My SPOILER ALERT Book Reviews!

⭐⭐⭐✩✩ Review: THE WAGER by David Grann — A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny… and Too Many Names 😅 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5) 📚 Buy The Wager on Amazon (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Mentions of death , violence , starvation , mutiny , colonialism , animal cruelty,  and cannibalism . (It’s an 18th-century shipwreck story — let’s just say it’s not smooth sailing.) ⛵💀 🌊 Overview The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder (2023) by David Grann is one of those big, buzzy nonfiction hits that everyone seems to love — and I get why. It’s deeply researched , historically rich , and beautifully detailed . But… (and here comes my unpopular opinion 😬) …while I admired the research , I found the reading experience a little dry . There are so many names, ranks, and historical facts that it sometimes felt like reading a naval report instead of an adventure. Still, the true story is fascinating — and Grann deserves huge credit for unearthing this slice of history. 🚨 SPOI...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 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...

⭐ 3.5/5 — Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon: A Cult, A Murder, and a Very Complicated “Sibling” Bond 👉 Buy Our Last Resort on Amazon (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings This book includes depictions of: Emotional abuse Physical abuse Rape & sexual assault Cult dynamics Bullying Mental illness Graphic violence Animal cruelty Death Please read with care if these are sensitive topics for you. 📚 Initial Thoughts I’ve read one other book by Clémence Michallon , The Quiet Tenant . It was marketed as a psychological thriller but… let’s just say my eyebrows were raised higher than my blood pressure during tax season. It wasn’t bad , but I didn’t get the psychological-thriller punch I was promised. So when I picked up Our Last Resort , I was prepared to be skeptical. It was marketed as a straight thriller this time — but funny enough, this one actually reads more like a psychological thriller . Go figure. At least I wasn’t tricked this time...

🍡 SWEET BEAN PASTE by Durian Sukegawa – A Poignant & Delicious Slice of Life 🍃 | ⭐ 3.5/5 📚 Buy Sweet Bean Paste on Amazon ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Illness (leprosy/Hansen’s disease) Death Ableism / social stigma Mental illness & depression Suicidal ideation Substance use (drugs & alcohol) 📝 Initial Thoughts The thing about so-called “feel good” books is that they can swing wildly between excellent and meh depending on when you pick them up. This book is a perfect example. Sweet Bean Paste is gentle, bittersweet, and ultimately about the meaning of life , but the middle did drag for me. That said, the writing about food is chef’s kiss (or should I say… dorayaki’s kiss 🥞). I started this book indifferent to bean-filled pancakes and ended up drooling like Pavlov’s dog. If you’ve ever had a good dorayaki, you know exactly what I mean. I appreciated the surprisingly emotional information on Japan’s leprosy colonies — I had no idea people w...

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5) — BEAUTIFUL UGLY by Alice Feeney: When Unreliable Narrators Start Gaslighting Me 😤 👉 Buy Beautiful Ugly on Amazon (affiliate link) 🚨 Trigger Warnings This book contains: Graphic violence 🩸 Substance use 🍷 Emotional abuse 💔 Child sexual abuse 🚫 Child death 💀 Suicide ☠️ Please proceed with care if any of these are sensitive topics for you. 💛 🧠 My Thoughts Before the Summary I’ve read a lot of Alice Feeney at this point: Rock Paper Scissors , Daisy Darker , His & Hers … and let me tell you, the woman loves her unreliable narrators. Like, not just a sprinkle of “hmm, can we trust them?”—no. I’m talking full-on “I’m lying to you in my own POV” unreliable. 🤥 It worked brilliantly in Rock Paper Scissors (that twist still lives rent-free in my brain 🧠), but here? In Beautiful Ugly , it started to feel less like clever misdirection and more like she was yanking the rug out just because she can . 🫠 Another classic Feeney move...

