Search

My Life Next Door
Book
Addictive, dreamy and contemporary teen romance at its very best! Perfect for fans of Morgan Matson,...

Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Apartment in Books
May 22, 2020
The Apartment by K.L. Slater is a creepy novel that shows if something is too good to be true then it is.
I am a fan of K.L. Slater. If you have not read any of Kim's work, start with her most well-known work, Blink. All of her novels average between 3.69 and 4.00 on Goodreads.
While I did enjoy this fast-reading story, it was not an original one. However, that does not make it inferior to those that have come before. Many reviewers compared this to Riley Sager's Lock Every Door. They both are mysteries involving an apartment building where people have been known to disappear. If Sager's novel had not been released so close to this book, I do not think as many people would make the comparison.
Slater's The Apartment is a slow burn. Many reviewers want instant gratification, instant suspense, instant terrors, etc. Not all books are going slam you in the face. Not all books should.
It is those differences that make this book, and any book, worth reading. You can take the view of Mark Hunter in Pump Up the Volume or you can embrace both the similarities and differences in an author's work.
I am a fan of K.L. Slater. If you have not read any of Kim's work, start with her most well-known work, Blink. All of her novels average between 3.69 and 4.00 on Goodreads.
While I did enjoy this fast-reading story, it was not an original one. However, that does not make it inferior to those that have come before. Many reviewers compared this to Riley Sager's Lock Every Door. They both are mysteries involving an apartment building where people have been known to disappear. If Sager's novel had not been released so close to this book, I do not think as many people would make the comparison.
Slater's The Apartment is a slow burn. Many reviewers want instant gratification, instant suspense, instant terrors, etc. Not all books are going slam you in the face. Not all books should.
It is those differences that make this book, and any book, worth reading. You can take the view of Mark Hunter in Pump Up the Volume or you can embrace both the similarities and differences in an author's work.

Every Kind of Wicked (Gardiner and Renner #6)
Book
Life and death have brought Maggie Gardiner full circle, back to the Erie Street Cemetery where she...

Such a Quiet Place
Book
Hollow’s Edge used to be a quiet place. A private and idyllic neighborhood where neighbors dropped...

Death by the River
Alexandrea Weis and Lucas Astor
Book
Along the banks of the Bogue Falaya River, sits the abandoned St. Francis Seminary. Beneath a canopy...

Merissa (12911 KP) rated A Reckless Soul (Secrets of the Zodiac, #2) in Books
Apr 6, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)
A friend of mine recommended this book to me via GoodReads and as I occasionally read Historical Fiction, I thought I'd give it a go, especially whilst it is still at the promotional price on Amazon. I'm very glad that I did. Although this is Book 2 in the Secrets of the Zodiac series, you don't have to have read the first one (although I will be now, plus any others I can get!).
The story is very well-written with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout. I got the mole wrong but I'm so very glad that I did. I loved how it was written and all fell into place. This book swept me away to the Regency era where life for a woman, let alone a lady, was so very different, with different rules and regulations that she was supposed to follow. Put an independent woman in the mix who knows how to look after herself, along with a male who thinks that she isn't capable, and you're in for an explosive combination which makes for a terrific read.
I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the lookout for more in this series. Definitely recommended to all History Fiction fans out there.
September 11, 2016
The story is very well-written with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout. I got the mole wrong but I'm so very glad that I did. I loved how it was written and all fell into place. This book swept me away to the Regency era where life for a woman, let alone a lady, was so very different, with different rules and regulations that she was supposed to follow. Put an independent woman in the mix who knows how to look after herself, along with a male who thinks that she isn't capable, and you're in for an explosive combination which makes for a terrific read.
I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the lookout for more in this series. Definitely recommended to all History Fiction fans out there.
September 11, 2016

