You Did Nothing Wrong by C. G. Drews

 

My thoughts

I listened to an audio while reading. The audio kept me reading. Without it I would have marked this one a dnf. The narrator did a great job. She kept this story flowing and gave it life. 

This book started out so good. Then it took a turn. It had so much gross going on. At least that is my opinion. Who says they want to open someone's chest and crawl inside? Who does that? It's said so many times by Elodie. I mean love can be so strong but that is unnecessary grossness. 

It was like a true love story between Elodie and Bren. They are young and so in love. Elodie is from Australia and has a small child. A little boy she named Jude. Elodie has some secrets that could be deadly. Or she could just be a mixed up young woman who needs to be loved and cherished. Her parents certainly did care for her. Her baby brother drowned in the tub and they laid all the blame on her when she was only eight years old. She was a child. 

Elodie gave birth to Jude when she was only sixteen years old. In the bathroom of her house. No one helped her. Not many sixteen year olds could handle such a horrific event. Elodie is not exactly your average kid though. She's had an unlovable life and decided that she should have a baby. That she named him Jude was kind of crazy. That was also her baby brother's name.  

When Elodie and Jude move into Bren's family home she seems to be very happy. All seems good. Then Jude starts saying that the house is trying to eat him. Bren says it's not. He tries so hard to help with Jude. It seems Jude loves him. Elodie just won't allow it. She's a bit possessive about Jude. He's hers and hers alone. 

Bren has secrets too. He was just a little kid when his parents died. His older sister Ava took care of him with the help of other relatives. Bren is set on fixing up his parent's house. He works hard and seems to get nowhere. But he loves Elodie and Jude so much. 

Elodie is expecting another baby. This one is Bren's and it's another boy. He's so excited about becoming a father. Jude is not happy about this at all. Everything seems so good. Then it's not.

This book was ok but so repetitive. It seemed like the ending was all excitement. All the things that would go wrong happened at the end. Maybe not go wrong but all the big twists and turns. All of them. Not thrown in throughout the story. Elodie stumbles on some things that make her question what is happening. She's also a complete nut. I'm not so sure that Jude is autistic. I think maybe all the things Elodie did might have messed him up. She's trying to make amends it seems. At times anyway. 

The ending of this book was ok but didn't wow me. I figured out some things and others were just grossly awful. I could picture all the blood and gore seeping from the "walls." I could picture Bren's sisters face when Elodie appeared. I could picture Jude's cries. I could also picture other things that I didn't want to picture. 

Parts of this book were great and others were just not good at all. I could only take so much of how many times Elodie talked about ripping someone open and crawling inside of them. Or how she was tethered to Jude by the umbilical cord. 

I had high hopes for this one but was let down.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for this ARC.

3.75 stars 

About

A relentless, horror-inducing psychological suspense for fans of The Push and Baby Teeth by New York Times bestselling author CG Drews.

Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts golden-retriever devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating. She has a new husband, a new house, and a new baby on the way. Everything is perfect.

Then Jude claims he can hear voices in the walls. He says their renovations are “hurting” the house. Even Elodie can’t ignore it–something strange is going on. The question is, is it with the house, or with her son?

Then the one secret Elodie has been hiding is revealed, and no one is safe anymore.

A pulse-pounding, clever take on the haunted house novel, You Did Nothing Wrong examines the complexities of motherhood and the twisted bonds of family as it races to its shocking ending. 

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser

 My thoughts

I received an arc for this book and the audio via NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio. It was also a BOTM choice for me. It's so good. A retelling of Cinderella from the Stepmother's POV... 

Etheldreda married the man she fell in love with and had two daughters, Rosamund and Matilda. Her husband died and her father in law was going to give her small girls to brothers as wives. They were still young children. Ethel married another man to protect her girls. That is when she became the "stepmother" to Elin. Her second husband died and she was left to raise the three girls. Everything her second husband had was left to his child for when she married. 

Ethel was a good mother. She tried her best with Elin. Elin had different ideas as to how to get by. She quoted a book that seemed to always be with her. A book teaching her how to be a lady. She was not at all like the Cinderella that we all knew and felt sorry for. She was a bit lazy. Rosie and Matilda did their share of work. Both were good at doing things. 

