My SPOILER ALERT Book Reviews!

  ⭐ 5/5 Book Review: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay – Who’s Really Possessed Here?! 👻 👉 Grab A Head Full of Ghosts on Amazon 📚 (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Child death & family annihilation 💔 Mental illness / psychosis 🧠 Religious trauma ⛪ Possession & exorcism horror 😈 Violence & poisoning ☠️ First Impressions 💭 Wow. Just… wow. This book is a mind-bending horror gem that I’m going to be thinking about for a long time. Paul Tremblay has this way of pulling the rug out from under you so many times that by the end, you’re not even standing—you’re just lying on the floor whispering, “What just happened??” 😅 Our narrator, Merry, is the definition of an unreliable narrator. She’s charming, funny, unsettling, and very possibly… possessed. Or is she? That’s the question that will eat at you long after you close the book. 📖 Full Spoiler-Filled Plot Summary ⚠️ Spoiler Warning: From here on out, I’m diving headfirst into all the twist...

⭐ 4/5 Book Review: Middle of the Night by Riley Sager – Childhood Trauma Never Sleeps 🌙 👉 Grab Middle of the Night on Amazon 📚 (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Child abduction & death 🧒💔 Drunk driving 🚗🥂 Violence & kidnapping 🔪 Psychological trauma 😱 Guilt, grief, & obsession 😔 First Thoughts 💭 Okay, let’s be real: how does a kid just vanish from a tent in the middle of a suburban backyard sleepover without anyone noticing?! 🤯 This is the question that kept me flipping pages. Riley Sager serves up another psychological thriller full of twists, neighborhood secrets, and haunted childhood memories. The book kept me guessing, though I have to admit—the final twist was a little underwhelming. I suspected Ashley early on (she was way too present for a side character), but even if I hadn’t, the big reveal wasn’t exactly fireworks. Still, I couldn’t stop reading because I had to know the truth. 📖 Full Spoiler-Filled Plot Summary ...

⭐ 5/5 Review: Andre & Bash Are Just Friends by Tia Williams 💖✨ (Spoiler-Filled) 👉 Grab your copy here: Andre & Bash Are Just Friends on Amazon (affiliate link — thanks for fueling my coffee + book-buying habit ☕📚). ⚠️ Trigger Warnings This book is lighthearted, but it does touch on some heavier stuff, including: Panic attacks & anxiety Parental abandonment / complicated family relationships Emotional abuse (Bash’s dad) Toxic relationships (Audre’s prom night trauma) First Thoughts 💭 Okay listen — this book is like a warm cinnamon roll wrapped in neon rom-com energy . 🥐✨ It’s predictable (yes, yes, we all knew Audre & Bash weren’t gonna stay “just friends” 🙃), it’s sometimes childish, and it’s absolutely one of those guilty pleasure reads that you devour in a single day. But also? It’s so funny, so warm, so feel-good, and just the exact serotonin shot I needed. No shame in my 5 stars. None. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📖 Overview (No Spoilers Yet) Published...

⭐ 3.5/5 Book Review: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn 👉 Grab The Briar Club on Amazon (affiliate link) 📚✨ ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Murder & violence ⚰️ Domestic abuse 💔 War trauma & PTSD 💣 Sexuality and discrimination 🌈 Political persecution & McCarthyism 🕵️‍♂️ Betrayal & espionage 🕶️ First Thoughts 💭 Okay, hear me out: The Briar Club would have been a killer mini-series. Imagine the drama, the secrets, the murder reveals—Netflix would eat this up 🍿. But as a book? Whew 😮‍💨 … those chapters are LONG. Like “maybe I should also bring a snack for this reading session” long. The characters were great, the history was fascinating, and I even drooled over some of the recipes (seriously, historical fiction + food = genius). But the pacing? Let’s just say it took some stamina. Still, the mystery was engaging, and the tenants of Briarwood House had me invested. Let’s break it down 👇 📖 Overview (No Spoilers Yet) The Briar Club is the late...

⭐ 5/5 Book Review: None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell 👉 Grab None of This Is True on Amazon (affiliate link) 📚✨ ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Grooming & child marriage 🚨 Domestic abuse & manipulation 💔 Physical assault 🩸 Child neglect 🚸 Deaths (murder, accident, heart attack) ⚰️ Gaslighting & psychological abuse 🧠 First Impressions I simply LOVE when a book title literally gives it all away… and yet still manages to shock me. That’s exactly what Lisa Jewell does here. The title says it outright: None of This Is True. So the whole time, I’m reading like: 👉 “Okay, Josie is lying. She’s obviously lying.” Her husband even warns Alix not to believe a word she says. She’s stealing random little items from Alix’s house. She’s clearly unstable. But then Jewell flips everything on its head: what if Josie is telling the truth? Or what if SOME of it is true, but not the parts we think? 🤯 This book is all about layers of lies, manipulation, and the unreliable nat...

