“Middletide”Sarah Crouch

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Atria (Simon & Schuster). To be published June 11, 2024.

The day Erin’s body was found hanging from a tree beside a lake on Elijah’s property was the day his life changed forever. After failing as a writer, with no income, Elijah decided to return to the small town where he’d grown up and live in his father’s cabin in the woods. There memories assailed him of Nikita, the only girl he’d ever loved and the promise he’d broken to return to her after he finished college.

Nikita had grown into a beautiful woman and had just lost her husband. Seeing each other was hard, but Elijah wanted more than she could give. When she couldn’t commit, he decided to date someone else. The newly single town doctor was beautiful but, soon after they started dating, Elijah realized she was the wrong woman for him. He would soon find out that the short time they dated would be the biggest regret of his life.

At first the storyline was hard to follow because it was told over multiple points of views through several different timeframes. Once I got used to the author’s style of writing, it was easier to understand Elijah’s timeline. This gripping, mystery thriller about a man falsely accused of murdering the beautiful and beloved doctor of his small town will keep readers on the edges of their seats as they try to figure out whodunit. 

Recommended for Adults.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

“Las Madres” Esmeralda Santiago

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Borzoi Books (Alfred A. Knopf). To be published August 8, 2023.

Luz is 57 years old and is a shadow of the vibrant girl and star ballerina she used to be when she was fifteen and lived with her loving parents in Puerto Rico. After a car accident killed them and left her with a devastating brain injury, life forever changed. Over time her brain healed enough to allow Luz to regain many functions, but an inability to remember her past and regressing into daily coma-like fugues became her new norm.

Luz’s memories appear in flashes she quickly forgets. After the accident she was taken care of by her grandparents as well as Ada and Shirley, two women who worked for her grandfather. When both grandparents died, they cared for her as if she was their daughter. When she was 16 years old, they moved to New York where she later married and had a daughter. When Marysol was 5 years old her father was killed and Luz was shot, so Ada and Shirley took care of her just like they’d done for her mother.

“Las Madres” is a story of love and strength from 1975 to 2017. It’s a woman desperately trying to remember who she was. It’s a daughter trying to connect to a mother with attacks that render her almost comatose. It’s an unbreakable bond between Ada, Shirley, their daughter Graciela, and Marysol. It’s the story of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Their stories, and what it means to be Puerto Rican, will resonate with readers long after the last page is turned.

Highly recommended for Adults.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Thicker than water” Megan Collins

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Atria (Simon & Schuster). To be published July 11, 2023.

At a very young age Julia’s mother taught her to never trust a man, and those words reared their ugly heads when her husband was accused of murder. Though Jason had a knight-in-shining-armor complex, and had disappointed her many times, Julia never thought him capable of murder. However, with Jason in a coma and the evidence against him piling up, Julia is filled with questions. Did she really know the man she married? Is he guilty?

Sienna would never believe her brother committed such a heinous crime, as he has always been her rock in every storm. Julia, her sister-in-law, is her best friend but is wrong to think he could have murdered anyone. Since neither Julia nor the police believe he’s innocent, and he can’t talk for himself, it’s up to her to prove his innocence. The police will serve him an arrest warrant as soon as he wakes up, and Sienna is determined to have evidence to prove his innocence. She will stop at nothing.

Through alternating voices, Sienna and Julia compete for the reader’s attention. Collins spins such a fine web of deceit that it’s not until the final pages we receive answers to our many questions. “Thicker than water” will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Highly recommended for Adults.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“The lost Kings” Tyrell Johnson

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Anchor Books (Penguin Random House). To be published August 2, 2022.

When Jeanie’s mother died unexpectedly in a car crash when she was eight, she and her twin brother Jamie lived in California for 3 years with an aunt and uncle until their father took them to a rural cabin in Washington State. War had messed him up mentally, so he was constantly drunk and left them to fend for themselves. Through their wanderings they met Maddox, another lost soul, and the three were inseparable. One night Jeanie’s father came home with his hands covered in blood. That was the last night she ever saw him or Jamie, as they both disappeared and she was left to fend for herself.

