Title: Never Saw Me Coming
Author:  Vera Kurian
Published Date: September 2021

GOODREADS SUMMARY

Meet Chloe Sevre. She’s a freshman honor student, a leggings-wearing hot girl next door, who also happens to be a psychopath. Her hobbies include yogalates, frat parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman, a childhood friend who grievously wronged her.

Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinical study for psychopaths—students like herself who lack empathy and can’t comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. The study, led by a renowned psychologist, requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements.

When one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan into action, she’ll be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths—and everybody knows you should never trust a psychopath.

Never Saw Me Coming is a compulsive, voice-driven thriller by an exciting new voice in fiction, that will keep you pinned to the page and rooting for a would-be killer.

MY THOUGHTS

Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock! Someone is killing this Psychopaths Patient one of them might be the culprit or maybe not? This book is quite enjoyable for me. Never did I imagine that I will be rooting for the Psychopath Narrators. Their POV are really fun to read. I do not know why I enjoyed their manipulative and Paranoid qualities throughout the story. Very compelling in my opinion. I just enjoyed how Chloe was plotted her revenge on Will. I find the book dark and sometimes funny. I know it sounds weird because hey! this are Psychopaths! But yes their behavior amazes me and how this Psychopaths try to manipulate each others are quite hilarious and fun in my opinion. Haha. Weird. Anyway! I can't hardly put it down! This book was perfectly narrated in my opinion. Highly recommended!

Thank You so much Definitely Books for the complimentary copy of this book!

GOODREADS SUMMARY:

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

MY THOUGHTS:

I am really sad and torn that after trying and hoping that the story will get better and more realistic, I still somehow realize that in the very end of the book, it was still a let down. Not to mention ABSURD in my opinion. 

The idea of the game which they call as PANIC is totally unbelievable and stupid. Really? For me this is just a bunch on stupid, irresponsible, reckless and full of angst teenagers who are very eager to risk their lives for what? Money? So stupid if you ask me. With everything that is happening, kids dying, some being injured and worse dying, where are the responsible adults and parents that should be stopping this stupid game? NADA. Unbelievable. 

All through out the story I was really hoping something good will happen, maybe a twist in the story? Or a good plot will come through from it, but surprise, surprise.. NOTHING. 

Overall, this book was just an illogical story. Daring games that are glamour to be called as PANIC. Nothing good, just a flat out reckless daring games. 

Thank You so much TIMES READS for the complimentary copy of this book. 

Title: Home Before Dark
Author:  Riley Sager
Published Date: June 2020

GOODREADS SUMMARY

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?

MY THOUGHTS

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! This is my very Riley Sager book and I get it now why some thriller readers keeps on raving about how good his books are. It is super creepy and I never saw the ending coming and I loved every second of this book! The story's very engaging and the Haunting of Hill House vibes was really true! 

I liked how the entire story flowed quickly. The twist and the narration was really great. The ending was a bit expected for me because I was already guessing who killed Petra at the very beginning. I just did not expect my guess to be right. But the explanation and rationale behind the main character's actions are all justifiable. And this is what I liked about this book. It sticks to reality that makes the whole book believable. 

Read this at night and the vibes of the book is more worth it! Hahaha. I will definitely check out for more books from this author!

Thank You so much definitelybooks and Pansing for the complimentary copy of this book!

GOODREADS SUMMARY

Lisey Debusher Landon lost her husband, Scott, two years ago, after a twenty-five year marriage of the most profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and bools. Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went--a place that both terrified and healed him, that could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons, Lisey's turn to go to Boo'ya Moon. What begins as a widow's efforts to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. Perhaps King's most personal and powerful novel, Lisey's Story is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love.

MY THOUGHTS

I really had the hard time reading this book. Not only the writing style confused me a lot but I cannot grasp majority of what was happening in the story. I felt so disconnected with the characters and I kept on reading some paragraph over and over again just to understand what the author was trying to say. It was weird in all sense I could think of. 

I loved King's books. This is the only thing so far that really disappoints me not because he did a bad job on this book but because majority of the time, I just feel so dumb for not comprehending enough. 

Anyway, I personally do not recommend this if you are a kind of reader who likes an easy flow and easy to understand writing style. Just not my cup of tea. *sigh*

Thank You so much @definitelybooks and Pansing for the complimentary copy of this book!

GOODREADS SUMMARY

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she's struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can't seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre's Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta's orbit. But her temper isn't the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other's arms.

MY THOUGHTS

And again, Sarah proved that her books, as well as the characters in her story are all well thought off. I never thought that the character that I hated most in ACOTAR will be my most favorite of the three Archeron siblings. Sarah made me admire her and root for her until the very end. That is how well written this book is for me. Sarah really have this talent of making every characters shines in their own way.  Surely anyone who have read the previous book will agree with me that Nesta is not exactly a great character. She was very unlikable in previous books. But the character was well described, the trauma and heartache after the Hyberns War really did a great job on making me understand where all the angst and bitchiness are coming from. The issues of self-loathing and trauma was beautifully narrated in this book. I just cannot express how much I really did enjoy every chapters of this book. I want more from Nesta!

Thank You so much @definitelybooks #pansing for the complimentary copy of this book!

GOODREADS SUMMARY

Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn't be more different. Then, one of them goes missing.

In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.

Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit--and her sister--before it's too late.

Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.

MY THOUGHTS

First I want to commend how the writing was so unique and original. There is a dark and realistic way on how the author writes the story. It was not quite one of my favorite thriller reads, but it is actually good enough to make you go on with every chapter. There are moments that I find the story and details overwhelming, specially all those opiods details and addiction forms, the story has. 

This is a multi-layered story, well written and heartbreaking. The characters are well introduced and believable in real life. But I never felt sorry for the people who are controlled by their addictions in this story. But rather feeling sorry for the family of those who walked the path of addiction. Overall, this book is okay. If you love family drama and thriller story, this book is definitely for you.

Thank You so much @definitelybooks #pansing for the complimentary copy of this book.