to flirt with Alberto, and this ends up causing a lot of trouble. Anyway we see how Peyton doesn’t like to take the blame for her actions and she’s also keeping a big secret from Izzy. I won’t ruin it for you guys but Peyton would not be my friend after the way she acted in this book. Anyway someone ends up murdered and the gears in Izzy’s head start turning and then someone attempts to kill her multiple times. The only person who believes Izzy is Jake and she spent most of the book trying to avoid him because she thought he was trying to break things off with her. I think Izzy was a hard character to root for and honestly everything about this book is a mess. The characters are just off and its called four letter word because the mom doesn’t like four letter cuss words. Oh and the ending and what the mom does is just crazy like she definitely needed to be in a psych ward.

The premise of this book sounds great, a thiller/mystery with an italian exchange student who might also be a serial killer sounds like it’ll be intriguing. Instead I got a book full of dysfunctional characters some who just had blinders on and their heads in the clouds. It was also very predictable. I think this book would have been better off it was just Izzy facing off with Alberto and she didn’t have all her crazy family members and friends get in the way. This book is a prime example of if your child is telling you something you should believe them but the only people who believed Izzy were Jake and the police. As hard as this is for me to say this I think this is a book that should be skipped.

Filed Under: Reviews

UNDER THIS RED ROCK By Mindy McGinnis

March 18, 2024 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.

UNDER THIS RED ROCK By Mindy McGinnisUnder This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 3/19/24
Genres: Contemporary, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 331
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Neely’s monsters don’t always follow her rules, so when the little girl under her bed, the man in her closet, and the disembodied voice that shadows her every move become louder, she knows she’s in trouble. With a history of mental illness in her family and the suicide of her older brother heavy on her mind, Neely takes a job as a tour guide in the one place her monsters can’t follow—the caverns. There . . . she meets Mila. Mila is everything Neely isn’t—beautiful, strong, and confident. As the two become closer, Neely’s innocent crush grows into something more. When a midnight staff party exposes Neely to drugs, she follows Mila’s lead . . . only to have her hallucinations escalate.

When Mila is found brutally murdered in the caverns, Neely has to admit that her memories of that night are vague at best. With her monsters now out in the open and her grip on reality slipping, Neely must figure out who killed Mila . . . and face the possibility that it might have been her.

Short and Sweet Review

Neely has monsters and they don’t always follow her rules. There’s a history of mental illness in her family and she recently lost her older brother Lance to suicide. Neely decides to get a first job where her monsters won’t follow her, so she becomes a tour guide at the caverns. At the caverns she meets Mila who seems to understand her and give her a chance. When the employees have a staff party to get to know each other. Neely ends up trying drugs and her hallucinations seem to go from 0-100. When the staff comes back after the weekend Mila is found dead and Neely has no idea what happened or if she was even the cause of it.

Let me start by saying mental health is really important and our main character Neely is suffering from something that I can’t diagnose but I can tell you guys that she hears multiple different voices in her head, from the girl under her bed to the guy in her closet. It was interesting to see how Neely would deal with this and honestly she would just go with it and have conversations with these voices so she looked crazy to everyone around her especially her coworkers. I think because its a small town and people knew about her brothers suicide it didn’t make it any better that she would be in public having conversations with herself and doing different voices. Neely lives with her grandparents and they know something isn’t quite right with her but I wish they would have gotten her help sooner. I also think because Neely has been so isolated she doesn’t have great social skills so when she does start asking people questions about Mila’s murder she’s not so tactful. The setting of the caverns were pretty cool and I liked that Neely was somewhat okay while she was there. It’s there that she meets Mila and eventually gets a crush on her. I think on Neely’s side it was more of a crush and in her head it could go places but Mila really just saw their interactions as friendship. When Mila dies Neely kind of spirals and I think people take the fact that there’s something wrong with her to pin the murder on her. I think because of this we have a narrator we don’t know if we could trust or not which I liked because we have to think about what could have happened in the caverns that night.

Under This Red Rock, was a great book. I liked McGinnis’s portrayal of mental health and the plot of this book. Neely is a character you want to root for but there’s also seeds of doubt that make you question her. I definitely recommend this book, it was a unique and a captivating read!

