family drama

Review: A Perfect Mother by Miranda Smith

~ megs14malloy ~ Leave a comment

A Perfect MotherA Perfect Mother by Miranda Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

A Perfect Mother is a fast-paced Popcorn Thriller following a Momfluencer whose daughter gets kidnapped from a hotel whilst she’s speaking at an event. Her nanny, who was with her daughter at the time, was attacked in the hotel restroom and Stella, her daughter, disappeared from there.

We follow Megan as she desperately aids in the tense and desperate search for her daughter. We also get the kidnappers perspective, and deep dive into Megan’s past.

Even though she’s marketed herself as the perfect mother, it turns out, Megan hasn’t always been so perfect.

Since we get the kidnapper’s perspective as well, it does make it less mysterious, and a bit more like a cat and mouse game between Megan and the perpetrator. I actually enjoyed that. Especially since the two are connected, and the way Smith revealed that connection was intriguing to follow.

Overall, the story is entertaining and I did have fun with the various twists and developments. While it didn’t blow me away, it didn’t do anything wrong either. It’s just a good, solid read for anyone who needs something light and quick. It’s not super memorable, but I didn’t need it to be.

Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, for providing me with a copy to read and review!

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Review: The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin

~ megs14malloy

The Vanishing PlaceThe Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

After a murder in the New Zealand bush, and a witness who looks like a ghost of the past, Effie decides she must return to her home country, a place she’d sworn never to return.

Effie grew up in the bush, caring for her younger siblings, raised by parents who completely cut them off from the rest of the world. It was a hard existence, and the children experienced things that would make you toes curl. It’s left permanent scars on Effie’s psyche.

Effie’s been living her adult life in the UK, far from the places of her earlier traumas. When she gets a phone call though, from someone from her past, telling her of this young witness, who looks just like a younger version of herself, she has to return.

She needs to put this to bed. She needs to actually find out what happened to her family, and perhaps help this young witness in the process. In order to do so though, Effie’s going to have to face the demons of her past all over again.

I read this at the wrong time, I think. I didn’t vibe with it all. Though reading the synopsis, you’d think I would. Unfortunately, I was bored for the majority of the story. The writing is great, so it’s not that, and I did appreciate the depth of it, but it just wasn’t for me right now.

Many of my Book Friends, whose tastes normally align with mine, loved it, so def don’t take my word for it. I honestly think it was just the wrong book for me in the moment.

I never connected with the characters in a way that would establish the empathy I think is needed to truly enjoy a story like this. I needed to be invested in Effie and her past, and sadly, I just wasn’t.

It was refreshing to read a story set in New Zealand and I did enjoy the audiobook narration as well. I also think the author did a good job of taking us back-and-forth between past and present without making it confusing or convoluted.

I think there’s a lot of heart in this story, unfortunately my ice cold heart just wasn’t receptive to it at this time. i would definitely be open to reading more from this author in the future though.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would recommend this to Readers who enjoy more Literary Thrillers, particularly with a strong focus on the family.

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Review: Paper Cut by Rachel Taff

~ megs14malloy

Paper CutPaper Cut by Rachel Taff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Paper Cut is a Contemporary Fiction novel following Lucy Golden, who is a bit of a True Crime superstar. She’s best known for escaping a cult as a teenager.

You might be wondering, what about that would make her so famous? Well, she had to commit murder to escape, so that fact alone has made her infamous in the public eye.

Twenty-years later, Lucy is still well known, but her life is a battlefield. She’s always one news cycle away from obscurity, which isn’t a great feeling. She has a stalker, online haters, and her family is a mess.

When a hotshot documentarian makes Lucy’s life the subject of his next film, she jumps at the chance. This would be a great opportunity for her.

Perhaps she can finally shut down the doubters and haters, cementing her place in the public consciousness, but what’s she going to do about her family?

As the filming begins, Lucy must return to the California desert and face some of the people she thought she had left behind forever. Soon enough, long-buried secrets are coming to the surface, and present threats escalate.

Can Lucy get control of all these chess pieces and protect the story she’s been telling all along, or will a truth be exposed she never wanted to face?

Paper Cut is a classic it’s not you, it’s me novel.

This is a fine story, the writing is solid and Taff did a great job creating the characters and seeing the plot through coherently, and at a steady pace. The issue for me is just that the content wasn’t to my taste.