⭐ 3/5 Review: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall 📚 Grab it on Amazon here ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Death (including child death) Animal death Graphic violence Suicidal ideation Addiction & substance use Sexual content 💭 My Thoughts This was a total page-turner — the kind of book you blow through just to see how it all plays out. The mystery here isn’t “thrilling” in the edge-of-your-seat sense, but it is compulsively readable. Still, I landed on a 3/5 rating . Why? Because while the storytelling is exciting, I couldn’t quite buy into the characters’ choices — especially the men being so obsessed with Beth, who honestly comes across as self-doubting, unbendable, and not particularly likeable. (And yes, she secretly stops using her diaphragm to get pregnant with Grace. Who does that? 😳) And don’t even get me started on the rationalizing of cheating. This may have worked for me as a teenager, but as an adult reader, it’s a hard pass. 📝 Spoiler-Packed ...

  🐯 Book Review: The Year of the Tiger by Phineas Cricket — 4.5⭐ Spy Thrills in 1970s Singapore 👉 Get the Paperback on Amazon ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Violence , including espionage-related killings Death of parents Child endangerment Drug trafficking (mentioned, not graphically depicted) Religious themes and proselytizing Interrogation scenes 📝 Quick Take A teen spy thriller set against the backdrop of Singapore in 1974 , The Year of the Tiger surprised me. At only 210 pages , I expected a breezy YA adventure—but instead got a surprisingly layered espionage tale involving microfilm , rogue agents , betrayals , and a very beloved stuffed tiger named Charlie. 🐯 The pacing starts slow (almost too slow), but once the spy plot kicks in, the story becomes a wild ride that had me actually surprised by the ending. I docked half a star because character introductions are occasionally… nonexistent. (Seriously, who are some of these people?!) 📖 Full Plot Summary (Spo...

🇮🇹✨ The View from Lake Como Review — ⭐ 1.5/5: Wish I’d Stayed Home 🥱 👉 Buy The View from Lake Como on Amazon (affiliate link) 🚨 Content Warnings Death (including of family members) Pregnancy loss Anxiety & panic attacks Emotional manipulation / family pressure 📝 Initial Thoughts Hmm… what can I say. This book is BORING . 💤 I’m starting to realize something about myself: I don’t do well with stories that just kind of… move along without giving me a reason to care. I mean, these are fictional people. They don’t exist. So unless the author makes me care — why should I? Sometimes authors pull that off. Many times, they don’t. And unfortunately, The View from Lake Como falls squarely into the “I do not care” camp. Combine that with the slow pace and drawn-out story, and you’ve got yourself a “I really don’t care” situation. The only reason this isn’t a flat 1 ⭐ is because it does a lovely job showcasing the beauty of Italy 🇮🇹✨. Otherwise? Sno...

⭐ 5/5 Review of When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy 🐺 👉 Grab your copy here: When the Wolf Comes Home on Amazon (affiliate link) ⚠️ Content & Trigger Warnings This novel includes: Graphic violence (very graphic 😬) Child death and child abuse Suicidal ideation Mental illness and disordered eating Addiction & substance use Profanity General nightmare fuel —seriously, don’t read this one alone at night. 😱 First Impressions Wow. Just… wow. How do I even review this book? When the Wolf Comes Home is absolutely bonkers—in the best way possible . Nat Cassidy writes horror like no one else. This book doesn’t just give you goosebumps; it shreds your nerves , chews them up, and spits them out while you keep turning the pages like a willing victim. Most horror novels are like candy compared to this—this is a full-blown psychological steak dinner 🥩 with a side of “don’t turn off the lights.” It’s also part horror, part mystery , as the stor...

⭐ 4/5 Review of The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie 👉 Grab your copy here: The Moving Finger on Amazon (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings This book contains: Suicide Murder Gossip-fueled emotional abuse Gaslighting & gender discrimination Small-town judgment (almost as deadly as the poison pen letters 😬) First Impressions ✨ I didn’t realize this was the third book in the Miss Marple series —but honestly, it doesn’t matter. You can read it out of order and still enjoy it. Agatha Christie is the queen of standalone mysteries tucked into a series. The story itself? Classic Christie. Everyone has a motive, everyone looks guilty, and yet the ending still sneaks up on you. I was decently surprised by who the real letter-writer turned out to be. Of course, Christie being Christie, once the truth comes out, you smack your forehead realizing the clues were there all along . That’s exactly why her mysteries feel so much more satisfying (and clever) than ma...