2014 – Book # 78

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, Thriller by rebeccabook17

The seventy-eighth book I read in 2014 was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This was the first book I have read by this author. I finished this book on 8/31/14. I rated this book 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about Nick Dunne and how his life changes when his wife Amy goes missing. On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick comes home to find his living room in horrible disarray and his wife is nowhere to be found.

There are three pretty much separate parts of this book. The first part alternates between (1) Nick Dunne’s point of view from the day Amy goes missing and (2) Amy’s point of view for the past seven years up to the point of her disappearance through her diary entries. Through Amy’s diary we see Amy and Nick’s relationship from the beginning , and watch it deteriorate as the years pass. Through Nick’s point of view we see the guilt, the emptiness, the fear. This at first makes readers wonder if his reactions are due to the fact that Nick has something to do with Amy’s disappearance. And as all the clues seem to come together to the same conclusion, Nick has trouble continuing to convince his family, Amy’s family, the police and the public that he is innocent.

The second part of the book tells the story from Amy’s point of view from the day of her disappearance (first hand and not through diary entries) as well as continuing through Nick’s point of view after the disappearance. Nick is beginning to seem very, very guilty and he enlists the help of one of the nation’s greatest husband-defense lawyers. Nick tries to bring the public around to his side through the help of the media. But for someone who isn’t good at showing emotions in a general sense, not showing emotion when your wife is missing just makes you seem more guilty.

The third part of the book is told through Amy and Nick’s point of views after Amy is “found.” This part of the book I found to be the most twisted and honestly a little disturbing. Amy and Nick’s obsession with each other seems to be self-destructive and I can’t imagine how Nick was able to sleep next to her at night. Amy is cunning and ruthless and both her and Nick surprised me in this section.

Overall this was an interesting book but not one that I would read again. The plot itself was fascinating and inventive but was a little dark for my taste. I’m very glad that I read it though and would recommend it to other readers. Especially since they’re making a movie out of it, I always like to read the book before I go see the movie. I am curious about how the book will translate into film though given the transition that has to happen between the first and second parts of the book. I am interested in seeing the movie when it comes out. The official site for the movie, including trailers, can be found here.

Link to author website: http://gillian-flynn.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Girl-Gillian-Flynn/dp/030758836X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1409743995&sr=8-1

2Aug2014

2014 – Book #64 – Part 2

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction by rebeccabook17

Little Lies is a prequel novella to Little Mercies, which was the sixty-fourth book I read in 2014 (see previous blog post). Since this novella was only 44 pages I decided to count it as a second part of #64 rather than its own book post. I finished this novella on 8/2/14. I rated it 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5. This novella tells the story of Ellen Moore as she and her friend Joe investigate a crime involving a young child.

Since this was a pretty short story I don’t want to go into too much detail on the plot. This was a great prequel though and I would highly recommend reading it in connection with Little Mercies.

Link to author website: http://www.heathergudenkauf.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Lies-Heather-Gudenkauf-ebook/dp/B00J1ZETMU/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1407003329

29Jul2014

2014 – Book #62

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Full series, Romantic suspense by rebeccabook17

The sixty-second book I read in 2014 was Full Bloom by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes. This is the fifth book in their “Full” series. I finished this book on 7/29/14 (partly due to the parking lot that was Highway 84 W traffic this morning). I rated this book 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about small-town B&B homeowner Annie Fortenberry. Annie is extremely stressed out due to the high-profile upcoming wedding being held at the eccentric B&B she inherited from her grandmother. The last thing she needs to add to her to do list is clear herself of murder charges!

Wes Parker shows up at Annie’s B&B to try and find out what happened to Annie’s missing husband. And it takes Wes all of 5 minutes to realize that Annie couldn’t have murdered anybody. After the gardener finds Annie’s husband’s body buried out by the carriage house though, the police turn they’re eyes towards Annie. Wes has to figure out who actually murdered Charles before Annie gets put away for a crime she didn’t commit.

