Monday April 23 is World Book Day and I thought it might be fun to do a mini review of some books I’ve read lately. I’ve always been a big reader, but I seem to go through spurts now. One month I read ten books and the next I read one or two. I am sure it correlates into how busy I happen to be that month. I always read a ton when I travel too. It makes the wait times and plane travel go so much faster. Even better if it’s a vacation versus a work trip!
Anyhoo, back to what I’ve been reading. I tend to read more contemporary murder/mystery type books. I am not much for historical fiction, never read romance novels and rarely non-fiction. I read enough non-fiction at work, so never for pleasure!
First up is “In a Dark, Dark Wood” by Ruth Ware. Reese Witherspoon is producing a movie based on this book.
Premise:
The book centers on a writer (Nora) who receives an invitation to a former close friend’s bachelorette party. She hasn’t seen or talked to this friend in ten years. After much urging, Nora decides to go and finds herself in a house in the middle of the woods with a group of mainly strangers.
Old rivalries and hurt feelings abound and suddenly the party turns violent. As Nora struggles to reconstruct the night, secrets about everyone emerge and cause her to question everyone’s motives including her own.
My Thoughts:
I’ve read “The Woman in Cabin 10”, also by Ruth Ware and had really high expectations for this book because I really enjoyed the first one I read by Ware.
Unfortunately, this one didn’t live up to my super high expectations. That being said, I didn’t hate it or anything. It’s better than average. It’s great to read while traveling (which is when I read it) because you can pick it up and put it down without issue. It’s a fairly fast read and it held my interest during my plane ride. I think it would make a great beach read too.
Overall Rating: B+
Next up is “All The Missing Girls” by Megan Miranda.
Premise:
Nicolette Farrell returns to her rural southern hometown a decade after her best friend disappeared. In town due to a family obligation, Nic is caught up in a new drama when a second girl disappears, that involves Nic, her family and her former boyfriend.
My Thoughts:
This book is told backwards which took me a minute to figure out and I liked it. These types of twists aren’t that unusual due to the popularity of “Gone Girl”, but I thought this one was different than others I’ve read.
I had a hard time putting this book down. It kept me interested throughout and I stayed up late to finish it. I don’t want to give away any of the plot, so I am keeping my thoughts brief, but I really enjoyed this one.
Overall Rating: A+
Lastly, we have “The Marriage Lie” by Kimberly Belle.
Premise:
Iris and Will have a perfect marriage living in Atlanta. You know that’s not going to end well! Iris’s world changes drastically one morning when Will leaves for a business trip to Orlando. Another plane heading to the West Coast crashes and Will was one of the passengers.
Iris has to figure out why Will was on that plane and why he didn’t tell her. What else did he lie about? Iris sets off on a mission to find out the answers.
My Thoughts:
Overall I liked this book. I found it to be a fast read and it held my interest throughout. Honestly, the title had turned me off initially, but the book is actually very different than what I thought it would be. The premise might be a bit cliched if you’ve watched a lot of Lifetime movies, but it had some twists that were different.
Overall Rating: B+
Have you read any of these? I’d love to hear if you had the same reactions I did. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
