What I've Read so far 2022
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Over the last few years, I have set myself a reading challenge to read around 60 books each year, but I learned that I am a mood reader and putting too much pressure on numbers just made me sad so, this year, I set my target much lower and I have taken the pressure off myself.
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
With that in mind, I am reading at my own pace and enjoying the experience more-and what an experience I've had so far this year! Not only have I discovered a few 4-star books but I also fell in love with my first 5-star read of the year. Let's have a round-up shall we?!
When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.
It seems strange to say that something with such a terrible subject matter can be beautifully written but this book is. The storytelling, and language used is so descriptive and even poetic at times I found myself lost in the story, and near the end I was actually on edge-I felt like I was there with Chloe and it wasn’t a nice place to be. This stunning debut is full of twists and turns, and my favourite trope-unreliable narrator- but despite the ever changing “facts” I figured out many of the key points quite early on. Many but not all, and the journey to the answers was still an enjoyable one which is why I gave 4 stars. Can’t wait to read more from this excellent debut author.
The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas-⭐⭐⭐ and a 1/2
There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.
First there was the car accident—two girls gone after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they lost.
A solid enough YA mystery. Some conclusions easy to work out, others quite surprising. My biggest bug bear is that in the UK (at least when I bought my copy) the front cover has "FIVE GIRLS LIED FIVE GIRLS DIED" plastered across the front-bigger than the actual title in fact. But this tag line doesnt really fit with the story inside the book. I was expecting some kind of pact gone wrong, murderer starts picking girls off for revenge type story...this was not that, and I felt let down.The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley-⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.I really enjoyed The Paris Apartment-with its twists and turns, it’s never ending cycle of trust, broken trust, begrudging trust, and an actually original story. So often books in this genre are cookie cutter and samey but Lucy manages to avoid many of the usual tropes and pitfalls in order to deliver a great two day read.For me The Paris Apartment managed to do what The Guest List just missed out on. The tension was ever present, the story twisted and turned in ways that I was always certain of one thing before being proven wrong a chapter later, and whilst I was still able to see some thing's coming I was pleasantly surprised with the conclusion.Into the Dark by Fiona Cummins-⭐⭐⭐⭐One late autumn morning, Piper’s best friend arrives at Seawings to discover an eeriescene – the kettle is still warm, all the family’s phones are charging on the worktop, the cars are in the garage. But the house is deserted.
In fifteen-year-old Riva Holden’s bedroom, scrawled across the mirror in blood, are three words:
Make Them Stop.Blood to Poison by Mary Watson-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Seventeen-year-old Savannah is cursed. It's a sinister family heirloom; passed down through the bloodline for hundreds of years, with one woman in every generation destined to die young. The family call them Hella's girls, named for their ancestor Hella; the enslaved woman with whom it all began. Hella's girls are always angry, especially in the months before they die.
And now I am going to finish The Gifts that Bind Us. Happy Reading!
Much Love AJ xx