It has a much more Literary feel than I tend to enjoy, and I felt like I was constantly waiting on more thrills, chills and suspense. I was bored. It left me feeling unsatisfied.

My experience with Paper Cut reminds me so much of my experience with The Three Lives of Cate Kay. While I can appreciate the merits of the story, particularly the detailed character exploration, it’s just not to my personal tastes.

For more Literary Readers, maybe who enjoy the slightly unsavory side of humanity, I think this could be very successful. However, I rate based on my own personal experience, so it’s just a 3-star for me.

Thank you to the publisher, William Morrow and Harper Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I’d definitely be willing to give Rachel Taff another shot, and plan to do so in the future.

I never write off an author after just one book!

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Review: 12 Ways to Kill Your Family at Christmas by Natasha Bache

~ megs14malloy

12 Ways to Kill Your Family at Christmas12 Ways to Kill Your Family at Christmas by Natasha Bache
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Prior to moving their family to Australia, Olivia and her husband, Miles, as well as their two children, must go spend a two-week Christmas holiday with Miles’s extremely wealthy and terrible family.

Olivia, a Romantasy author, from a family who couldn’t be more different than her husband’s, has always felt judged and out of place at the Weiss family estate. Nevertheless, she loves him and shall grin and bear it, because that’s what a good partner does.

As expected, his family is shockingly-rude from the get-go. It’s going to be a long two weeks. All the relationships are toxic and if Miles’s mother is around, the backhanded jibes are never far behind.

We won’t mention the tension you could cut with a knife due to the great inheritance debate over the multi-million dollar fortune. Olivia couldn’t care less about the money though, she cares more about the poor treatment that she, Miles and their children receive.

She can’t wait to get on the plane to Australia. Let’s gooo!

Soon after their arrival, an accident results in a family member’s death. Shortly thereafter, another family member falls victim to a terrible accident.

But then a third? Are we still believing these are accidents? As the bodies pile up, one after another, in admittedly quite creative ways, it becomes clear to Olivia that there’s a killer amongst them, but who?

Motivations and hostilities abound. It could honestly be anyone, or multiple people. It’s certainly not beyond the stretch of imagination that a plot to seize the inheritance could be in play.

When inclement weather cuts them off from the world, Olivia takes it upon herself to try to weed out the killer. Can she possibly get to them, before they get to her first?

The clock is ticking on a Christmas they’ll never forget. If they live to remember it, that is.

I had so much fun with this novel. It’s thoroughly deranged, but in a really fun way. I loved Olivia’s perspective. Her wry delivery and sarcasm, as well as the dark humor that Bache brought to the story made it wickedly-entertaining.

It felt quite cinematic as well. I feel like it would make a great holiday movie, like a Knives Out version of a holiday movie. I feel like it could translate so well into that format because of the drama and humor.

I was picturing Naomi Watts as Olivia, and Ewan McGregor as Miles. Not bad images to have in your brain, either one.

I also need to applaud Bache’s creative kills. I’m a Horror girl, and I love a unique or creative kill. Bache definitely delivered in that capacity here.

Another thing worth mentioning, that I really appreciated about this, was the relationships between Olivia, Miles and their kids. They were very close and remained so throughout the story. They felt supportive to one another, and were really the only bright light in this family.

I’m so glad I finally read this one. It was a great fit for my tastes in the Mystery genre. I loved all the twists and reveals. Messy family is drama is one of my favorite things in fiction and this took messy to the next level.

Thank you to the publisher, One More Chapter, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

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Review: Liar’s Dice by Juliet Faithfull

~ megs14malloy

Liar's DiceLiar’s Dice by Juliet Faithfull
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Liar’s Dice is set in 1970s Brazil and follows a young girl, Dolores, after her twin sister, Mita, gets sent overseas to a hospital in London due to a medical condition.

When the girls were young, it was discovered that Mita had a degenerative health condition that Dolores did not have. By the time the girls were around 8-years old, her condition had progressed so much that their parents didn’t feel they could care for her safely any longer.

Whether that’s true or not, it’s what they believed. They also believed the hospitals in Brazil weren’t acceptable for Mita. Therefore, it was their belief that London, where he was originally from, would be the best choice.

