My SPOILER ALERT Book Reviews!

🏡 FAMILY NEXT DOOR: Because Every Perfect Street Is Lying ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Welcome to my realization of the week: ✨ I love domestic thrillers. ✨ Give me suspicious neighbors, curated suburban perfection, and women quietly unraveling behind closed doors, and I am locked in . I firmly believe every family has skeletons in their closet — and since I can’t legally peek inside my neighbors’ houses, books like FAMILY NEXT DOOR are the next best thing. 👀🍿 This one kept me flipping pages, side-eyeing everyone, and muttering “oh NO” more than once. ⚠️ SPOILER WARNING This review contains FULL SPOILERS , including the ending. Proceed only if you’ve already read the book or simply enjoy chaos. 😌🔥 🚨 Content Warnings / Triggers Postpartum depression & postpartum psychosis Child abuse & child endangerment Child death Pregnancy loss Mental illness Suicidal ideation Substance use Sexual content Illness & death This book goes to some very dark emotional places — handle accordingly. 🏘️ The ...

  🏚️  STRANGE HOUSES: A Brilliant Floor Plan… With a Structurally Unsound Ending  ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Welcome to a book that  absolutely had me in a chokehold … until it very much did not. STRANGE HOUSES  by Uketsu starts out as one of the most  refreshing, clever, and unsettling horror mysteries  I’ve read in a long time. A mystery solved through  architecture ? A floor plan that tells a story? Hidden spaces that whisper  something is wrong here ? Sign me up. Immediately. No questions asked. 🖊️🧠 And then… well. We’ll get there. ⚠️  Spoiler Warning This review contains  FULL SPOILERS , including the ending. If you haven’t read  Strange Houses  yet and care about being surprised, turn back now and save yourself. 🚪😬 🚨  Content Warnings / Triggers Right up front, because this book goes  there : Graphic violence Murder & dismemberment Child abuse & child death Ritualistic violence Suicide & self-harm Emotional ab...

 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  THE FIRST GENTLEMAN : Murder, Politics, and Presidential Chaos (and Somehow Fun) Okay, y’all, let’s talk about the third collaboration between former President Bill Clinton and James Patterson . I haven’t read the first two (yet), but this one? I enjoyed it. Pretty much every Patterson I’ve read hits that sweet spot of bingeable chaos. ⚠️ TRIGGER WARNINGS • Murder & homicide investigations • Rape & sexual assault • Substance abuse • Violence • Death • Conspiracies & political sabotage • Cursing 🚨 FULL SPOILER WARNING 🚨 This is a spoiler blog . 🧠 Overview The First Gentleman (2025) is a political thriller centered on President Madeline Wright , the first female president of the U.S., and her husband, Cole Wright , the First Gentleman. Cole is accused of murdering his college girlfriend, Suzanne Bonanno, a case from 17 years ago. Investigative journalists Brea Cooke and Garrett Wilson dig into his past, uncovering conspiracies that threaten the Wri...

 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ MY OXFORD YEAR : Yes, I Cried Over a Cheesy Romance (And I’m Not Even Mad About It) Let me confess something up front: my comfort zone is dark, twisty psychological thrillers . Murder. Manipulation. Trauma. The works. And yet… every once in a while… a soft, predictable, emotionally devastating romance sneaks up behind me and emotionally drop-kicks me while whispering poetry . Friends, My Oxford Year did exactly that. This book is basically a greatest-hits album of romance tropes I normally side-eye: • The charming British man who initially reads as a walking red flag 🚩😒 • The terminal illness trope (which I openly despise) • Poem quotes at the start of every chapter (I wish I were exaggerating) And still??? I loved it. Fully. Unashamedly. Ugly-cry-in-my-kitchen levels. 💔 ⚠️ TRIGGER WARNINGS — PLEASE READ This book contains: • Terminal illness • Death • Death by suicide (discussed) • Grief & loss • Sexual content • Substance use Proceed with tissues and emotiona...

🔪 GUESS AGAIN: When a Thriller Actually Delivers (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) Every once in a while, a book comes along that makes me sit back and think: “Wow. I did not see that coming. At all. And I am thrilled to be wrong.” GUESS AGAIN by Charlie Donlea is one of those rare, beautiful surprises. I went in with moderate expectations at best (thanks, Those Empty Eyes ), and this book didn’t just clear the bar — it pole-vaulted over it and kept running . This is what a psychological thriller is supposed to feel like. ⚠️ TRIGGER WARNINGS (PLEASE READ) This book contains depictions of: Child abuse & child sexual abuse Sexual violence & rape Child death Kidnapping Graphic violence Death by suicide Pregnancy termination Substance use Illness & death Strong language 🚨 Proceed carefully. 🧠 Quick Setup (Minimal, I Promise) At the center of GUESS AGAIN is Ethan Hall , a former investigator for crimes against children who has since retired and become an ER physician. He’s brilliant, haunted,...

🦁 THE LIONESS: Glamour, Guns, and a Safari from Hell (⭐️⭐️⭐️) A luxury African safari. A newlywed Hollywood actress. A hand-picked group of famous friends. And — because this is a novel and not a brochure — multiple violent deaths, betrayals, and at least one extremely unfortunate leopard encounter . Chris Bohjalian’s THE LIONESS is an ambitious, blood-soaked historical thriller that looks like it should emotionally destroy me. Instead, I found myself admiring it from a distance… like a very well-written nature documentary where I somehow forgot to bond with the animals. ⚠️ Trigger Warnings (Seriously, Read This First) This book includes: Graphic violence & death Kidnapping Animal attacks & animal death Pregnancy loss Child abuse & physical abuse Racism & colonialist themes Sexual content Substance abuse & addiction Mental illness Suicide This is not a cozy safari. 🗺️ The Setup (Very Brief, I Promise) THE LIONESS is set in 1964 and follows Katie Barstow , a f...