When there was to be a ball to find the Prince a wife Ethel of course found a way to get all three girls invited. They had to make their dresses and do their own work to get ready and Ethel's two girls did fine. Elin however didn't do good at all. But as you know Elin is the one the Prince would choose.

The Prince had secrets. Not good secrets. He was definitely not the Prince I grew up knowing about. But he was to be married to Elin and that was all that matter. 

This book gives you a whole other take on the story and family. I loved Ethel. I thought she was very resourceful and knew how to get things done. I felt for her a lot of times and really hoped she would be able to do what she needed to do. I liked the stepsisters too for the most part. Elin however had to grow on me. She came across as a spoiled brat. Always seeming to faint at just the right time. And the Prince. He was a whole other set of problems... When things got intense though Elin did come through. She helped in a way that I could hardly believe. Ultimately she did learn how to persevere. 

This book was a fun read but also serious. It was a page turner and so good. I highly recommend you read it. There are not an abundance of characters but enough. The story being from the "Stepmother;s" POV was fantastic. Very well done. I'll be looking for more by this author in the future. 

The narrator did a wonderful job. She did each character perfectly and kept the story moving at a great pace. 

Five stars  

About

A breathtaking reimagining of Cinderella, as told through the eyes of its iconic "evil" stepmother, revealing a propulsive love story about the lengths a mother will go to for her children

A widow twice-over, Etheldreda is now saddled with the care of her two children, a priggish stepdaughter, and a razor-taloned peregrine falcon. Her entire life has become a ruse, just like the manor hall they live grand and ornate on the exterior, but crumbling, brick by brick, inside. Fierce in the face of her misfortune, Ethel clings to her family’s respectability, the lifeboat that will float her daughters straight into the secure banks of marriage.

When a royal ball offers the chance to secure the future she desperately desires, Etheldreda must risk her secrets, pride, and limited resources in pursuit of an invitation for her daughters—only to see her hopes fulfilled by the wrong one. As an engagement to the heir of the kingdom unfolds with unnerving speed, she discovers a sordid secret hidden in the depths of the royal family, forcing her to choose between the security she’s sought for years and the wellbeing of the feckless stepdaughter who has rebuffed her at every turn.

As if Bridgerton met Circe, and exhilarating to its core, Lady Tremaine reimagines the myth of the evil stepmother at the heart of the world’s most famous fairytale. It is a battle cry for a mother’s love for her daughters, and a celebration of women everywhere who make their own fortunes.

I Came Back For You by Kate White

 My thoughts

I really enjoyed this book/audio. It was an arc from NetGalley and Brillance Audio. Narrated by Sarah Naughton. It was very well done. Held my attention and she did a great job of doing each character. I love when a narrator can do this. It makes the story flow so much better. 

When Bree's ex husband comes to her home out of the blue she is somewhat dismayed. Having no idea what he could possibly want. She hasn't spoken to him since moving so far away. But Logan brings some very shocking news. 

After the murder of their daughter Bree and Logan thought the murder was paying for what he did. Then Logan finds that this may not be true. There may have been another murderer. But how could anyone else know what happened to the other women. To do things almost exactly the same way. To murder Melanie and why. What would be the motive.

This book caught me and would not let go. I throughly enjoyed listening to it. All the way from start to finish. I had a big guess. I was totally convinced that I knew who the killer was. I was so wrong. I was way off. I didn't see it coming.

The author wrote a great edge of your seat thriller with enough mystery to keep me guessing. Enough description to make me feel I was there. By the lake. In the woods. At the Inn. At the crime scene later in the story. On that desolate lonely road. I enjoyed this book so much. 

I loved how the love story played out too. Though I don't think I would have been so giving to Logan. I adored Bree's new partner Bas. He was perfect for her. And so understanding. They were perfect for each other. I just hope they stay that way. 

Thank you NetGalley and Brillance Audio for the ARC. 

4.75 stars...

About

A mother begins to challenge everything she’s been told about her daughter’s murder in a shocking novel of suspense by a New York Times bestselling author.