As you can imagine, this is a difficult decision for any family, but for Dolores, it was incomprehensible. Mita belonged with them, with her. When Mita left, Dolores felt like half her heart was gone. She could think of little else.

A lot of this book explores Dolores’s reaction to Mita being gone. She cannot understand her parent’s decision and there’s a lot of tension in the family because of the choices that have been made.

This is a true Coming of Age story. We do get the entire story from Dolores’s perspective, and she’s relaying it to us in the voice of a child/tween.

This doesn’t affect it’s depth, however, as the topics explored are deep and emotional. I did appreciate how realistic Dolores’s narrative voice felt. I feel like Faithfull did an incredible job with that.

Let me be clear, I am not a Historical Fiction girlie. This book is very much outside of my comfort zone. I picked it up only after the publisher emailed me about it and brought it to my attention. I don’t think it ever would have been on my radar if they hadn’t done that.

After reading this synopsis, I was definitely intrigued. I do love Coming of Age Horror, and this is a Coming of Age story, though very far from Horror. It still captured that nostalgic Coming of Age feel that I enjoy losing myself in, and I also loved the Brazilian setting. It was refreshing.

The MC, Dolores, was empathetic to follow. Their family went through so much over the course of the book. I’ll admit certain scenes definitely made me emotional. I’m glad I picked this one up, comfort zone or not.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Random House, for bringing this novel to my attention, and for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is a beautiful debut, and I would absolutely pick up more from this author.

I would definitely recommend this to my Historical Fiction friends, but I would also recommend it to people like me, who may not pick up a lot of the genre, but find the subject matter interesting. It really is a powerful story.

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Review: The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall

~ megs14malloy

The Girls BeforeThe Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

The Girls Before is a twisty, fast-paced Thriller from one of my go-to authors, Kate Alice Marshall. For me, KAM has such variety with her writing and I love getting my hands on each of her books as they’re released.

This story follows Audrey, a Search & Rescue expert, and a kidnapped woman, Stranger. The narrative transitions back-and-forth between them, slowly revealing connections and the truth of Stranger’s captivity. I loved that back-and-forth as the larger picture starts to become clear.

Audrey was a great main character. She has a lovable pitty named Barry, who I loved having involved in the story. Audrey was portrayed as a good dog mom and we do always appreciate that in a story.

In addition to following Audrey’s work in SAR, we also get to see a bit going on in her personal life and I liked that aspect. I felt like I really got to know her and it made me connect to her more and care about her as the story progressed.

Stranger’s perspective was rather horrifying. Everything she had gone through. Her struggles felt real. It was just awful to think about, to imagine being in that circumstance. Of course that made me empathetic to her in a different way than I was to Audrey.

I loved trying to figure out what was actually going on. There ended up being a lot of different players that comes into the action in a heavy way.

I’m sure this won’t be for everyone, but for me it was very entertaining. I listened to the audiobook in a day, a format I would recommend. The narration by Ina Barrón and Karissa Vacker brought the story to life. I felt sucked into this world and I wasn’t stopping until I had all the answers.

I love nothing more than digging into the secrets of a really toxic family or disturbing small town, and this definitely satisfied that itch. I did feel it got a little convoluted in the second half, however, I still liked it a lot.

I’m confident I followed all the lines KAM was setting and I was happy with the conclusion. I would recommend this for Thriller Readers, particularly if you’ve enjoyed KAM’s work in the past, or if you enjoy stories featuring missing persons.

Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I had a lot of fun reading it. Kate Alice Marshall’s work is always a good bet for entertainment!

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Review: These Familiar Walls by C.J. Dotson

~ megs14malloy

These Familiar Walls: A NovelThese Familiar Walls: A Novel by C.J. Dotson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

These Familiar Walls is a Paranormal Horror Thriller from C.J. Dotson. This story follows our MC, Amber, in two timelines.

The present is 2020, and Amber, along with her husband, Ben, and their two children, move into Amber’s childhood home. Amber has inherited the house after her parents have been murdered, inside the house, by Nathan, one of Amber’s friends from her teen years.

Amber also lost her sister, Hannah, along with her brother-in-law, in a house fire not long ago. It’s clear from the start that Amber is working through some things, and perhaps her childhood home, full of unpleasant memories, isn’t the best place for her during this difficult time.