After high school Jeanie moved to England for college, seeing a therapist to help her come to terms with her many issues. She spent 15 years having one-night stands, sleeping with her married professor, drinking, and drifting along in life. For years she wondered what happened to Jamie, and was filled with anger at her father for abandoning her in the cabin. When Maddox turned up with a lead on her father’s whereabouts, Jeanie finally has a chance to get answers to her questions. Will she be brave enough to face up to the truth?

Told through flashbacks and the present time, the author engaged the reader, invested us heavily in Jamie’s life, and then slammed us with a shocking ending. Well-done Mr. Tyrell. Very well done.

Highly recommended for Adults.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“My dearest darkness” Kayla Cottingham

Rated 5 stars ***** Sourcebooks Fire. 2022. 350 p.

Finch desperately wanted a scholarship to attend the music program at Ulallume Academy, a prestigious boarding school. Her exquisite piano playing was enough to eventually get her in, but it was a bitter pill to swallow because her supportive parents drowned when their car went off a bridge after an eight-eyed stag appeared in their path. Finch had also been trapped, but miraculously survived with a drastically changed appearance.

Soon after arriving on campus Finch felt a strange pull leading her towards Ulallume’s forbidden tunnels, where a dark void appears and a voice pleads for release. Finch has no idea Nerosi, the woman she releases, is really a wicked monster with plans to kill everyone in the world.

This sapphic and sinister book will draw in fans of mysterious, deadly creatures that will haunt their dreams.

Recommended for ages 16 and older.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

“The Heights” Louise Clandish

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Atria Books. To be published March 1, 2022.

Ever since her nineteen-year-old son died in a watery grave, Ellen has wanted nothing but revenge against the friend who’d been driving when their car plunged into the water. Lucas had always been a good boy at school until he was buddied up with Kieran, a troubled boy in foster care, when they were sixteen years old. Soon Lucas lost interest in schoolwork, was getting high on weed, and was always partying with Kieran and his friends. As the years passed, Kieran became a permanent part of his life until their bond ended with his death.

Kieran served some time in prison, but Ellen has never forgiven him. With the help of Vic, Lucas’ father, she arranges for Kieran to be killed and has managed to move forward with her life. However, two years later, Kieran reappears. Guided by passionate hatred for the man who killed her son, Ellen has only one thought. Kieran will pay dearly for what he did to Lucas but, this time, he will stay dead.

Told through alternating viewpoints and flashbacks, “The Heights” is filled with grief, rage, jealousy, lies and vengeance. As readers learn about Lucas, Vic, Kieran and Ellen, a narrative emerges that will end in a shocking manner.

Highly recommended for Adults.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“The Project” Courtney Summers

Rated 4 stars **** ARC. ebook. Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Publishing Group). To be published February 2, 2021.

When there’s no hope where can you turn? When you’re all alone, who can help you? When you don’t see a future for yourself, who can give you one? Who can make things better? Lev is the answer. Lev is God’s Redeemer, has God’s ear, and can take away your sins. If you forsake all others and follow him, your life will be made whole. Lev’s Unity Project, whose mission is to do good works and find lost and hurting souls, is your road to Paradise.

After Lev answers her desperate prayer to save her sister Lo’s life after their parents are killed in a car accident, Bea leaves her old life behind and joins Lev and The Project. She is committed to everything he does and says, because she loves him and she knows he loves her too.

After years of being alone, without the sister she loves, Lo has become bitter. She hates that Bea left her behind for The Project, but doesn’t know that Lev has his eyes on her. It’s only a matter of time before he’ll make sure she’ll never be lonely again.

Summers was very realistic in the way she depicted Lev and his controlling ways. It really turned my stomach, especially because there are similar cults all over the world. I found the back-and-forth timeline to be very confusing, and think it would have been easier to follow if chapter titles had the character’s name with the year.

Despite that concern, I will recommend it to Adult readers – especially to see how easy it is to be led astray when one is lost and hurting.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“All this time” Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. To be published September 29, 2020.

