eARC Review: Murder Theory (The Naturalist #3), by Andrew Mayne

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Thriller, Crime

Goodreads

Murder Theory is the third book in The Naturalist series, following Dr. Theo Cray as he gets involved with another strange case… this time, a series of senseless murders apparently disconnected from each other take place not that far apart, except – all the murderers have no history of violence and no reason to commit the murders at all. They all look vacant and have no memory of what they did. What if there’s something infecting them, affecting their brains and making people attack loved ones? What if someone is spreading this infection on purpose?

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Review: Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Thriller

Goodreads

Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects tells the story of Camille, a reporter who’s just back from the hospital where she was treated for cutting words into her skin. She gets the assignment to go back to the town where she grew up and cover the murders of two girls whose bodies were discovered without the teeth. As she is confronted with her past, and the family she has been trying to avoid, Camille finds herself in a darker place than she’s been before.

This was a complicated read for me.

I remember thinking that Gone Girl was brilliantly dark and that it was so unique, but Sharp Objects felt like it tried a bit too hard to be cool and dark and gritty, and the women are represented in such a negative way, whether they were a tomboy, a girly girl, a group of older women, Camille’s former classmates. They were all so mean. I also had issues with the portrayal of self-harm – I have no experience with that myself, but it felt romanticized and possibly triggering. I had to take a breather from how intense this book was and pause several times while reading.

Mini-Review: Lying in Wait, by Liz Nugent

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Psychological Thriller

Goodreads / Amazon

“My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.”

This is such an interesting thriller – in the very first sentences you know who’s the murderer and who’s the victim. The rest of the story is an unnerving psychological thriller, watching the murderers get away with it, the victim’s family trying and trying to get the truth, sometimes getting closer, sometimes being drifted away. The stakes get higher as the story goes on, and there is a constant tension in the air, even when things are going “okay” (it does get a bit slow sometimes, but just you WAIT). I was very impressed by this novel, and really enjoyed seeing the point of view of the murderer and his family. I must say I do like books where you get the narration from the guilty part – Lydia was so very manipulative, psychopathic and strange, it was great. Really amazing thriller!

Resenha: Caixão Fechado, por Sophie Hannah

Nota: ★★★★☆

Gêneros: Mistério, crime

Este é o segundo livro de Sophie Hannah continuando a nova série de livros com o detetive Hercule Poirot, de Agatha Christie. Na verdade, eu não ia ler esse livro, já que li Os Crimes do Monograma e achei bem meh. Mas no fim me emprestaram este livro e pensei: por que não?

A minha impressão imediata é que Caixão Fechado tem um estilo muito mais parecido com o de Agatha Christie do que o primeiro livro. Isso já me deixou mais animada para ler, e acabei me envolvendo com a história e o mistério. Tanto a história como os personagens tinham um ar bem nostálgico com uma senhora rica mudando o testamento e logo depois disso… um assassinato ocorre! Me lembrou um pouco O Natal de Poirot, entre outros.

Review: Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery

Goodreads / Amazon

I got the recommendation for this book from SFF Yeah! podcast and it sounded so, so good I couldn’t help getting it almost immediately.

The crew of a ship wakes up with no memory of the last 25 years. They are all clones, woken up all at the same time to a gruesome scene: all their previous clones drenched in blood, floating around the spaceship. They were all murdered, and now the murderer is newly awaken, with no memory of doing it. Ian, the Intelligent Artificial Network, is down.

Review: The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction

Goodreads / Amazon

The Widows of Malabar Hill is a mystery set in India, and our protagonist is Perveen Mistry, a lawyer in Bombay who works with her father as a solicitor. After coming back from Oxford, she is the first female solicitor, which puts her in a position to deal with some of her father’s clients – a group of widows who wish to leave all their inheritance from their late husband to a charity, leaving them in a very bad financial situation. When Perveen talks to them to make sure they understand what they’re giving up, many mysteries and tensions start showing.

Review: Jar of Hearts, by Jennifer Hillier

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genres: Thriller

Goodreads / Amazon

This was one of the most talked about thrillers of this year! I was compelled by curiosity to read it.

Jar of Hearts tells the story of Georgina, who, after 14 years, is now going to jail for helping her ex-boyfriend Calvin murder and hide the body of her High School best friend, Angela Wong. While she goes to prison, Calvin escapes. As her time to leave jail approaches, a series of crimes resembling that of Angela start happening right next to her childhood home… and maybe the secret she has worked to hard to keep can’t be protected anymore.

Mini-Review: Academic Curveball (Braxton Campus Mysteries #1), by James J. Cudney

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Cozy Mystery

Goodreads / Amazon

I love a cozy mystery. It’s such a nice thing to read on a chilly weekend and you have nowhere to go. Academic Curveball is the first in the Braxton Campus Mysteries, and my second James J. Cudney book. I was excited to see he had written a cozy mystery!

Kellan Ayrwick is going to Braxton for his father’s retirement party. But things take a much darker turn when he finds the body of a professor on the night of the party. Who murdered her, and why? Kellan finds himself entangled in the mystery, finding out that several of his father and his friends have ties to the murdered woman and getting himself deeper and deeper into the college’s politics.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters are so interesting, each being very unique and full of personality. My favorite is Nana D, who reminds me of a more sharp-tongued Miss Marple. She’s such a cool character and I look forward to seeing more of her in the next books, hopefully! While the prose can get a bit verbose at times, it’s a very pleasant read. And the ending! I seriously doubt you’ll ever see it coming. The last 10% of the book completely BLEW my mind.

Mini-Review: Illusive, by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult

Goodreads / Amazon

This wonderful gem is like Ocean’s Eleven met the X-men and had a Young Adult book child. When a dangerous viral disease swept across Earth, a vaccine brought the cure. But it also brought side effects – superpowers. These people are called immune, and Ciere is one of them – she can change her appearance to whatever she wants, whenever she wants.

I highly recommend this book, this heist story is so much fun, with lots of action and a tiny bit of romance! I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to read the second book!

eARC Review: Her Last Word, by Mary Burton

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Thriller, Mystery

Goodreads / Amazon

I have received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I got this book on Netgalley, but since I have Kindle Unlimited this month, I also got it in Audiobook – I love listening to thrillers!

Her Last Word is the story of Kaitlin Roe, whose cousin Gina disappeared fourteen years ago and was never heard of again. Kaitlin is working on a podcast, trying to gather all information she can to bring the cold case back to the public and enhance the chance of finding her. She was the last person to see Gina, as a man with a clown mask took her cousin, but her memory fails her. Did she recognize his voice? How did she end up with Gina’s blood on her hands?