⭐ 5/5 Book Review: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson 👉 Grab Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone on Amazon (affiliate link) 📚✨ ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Murder & violence 🩸 Suicide 💔 Child death 🚸 Car accidents 🚗💥 Fire 🔥 First Impressions What a catchy title , right? 🙌 I mean, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone practically begs you to pick it up. The second I saw it, I knew I had to check it out—and WOW, I’m so glad I did. This book is SO unique . The narrator (Ernie) even lays out all the deaths in the beginning: 👉 “You’ll get a death in Chapter X, another death in Chapter Y, etc.” It’s cheeky, a little pretentious-but-funny , and honestly sets the stage perfectly. Yes, it’s a lot of characters. Yes, it can get a little complicated. But for me? The wild ride and humor were worth every second. Too much fun to complain. 😎 ⭐ Final verdict: 5/5 stars . 📖 Overview (No Spoilers Yet) Everyone in My Family ...

⭐ 2.5/5 Book Review: Little Ghosts by Gregg Dunnett 👉 Grab Little Ghosts on Amazon (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Child abduction & murder 🧒💔 Ghostly apparitions 👻 Violence, torture, snakes 🐍 Child in peril ⚠️ Police corruption 🚨 My Love-Hate (Mostly Hate) Relationship with Little Ghosts Confession time: I went into this book so hyped after loving The Lake House Children . I thought, “Yes, another Gregg Dunnett emotional thriller that’ll keep me up at night!” Instead, I got… a ghost story. And not the cool, spine-tingly kind with deep lore or clever pseudo-science. No, just ghost because plot. 🙃 Apparently, Layla is hanging around because her case is unsolved. Except… she’s been floating around even  before  the case went cold. So, yeah. Explanation = nonexistent. And while we’re at it: the book is called Little GhostS . Plural. Where are the other ghosts? Did they get lost on the way to the séance? 👻👀 Also, big problem: no twists . We k...

⭐ Book Review: Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford – 5/5 Stars 🍰 👉 Grab your copy of Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford on Amazon 📚✨ 🚨 Trigger Warnings Teenage pregnancy & adoption Predatory relationship (teenager with adult) Infertility / childlessness Illness (pneumonia) Secrets in marriage 🧁 First Impressions: A Whisk Away From Joy Some books are like a warm scone fresh out of the oven — comforting, delicious, and exactly what you didn’t know you needed. That’s Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame in a nutshell. It’s a feel-good, heartwarming, reality-TV-meets-real-life kind of story that had me smiling from page one and refusing to stop until the final bite… er, page. I mean, who doesn’t want to read about a 77-year-old woman deciding to chase her dreams on a baking competition show? It’s like The Great British Bake Off met Ted Lasso and said, “Let’s make the world happy for a few hours.” ⚠️ Spoiler-Filled Summary Ahead! ( Because this ...

⭐ 3.5 Star Book Review: Survive the Night by Riley Sager 🚗🔪 👉 Grab your copy of Survive the Night on Amazon here (affiliate link) 🚨 Trigger Warnings Before you buckle up for this thriller road trip, note that this novel includes: 🩸 Violence (including murder, stabbing, drowning) 🧠 Psychological trauma & gaslighting 🩺 Hallucinations tied to grief/trauma 💔 Death of loved ones 🔪 Serial killer themes ✨ First Impressions Okay, so here’s the thing: I’ve loved Riley Sager’s books before ( Home Before Dark and House Across the Lake were excellent 👏), so I went in with some pretty high expectations. The opening? Fantastic. We’re set up with Charlie, a movie-obsessed college student, trapped in a car with a possible serial killer. Classic road trip nightmare vibes. 🚘😱 I was READY. But then… the story started to annoy me. Charlie gets chance after chance to escape — at a diner, with a cop literally right there 🚓 — but she chooses not to because she...

⭐ 1/5 Book Review: The September House by Carissa Orlando 👉 Grab your copy of The September House on Amazon 🚨 Trigger Warnings Domestic violence / abuse (physical & emotional) Addiction (alcoholism) Murder & gore Child abuse (referenced via ghosts) Mental health struggles / delusions 📝 First Impressions So here’s the deal: The September House started out promising —I was intrigued by the creepy Victorian house, ghosts, and the premise of a family trying to coexist with the paranormal. But by the end? Let’s just say the scariest part was me realizing I wasted hours of my life on this audiobook. 🙃 And speaking of the audiobook … while a lot of people rave about it, the constant screaming drove me bonkers . Yes, yes, I know it was “part of the story” (they screamed to be heard over the ghosts/house noises), but it doesn’t change the fact that my eardrums wanted to file for divorce. ⚰️ Spoiler-Filled Plot Summary (You’ve Been Warned!) (Skip ahea...