Kyle had been in love with Kimberly since third grade. He asked her out in seventh grade, and they dated through high school. The night of their graduation party Kim tells him she wants to know what her life would be like without him. Kyle can’t imagine his life without her but, when she’s killed in a head on collision that leaves him with a broken leg and head injury, he has to learn.

Months are spent in self-loathing and grief before Kyle ventures to the cemetery to visit Kim. While there he meets Marley, grieving the death of her twin sister. She doesn’t want to tell sad stories, so Kyle sets about trying to make her happy. In time they realize how much they understand each other and settle into a comfortableness that has Kyle feeling as if he finally knows what his future could be like without Kim. But sad stories have a way of being told, and everything changes for both of them.

This book did a number on me. Without giving out spoilers there was a point where my neighbors could hear me screaming, “You did NOT just do that!” Visions of a certain Dallas episode and a Christopher Reeve movie (both of which have to remain nameless due to spoilers) danced in my head as I wished for Daughtry and Lippincott to take a different path.

“All this time” is a great read, and I highly recommend it for ages 16 and older.

I received a digital advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Last chance Summer” Shannon Klare

Rated 4 stars **** ARC. ebook. Swoon Reads (Feiwel and Friends & Macmillan Publishing Group). To be published July 21, 2020.

The night eighteen-year-old Alex Reynolds decided to sneak out of her house to go to a party with her best friend was the night her life forever changed. She’d messed up before but not as bad so, at the end of their rope with her behavior and attitude, her parents shipped her off to her aunt. Now she was stuck spending the summer in the middle of the hot, sticky woods with a bunch of fourteen-year-olds and no idea how to be a camp counselor.

Her co-counselor is Grant, an incredibly handsome specimen of a man who is supposed to show her the ropes. Not happy at having to train someone who has no desire to be there, they soon engage in an epic battle of wills. The anger and frustration Alex feels has only one outlet, so prepare for a bumpy rollercoaster of emotions as their love-hate relationship goes full steam ahead.

This was a cute summer beach read, but I found Alex to be super annoying. She was a total downer, especially with her presumptions about everyone. Grant, on the other hand, was totally too good to be true. However, if he is real I’d like to meet his twin brother please. 🙂

Recommended for ages 16 and older.

I received a digital advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Loud Awake and Lost” Adele Griffin

Rated 5 stars ***** 2013. Alfred A. Knopf. 289 pp.

Seventeen-year-old Ember almost died the day her car went over the bridge. After 8 months of recovery and therapy from her operations, Ember is finally getting to return home. Her parents and best friend Rachel assure her she is back to normal, but Ember feels as if she’s missing something. A few months of her memory have been lost due to temporary amnesia and, when she finds out a passenger named Anthony had been killed in the accident, Ember is determined to try and regain her memories to find out more about why they’d been in the car together.

Little by little pieces of memory come floating up to the surface of her mind, bringing more questions than answers. Rachel, her parents, her friends and her ex boyfriend Holden want her to be the girl she was before the accident, but Ember is not comfortable dropping back into the mold they made for her life. Despite not being able to dance anymore, she wants her own identity and is sure her hidden memories hold the key to her past and her future. From the hints people have been dropping, she is sure Anthony was more than just a friend but can’t put together the missing pieces of their relationship.

While striving to remember Anthony she meets Kai, who shares her dreams of wanting to break out from the mold society has planned and envisions a whole new world for them. Together they begin the romance of their lives, effectively frustrating Rachel, her parents and Holden as Ember feels herself drawing away from them as she draws closer to Kai.

When Ember finally regains her memories, I was shocked at what Adele Griffin had planned out all along, as I had never seen it coming. “Loud Awake and Lost” leads readers on a roller coaster ride of Ember’s emotions as she seeks to find herself amidst the missing parts of her life, and will keep readers eagerly turning pages to discover more of Ember’s memories and insights.

Recommended for ages 14 and older.

Listed on the ALA (American Library Association’s) Best Fiction for Young Adults list (compiled by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).