Filed Under: Reviews

CURSED CRUISE By Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

March 15, 2024 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.

CURSED CRUISE By Victoria Fulton and Faith McClarenCursed Cruise by Faith McClaren, Victoria Fulton
Series: Horror Hotel #2
Published by Underlined on 3/19/24
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

All aboard...

After their fateful stay at the Hearst Hotel, the Ghost Gang is back with more spooks and more subscribers. They’ve been invited to record onboard the RMS Queen Anne, a transatlantic luxury ocean liner with a colorful past of violent deaths of hundreds of passengers—souls that bought a one-way ticket to the afterlife (and never disembarked).

When Chrissy, Chase, Kiki, and Emma board the ship, they have a funny feeling they’ve been sucked into a ghostly time warp—a theory that takes a frightening turn when Chrissy goes missing on the first night.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Chrissy has been sucked into another time by a passenger who wants the Ghost Gang to know her untimely death was not an accident and the perpetrator is still alive—and on board this ship.

Short and Sweet Review

After their stay at the Hearst Hotel the ghost gang has been invited to set sail on the RMS Queen Anne. The ship has a history of passengers dying violent deaths. While on board it’s Chrissy who realizes the ship isn’t just haunted it is being cursed.

The ghost gang is back and after their last video went viral they’ve gained a lot of subscribers. Now they’re going on the RMS Queen Anne to shoot another video for their channel and maybe even score a TV gig. It doesn’t take long for Chrissy to realize something is different about the hauntings on the ship compared to what she has dealt with before. In the book Chrissy ends up being possessed by one of the passengers who was previously on the ship who was murdered, and she won’t stop her haunting until the truth about her death is revealed. We see Chase, Emma, and Kiki try to learn more about the ship and the passengers who are currently ghost. Emma and Kiki are now an item in this book but they don’t really spend a lot of time together because they have bigger things to worry about. Same with Chase and Chrissy not spending a lot of time together but also Chrissy isn’t herself for most of the book. I did like that this book took place on a ship it had a Titanic feel to it and honestly I could say some of the undead passengers remind me of certain characters from the movie. The book started off a little slow but it really did pick up and I did enjoy following the each of the characters. Its a very quick read and once you get to the hauntings you won’t want to put the book down.

Cursed Cruise, was a good book. I was happy to see that Horror Hotel got a sequel and this book was just as good as the first. I’m hoping there’s going to be another installment in this series! I would recommend this book if you like reading about true stories but with a paranormal ghost twist to them!

Filed Under: Reviews

THE OTHER LOLA By Ripley Jones

March 9, 2024 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 OTHER LOLA By Ripley JonesThe Other Lola by Ripley Jones
Published by Wednesday Books on 3/12/24
Genres: LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 329
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

In the months after Cam and Blair broke their small hometown’s legendary missing-girl story and catapulted to accidental fame, they vowed never to do it again. No more mysteries, no more podcasts, and no more sticking their heads where they don’t belong.

Until Mattie Brosillard, a freshman at their high school, shows up on their doorstep, begging Cam and Blair for help. Mattie's sister Lola disappeared mysteriously five years ago. No trace of her was ever found. Now, she's back--but Mattie is convinced the girl who returned is an impostor. Nobody believes Mattie's wild story--not Mattie's brother, not Mattie's mother, and not even Cam and Blair. But something is definitely wrong in the Brosillard family. And Blair has her own reasons for wanting to know what really happened to Lola while she was gone.

With Cam and Blair still struggling with the aftermath of their first mystery—and with new secrets swirling between them

Short and Sweet Review

Five years ago Mattie’s older sister Lola went missing, and out of the blue someone claiming to be Lola is trying to come back into Mattie’s life. Everyone in Mattie’s life including her older brother and mom believe Lola is back but Mattie knows that this stranger isn’t her sister and that’s when she decides to ask Cam and Blair for help, after all they did solve a case before.

