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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2568 KP) rated The House Guest in Books

Jul 29, 2023  
The House Guest
The House Guest
Hank Phillippi Ryan | 2023 | Mystery
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Will Helping a House Guest Hurt Alyssa?
Alyssa Macallan’s life is turned upside down when her husband walks out of their house one day. Facing a divorce she never expected, she finds herself drinking at a bar one Friday night, where she meets Bree Lorrance, who is also down on her luck. The two hit it off, and Alyssa invites Bree to move into her guest house. Helping Bree lets Alyssa forget her own problems, until her own problems heat back up. Will the two be able to help each other? Or do they have secret agendas?

I was hooked early on, although the book does take a little while to build up to the full plot. Once it does, I couldn’t wait to see how things would resolve for the characters. I appreciated the fact that no one seemed overly whiney here, although they could have repeated things less, giving the book more time to flesh out some of the late breaking twists. While knowing I couldn’t fully trust Alyssa and Bree, I really did like them both and hoped things would work out well for them. We get the book completely from Alyssa’s third person point of view which makes us question just what anyone else was thinking. Even with the pacing issues with the plot, I enjoyed this book overall.
  
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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Teacher (DS Imogen Grey, #1) in Books

Jun 28, 2023  
TT
The Teacher (DS Imogen Grey, #1)
Katerina Diamond | 2016
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
85 of 235
Book
The Teacher ( DS Imogen Grey 1)
By Katerina Diamond
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

You think you know who to trust? You think you know the difference between good and evil? You’re wrong …

The body of the head teacher of an exclusive Devon school is found hanging from the rafters in the assembly hall.

Hours earlier he’d received a package, and only he could understand the silent message it conveyed. It meant the end.

As Exeter suffers a rising count of gruesome deaths, troubled DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles must solve the case and make their city safe again.

But as they’re drawn into a network of corruption, lies and exploitation, every step brings them closer to grim secrets hidden at the heart of their community.

And once they learn what’s motivating this killer, will they truly want to stop him?

I couldn’t put it down! I’ve never rooted for a killer or killers in any book as much as I have with this one! I was totally glued and so glad the ending did it justice. My only issue was the start I was totally confused at first but of course it all started making sense and it’s clear as soon as you hit a certain chapter who this killer is. But still a brilliant read!
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Outliers (The Outliers, #1) in Books

Feb 8, 2018  
TO
The Outliers (The Outliers, #1)
Kimberly McCreight | 2016
6
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Wylie and Cassie aren't exactly best friends anymore. Even though Wylie's mom has died recently in a car crash, and Wylie's anxiety has ratcheted up so much she hasn't left the house in three weeks, the once inseparable pair have barely talked in over a week. But when Wylie gets a pleading text from Cassie saying she needs help, Wylie knows she will be there for her friend. Along with Cassie's boyfriend, Jasper, Wylie summons the courage to leave the house and follow Cassie's odd texts and clues to find her. But it doesn't take long to realize that Cassie might be in serious trouble. Even worse, it seems like trying to find Cassie is going to put Wylie, Jasper, and their families in danger, too.

This was an odd book. I was expecting a "run into obstacles finding my troubled best friend, maybe learn a lesson along the way" Young Adult tale, but the book takes a turn about halfway through and the tale becomes one of psychological depth, focusing on the story of the "outliers." <spoiler>These "outliers" are those who have a special range of emotional intelligence that allow them to have an uncanny ability to read people, emotions, and situations. It's Wylie's father, a scientist, who has discovered them as an unintentional result of his latest study, and it seems like everyone wants a piece of them and what they might mean. So, suddenly, the book is no longer simply about friendship, but crazy Government and private contractor entities and other shadowy forces who are after Wylie's dad's work. We meet a whole host of characters, none of whom we can really trust, and things (at least for me) go a little bit downhill from there. </spoiler>

That's not to say that this isn't a good book. It's interesting and almost compulsively readable, even with the bizarre plot. I'd probably have enjoyed it even more if I'd just been mentally prepared for the plot turn, honestly. Wylie is a fairly intriguing and likable character, and I found myself getting rather invested in Jasper. The other characters, as I said, are set up as untrustworthy purely by the nature of the plot, but they are fascinating in their own way. The idea of the outliers is a compelling one, even if the danger behind it seems a little forced. It's also hard not knowing exactly who to trust or how much of the narrative to believe - it's so much it gets a little frustrating at time. Still, it's clear by the end that McCreight has set this up as a series, and I'll certainly be reading the next book. The one is an entertaining, quick read if nothing else.

I received an ARC of this book from Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available for publication on 5/3/2016. You can read a review of this book and many more at my <a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">blog</a>;.