Final Girls by: Riley Sager

Description from the publisher through Netgalley:

“The Final Girls need you. . . . The Final Girls are tough, everything survivors should be. But the new threat is clever, ominous, even closer than you suspect. You are about to gasp. You might drop the book. You may have to look over your shoulder. But you must keep reading. This is the best book of 2017.”—Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Find Her

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.

Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.

That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

Recognition

 July 2017 LibraryReads selection

My Review:

This was a twisty read.  I thought I had it all figured out about halfway through and I would’ve have been so disappointed if I had.  I was wrong.  This was an interesting story that revolved around 3 women who were known as Final Girls, meaning that they were the only survivors of horrific, murderous events.

The majority of this story is not really about those events but more of the lives of these women after.  We do find out what had happened during the murders but the focus is the present.

I really liked this book and it was different then the type of thrillers I normally read.  I gave this book 4 crowns.

 

Girls in Pants by: Ann Brashares

The third installment of the Summer of the Sisterhood (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) was so much fun to read.  I listened to this on audio and I can’t wait to finish of the series.  I love the characters so much and have no trouble envisioning the movie while I listen to this.

The girls in this novel are about to go to college and are experiencing their last summer before that happens.  The is excitement and hesitation and an overwhelming sense of love and gratitude for the friendship that these girls have.

This is a sweet summery read.

I gave it 4 crowns.

Page by Paige by: Laura Lee Gulledge

After moving to a new city pretty much unwillingly, Paige decides that she has the unique opportunity to really work on the way that she views herself.  Her secret passion is Art and she is slowly able to make some friends and open up to them about who she really is.

It is hard to put yourself  out there to be judged by others and Paige takes a leap of faith and finds that it’s ok to take that chance.

The artwork in this graphic novel is beautiful.  The images are a story themselves.

I gave this book 5 crowns.

The Bookshop at Water’s End by: Patti Callahan Henry

Description from the Publishers through Netgalley:

The women who spent their childhood summers in a small southern town discover it harbors secrets as lush as the marshes that surround it…

Bonny Blankenship’s most treasured memories are of idyllic summers spent in Watersend, South Carolina, with her best friend, Lainey McKay. Amid the sand dunes and oak trees draped with Spanish moss, they swam and wished for happy-ever-afters, then escaped to the local bookshop to read and whisper in the glorious cool silence. Until the night that changed everything, the night that Lainey’s mother disappeared.

Now, in her early fifties, Bonny is desperate to clear her head after a tragic mistake threatens her career as an emergency room doctor, and her marriage crumbles around her. With her troubled teenage daughter, Piper, in tow, she goes back to the beloved river house, where she is soon joined by Lainey and her two young children. During lazy summer days and magical nights, they reunite with bookshop owner Mimi, who is tangled with the past and its mysteries. As the three women cling to a fragile peace, buried secrets and long ago loves return like the tide.

My Review:

This was a sweet story of two women who are trying to come to terms with things that have happened in their lives over the years from the time that they were children through the present.

They return to the place were they met and spent some of the best summers of their lives as well as one of the worst.  With their children in tow, they confront their pasts and try to prepare for their futures.

I really enjoyed this story and loved that one of the main focal points of this story is this well loved bookshop that was had its’ own ups and downs and has survived.

I gave this book 5 crowns.

 

I received this E-ARC from the publishers through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Name is Memory by: Ann Brashares

I am working my way through Ann Brashares catalog of books.  I listened to this book on audio and I enjoyed it.  I don’t know if I would have liked it as much if I had read it in its’ physical form as there was a lot of jumping around from character to character and life to life.

The narrator is a memory that has lived many lives but remembers them all and in each one, is searching for its’ “soul mate”.  It was a bit strange but it was written well and I did enjoy it.

I was a bit confused at times but I did think the plot was a true romance however,the ending was awful.  It just stopped.  I said aloud in my car, “That’s it?! How is that an ending?!”  That was beyond frustrating and definitely impacted my rating.

I gave this book 3 crowns.

El Deafo by: Cece Bell

This is an adorable middle grade graphic novel about a girl who becomes deaf and grows up as the only deaf girl in her class.  She is embarrassed about the large hearing device with microphone that she has to use but then come to realize that it makes her a “superhero”.

This story was heartwarming and the illustrations were adorable.  I highly recommend picking this up.  This is based on the author’s life and slightly fictionalized.

I gave it 4 crowns.

Bring Her Home by: David Bell

 Publication Date:  July 11, 2017

Description from the publishers through Netgalley:

In the breathtaking new thriller from David Bell, bestselling author of Since She Went Away and Somebody I Used to Know, the fate of two missing teenage girls becomes a father’s worst nightmare…. 
 
Just a year and a half after the tragic death of his wife, Bill Price’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Summer, and her best friend, Haley, disappear. Days later, the girls are found in a city park. Haley is dead at the scene, while Summer is left beaten beyond recognition and clinging to life.

As Bill holds vigil over Summer’s bandaged body, the only sound the unconscious girl can make is one cryptic and chilling word: No. And the more time Bill spends with Summer, the more he wonders what happened to her. Or if the injured girl in the hospital bed is really his daughter at all.

When troubling new questions about Summer’s life surface, Bill is not prepared for the aftershocks. He’ll soon discover that both the living and the dead have secrets. And that searching for the truth will tear open old wounds that pierce straight to the heart of his family…

My Review:

 This was a suspenseful, heartbreaking story about a father whose teenage daughter is missing.  The relationship between father and daughter wasn’t the best after the loss of his wife and that lends to some of the intrigue of the story.

This story is filled with twists and had me trying to figure out what was going on.  I was pretty close to solving this minus some details.  However, I did enjoy the story.  It was well thought out and detailed.

I gave this book 4 crowns.

 

I received an E-ARC from the publishers through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.