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Happy new year! I am so excited to say the new year has started strong in terms of reading for me! I didn’t get chance to read much over Christmas, so I didn’t have a December wrap-up and will include the books I read at the end of last year in this post.
Have you set yourself any reading goals for this year? Goodreads like you to set a number so I am going for 60 – I think 5 a month is pretty manageable for me! Let me know your reading goals in the comments below!
The Only One Left
by Riley Sager
The Blurb
A HEART-POUNDING GOTHIC THRILLER FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life
It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer – I want to tell you everything.
“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead
As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth – and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.
What I Thought
Wow! Way to end the year with a bang! I listened to this one on Audible at the end of December after seeing it recommended on BookTok.
The recommendations were not wrong and I enjoyed this so much, I put it into my top 10 reads of 2023! I loved the dark atmosphere created in this book and the setting of the crumbling, once beautiful mansion. The descriptions were vivid and as for plot twists – there were plenty! I was making guesses throughout the book and was generally way off the truth, so it kept me intrigued and on my toes throughout. It is a roller coaster for sure!
A great story and one I really enjoyed and have already recommended to others. I will definitely look out for more by Riley Sager in the future!
Where To Buy
None Of This Is True
by Lisa Jewell
The Blurb
PREPARE TO BE HOOKED: Nailbiting suspense from the addictive number one million-copy bestselling author.
Read by Nicola Walker (Unforgotten, The Split, Last Tango in Halifax) and Louise Brealey (Sherlock, Lockwood & Co.), alongside a full cast, this breath-taking audiobook includes original music and a gripping soundscape, which immerses you in the production and leaves your spine tingling.
Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her 45th birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast, which you’ll hear, fully produced, throughout this audiobook.
Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life – and into her home.
But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.
Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
What I Thought
Another great Audible book I listened to, by the fabulous Lisa Jewell. The blurb says to prepare to get hooked and it isn’t wrong!
The characters are well written and relatable, especially the relationship dynamic between Jodie and Nathan. This makes the story that bit more chilling as you can spot people in your own life within some of these characters. The author creates a real air of building tension and malice, which keeps you turning those pages. I loved the way the story was set out with excerpts from the podcast included and this came over really well in the Audible version of the book.
Highly recommend, an absolute page turner and another great read from this author.
Where To Buy
Salthouse Place*
A Novel
by Jamie Lee Sogn
The Blurb
Longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.
From debut author Jamie Sogn comes a twisty thriller about the allure of the past and the danger of the truth as a young woman dives headlong into a cult in a desperate search for answers.
In the far reaches of the Pacific Northwest, three best friends spend a day at the lake…but only two come home.
Ten years later, Delia Albio is tormented by the mystery of what happened to fifteen-year-old Zee on the lake that day. When she receives an email from Cara, the remaining friend in the trio, she can’t resist the pull of the “life-changing” news in the message. Delia, hopeful for answers, travels home to see her old friend.
But Cara is gone by the time she gets there, setting off another mystery. When Delia hears about the women’s empowerment group that Cara joined, she sets out for the group’s retreat property on the Oregon coast to find her. Delia feels this could be her chance to reconnect with Cara and reckon with that fateful day at the lake.
Instead, Delia uncovers a possessive group with a dark agenda. As their leadership closes in, Delia hurtles ever closer to the truth—if only she can survive a cult that will protect its secrets at any cost.
What I Thought
What a great first novel from this author – I am very excited to see more from her!
I really enjoyed this book. The author managed to create a real feeling of tension and an uncomfortable air as I read, making it a real page turner. Exploring cults and female friendships, the pacing was a little slow at first but soon picked up.
I knocked off a star as did feel the author may have tried to squeeze a few too many ideas in – she did manage to pull everything together at the end though. I felt that this meant some themes didn’t get explored as fully as they could have been and there were a few inconsistencies. However, this did not ruin my reading experience at all and I still really enjoyed it.
Anybody who enjoys an eerie psychological thriller will enjoy it too – can’t wait to see what this author comes out with next!