  ⭐ Book Review: Fahrenheit-182 by Mark Hoppus – 5/5 Stars 👉 Grab your copy of Fahrenheit-182 by Mark Hoppus on Amazon 🎸✨ 🚨 Trigger Warnings Cancer / chemotherapy Divorce / family struggles Addiction (alcohol) Plane crash / near-death experiences Depression & mental health First Things First: All the Small Things (aka My Thoughts) 🎶 Growing up as a SUPER BIG fan of blink-182 , I picked up this book with both excitement and terror. What if it ruined my image of the band I idolized as a teen? (Yes, I still have my Take Off Your Pants and Jacket CD somewhere in a dusty case 😎). But guess what? My fears were “Dammit” wrong . This book made me smile, laugh, cry, and then laugh again through the tears. I even paused while reading to listen to the songs Mark mentioned, flipping between the pages and Spotify like some kind of emotional pop-punk DJ. Bottom line? This memoir deserves ALL the stars in the sky. 🌌✨ 📚 Spoiler-Filled Summary (Read at Your Own Risk...

⭐ Book Review: Triptych by Karin Slaughter (5/5 Stars!) 👉 Grab your copy of Triptych on Amazon 📚 🚨 Trigger Warnings This book includes: Graphic murder & violence Sexual assault (including in prison) Child sexual abuse references Domestic violence Strong language & disturbing imagery If any of these are sensitive topics for you, go in with caution! My Take 📝 What an exciting detective novel! Set in my very own stomping grounds (Atlanta, Georgia 🍑🏙️), Triptych sucked me in from page one and didn’t let go. Karin Slaughter does what she does best: twisty crimes, gritty characters, and just enough Southern grit to keep you sweating. I loved the characters here, especially Will Trent and Angie Polaski . They’re quirky, complicated, and endlessly entertaining. Watching their messy, trauma-bonded relationship play out was like seeing two magnets keep clanking together and then pushing apart again. 🔄 Fun fact: I’d watched the first couple of ...

⭐ Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 👉 Grab your copy on Amazon ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Heads up before you dive in: Murder & homicide 🔪 Death & poisoning ☠️ Dementia & assisted suicide 🧠💔 Political & business corruption 💰🏢 Grave desecration & skeletons ⚰️💀 Sexual content 💋 Dark humor & pranks 😏 🤷‍♀️ My Honest Take I tried, I really did. I picked up The Thursday Murder Club thinking it would be a delightful whodunit , especially after the TV-style intrigue of We Solve Murders . But nope… Richard Osman, we have a problem: WAY TOO MANY CHARACTERS. 🙄 The book is funny, I’ll give it that — the banter between Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim is clever and charming. But keeping track of all the suspects, townspeople, relatives, and shady developers was exhausting. By the middle, I found myself skimming paragraphs just to keep up . Verdict? 2 out of 5 stars . Could have been a solid cozy mystery ...

⭐ Book Review: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese 👉 Grab your copy on Amazon ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Before you dive into this medical epic, heads up: Death of a mother Childbirth complications Infidelity and sexual content Genital mutilation Suicide War, political coups, and terrorism Medical trauma and surgeries Yes, it’s a lot. And yes, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. 🩺 My Honest Take (and why I’m probably the minority) Okay, I’ll admit it: I did not love this book . 😬 I know, I know… millions adore it. But for me, it dragged like a pair of too-tight hospital scrubs in the middle of a double shift. The beginning hooked me — twins, mysterious parentage, a dramatic birth — I was intrigued. But then the middle section plodded . The medical writing ? Excellent. Super descriptive, sometimes shocking, sometimes fascinating. But by page 400 (or whatever it was), I was like, “Do we really need this many appendectomies?” 😂 At the end of the day: 1.5 ...

⭐ Book Review: All Fours by Miranda July 👉 Grab your copy of All Fours on Amazon 🚨 Trigger Warnings Before you dive into this wild ride, note that All Fours contains: 🌶️ Explicit sexual content (including masturbation & affairs) 💔 Infidelity 🩸 Perimenopause & aging body themes 🏥 Childbirth trauma (mentioned in backstory) 🌪️ Emotional turmoil / midlife crisis If any of these are tough topics for you, tread carefully. ✨ My (Totally Biased) Thoughts So… how do I even explain this book?! 🤯 Miranda July’s All Fours is one of the most out there books I’ve ever read. And I LOVED it. 💖 Do I know why I loved it? Nope. Not really. But sometimes magic can’t be explained — it just has to be experienced. This isn’t a story where the “plot” is the magic. The magic is in the way July tells it : quirky, raw, funny, uncomfortable, and strangely beautiful. As a woman squarely in the perimenopausal trenches myself, this book hit close to home. It tal...