This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

My Rating: ★★★★

In the early 1800s, people living with clockwork parts are shunned by society and forced to scrounge to make a living unless they live in a clockwork friendly area. Shadow Boys, a cross between a mechanic and a medic, are the only ones who treat and care for these people. They too are shunned and do their work in hiding because society views them as just as bad as the people they help. Alasdair is a Shadow Boy who works with his father and has been hiding a huge secret: he brought his brother back from the dead. Alasdair is barely keeping his life together when someone anonymously publishes Frankenstein, which eerily resembles him and his brother while painting them both in a dark light, breaking all hell loose.

I love that this retelling brings the story to life by working Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in as character who is inspired to write Frankenstein because of a major event that takes place in the book. Mary's a side character who is central to the plot because she was once a close friend of Alasdair and his brother, Oliver. It's such a neat touch that truly makes the story seem like we're taking a peek into "true" events that inspired Mary's famous novel. The trio's friendship as well as her part in helping Alasdair bringing the late Oliver back to life is truly a genius idea that sucked me further into the story. I love little touches like this. It's like Mary has an expanded cameo in the retelling of her own novel.

The novel follows Alasdair, who is struggling to live with himself after a terrible accident resulting in his brother and best friend's death. On top of things, he decided to bring him back from the dead using his knowledge as a Shadow Boy and the research of his idle, a big name Shadow Boy and scientist. The entire story is told through Alasdair's perspective, but he and most of the characters we see often are well developed. We learn a lot about Oliver's former life and how he's changed in personality as well as physical appearance since he was reanimated. One of my favorite characters in the novel is Clemence, who is a young woman that Alasdair meets during his travels. She's smart, on her toes, says what she thinks, and develops a meaningful friendship with Alasdair. I would've loved to have seen more of her throughout the story, but I'm happy with where Lee went with her character.

All in all, this is an excellent story that brings steampunk, science fiction, historical fiction and a sprinkle of non-fiction characters together to tell a compelling story. It draws from the original material and incorporates it in a way that makes the two work like two stories that were meant to be told together. I highly recommend it.

Rush (The Game #1) by Eve Silver

Rush by Eve Silver

My Rating: ★★

Mika's barely holding on and trying her best to be normal when she almost dies and gets pulled into an alien fighting dimension known as The Game. Scared and confused, she's fighting aliens every so often before she's thrown back into her regular life like nothing happened. The Game quickly throws a wrench in the middle of her friendships and all she wants is answers from the frustratingly illusive Jackson, the leader of her squad who has his lips zipped.

This book irritated me until the very end. It's not that it's a bad book because it does have good things going for it. It has an interesting plot and the protagonist is a person of color, but the execution left me hanging. I was just as confused as Mika was for the first three chapters. I felt like I was Mika and I just got thrown into this random unknown world. If that's what Silver was going for, she hit the nail straight on the head. However, it took about half the book to get the story really going. Essential world building occurred in major information drops too late in the story. The illusive Jackson, who has a lot of the answers, would probably manage to screw up telling someone where the coffee was because he's that evasive when someone manages to pin him down. We also spend a lot of time dealing with teenage drama, which should've come after the essential world building and not before. I think this series has a lot of potential. It just needs a good polishing to get it to where it needs to be.

Now let's talk about the characters we spend the most time reading about. Mika is the most developed character in the book, and the poor girl is just as confused as I was for the first couple chapters. On top of dealing with her mother's death and her father's withdrawal and drinking habit, she's got a crappy best friend. Queue Carly, the alleged best friend. She's jealous, petty, and quick to find something to use as an excuse to turn on Mika. I hope Mika makes a run for it because we've all had a friend like Carly at one point in our lives. What made us stay friends with that person so long? Beats me, but Mika will be facing that same question soon enough. Mika and Carly's mutual friends are not seen enough to comment on, but it appears that they're closer friends with Carly because they leave Mika out in the cold. Poor Luka. I honestly thought he and Jackson were the same person for the first couple chapters. I had subconsciously decided that this single character's name was Luka Jackson.

All in all, like I said earlier in my review, it's not that it's a bad book. It's the execution that left me hanging. There's good elements that could've really shined and I think that it does have a good premise.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Montague Siblings #1) by Mackenzi Lee

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

My Rating: ★★★★★

Monty, the son of an Earl, was meant to be a gentleman. What his family got instead is a partying, gambling, and all around self-absorbed son who got expelled from a prestigious boarding school. After somehow convincing his parents to let him go on a yearlong tour across Europe with his best friend, Percy, and his younger sister, Felicity. Monty prepares himself for a year of partying and hopefully something more than a smooch with his bestie when his dad informs him that this tour is his last chance at cleaning up or he's cut off from the family fortune. Prepared for one long boring trip, Monty finds himself in the middle of a dangerous adventure that brings him closer to Percy and Felicia.

