My SPOILER ALERT Book Reviews!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review: LOOK CLOSER by David Ellis — A Marriage Made in Lies 😈 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) 📚 Buy Look Closer on Amazon (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings This book contains mentions of suicide , murder , addiction , infidelity , abuse , violence , and scamming . Proceed with caution if those are sensitive topics. 🎭 Overview Look Closer by David Ellis is a psychological and legal thriller set in Chicago — and wow, is it a ride. Published in 2022 , it’s a mind-bending story about a husband and wife who look perfect on the outside … but their relationship is built on secrets, lies, and a body count. Ellis, who’s also a Chicago attorney (and occasional James Patterson co-author), uses his legal background to craft a story that’s airtight , fast-paced , and full of twists . If you love unreliable narrators, double-crosses, and a couple who are way too calm about murder , you’re in for a treat. 🚨 SPOILER WARNING 🚨 This is a full, detailed summary — including the en...

⭐ 3/5 Review: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry — When the “Slow Burn” Nearly Burns Out 👉 Grab your copy of Great Big Beautiful Life on Amazon here (affiliate link — thank you for supporting my blog!) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Mental illness Illness and death Sexual content 🌸 Initial Thoughts Man, this book dragged on and on and on — I was seriously starting to wonder if it was ever going to go anywhere. But here’s the good news: it does. Eventually. And when it finally does, it almost makes the wait worth it. It’s like the plot crawled for 300 pages, then finally remembered it had somewhere to be 😅. I know that sounds harsh, but hear me out — that long, slow build actually made the few exciting moments feel extra intense when they finally happened. Not sure if that makes sense, but if you’ve read it, you know what I mean. 🕵️‍♀️ Spoiler Warning — Full Plot Summary Below! If you plan to read Great Big Beautiful Life and don’t want to know the ending, sto...

  ⭐ 1.5/5 — In Five Years by Rebecca Serle 📅 “Wait… What Was the Point?” 👉 Buy In Five Years on Amazon 🛍️ (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings This book contains: Cancer (ovarian) and death from illness Grief and loss Infidelity / betrayal (emotional) Hospital scenes and end-of-life care 📝 Quick Take I’ll be honest — I closed this book and literally said out loud: “...so what was the point?” 😅 The premise hooked me: a hyper-organized woman sees a glimpse of her life 5 years into the future — and it’s not at all what she planned. Intriguing! But somewhere between the time-travel twist , magical realism , terminal illness storyline , and awkward almost-love triangle , the whole thing unraveled for me. Plus… there are plot holes you could drive a moving truck through 🚚💍. 📚 Overview: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle Published in March 2020 , In Five Years became a New York Times bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club pick. It’s marketed as a love st...

⭐ 5/5 — Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green 🦠 “Who Knew TB Could Be This Riveting?” 👉 Buy Everything Is Tuberculosis on Amazon 🛍️ (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings This book contains: Illness (tuberculosis, Ebola) Child illness and death Medical neglect and lack of access to treatment Racism, ableism, gender and transgender discrimination Anti-gay bias Death of friends and family members Poverty and systemic injustice 📝 Quick Take Okay, let’s be honest — if you’d told me a book about tuberculosis would have me staying up way past my bedtime, I would’ve laughed. But here we are. 😅 John Green has somehow managed to make a medical history book read like a page-turning thriller. I have a distant family member who died of TB as a teen — long before I was born — and my dad talked about her often. Her story was marked by poverty, inaccessible treatment, and heartbreaking decisions. This book hit close to home. Green blends Henry’s story (a ...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter — “Athens, Snuff Films, and Sister Trauma, Oh My!” 👉 Buy Pretty Girls on Amazon 🛍️ (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings This book contains graphic violence against women , rape , torture , emotional abuse , murder , drug use , and suicide . Seriously — this isn’t one of those “dark” thrillers that turns out to be a moody breakup story. Karin Slaughter does not hold back. 😬 📝 Quick Take Wow. I don’t think I was ready for this. Karin Slaughter’s writing is just so smooth . Effortless. She makes even the most horrifying scenarios feel real — gratuitous, but unsettlingly believable. Her descriptions of emotions, motives, and behaviors are on point. And for me, as a native Athenian and UGA alum , all the references to Wuxtry Records , Harry Bisset’s , Tate Student Center , and The Manhattan Bar gave me a wave of nostalgic whiplash. Sadly, the depiction of sexual assaults happening in downtown Athens was painfully accurate — it actu...

⭐ 5/5 — Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz: Two Mysteries in One, Brilliantly Done 🕵️‍♀️📚 👉 Buy Magpie Murders on Amazon (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Murder & homicide 🔪 Attempted murder Suspenseful threats Mild emotional trauma 🧐 Initial Thoughts Oh wow. I’m really starting to appreciate the “book within a book” format , and Magpie Murders proves why it works so well. Anthony Horowitz managed to write two full mysteries in one novel , each with its own twists, red herrings, and satisfying whodunit style. Honestly, I don’t know how he does it — the story is so tight and smart that it left me thinking, “I wish I’d written this!” 😄 If you’re a fan of classic British mysteries, especially in the Agatha Christie tradition , this one is a feast. 🚨 SPOILER WARNING: Full Plot Summary Below 🚨 📖 Overview Magpie Murders (2017) follows Susan Ryeland , a meticulous book editor in London, who has been working with Alan Conway , a bestselling a...