We also get Amber’s perspective from 22-years before, in 1998, when she first befriends Nathan, the boy who would grow up to become a murderer.

Nathan exhibits classic signs of the homicidal triad, including cruelty to animals (on page) and fire-setting. I’m not sure what his proclivity for bed-wetting was, but I’m gonna guess it happened once or twice.

Needless to say, Amber’s parents weren’t crazy about her hanging around with the disturbed boy next door, and it cause a lot of contention in their household. A fact Amber has never forgotten.

These scenes from 1998, while interesting, particularly the interactions involving Amber’s little sister, Hannah, did slow down the pace for me a little bit.

The spooky stuff in the house kicks off fairly quickly, and the sections of the past sort of brought it down for me until about the 60% point.

I did really enjoy the unsettling things happening to Amber within the house in the present perspective. There were a lot of visions connected to the past, and creepy scenes involving the mirrors that definitely got under my skin.

I was torn initially on how to rate this, because I found portions of it to be distasteful. This needs explanation, but I’m not sure how much I can say without spoiling things. The more I’ve thought about it though, the more I have to doff my cap to the author in my uncomfortableness.

I found one of the violent, pivotal scenes in this book abhorrent. However, I am a Horror Reader. I’ve definitely read wayyyy more messed up stuff than this, so I have to think that the author did a great job eliciting these emotions from me. I must have been so sucked in, so involved in the lives of this family that it made it extra impactful. Either way, it’s uncomfortable, or was for me.

I do believe that was the intention of the author, of course, for me to feel this way. Therefore, I can’t hold it against them, my own emotional hangups. They did what they set out to do, and well done for that.

I just needed to get over that mental hurdle and appreciate the novel’s ability to put me in an uncomfortable place and keep me there. By the time everything is revealed though, that emotion lifts and then we get to the heart of the paranormal of the story.

I felt that was executed well. It’s hard sometimes to translate those kind of concepts, what may be in author’s head onto the page, but I think Dotson did a good job. While some aspects were predictable, I think overall it’s an engaging and gripping read.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read from Dotson so far, and am looking forward to more in the future!

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Review: Adrift by Will Dean

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AdriftAdrift by Will Dean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Adrift follows the tumultuous lives of a family living aboard a cramped houseboat in a desolate canal. Drew and Peggy, husband and wife, were both aspiring writers. Drew even had a glimpse of some early success, but since has struggled, working blue collar jobs and barely making ends meet.

Peggy is the glue that holds the family together. She’s a loving mother to their 14-year old son, Sam, and she spends some time, when she’s not cooking and cleaning for her family, volunteering at a local library. Secretly, she’s also been continuing to write.

The story follows the family through their day-to-day and it is bleak, my friends. I’m talking non-stop hardship, dissension and isolation. Though it initially reads like a straight Literary Fiction/Family Drama, it does take a sharp turn in the second half.

Admittedly, this is a very difficult read. The drama is powerful and painful. In fact, I had to put it down for a couple of days just to get a break from it more than once. Around 30%, I wondered, why am I reading this, it’s depressing AF, but I couldn’t give it up.

Something was holding me there with these characters.

But as challenging as it was to get through, I also think it’s an important read. Dean did an incredible job with these characters and their toxic dynamic. It felt incredibly realistic, which is sad to say due to the content.

I was fully immersed and it was pretty painful, not gonna lie, but I walk away so impressed with the quality of this storytelling and what Dean was able to achieve here.

I think if you’re in the right headspace going into this, and you are aware that it’s going to be a challenge, that you could walk away appreciating it as I did. It gets intense, almost claustrophobic feeling and I started to feel as desperate as the characters, but the payoff was worth it.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This novel felt like a gut-punch. Dean should be proud.

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Review: Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

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Forget Me NotForget Me Not by Stacy Willingham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Claire’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared 22-years ago. This was a traumatizing event for young-Claire, and she’s carried heavy feelings regarding it ever since. It severed their family and nothing was ever the same.

In fact, after leaving home for college, Claire has never returned. She was more than happy to leave the past in the past, where it belongs.

She moved to a city and worked her way up as an investigative journalist. Recently, after not receiving a promotion she should have been a shoe-in for, she gave up her position and decided to do freelance work.