Ten years after her daughter, Melanie, was murdered, Bree Winter is finally moving on with a new love, a new home, and a new beginning. Then a deathbed confession from the convicted killer throws Bree’s life into a tailspin all over again. He readily confesses to murdering four girls. But not Melanie.

At first, Bree and her ex-husband don’t buy a word of it. Until inconsistencies about the crime emerge. So does the dreadful feeling that the monster who shattered Bree’s family isn’t lying. The only way she can get to the truth is to power through the trauma and return to the town in upstate New York where Melanie’s life came to a brutal end.

Bree will do anything to find justice for her daughter and finish this nightmare forever. Instead, it’s just beginning. Not only could the real killer still be in their midst, but as Bree begins to dig through Melanie’s past, what she discovers calls into question everything she has believed—about the crime and about Melanie herself.

The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall

 

My thoughts

I received an audio from Macmillan via NetGalley for this book. Karissa Vacker is the narrator and did a fabulous job with this book. She kept the characters straight and the book moving at a great pace. 

An edge of your seat story in almost all parts. I figured ou who did what and who is who. I did figure out who one character was. That was the only part I found unbelievable but still loved the book/audio. 

Imagine being in a bunker underground in total blackness. The only light coming when someone comes to bring you food. Or water. Or unimaginable abuse. Imagine what it would feel like if you stopped seeing the light. Almost out of food. Almost out of water. Chained to a wall. What would you do? Knowing there were other girls before you that didn't make it. Names carved on wood. Some advice to help you carved in wood. No way to get out. Until someone does open that door. 

Audrey is a search and rescue expert. She lost her best friend many years ago and won't let go of the search for her. Audrey goes to great lengths to help find missing people. Audrey has a dod named Barry that I fell in love with. He's the best. He's also trained to find people. Both alive and dead people. One day as they are hiking Barry goes nuts and leads Audrey to a door. A door to a bunker.

This was a fast paced story. It kept my attention all the way through. I truly didn't want to put it down. It's one you can easily read in a day. It starts out good and ends up good. 

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for this ARC. 

4.75 stars... 

About

A search & rescue expert. A kidnapped woman. The lost girls who haunt them both.

"Veteran narrator [Karissa] Vacker performs the novel skillfully.... Her soothing voice, clarity, and intonation draw the listener into the story, while her convincing performance of Theo will hold their attention until the very last syllable." —Booklist on A Killing Cold (Starred Review)

There is a girl in a basement.
The door has stopped opening.
The light is gone.

Stranger is trapped in the dark, with only her imagination and the scribbles on the wall left by long-dead girls to keep her company. Nearly out of food and water, she makes one last attempt to escape. But if the door opens at last, will it mean salvation, or only the beginning of her fight to survive?

Audrey is a search and rescue expert who never stopped looking for her ex-best friend, Janie, who disappeared when they were teenagers. Janie used to love the local legend of a forest witch who saves girls from bad men, but Audrey knows now that for every one saved, there’s always another one lost. When she stumbles upon evidence in the forest that a teenage runaway might have actually been kidnapped from land belonging to the town’s most prominent family, she will have to dig through decades of secrets to reveal the biggest one of what happened to the girls before.

Kate Alice Marshall, bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods, No One Can Know, and A Killing Cold, is back with the thrilling new novel Ashley Winstead calls, "magnetic, shocking, heartbreaking, and unputdownable."

"Narrator Karissa Vacker, with scores of audiobooks under her belt, provides a pitch-perfect performance... [her] voice is a solid touchstone guiding listeners through shocks and twists." —Booklist on What Lies in the Woods

A Good Animal by Sara Maurer

 

My thoughts

It's hard to believe this is a debut. It is so beautiful and heartfelt. A story that will capture your heart.

Do you remember what first love felt like? Was it good? Was it heartfelt? Hopeful? Did you end up with that first love? Or was it a bad experience? Sad? Hurtful? This story is so full of love and hope. Hope for a future. A first love that is told from the young man's point of view. From his feelings. His heart. And what a story it is. 