After what happened in Missing Clarissa when Cam and Blair solved the case of Clarissa and shot themselves to fame, they declared they would never do another podcast or solve another case. When Mattie comes to them asking for help Blair is more willing to accept the case but Cam is very adamant she wants no parts of this. We see that the aftermath of the last case really took a toll on Cam, she has nightmares and she realizes that the people closest to her could have gotten hurt, and even worse there’s a whole bunch of internet trolls who keep coming for her and Blair. Cam is sticking to her guns in this book, and at some points her attitude about it is kind of off-putting but I understand where she’s coming from, but because of her attitude I found myself enjoying Blairs POV more. In the last book we saw Blair was the reluctant one but in this book she takes more of a lead. Blairs motivation for solving this case comes from the fact that a publisher from New York called her about a book deal and Blair needed a story and Mattie came at the perfect time. Both Blair and Cam don’t exactly believe Mattie because her story does sound far fetched especially because when Lola went missing Mattie was a little kid so how good is her memory about what happened that night. Cam and Blair are cautious about how they approach this case, they know for sure that their won’t be a podcast but they’re also not sure about what danger is involved. Mattie was an okay character she annoyed me more often than not. I thought of Mattie being more of a hinderance than an asset. Whenever Blair and Cam would suspect someone Mattie would kind of freak out and say no that person couldn’t have done it because they were always nice to me, I just thought she let her feelings dictate what was actually logical.

I found myself enjoying this book a lot more than the first, and I think it’s because in Missing Clarissa they really didn’t know what they were doing with solving mysteries or even starting a podcast. In this book it seems a little more cut and dry, interview people that were with Lola the night she went missing and try to figure out what happened that night. I did like the story and seeing the character development that both Blair and Cam had. The Other Lola is actually a pretty good book and its not often that someone comes back from going missing and isn’t actually the person they’re claiming to be but it does happen so it wasn’t a crazy idea that I couldn’t believe. I think the best thing about this book was that Lola wasn’t immediately accused of being someone else by Cam and Blair but they did have their evidence first.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot! I will say that I think Missing Clarissa needs to be read first just so you can have the background knowledge about why our characters are the way they are now. I truly believe that this book was better than the first and I definitely recommend it!

Filed Under: Reviews

ONE LAST BREATH By Ginny Myers Sain

February 28, 2024 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.

ONE LAST BREATH By Ginny Myers SainOne Last Breath by Ginny Myers Sain
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on 3/5/24
Genres: LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Romance, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Mount Orange, Florida, is famous for two things: Cerulean freshwater springs, ideal for free divers who aren't afraid of lurking gators. And the gruesome cold case murder of best friends, Bailey and Celeste, twenty years ago.

Bailey and Celeste's murders cast a permanent darkness over sunny Mount Orange. Tru has always lived in that shadow. Now she's supposed to head to FSU in the fall with her boyfriend, but those unsolved murders -- and the death of her own sister -- invade her every thought. It’s only in the shadowy deep of Hidden Glen Springs that she can breathe.

When a strange girl named Rio rolls into town, hell-bent on figuring out who killed Bailey and Celeste, Tru can't resist entangling herself in the thrill of solving the decades old mystery any more than she can resist her familiar, aching attraction to Rio.

As the summer heat ignites, so does the spark between Tru and Rio...along with their other-worldy connection to Bailey and Celeste. But when someone begins stalking them, the girls become convinced the killer is back in town. And if they keep digging into the past, Tru and Rio know this time, it could be their blood that makes the springs run red.

Short and Sweet Review

Years ago two teen girls, Bailey and Celeste were murdered in Mount Orange, Florida, and since than that’s what the town is famous for. Tru wasn’t even alive when the murders occurred but she feels connected to the girls and can’t get them out of her head. Tru lives in a small town, where everyone knows everyone, so it’s pretty shocking when newcomer Rio comes into town. Tru feels like she has a connection to Rio and it gets even weirder that Rio says she also feels a connection with Bailey in Celeste. Tru and Rio start to dig around for more information but the killer is still out there and they don’t want to be found after all these years.