I absolutely love this story. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started it, but what I got is a great set of characters and a historical fictional novel that deals homophobia, racism, and misogyny. Monty is a self-absorbed character who is bisexual in a era that identifying as anything but heterosexual is not accepted. His peers look down on him, his father verbally and physically abuses him, and his partying ways shames his family. Percy is an orphan raised by his father's family who accepts him as a half black man when society does not, but they frown upon him having a disability. Then there's Felicity, who wants to get an academic education and enter the medical field when she's expected to become a respectable future wife and mother.

Monty is such a messy character who puts so much focus on himself that he doesn't notice the things going around him. He had a lot of maturing to do when the story starts, which happens slowly as the story continues. I love that Percy and Felicity don't hesitate to call him out on how much he ignores and doesn't notice as well as his privilege as the story continues. I love the development of Percy and Felicia and would love more focus on them in the next installment.

Overall, the story is hilarious. The trio are attacked by highwaymen, chased by a murderous man that Monty insulted, abducted by pirates, and almost meet their deaths on a sinking island. On top of that, there are many hilarious moments and serious moments that leave you with a solid story. I'm extremely excited that there's going to be a second book because I want to see where the characters go from here.

Forget Her Name by Jane Holland

Forget Her Name by Jane Holland

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Catherine and her family have a huge secret: she has an older sister, Rachel, who died in a skiing accident when Catherine was a pre-teen, and they were all scared of her. Since her death, it's like she never existed. Even daring to speak her name is enough to upset everyone. Years later, Catherine is getting ready to marry the love of her life when someone starts terrorizing her in Rachel's name. Everyone's acting like it couldn't possibly be Rachel because she's been dead for many years. Or is she? What is everyone hiding from Catherine?

This is such an interesting read because it's like one big puzzle that I was sorting out while Catherine was trying to get answers. There's the main set of characters, which include Catherine as well as her parents and fiance. Then there's the characters that pop in and out, such as friends and the people Catherine work with. These characters are presented in a way that made me aware that something was amiss. It's clear that Rachel is the huge ghostly elephant in the room that everyone is avoiding like the plague. As the story continues, we get to know these characters better, including Rachel through Catherine's memories.

The mystery is a slow burn as we watch Catherine become more agitated by whoever is terrorizing her. It starts with someone mailing her Rachel's snow globe with an eye inside of it and slowly escalates to destroying Catherine's property. The odd thing is that no one believes Catherine, not even the police. Everyone thinks she's imagining things, doing it for attention, or that it's stress related and she just doesn't remember. Poor Catherine just wants answers, but no one wants to talk about it. Once the story gets rolling, it quickly spins out of control and we understand exactly what's happening and why everyone was so tight lipped until the 65% mark.

As I got closer to the halfway point, I had more than one theory about what was happening. My first theory was close, but didn't hit the nail on the head. The layers just peel off and I was left with an answer for everything. I was shocked about some of the revelations pertaining to one character that seemed a bit off, but I wasn't sure what it was until the ball was rolling. Sadly, I didn't care for the ending. I understand where Holland was going with it, but it just seemed too good to be true. However, it is a wonderful book and I was sitting on the edge of my seat until the very end and I would read it again.

Hot Blooded (New Orleans #1) by Lisa Jackson

Hot Blooded by Lisa Jackson

My Rating: ★★

Samantha Leeds, a psychologist and radio personality known as Sam, is recovering from a trip gone wrong with her ex when she starts getting creepy phone calls and threats from a killer, Father John. He insists that she's a former prostitute who needs to atone for her sins, and he's working his way up to making her his final victim. As his attacks escalate, someone starts haunting her as the voice of a teenager who is believed to have committed suicide after contacting Sam for help. Then she becomes involved with her hot and mysterious new neighbor, Ty Wheeler, who knows a lot more about her than he lets on and he's hiding something big. Sam's head is spinning as she starts to point fingers, unsure who to trust, as Father John gets closer and more violent.

Told in rotating perspectives, we see the story unfold from several different viewpoints, including Father John himself. Sadly, the only character that is well developed is Sam. We barely touch the surface on majority of the characters, including the detectives that return in future installments of this series. I also don't understand why John was so obsessed with Sam and her nonexistent past as a prostitute. I thought he was targeting prostitutes because Sam had been one herself deep in her past, but that's not the case. There are just some things that are a part of the mystery aspect that just don't make sense once I reached the end of the book.