Where To Buy
The Most Bizarre True Crime Stories Ever Told*
20 Unforgettable and Twisted True Crime Cases That Will Haunt You
by Jack Rosewood
The Blurb
A collection of the most mind-boggling and outrageous True Crime cases you’ve ever read. Stories so bizarre, creepy and compelling that you can’t stop turning the pages – the perfect gift for True Crime lovers.
Are you a hardcore true crime fan? Do you know all the ins and outs of popular cases and killers? Are you kind of sick of hearing the same old stories over and over? Do you long to be truly disturbed by strange and scary details that just don’t happen every day?
Then you are sure to enjoy The Most Bizarre True Crime Stories Ever Told!
Inside you’ll find:
– Tales of the paranormal: Did a dead woman really solve her own murder? Have dreams helped investigators track down killers? Did a demon possess a man and force him to kill?
– Terrifying mysteries: What was happening in the Soka Forest of Horrors? How can authorities have stacks of DNA evidence and still not be able to track down such a careless killer? How many innocent people have been killed because they knew too much.
– The strangest details of any true crime cases: How many murder attempts can one man survive? How long can someone live with a corpse in their house? How did a cannibal who committed a horrific crime not only walk free, but become a celebrity?
– Bizarre true crime stories you’ve never heard before!
As horrifying as the details of well-known cases can be, real true crime fanatics are looking for something more than the run of the mill murders they’ve heard about a thousand times. They’re looking for mysteries, twists and turns, and seemingly-impossible circumstances that take a case from lacklustre to legendary.
The Most Bizarre True Crime Stories Ever Told delivers the horrifying, interesting, weird, and disturbing tales that really get true crime connoisseurs excited. Lock your doors, close your blinds, and get ready to read about some of the strangest, and most bone-chilling true crime cases the word has ever seen.
What I Thought
As a hardcore true crime fan who listens to a lot of true crime podcasts, I had heard of most of these cases. Many have been covered on one of my favourite true crime podcasts, Morbid.
I still enjoyed the read, however, but as the podcasts went into much more detail, I felt this was more of an overview of each case. It was well written, an easy and pretty quick read, and those less involved with true crime books and podcasts already, will like it.
I enjoyed reading about the couple of cases I hadn’t come across before and felt the author picked some different cases that were certainly more strange and bizarre than most you see covered in true crime books. I was clearly just slightly too true crime hardcore for this one!
Where To Buy
Make Her Pay*
by Miranda Rijks
The Blurb
Leonie has the perfect life. Someone wants to take it away.
Leonie is living her best life. Still in her twenties, she’s beautiful, successful and has just met Markus, the man of her dreams.
But Leonie has a secret. Ten years ago, she was involved in an accident in which another driver died. Leonie shouldn’t have been behind the wheel that night – no license, no insurance – so she fled the scene. And ever since, she’s been struggling to deal with the terrible guilt.
Now, as her wedding to Markus draws near, it seems someone is out to get her. It’s little things at first – botched work appointments, a cancelled bridal dress – but it soon escalates into a terrifying campaign which threatens her business, her family and even her life.
Leonie, caught up in a relentless nightmare, has no idea why anyone would set out to destroy her. Until she realizes there’s a link to the accident that happened all those years ago.
Someone knows what she did. Someone is determined to make her pay.
Make Her Pay – the gripping psychological thriller from the best-selling author of The Visitors and What She Knew.
What I Thought
I love this author and she didn’t disappoint me heading into 2024!
Make Her Pay is a revenge thriller with some great twists and turns. None of the characters are exactly likable, but Leonie did just enough to make me care about her and want her to get on with her life. The author’s books are always fast paced and real page turners, and this one is no different. The only fault I had with it was the ending which I felt was slightly rushed, however it concluded the story well.
A great psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns – some I was able to work out but others really took me by surprise!
Where To Buy
Lots of highly recommended books this month that will keep you busy! If you do read any I would love to hear what you think of them in the comments and if you agree with my reviews!
Happy reading,
Natalie
The Spoonie Mummy
The Spoonie Mummy 
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