Reading Three Popular Thrillers

 Before I started reading predominantly romance, I used to read a decent amount of thrillers. Whether they were YA or Adult, I found myself reaching for them regularly but started to get annoyed with them being so hit or miss. I have only read a handful of thrillers over the past couple of years so I thought, given the time of year, I would give a few popular thrillers a go. I decided to pick up three books that I have heard a lot of great things about and see if I could find the book to make me fall in love with thrillers again. I decided it might be interesting to share my thoughts before, during and after reading to see how my feelings changed throughout.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Initial Thoughts: This is a thriller that has been so hyped in the book community, both by thriller readers and those who don’t typically read this genre, so I’ve been a bit scared to pick it up. I have had it on so many TBRs but just kept putting it off. It takes place on a secluded island during a wedding where someone is found dead. I love the idea of a wedding party on a secluded island, it has the potential to be so atmospheric and intense. This is probably the one I’m most excited about. 

50% Thoughts: I am completely hooked. This book sucked me in straight away with the atmospheric setting and flipping between the wedding night and the days before. I really enjoy the various POVs, I think it makes for such a fast read. The mystery is still so unknown at this point, we don’t really know much about what has happened yet. I like that as I can’t make any guesses, which is usually what ruins a mystery/thriller for me if I manage to guess correctly. I’m really enjoying this so far and I just hope nothing happens to change my thoughts. 

Final Thoughts: I am happy to say that this is a thriller that was worth the hype for me. It was full of twists that kept me reading on and I just loved the way it was written. We are following the bride, groom, various members of the wedding party and the wedding planner in the days leading up to the wedding and the wedding night. The multiple POVs made for such a fast paced read and kept the mystery going as you didn’t know who you could trust, as did the jumping between past and present timelines. I enjoyed how the ending was set up as even though I did manage to guess who the killer was, the journey to get to the reveal was still so intense and intriguing. This was exactly the kind of thriller for me and I will definitely be looking for more like this in the future.

Rating: ★★★★

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Initial Thoughts: This has been on my TBR for the longest time! I remember seeing the synopsis for this book and being instantly interested. It follows a group of women who are all the sole survivors of horrific events. When one is found dead, the others’ lives start to get more complicated. This just sounds like such an interesting premise and I’ve heard that it gets really intense. 

50% Thoughts: The first half of this book was boring. I hate to say that as it was not what I was expecting from this. All I have heard is how thrilling and intense this book is but I haven’t felt any of that so far. Despite the slow start, the characters are interesting and the plot still has potential so I am hoping it picks up a bit from this point. I’m pretty sure I’ve guessed the twist though, I hope I’m wrong. 

Final Thoughts: I wasn’t wrong. I guessed the twist the second a character was introduced. It doesn’t bother me too much when I guess the twist if getting to it is exciting and the reveal is worth it. Sadly, this was a bit disappointing. It wasn’t a bad book, it just didn’t live up to the hype for me. It did pick up a bit in the second half and things got more exciting and intense but never enough for me to be all that invested. As I said before, the characters were interesting and just as twisted as I like to see in my thrillers. While the pacing was slightly off, the plot itself wasn’t bad. It was a unique concept and the author did a great job of throwing in red herrings and keeping you guessing; It’s just a shame that I made a good guess early on. Although this one was a bit of a disappointment for me, I would be interested in reading more from Riley Sager now as I did enjoy the writing.

Rating: ★★★

Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

Initial Thoughts: I would probably say this is the book out of the three that I am most unsure about. I picked this one up before I had heard anything about it because the tagline ‘the serial killer isn’t on trial...he’s on the jury’ had me hooked when I read it. I then saw a lot of people rave about it but just never got around to reading it. I think this is more of a legal thriller, which I don’t think I’ve ever read before. I have no idea what to expect going into this one.

50% Thoughts: This one has been a bit of a surprise for me because so far I am really enjoying it! It is unlike anything I have read before and has me completely hooked. This is following a high profile murder trial of a movie star following the murder of his actress wife and their head of security and is told from two perspectives. The first is of the lawyer who becomes involved in the case, the second is that of the killer who has gotten himself on the jury. I am so in awe of how cleverly written this is. Maybe it is just because I don't read a lot of books like this but I don't think I have ever been this hooked when reading a thriller. It is intense and pretty graphic and gory, which are not things I really love to read, but it is all just so intriguing. The twists keep on coming, I have no idea where this is going and I can't stop reading. I really am loving this so far!