The romance plot was okay. We just didn't learn enough about Ty, and what we did learn, made it seem unrealistic once the romance was in full swing. Although, Sam does have a habit of choosing all the wrong men, so I suppose it does make sense for her. I was mostly put off by the romance aspect because of the mystery plot. One minute, John was raping a murdering someone, and Sam was either being romanced or having sex in the next. I was distressed by John's chapters, so my brain was just not computing the romance.

The title of this book sounds like it's a romantic thriller, but don't let the title fool you. It's a thriller with a romance plot, so if you're looking for a romantic thriller, this might not be the story for you. That said, the mystery aspect of the novel is great. I was convinced that a particular character was Father John for majority of the book and it totally wasn't them. In fact, I didn't even figure out who Father John was until almost the end of the book. All in all, it's not a bad book. I was just put off by the romance in combination with the mystery plot, and I wish the characters were better developed.

The Vanishing by Wendy Webb

The Vanishing by Wendy Webb

My Rating: ★★★

Newly widowed, Julie Bishop just discovered that her fairytale life was nothing but a scam because her late husband duped her just as he did the many people he scammed out of every cent they had. She's barely hanging on by a thread when a mysterious man appears at her doorstep and offers her the chance at starting over. The catch? All she has to do is leave everything behind and live at Havenwood as his mother's companion. However, the longer she stays at Havenwood, the more she realizes the huge mistake she's made.

Julia's extremely naive and it's clear that she's an unreliable narrator from the beginning. I don't know about you, but I would be extremely suspicious if someone appeared and offered something that was too good to be true, especially if that person was a stranger. However, like I said, Julia's an unreliable narrator and she doesn't have anything to lose anyway, so she takes this man up on his offer. Personally, I find unreliable narrators more interesting to follow because we have to question their perspective. It adds an extra layer to the story that is being told. Many of the characters are directly linked to the estate's home, such as Drew, who clearly knows Julie even if she doesn't know him yet. I especially enjoyed Amaris Sinclair. She's such a vibrant character that I wouldn't mind hanging out with.

The narration does get repetitive, especially when Julia is faced with something she questions. If you can get past this, you'll enjoy the story. It's also easy to piece together most of what's going on, but the things left unanswered still pack a punch when they're revealed. I found myself glued to the pages and wondering when Julia was going to start piecing things together while enjoying the story. It's well written and has me looking forward to reading other work from Webb. If you're on the market for a ghost story, but you don't want anything that will have you sleeping with the lights on, this is the book for you.

Dark Pines by Will Dean

Dark Pines by Will Dean

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After moving to a rural Swedish town to be closer to her terminally ill mother, Tuva Moodyson finds herself working on a once in a lifetime story for the local newspaper. Tuva starts investigating the murder in connection with a series of similar cold case murders that took place in the same forest. Unfortunately for Tuva, she is forced to keep facing her fear of nature by constantly having to return to the forest during her investigation, which puts her on edge during this already dangerous story.

Tuva is such a well-written protagonist who is relatable from the very beginning. She's continuing the struggle with the death of her father, which leads her to strive to report the facts delicately so that she doesn't cause any additional suffering to the victim's families. Tuva also has a rocky relationship with her mother, which makes her feel guilty even though her feelings are justified. Plus, she's smart, strong, and driven, which makes her an extremely interesting character to follow. She's also deaf and bisexual, and neither of these characteristics are the sole reasons for her presence in the book. It's nice to see some positive representation!

In addition to Tuva, there's a cast of characters that range from fascinating to bizarre and suspicious. There's an eccentric ghost-writer, a man who is believed to have hoarding disorder, sisters who create trolls with a variety of items including some of their own hair, and a seemingly perfect couple hiding failing marriage. There's also Tuva's close friend Tammy, who is being submitted to racism at the hands of the people living in their rural town, and a cast of supportive to silently grumpy co-workers and acquaintances. Each of these characters and their circumstances are brought to life in a way that is easy to see them living their lives somewhere in reality.

The murder mystery is well planned and had me glued to the pages. I found a handful of characters highly suspicious and zeroed in on a character that was not the murderer on the loose in the forest. The way that Dean develops the murder plot is gripping and had me wanting to continue reading even when I couldn't. The case is eerie and jarring but, unfortunately, the killer's motives lack depth. The big reveal is also a bit rushed and the story has an open ending that I wish had been tied up. I think the story could benefit from an additional chapter or two to wrap things up. Regardless, I enjoyed following Tuva through the twists and turns the story takes her through and find myself looking forward to reading more from Dean.