Merissa (12911 KP) created a post
Nov 5, 2021

Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The World We Found in Books
Jan 15, 2018
Before I recieved my ARC from Goodreads in the mail I kept seeing comments on how beautifully Umrigar's writing is. I must say they were not lying!
This book tells the story of a group of friends who grew up in India & as typically happens with childhood friends the world watches them drift apart on their own separate paths. Then the Big C Word comes into their lives & they are pulled back together...kind of.
That kind of is what causes this to get a 4 instead of a 5. The story sees us through a space in time where the 3 friends still in India are trying to get to America where the 4th friend is (the 1 with cancer & little time left.) It tells of the trials & tribulations to get them all back together as their friend's last wish. Without giving too much away though the book ends rather abruptly. Now that's not to say that the ending was unsatisfying, it fit with the tone and message of the story. Yet at the same time I can't help but want to know more. What happened? I hate when a book does that!!! But the story was beautifully told and extremely well written. It was easy to read and had me laughing, horrified, crying, etc, etc.
This book tells the story of a group of friends who grew up in India & as typically happens with childhood friends the world watches them drift apart on their own separate paths. Then the Big C Word comes into their lives & they are pulled back together...kind of.
That kind of is what causes this to get a 4 instead of a 5. The story sees us through a space in time where the 3 friends still in India are trying to get to America where the 4th friend is (the 1 with cancer & little time left.) It tells of the trials & tribulations to get them all back together as their friend's last wish. Without giving too much away though the book ends rather abruptly. Now that's not to say that the ending was unsatisfying, it fit with the tone and message of the story. Yet at the same time I can't help but want to know more. What happened? I hate when a book does that!!! But the story was beautifully told and extremely well written. It was easy to read and had me laughing, horrified, crying, etc, etc.

Merissa (12911 KP) rated The Iron Butterfly (Iron Butterfly #1) in Books
Aug 9, 2017
The Iron Butterfly (Iron Butterfly #1) by Chanda Hahn
This book throws you straight in with the action as you are immediately in a cell with Thalia as she tries to recover from the latest round on a torture machine. She has no memories of anything before her life locked up.
Through the help of another prisoner she is able to escape and then with the help of another pair of characters, she manages to put some distance between herself and where she was being held.
This story will lead you on a twisted journey as you travel with Thalia as she tries to understand who or what she is, what's been done to her and how she tries to deal with and live with the consequences.
There are the two male leads in this, one is a golden boy and one is dark and brooding. Her relationship with both of these could have gone into a bit more detail but even on the information given, Joss is solid but Kael's the guy for me. Actually, out of all of them, I think I'd stick with Faraway!
If you like fantasy and want to try something a little bit different, then why not try this one.
* Verified Purchase ~ February 2013
Reviewed on Goodreads ~ November 2013 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Through the help of another prisoner she is able to escape and then with the help of another pair of characters, she manages to put some distance between herself and where she was being held.
This story will lead you on a twisted journey as you travel with Thalia as she tries to understand who or what she is, what's been done to her and how she tries to deal with and live with the consequences.
There are the two male leads in this, one is a golden boy and one is dark and brooding. Her relationship with both of these could have gone into a bit more detail but even on the information given, Joss is solid but Kael's the guy for me. Actually, out of all of them, I think I'd stick with Faraway!
If you like fantasy and want to try something a little bit different, then why not try this one.
* Verified Purchase ~ February 2013
Reviewed on Goodreads ~ November 2013 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Gritty narrative (1 more)
Twisting turning plot
Fantastic dystopian fantasy
This book came highly rated by people on the fantasy faction facebook group and goodreads, so I had high expectations when I started reading. The reader is thrown straight into the thick of this strange post-apocalyptic magical world and the terms and creatures therein.
The story follows Ryhalt Galharrow, a captain in the Blackwing, a group of soldiers and enforcers working for the supreme magician Crowfoot. They are charged with keeping order along the Range and tracking down dissenters and run-aways.
Galharrow quickly finds himself embroiled in a plot and a battle to save the republic from itself and the evil Deep Kings and their hordes of mutated zombies.
The narrative is extremely gritty and at times you can almost smell the filth and second-hand brandy.
While you are thrown into it without warning and without preamble, this is to McDonald's credit, as the reader pieces things together quite quickly, or can make up their own mind about how things look and work.
To sum this up, I would say it was like Mark Lawrence or Joe Abercrombie ghost-writing a Brandon Sanderson plot - with the best aspects of both sides (the gritty dialogue from the grimdark authors with the intricately designed magic system and urban landscape of the plotter).
A superbly crafted story with excellent flowing prose.
The story follows Ryhalt Galharrow, a captain in the Blackwing, a group of soldiers and enforcers working for the supreme magician Crowfoot. They are charged with keeping order along the Range and tracking down dissenters and run-aways.
Galharrow quickly finds himself embroiled in a plot and a battle to save the republic from itself and the evil Deep Kings and their hordes of mutated zombies.
The narrative is extremely gritty and at times you can almost smell the filth and second-hand brandy.
While you are thrown into it without warning and without preamble, this is to McDonald's credit, as the reader pieces things together quite quickly, or can make up their own mind about how things look and work.
To sum this up, I would say it was like Mark Lawrence or Joe Abercrombie ghost-writing a Brandon Sanderson plot - with the best aspects of both sides (the gritty dialogue from the grimdark authors with the intricately designed magic system and urban landscape of the plotter).
A superbly crafted story with excellent flowing prose.