Carries Book Reviews

Blind: Killer Instincts by Sidney Bristol
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Detective Jacob Payton and Emma Ration share a past even though the two had never met. Emma’s grandparents were victims of the TBK serial killer before her birth. Her father was the only living survivor of TBK’s killing spree leaving him broken and giving Emma a tough life growing up. Jacob was the son of the detective that had brought TBK to justice.

The two meet when Jacob contacts Emma to view her research on TBK when he receives a letter that he thinks is from a copycat killer even though there hasn’t been a victim yet. There is an immediate attraction between Jacob and Emma, unfortunately soon after meeting the murders begin.

Blind: Killer Instincts is classified as a romantic suspense story but seems to be more of an erotic suspense. Readers should be aware there is a lot of graphic sex scenes and violence in the book before picking it up. I’m fine with both and rather enjoyed the story but felt it could’ve dealt a bit more with the case and catching the killer.

Jacob and Emma were great together. Both strong characters that complimented each other well. Jacob had a darkness about him and Emma seemed to be his light. The other characters in the book could’ve used a bit more fleshing out. When the FBI is involved I felt I didn’t get a good grasp of who was who at times. Amanda was also someone who seemed to just be a name on the page and could’ve used a bit more to the character to make a reader care.

Overall, a fast paced story that blended a romantic/erotic developing relationship with an intense page turning killer on the loose plot. Somewhat reminded of the Following when reading this book and would look forward to seeing this story continue.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wonderland is a large amusement park in the small town of Seaside, WA. We start off the story with one of the Wonder Workers, an 18 year old disgruntled employee, sneaking into the park before it opens and free climbing the 150 foot Wonder Wheel ride to take a selfie and post it to the internet. While he’s up there someone shows up at the bottom of the Wonder Wheel and turns the ride on.

Next we meet the new Deputy Chief of the Seaside PD, Vanessa Castro. She’s crawling out of the bed of her latest one night stand to head into her first day at the police department. When she arrives she learns that a body has been found at the park below the Wonder Wheel. The thing is the body has been dead a while and our selfie taking Wonder Wheel climber has disappeared.

This book just kind of sucked me in and I didn’t want to put it down. I still don’t know if it was because of the thriller/mystery aspect of the story and wondering just who our killer is or the secrets and lies that unfold throughout the story. Seaside should be a charming little town but it’s residents have so many skeletons in their closets I’m surprised it’s not a nudist town as they wouldn’t have room for a wardrobe in there.

The book changes the point of view between the various characters in the story and I thought this was a wonderful way to add to the layers and depth. We get to know exactly what has gone on from all angles as the list of suspects grows and grows.

Absolutely adored Ava’s character and her love of all things creepy. Sure she’s a rebellious teen but she reminded me of myself in her wanting to work in the Clown Museum and scare people. I spent 5 years getting my head chopped off every October at a haunted hayride so when we got to Ava working the Clown museum I was just smiling away waiting for the scares.

Vanessa is tough as nails as a detective and determined to not drink the Wonderland Kool-Aid but she herself has her own shady past too. Hard to find someone in the story without something questionable going on which just intrigued me just as much as finding out the killer.

I’d highly recommend this to any fan of a much darker, creepy mystery/thriller and will definitely be looking into more of Jennifer Hillier’s work in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dangerously Dark by Colette London
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hayden Mundy Moore has traveled to Portland to visit her old college friend for her engagement party. Unfortunately right after arriving the fiance in question turns up dead. The death is ruled an accident but Hayden is determined that Declan’s death is suspicious and she’s stumbled on another murder to solve.

Dangerously Dark is the sequel to Criminal Confections which first introduced Hayden as a world famous chocolate whisperer. She travels the world helping companies with their problems involving all things chocolate. In her last job she came across a murder and helped solve it so when finding a death while visiting her friend she’s determined to do the same.

There are a lot of different reasons I ended up not really enjoying this story, I can see that some will love it though but it just wasn’t for me. First, Hayden is a rather frantic character. She admits at one point that her mind will go to a thousand places at once but for a story this gets sometimes confusing and sometimes just plain boring as she thinks this and this and this but takes forever to get back to the original point. I had a really hard time making any kind of connection to her because of this.