Overall this was an ok book. It was funny, witty, and a quick read but I thought that the ending could’ve been better. There wasn’t really a villain in the end, the killer turned out to be someone we already knew and honestly liked. I felt like it would’ve been better with a real villain in the end. And whatever happened to all the side characters? Many of their stories were left open, like Norm and Donna Schaefer’s. And I thought it was a little weird that Wes got there so fast after Annie called him. So while I thought the ending could’ve gone a little better, the book overall was a quick and entertaining read.

Link to author website: http://www.evanovich.com/

Link to “Full” series page: http://www.evanovich.com/novels/romance-novels/co-authored-romance-novels/charlotte-hughes/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Full-Bloom-Janet-Evanovich/dp/0312934300/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1406652406&sr=8-1

2Jun2014

2014 – Book #47

Posted in Book reviews, Romantic suspense by rebeccabook17

The forty-seventh book I read in 2014 was Low Pressure by Sandra Brown. I finished this book on 6/1/14. I rated this book 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Bellamy Lyston Price and how 18 years after the fact, she is still trying to recover from the murder of her older sister. Her family has never quite been able to move past her sister being found dead after a tornado, only to find out that Susan (the sister) was killed by another person instead of the twister. Dent Carter was Susan’s girlfriend when she was murdered and they had a fight the morning she died, making him the police’s first suspect. He had an alibi though, and once the police found out Susan was screwing around they arrested the other guy she was sleeping with and he was convicted and sentenced for Susan’s murder.

Fast forward to 18 years later, Bellamy has written a published a book about her family’s tragedy, labeling it a fiction book and writing it under a pen-name. A reporter discovers her true identity however, and it doesn’t take long for Bellamy to become the most famous author in America. Soon after that she receives a threatening package. Thinking it might be Dent showing he’s unhappy with her book, she gets in contact with him only to find out that he hasn’t even heard of her book. Now that he has though, he’s furious.

Dent’s airplane is soon after vandalized, and it seems to be the same person who vandalizes Bellamy’s house. Bellamy and Dent decide to team up to try and figure out who is attacking them. Since Susan’s killer was convicted only on circumstantial evidence, it would seem that Susan’s actual killer is the one attacking them.

Be forewarned, the amount of twists and turns in this book was just astounding. Overall, this was just an awesome book. It was riveting and thrilling. I couldn’t tear myself away from the book, I was glued to the story for the whole story. I felt like I was trapped within the story. I loved this book and I would highly recommend it to other readers!

Link to author website: http://sandrabrown.net/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Low-Pressure-Sandra-Brown/dp/1455525189/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1401667603&sr=8-1

30Apr2014

2014 – Book #32

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Lords of Vice series, Romantic suspense by rebeccabook17

The thirty-second book I read in 2014 was Till Dawn wit the Devil by Alexandra Hawkins. This is the second book in the Lords of Vice series by this author. I finished this book on 4/29/14. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about Lady Sophia Ravenshaw and Gabriel Housely, the Earl of Rainecourt, affectionately known to his friends as Reign. When these two meet at a ball, Reign is instantly attracted to the blond angel Sophia. When Sophia’s brother storms onto the terrace to rescue her from Reign’s scandalous nature, Reign discovers that his lady is a Ravenshaw. The Rancourt and Ravenshaw names are twisted together in a number of sordid past tragedies, but Reign can’t stop himself from wanting Sophia.

After Reign finds out Sophia is in trouble he races off to her rescue, but in rescuing her from her family he doesn’t realize he’s placing her in even greater danger. When he is faced with losing the love that’s begun to bloom inside of him, he knows he must fight for his wife’s life in order to keep what’s developing between them.

My blog post on the first book in the Lords of Vice series was overall not my favorite. There was a lot of things in the story that made me slightly uncomfortable while I was reading it. The second book in the series though was greatly improved, I liked it a lot better than the first. It was touching and interesting, sweet and steamy at the same time. Overall this was a great book and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Link to author website: http://www.alexandrahawkins.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Till-Dawn-Devil-Lords-Vice/dp/0312381255/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398817956&sr=8-1&keywords=till+dawn+with+the+devil