Unfortunately, securing that work has been more difficult than she anticipated, so when she receives a call from her Dad saying her Mom has been injured and can use her help, she decides to go to her aide.

Returning to her hometown after such a long period of time away churns up all sorts of buried emotions. Additionally, her estranged mother doesn’t seem all that happy to see her, like not at all. It hurts.

With nothing but time stretching ahead of her, and restless where she’s at, Claire decides to do a little digging. She’s an investigative journalist, after all.

She decides to go to visit Galloway Farm, the vineyard in South Carolina where Natalie had a Summer job just prior to her disappearance. The visit ends up turning into temporary work for Claire, who although she’s never been a farm hand, is excited about the offer of free room and board.

The idyllic escape quickly moves in a more mysterious direction though after she stumbles across the owner’s wife’s old diary stashed away in her cottage. Originally thinking it’s just a tale of young love, Claire is surprised when the diary reveals much darker truths involving unsolved crimes and missing persons.

I really enjoyed my time reading Forget Me Not. Stacy Willingham definitely knows how to write a compelling and suspense-filled story. I always anticipate her latest releases, and so far, I’ve never been let down.

I read this via audio, and it does feature dual narration, with one of my favorite voice artists, Karissa Vacker, voicing Claire, and Helen Laser voicing the diary bits. I appreciated that the publisher chose to use the two narrators as it really helped to make the separate sections distinct.

This also features a couple of my favorites tropes, the MC returning to her hometown after a long-time away and the found diary, so it was sort of fated to work for me.

I also tend to love mystery stories that follow journalists, because it feels natural for them to be digging into things the way they do. It doesn’t seem forced, or far-fetched. It’s literally part of their jobs and they have the training and experience to do so.

I felt bad for Claire as a character. My heart definitely went out to her. She lost her sister, a person she idolized, and through that also ended up losing her Mom and Dad. They separated, and her family unit all went their separate ways. She felt very alone.

The intensity builds steadily throughout. It pulls you in and while I did guess a few of the big twists that were revealed, there were many more that I didn’t see coming.

This is def entertaining and I would recommend it to Mystery, Thriller and Suspense Readers. I’m not sure how memorable it’ll be for me long term, but it was very fun.

It’s a bit culty, a bit cringey domestic drama and dark family secrets. It’s got a lot going for it, honestly, for those of us who love messy relationship dynamics.

Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I’ve enjoyed all of Willingham’s books and will be anxiously awaiting whatever she writes next. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us.

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Review: A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James

~ megs14malloy

A Box Full of DarknessA Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

💙✨️💙✨️💙✨️💙✨️💙✨️💙✨️💙

Beloved author, Simone St. James, returns to Fell, New York, in her latest Paranormal Mystery, A Box Full of Darkness.

For avid fans of St. James, you may recognize Fell as being the same location as her earlier novel, The Sun Down Motel, which I adored when it released in 2020.

The start of this reminded me so much of The Haunting of Hill House. The Netflix show, not the book. We follow three siblings, Violet, Vail and Dodie, who are essentially called back to the house they grew up in, alongside their younger brother, Ben, who disappeared years before.

There are reports that the property is being haunted by a spirit, at least according to the recent landscaper’s reports. The siblings agree to go back, deal with the past and try to figure out, once and for all, what really happened to Ben all those years ago.

I was really intrigued by this set-up. I liked meeting all the siblings and learning about them. They’re all vastly different, but you can feel the love and support they have for each other.

It’s with great apprehension that the three return to the Fell house and you can feel that uncertainty through the page. The vibes of the house were rich and unsettling. I wanted to know everything about it, and what happened not only to Ben, but everyone else in the family around that time.

I loved this mystery and was completely hooked into it. There were also references alluding to events at The Sun Down Motel, and also, I believe, The Broken Girls, which was really fun. I love little Easter Eggs like that connecting author’s various works.

Overall, I found this very engaging and entertaining. I loved this group of siblings and their complicated family history. I won’t claim it’s a perfect story, but I think if you are looking for something to keep your attention and keep you guessing, this is a fantastic option.

It’s got St. James’s signature style of ‘is it paranormal, is it not paranormal‘, which I really love about her stories. I’m so happy with my experience with this one and look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I always look forward to Simone St. James’s new releases and this one didn’t disappoint!

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