Our main character is Tru and she hasn’t had the easiest life, her sister died and she blames herself for it, and also her mom has an alcohol problem. Tru usually escapes her problems by going diving with a few people she knows. Tru is dating East which is the mayors nephew. I will say I didn’t like their relationship, it felt like they were together because they’ve known each other since childhood and it’s just something you do. You could also tell that East liked Tru more than she liked him especially when Rio rolled into town. Anyway we learn that Tru has been obsessed over the case of Bailey and Celeste mainly because its a cold case and she really can’t put her finger on why she cares so much. Rio is like an anomaly, she’s new to town, likes diving, and is also very interested in the case. But Rio’s interest in the case makes everyone weary of her and her actual intentions. We see these two spend time together and also try to figure out what happened on the night Bailey and Celeste were killed. I will say I thought their connection of past lives was a little far out there but I guess it could be possible. I think two of my problems with this book were one, Tru going back and forth with whether or not she could trust Rio, and two, both of them not doing the greatest detective work and someone getting hurt because of false accusations. I did like the mystery and it was hard to tell who could have done it. I thought it was interesting that Tru and Rio were using their connection to Bailey and Celeste to find clues about the case and try to piece things together.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book that did have some flaws. I do think the idea of two people from a past life reuniting to solve their murder was interesting and it took a while for me to wrap my head around but I can get with the idea. I liked the small town feel of everything, I do think the relationship between Tru and Rio could have been better if there was more trust but looking back at it Tru jumped in real quick with her feelings and it left a lot of room for doubt. This was a good read and I recommend it to anyone who likes cold cases and small town mysteries!

Filed Under: Reviews

BAD LIKE US By Gabriella Lepore

February 22, 2024 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.

BAD LIKE US By Gabriella LeporeBad Like Us by Gabriella Lepore
Published by Inkyard Press on 3/5/24
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 281
Format: eARC
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Partying with popular classmates they barely know is not what Eva and her BFFs had in mind for their spring break. But things have been off ever since Miles' academic career took a turn for the worse (they don't talk about it), so a trip to a private beach lodge might be exactly what they need. And Eva won’t admit it, but the chance to reconnect with Colton is worth putting up with Piper’s constant livestreams to her thousands of “besties.”

At first, it’s all sand and waves, but tensions run high when an anonymous letter shakes up an already-flailing love triangle.

When someone turns up dead, Eva can’t even trust her closest friends—but she thinks she can trust Colton. As they get closer to the truth, they uncover secrets that upend everything they thought they knew about their fellow spring breakers.

Short and Sweet Review

Eva and some of her close friends head down to a beach lodge for spring break, the only thing is, Eva doesn’t really know everyone that well its just when you’re friends with someone their friends become your acquaintances. Anyway things go well for the first few days, until tensions between a love triangle start to rise and then someone ends up dead. Eva doesn’t know who to trust but she knows she needs to figure out what happened even if it puts herself in harms way.

Eva is one of main characters and we get to read from her POV as well as Colton and Piper. There’s also six other characters in this book who are basically filler characters and in the background. There is a lot of tension within this group and you can tell not everyone is friends. Eva brought her friend Miles along and he’s currently dealing with some academic trouble that he really doesn’t want to talk about. Colton is kind of a bad boy but Eva likes him and is hoping that this time at the lodge will help them get closer together. Colton also likes Eva but after someone is found dead on the beach his main priority is looking out for his brother Danny. There really isn’t much time for romance between Eva and Colton, we see them talk and flirt but once the murder happens they focus most of their attention on that. Piper is an influencer and she livestreams any chance she gets even if she is invading everyone else’s privacy she doesn’t care. Piper used to date Danny but now she’s in a relationship with Javi, and it’s interesting because they should not all be on vacation together, even if they’re saying there’s no hard feelings. When one of our characters ends up dead we see everyone start to turn on each other and try to come up with motives. Eva and Colton are the only ones who actually try to do some investigating. This group of teens had a lot of secrets and uncovering each one was satisfying it also gave the reader a chance to see if a character actually had motive. I enjoyed reading the police interviews and seeing how each character had a different story or if they were trying to cover for someone else. The end was okay the motive for what happened was weak, but believable, honestly people will commit murder for any reason.

Overall, this book was okay, it’s not Lepore’s strongest book but I still enjoyed it. I will say I liked the short chapters and the characters and the further I got in the book the more hooked I was. Even though I said it wasn’t the best of Lepore’s books its still worth the read!

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