Final Thoughts: In a surprising turn of events, this was my favourite of the three and probably the best book I have read in months. I loved it! I am now questioning my reading tastes; am I actually a romance reader or should I now be reading legal thrillers and crime novels? My final thoughts are pretty much the same as my thoughts from the half way point. This book just continued to keep me interested and shock me with the twists it took. I never knew what would come next, it was so cleverly written. It was intense and gripping, I was completely immersed in this story and couldn't put the book down. I'm a lover of true crime documentaries and this read in a similar way, to me at least. I will definitely be reading more from this author and I might have to start asking my family for some book recommendations as they are all big crime readers. 

Rating: ★★★★★

This was something a little different for me as I have been reading so much romance this year. Even though I love romance, I was starting to get a little burnt out and found myself getting slumpy and rating everything around the 3 star mark. This has definitely gotten me out of my reading slump and I even found a new five star book. 

If you have any thriller recommendations based on my thoughts on these three books, please let me know so I can find some more new favourites.

What is your favourite type of thriller?

Sophie :)

I Recommend 5: YA Thrillers

I haven't done one of these in a couple of months but it seemed only right to use the month of October to recommend some edge of your seat, full of plot twist thrillers. I haven't read loads of thrillers, and a lot of the Adult thrillers I have read are the super popular ones that everyone will have heard of. I have, however, read quite a few YA thrillers over the years that I have really enjoyed and not heard too much about. I decided I would share five of them in the hope that you might find a great spooky season read. 

These are not necessarily books that I have rated 5 stars, as it takes a lot for me to give a thriller such a high rating. However, I have chosen books with interesting stories, some good plot twists and will keep you hooked until the last page.

1. Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie

This was one of the first thrillers I ever read, way back when I was still in school, and I still think about it sometimes. It follows a girl who, while researching for a school project, finds her own picture on a missing children's website. I still remember getting this book from my school library and just completely devouring it. I'll be honest, I don't remember loads about it, other than it has lots of twists and I never knew what was coming, and my opinion may be different now, but 10+ years ago I absolutely loved this book. 

2. Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman

I picked this one up back in 2016 and remember I just couldn't put it down. This is about a girl who goes to a camp for bereaved teens after her sister dies and while she is there she receives texts from someone pretending to be her dead sister. This is another one that I just couldn't predict anything that happened. From what I remember, it was a bit Pretty Little Liars, with the anonymous messages, meets We Were Liars, with the creepy, not sure who to trust atmosphere. 

3. One Of Us Is Next by Karen M McManus

This is a more recent release and definitely more popular than the other books I have mentioned. This is the sequel to One Of Us Is Lying, which is also a really good thriller that I would recommend, but I actually preferred the second book. The sequel follows a mostly new set of characters but is set in the same school as the first book. This involves a game of truth or dare, controlled by an anonymous person, that turns deadly. I love thrillers involving games, so I was completely hooked the entire time. This is another one that completely threw me with the plot twists.

4. There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

This is probably a bit more of a horror than a thriller but I'm including it anyway. This is essentially a slasher film in the form of a YA book. It takes place in a small town in which high school students begin to die one by one in pretty gruesome murders. It is very creepy, a bit graphic, and nothing like you would expect from the author of the Anna and the French Kiss books, but I really enjoyed it. It definitely isn't for everyone and has received some very mixed reviews. As someone who hasn't really read any horror and had nothing to compare it to, I really enjoyed it and was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it.

5. Follow Me Back by AV Geiger

This one is a bit of a strange recommendation from me. I gave this book 2.5 stars, so obviously it wasn't a favourite of mine. However, that rating was due to the way one aspects of the story was portrayed and probably not something that would bother a lot of people. Putting that to the side, this was exciting, creepy, everything you would want in a thriller. It follows a girl with agoraphobia and a pop star who decides to troll her on Twitter. It is an interesting story, a lot of the twists I didn't see coming and it was a thriller that I think a lot of people would enjoy. My issue with this was the fact that I HATED the way fans were portrayed, but if that isn't something that would bother you I would definitely recommend giving it a go.

Those are five YA thrillers that I would recommend picking up and giving a go if you are looking for something a bit creepy over the next week or so. They aren't quite as intense as a lot of adult thrillers, but definitely a good place to start if you are not typically a thriller reader. 

What is your favourite YA thriller? Have you read any of the books on my list?