Another thing with the story was that the “murder” in question to everyone else was an accident. Hayden is the only one thinking there is even anything to investigate and with the frantic nature I’ve already mentioned I was questioning whether this really was even a mystery. You get 35-40% into the book before even one person agrees to help her investigate and that’s a friend that just wants to prove Hayden is wrong and seeing things that aren’t there. This is way too slow a pace for me to get caught up solving something that as I said I was starting to think I was tricked into believing there was something even to solve at that point.

There is also a repetitive nature to some of Hayden’s ramblings. I lost count of the times it was mentioned she had lost her beloved crossbody bag and had an inferior purse. Some other aspects also seemed to get repetitive too, descriptions of her “suspects”, describing her chocolate expertise etc.

In the end it just wasn’t for me. Found it too slow going and prefer a more fast paced whodunnit.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Selection by Kiera Cass
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Selection takes place in a future version of America, now known as Illea after two more world wars. America Singer becomes eligible to enter a lottery known as the selection where 35 young women will be chosen to be taken to the palace to compete for the affections of young Prince Maxon.

For most of the women this opportunity is a dream come true, a handsome prince for a husband and becoming the princess and future queen of the land. For America though it is anything but a dream. She’s in love with Aspen and wants a future with him.

This book has ratings all over the scale. Some people absolutely love it and others absolutely hate it. For me I’m rating a 3 based on the fact that while I didn’t hate the book I still found too many similarities to The Hunger Games and The Bachelor to rate higher. I went into this knowing that the writing isn’t going to make this book become a literary classic by any means so I was a bit more tolerant of things like the lead character being named America Singer and her occupation being a singer. If you expect cheesy writing, a lack of world building and sometimes shallow characters and just read this for the fun of it it may entertain you.

The first half of the book there are so many similarities to the Hunger Games it often just made me shake me head. The world is based on a caste system from 1-8 which you can compare to the 12 districts. The royal family and palace would then equal the capital in Hunger Games. America sings, Katniss sings. America’s boy at home is a dark haired broody young man from a poor family that works all the time to take care of his younger siblings. The two discuss how they’d ever be able to have a family and feed their children. Prince Maxon is the attractive blond that America is going to meet. We have the drawing that America doesn’t want to get picked for. It mentions a grumpy guy coming to see her when she’s picked (Haymitch), a female aide to escort her (Effie) which thankfully aren’t expanded on. When getting to the palace you would think the similarities would stop but America is sent directly to a prep team to pretty her up and even sent to training… only it’s training in etiquette.

Once you get past the Hunger Games portion of the book it turns into the most dramatic episode of the Bachelor ever! Fans of the Bachelor will completely understand that reference, thanks Chris Harrison! 🙂 Basically the 35 girls meet the prince, a few are sent home right away and then we begin the one on one dates and some of the cattiness of having so many young women competing for one man. And just like the Bachelor, America is the one contestant not there for the right reasons having a boyfriend she loved back at home. I was really waiting for the roses to be handed out but unfortunately it didn’t happen.

If you’ve actually read this far you probably wonder why I didn’t give this a 1. Basically because after everything I’ve mentioned and the general cheesiness of the book overall I still didn’t hate the story and thought it was actually fun and will continue on to see where it goes. I would say if you go into this knowing it’s downfalls you may just end up enjoying it in the end.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ready Player One takes place in the year 2044. The world is dying, resources are running low, the population is overcrowded forcing most to live in poverty in stacked trailers or small apartments with too many people crammed into each. People are going hungry and disease is common.

A teenage boy named Wade Watts has only one hope, to win a virtual contest with the prize being in the billions. Wade spends all his time in the virtual world known as the Oasis living through his avatar and escaping the depressing state of the real world. The creator of the Oasis, James Halliday, had set up a contest in his will that will allow the winner control over this virtual world and all of his net worth.

If I could give this book 10 stars I would. The book is good on so many levels. The imagery is amazing, I felt like I could easily imagine every thing going on throughout. The references to the different aspects of the 1980s were so spot on I was smiling and laughing and simply enjoying myself being brought back into that era. The plot of the contest draws you in and has you rooting for Wade and his friends to win over the evil corporation.

I can’t say enough good things about Ready Player One, completely enjoyed everything about it and highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.