Mini Reviews – June 2023

The month has been flying by and I have quite a few reviews that I’ve shared on Instagram that I need to add! There have been some great books so far this month and it’s always a relief. If I can’t get to everything I want to, then at least the few I have read are great.

Thanks to the mentioned publishers for any gifted copies in exchange for my honest reviews

Mini Reviews – June 2023

YOU: THE STORY – Ruta Sepetys (Released May 23rd, 2023 – Thanks to Penguin Teen for the copy)

Life is story in motion. Each day, you add to your story, revise it, and view it from a different angle. You erase things. Tear pages out. And sometimes, in hindsight, wish you could put them back. A day is a story. A year is a story. A life is a story.
You are a story.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Ruta Sepetys is known for creating vivid characters and harrowing plots. After five award-winning works of historical fiction and countless hours of meticulous research, she can affirm that the secret to strong writing is embedded within your life experience.

You: The Story is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page. Masterfully weaving in humorous and heartfelt stories from her own life that illustrate an aspect of the craft of writing (such as plot, character development, or dialogue), Sepetys then inspires readers with a series of writing prompts and exercises.

Perfect for fans of Burn After Writing and Bird by Bird, You: The Story awakens the emerging writer and reveals that with some reflection, curiosity, and courage, you have a story to tell.

My Thoughts: 4/5 stars – I’m not normally one to read a lot of nonfiction like this, but I absolutely loved I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys last year, so I figured I’d give this one a try! I’m glad I did because despite being nonfiction, the writing flowed like fiction would, and you can’t deny Sepetys’ incredible talent in telling a story. Definitely recommend to those interested in writing and the art of storytelling!

TABLE FOR 3: A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY – Holly Rae Garcia, Douglas Ford & Rebecca Rowland (Released June 2nd, 2023 – Thanks to Holly for the gifted ebook copy)

Three horrific stories of crop-killing fungal outbreaks, ancient sources of sustenance, and a ravishing hunger for which there is no cure.

“The Last Slaughter” by Douglas Ford
“Cat Food” by Holly Rae Garcia
“Rock of Ages” by Rebecca Rowland

– Intro by R.J. Joseph –

My Thoughts: 5/5 stars – Who knew you could get such a variety in horror around the same topic: hunger. This book, these stories. Wow. We’re treated to some body horror, folk horror, and some psychological horror. There was no clear standout because each story was so unique, terrifying, haunting, and memorable. I don’t want to give away much more, but this definitely won’t be for the squeamish! Loved it and I found two new to me authors to keep an eye on (go read Holly’s book Parachute, while you’re at it!)

THE PUZZLE MASTER – Danielle Trussoni (Released June 13th, 2023 – Thanks to Random House for the copy)

Reality and the supernatural collide when an expert puzzle maker is thrust into an ancient mystery—one with explosive consequences for the fate of humanity—in this suspenseful thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Angelology

All the world is a puzzle, and Mike Brink—a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor—understands its patterns like no one else. Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: acquired savant syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower—he can solve puzzles in ways ordinary people can’t. But it also left him deeply isolated, unable to fully connect with other people.

Everything changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder who hasn’t spoken a word since her arrest five years before. When Price draws a perplexing puzzle, her psychiatrist believes it will explain her crime and calls Brink to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack an alluring cipher quickly morphs into an obsession with Price herself. She soon reveals that there is something more urgent, and more dangerous, behind her silence, thrusting Brink into a hunt for the truth.

The quest takes Brink through a series of interlocking enigmas, but the heart of the mystery is the God Puzzle, a cryptic ancient prayer circle created by the thirteenth-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia. As Brink navigates a maze of clues, and his emotional entanglement with Price becomes more intense, he realizes that there are powerful forces at work that he cannot escape.

Ranging from an upstate New York women’s prison to nineteenth-century Prague to the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Puzzle Master is a tantalizing, addictive thriller in which humankind, technology, and the future of the universe itself are at stake.

My Thoughts: 4/5 stars – Well, this thriller was a breath of fresh air! Something different when it comes to supernatural thrillers and I couldn’t get enough of it. While there were a lot of moving parts, everything ended up fitting together perfectly – like a Puzzle (yes, I had to). There is a little bit of everything for readers. A little supernatural, religious elements, plenty of action, lots of complex puzzles, mystery, suspense. I had a lot of fun with this and can’t wait for more from Trussoni!

THE GOOD ONES – Polly Stewart (Released June 6th, 2023 – Thanks to Harper Books for the copy)

An engrossing work of literary suspense that illuminates the push and pull of female friendship and the costs of being “good” when the rules for women begin to chafe.

The last time Nicola Bennett saw Lauren Ballard she was scraping a key along the side of a new cherry-red Chevy Silverado. That was the night before her friend mysteriously vanished from her home, leaving a bloodstained washcloth and signs of a struggle–as well as her grieving husband and young daughter–behind.

Now, nearly twenty years later, Nicola, newly unemployed and still haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend, is returning to her Appalachian hometown. For Nicola, Tyndall County has remained frozen in time. Everywhere she turns she’s reminded of Lauren. Yet shockingly, her former friends and neighbors have all moved on. Drawn to stories of missing girls, Nicola obsessively searches the internet, hoping to discover a clue to Lauren’s ultimate fate.

Driven by a desperate need to know what happened to her friend, Nicola takes a job in her hometown, determined to uncover any bit of information, any small clue, that can help. Deep down she knows the answers are tucked in the hollows and valleys of this small Blue Ridge county. As secrets come to light and the truth begins to unravel, will Nicola finally find release and break free of the past–or lose herself completely to unanswered questions from her adolescence?

My Thoughts: 3/5 stars – This wasn’t exactly the thriller I was anticipating. More suspense and mystery than thriller, in my opinion. The writing was great, I loved how Stewart told the story and the characters she introduced. Even if they were all unlikable in their own ways. I had guessed where it was going pretty early on but I still enjoyed the journey.

WHERE ECHOES DIE – Courtney Gould (Released June 20th, 2023 – Thanks to Wednesday Books for the copy)

Beck Birsching has been adrift since the death of her mother, a brilliant but troubled investigative reporter. She finds herself unable to stop herself from slipping into memories of happier days, clamoring for a time when things were normal. So when a mysterious letter in her mother’s handwriting arrives in the mail with the words Come and find me, pointing to a town called Backravel, Beck hopes that it may hold the answers.

But when Beck and her sister Riley arrive in Backravel, Arizona it’s clear that there’s something off about the town. There are no cars, no cemeteries, no churches. The town is a mix of dilapidated military structures and new, shiny buildings, all overseen by the town’s gleaming treatment center high on a plateau. No one seems to remember when they got there, and the only people who seem to know more than they’re letting on is the town’s enigmatic leader and his daughter, Avery.

As the sisters search for answers about their mother, Beck and Avery become more drawn together, and their unexpected connection brings up emotions Beck has buried since her mother’s death. Beck is desperate to hold onto the way things used to be, and when she starts losing herself in Backravel and its connection to her mother, will there be a way for Beck to pull herself out?

In her sophomore novel Courtney Gould draws readers into the haunting town of Backravel and explores grief, the weight of not letting go of the past, first love, and the bonds between sisters, mothers and daughters.

My Thoughts: 4/5 stars – This book was amazing – the perfect one to get your dose of spooky in the summertime. The author knows how to set the scene and basically drags you into the creepy, small desert town Beck and Riley find themselves in. The story is twisty enough to keep you on your toes, the right amount of horror elements, characters you become quickly attached to and invested in, and a little Sapphic romance in the mix. I had a lot of fun reading this little horror/fantasy book!