Sophie :)

Review | How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst

How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst
Published On: October 9, 2014
Published By: Headline
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★

Amazon | Goodreads

They told her she killed her son. She served her time. But what if they lied? 
I have no memory of what happened but I was told I killed my son. And you believe what your loved ones, your doctor and the police tell you, don't you? 
My name is Emma Cartwright. Three years ago I was Susan Webster, and I murdered my twelve-week-old son Dylan. I was sent to Oakdale Psychiatric Institute for my crime, and four weeks ago I was released early on parole with a new identity, address and a chance to rebuild my tattered life. This morning, I received an envelope addressed to Susan Webster. Inside it was a photograph of a toddler called Dylan. 
Now I am questioning everything I believe because if I have no memory of the event, how can I truly believe he's dead? If there was the smallest chance your son was alive, what would you do to get him back?

I seem to have been stuck in a bit of a rut when it comes to mystery/thriller novels recently. Everything I read just seems to be average and I'm waiting for something to blow me away. I was so hoping this would be the one to do that, especially as the synopsis was so intriguing, but sadly not. This was another decent, average mystery/thriller novel. It wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing, it didn't blow me away as I had hoped.

It started off well, I was completely sucked in from the first few pages and just had to know what was happening. However, as the book went on I started to lose interest. I'm not sure if this is because I was didn't have much time to read so ended up having to read this over the course of a month, which could easily make me lost interest. I think it could be a combination of that and the book itself, I did find it a bit slower towards the middle.

A stand-out difference with this book, for me, was the main character. More often than not in these kinds of books, the main character is not a likeable character at all, that's what I've come to expect when I pick up a book like this. That wasn't the case with this book though, I actually found myself liking our main character Susan/Emma. While she isn't a typically likeable character, considering she was convicted for killing her child, and I got the impression the author was trying to make her an untrustworthy, suspicious character, I was rooting for her through everything.

I really didn't like the flashback chapters. Although I can completely see why they were there and the purpose of them, I just didn't like them. I found them a distraction from the main story and it would often result in me putting the book down because I didn't care about what was happening then. Maybe if they had been incorporated differently I would have liked them more.

The main reason this book was just average for me and not anything special was because it was quite predictable at times. There were a lot of little twists and reveals that I could definitely see coming and wasn't shocked or surprised in any way by them. For a lot of the book I found that I was sure I could see something coming and was hoping to be proven wrong, but it didn't happen. There were some things that I didn't see coming at all, but even then I wasn't so much shocked as confused.

While a lot of aspects of this book were predictable, the ending definitely wasn't. I did not predict the main reveal at all. I obviously don't want to say too much because of spoilers but I seem to always work out what happened or who done it, not this time. However, again it didn't shock me. When everything was revealed there was no gasp of surprise, I had more of a 'yeah, that makes sense' reaction.

I also had some issues with the epilogue. I obviously can't go into details but there were some things that I don't think were dealt with very well. I understand why the author did what she did with the epilogue, but considering how certain things were done I think it would have been better not to have included it.

Overall, this was a decent book. It didn't blow me away and I'm finding now that it is a bit forgettable. I only finished it a few days ago and was struggling to remember details of the book as I was writing this review. The premise of the book was great and it initially really drew me in so I do think this author has potential. I definitely wouldn't rule out reading more from her.

Review | The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins
Published By: Random House
Published On: January 15, 2015
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 319
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★★

Amazon | Goodreads

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. 
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

This book was a bit of a struggle for me to begin with, it took me a bit of time to get into. I can't 100% blame that on the book itself as I was very slumpy when I first picked this up. However, it did take a bit of time to really get into the story which I found a little bit boring if I'm being honest.

Despite the slow start, as soon as it got into the action and mystery I was completely hooked. The mystery aspect was so well written that I just couldn't put it down. I was so thrilling and intense that I just had to know what was going to happen. I was definitely very impressed with the writing.

Again in reference to the writing, the plot twists were great. I can't say they were all huge surprises, I did have my suspicions as you always do, but there was definitely a lot that I didn't see coming. It was written so well that there was a lot of arousing suspicion but not too much given away. I was constantly kept on my toes and definitely on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen.

One of the greatest things about this book was the characters. Rachel was a fantastic main character. She was so unreliable, and we all love a good unreliable narrator, which really added to the mystery of the story. You never knew what to believe or what areas of her story were true, which I enjoyed. On top of this, despite her many faults, I really enjoyed Rachel's character in itself. I really didn't expect to like her but she definitely quickly grew on me and became quite a likeable character.

My biggest worry about this book was the ending. I always seem to be disappointed with the endings in this type of novel and was almost setting myself up to be disappointed. However, that was not the case and I was very satisfied by this ending. The ending was so thrilling and not at all what I expected so it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, and I was not at all disappointed.

Overall, this was one of the better mystery/thriller novels I have read recently. It was extremely well written and very thrilling. It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout and, other than the slightly slow start, there was not a dull moment. I would highly recommend this book, and already have to various people.