Everett met Mary during the summer before their senior year in high school. Mary had just moved to  Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and couldn't wait to leave. She only had one year left and she could do whatever she wanted. She had plans to move to California and be an artist. 

Everett was a farm boy. A young man who loved everything about being a sheep farmer. He had big plans too. To buy his own sheep and make his life as a farmer. Then he met Mary. He feel hard and fast. They were young and threw caution to the wind. It was such a pure and sweet time for them. 

Mary told Everett from the very start that she was not staying. She told him about her plans and she meant every word. But Everett truly thought he was in love. And possibly he was. Sometimes first loves are the strongest. The deepest. The most intense. But something went wrong. Something unexpected. 

This book is truly beautifully written. It's just one that will keep you turning the pages. I cried so much reading this book. I did laugh a few times too but mostly it brought tears to my eyes. Not just from the love between a boy and a girl but from what happens to sheep. Things I didn't know that happened when you show animals. 

I learned a few things reading this book. All about sheep, but still I did learn some things. This author knows sheep and she knows what that first love feels like. From a boys POV at that. 

This book was a quick read for me. 

I received an audio arc also and have to say that the narrator, Michael Crouch, did a fantastic job of making this book flow just right. Of bringing each character to life. Of giving it the feeling it needed. 

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Macmillan audio, for the arc. Also it was my BOTM last month. 

4.75 stars... 

About

A heart-wrenching coming-of-age debut novel by a stunning new voice in fiction, for readers of Barbara Kingsolver and Ann Patchett.

In the farm country outside Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan—a border town where life moves slow and dreams run fast—most kids want out. Not Everett Lindt. He’s set on staying put, rebuilding his family’s sheep farm, and carving a future from the land he loves.

Then he meets Mary, a new girl in town with restless energy and bigger plans. When their relationship reaches a crossroads, Everett sees a life together; Mary, however, is desperate to find a way out. Together, they make an impulsive choice—one that will change everything.

Tense, lyrical, and deeply felt, Sara Maurer's unforgettable debut breathtakingly captures the ache of first love, the beauty and brutality of rural life, and how one decision can echo through generations and shape who we become.

Watching Over Her by Jean Baptiste Andrea

 My thoughts

This review is a bit harder to write than my usual reads. This book absolutely stole my heart. It touched me in a way that no other book ever has. It's beautifully written and heartbreaking, while at the same time it will give so much more. I laughed, cried, cringed. All the feels and maybe some we never expect. 

I went into this book completely without knowing the first thing about it other than I loved the title and cover. What I got was a lesson in love. Forgiveness. Peace. So much that I honestly can't begin to say it all.

This is told by a very old gentleman who is dying. He's living, well dying, in an Italian Monastery. He's lived there for many years. Before that he was a very poor man. Born a dwarf and abandoned as a young boy by his mother. Yes she did abandon him. She went to find money and it took twenty years for her to finally come back to him. That was not a good choice. But for him maybe it was. 

Michelangelo or Mimo as he liked to be called was a dwarf. He was bullied horribly. He was loved unconditionally. He was lonely even when around others. At times. He worked hard and also drank away his money. But only after he had been let down by the one woman he truly loved. 

Viola. Viola was the daughter of a very rich family. Also a very powerful family. She never wanted to get married and have a family. She wanted to fly. To become a pilot. But her father had different ideas. A female could not do this. She was expected to marry and make their family stronger.

Mimo and Viola met as children in a cemetery of all places. They became fast friends. They were the same age and just hit it off. As they got older Viola grew but Mimo stayed at a little over four feet tall. Viola didn't seem to care at all. Mimo was her friend and that was all that matter. 

Their's is a story to be heard. Though they are seperated many times they are also there for each other. When a tragedy hits it makes Viola see things differently. For some crazy reason she no longer wants to see or hear from Mimo. Mimo goes and works hard. He makes so much money that he doesn't have to worry. But he also drinks to much. 

This book is so beautifully written. It describes the areas and the people so well. The love that Mimo feels for Viola. The anger they both have at times. The fall that makes it impossible for Viola to ever do what she wanted. The hurt. All the emotion you'll feel reading this book. It's definitely one, or the, most beautiful stories I have ever read. 

I started this book and almost didn't keep reading. I still have no idea why. The beginning make me scratch my head. Then it just clicked. This book took my breath away. It's so worth reading.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster for this ARC.  

Five stars 

About

In an Italian monastery, a sculptor named Mimo lays on his deathbed. For decades, he has lived among the monks who watch over his masterpiece, an arresting statue that haunts all who see it.

During his final hours, he reveals his life his impoverished childhood, brutal apprenticeship, and most importantly, his meeting with Viola Orsini, the only daughter of a powerful and dangerous aristocratic family. A chance meeting, Mimo and Viola are instantly drawn to one another, viewing themselves as outsiders—Mimo for his dwarfism, and Viola for her ability to remember everything she has ever read or experienced. Together, they traverse the unrest of the 20th century, from the rise of fascism to the violence of the world wars. While Mimo strives to become a celebrated artist, Viola chases her own dreams of becoming an emancipated woman. Over the decades, they will lose and find each other time and again, but never will they give up on the love they share.

Immersive, moving, and at times hilarious, Watching Over Her is a dynamic love story and timely exploration of the power of creativity during the rise of fascism.

Good Intentions by Marisa Walz

 

My thoughts

This was a pretty good debut. I hated how often the main character, Cady, said Dana. Dana was her sister's name. Her twin sister. Dana was killed in an auto accident. Dana was also ten weeks pregnant. It was horrible and I do understand where Cady was coming from as she navigated her life without her sister. Though I do believe she should have shown the man who hit her sister's car a little sympathy. Especially after reading the ending. 

It took me the whole book to understand Cady's obsession with Morgan. Seemed like Cady had a great life. With the exception of losing her twin she did have it all. She ran her own event planning business and was doing extremely well. She was married to the love of her life. She had not been able to have a baby and had miscarried not that long ago. But she could try again. She could learn to stop lying. I hated that about her. She was a horrible lying person. She convinced herself it was all for whoever's good. Whoever she was doing wrong at the time. The way she treated her husband was unexceptable. Maybe I should give her a little slack but good grief she was so busy stalking and sticking her nose in other people's business she just didn't have time to keep her business afloat. Her great employees were doing so much for her. But did she appreciate them? And always accusing Matt of infidelity. The poor man was so worried about her he didn't know what was happening. Until he did...

This book was pretty well written. I could picture Cady as she sat in her car. As she convinced a group of her losses. As she yelled to Matt. She should have put her life first. Her marriage that is. But the whole book is about the crazy things she is doing. It didn't all start after losing her twin either. That was why I didn't find it so believable that she just flipped after that accident. She was always sort of weak and possessive. Always a kind of control freak. I would have felt bad for Cady but when she did what she did and I read about it I just wanted to smack her. Wake up. See what you have. Dana would have wanted her to hold on to her life and do the right thing.

Turn back around and take responsibility.....

Great narration. The narrator kept the story flowing great. Did pretty good with each character. 

Thank you St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the ARCs. 

4 stars 

About

A deft and immersive psychological suspense debut about a luxury party planner who becomes obsessed with a woman she encounters in a hospital waiting room.

Cady has worked hard to have a good life. She has a thriving luxury event-planning business, the man she’s loved since she was seventeen, and a social calendar she can barely keep up with. She also has Dana, her identical twin, her beyond best friend, her most trusted confidante. When Cady gets a call that Dana has been in a serious accident and arrives moments too late to say goodbye, her world falls apart.

But to Cady’s family’s growing concern and confusion, it’s not Dana’s death that consumes her. It’s Morgan, a grieving mother Cady encountered in the hospital waiting room, the day her sister died. It can’t be a coincidence, that they both experienced tragedy at the same moment, in the same place—Cady doesn't believe in coincidences. Instead, she is convinced that she must help this stranger overcome her tragedy, in order to come to terms with her own.

Or...is there more to it? Is it possible that Cady wants something else from Morgan? Something she can’t even admit to herself?

Slyly twisted and deeply provocative, Good Intentions captures the moral ambiguity that can arise in the face of impossible choices. Like the aftermath of a car accident—and against your better judgment—you won't be able to look away.