“Three years after the murder you called the four of us, now thirteen years old, to your place and told us something unbelievable. Girls that age, even if they’re living completely ordinary lives, are full of doubt and anxieties about their identity, but you called us all murderers. And told us we must either find the man who murdered Emily or else perform an act of penance.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: French dolls, new factories, locker rooms, trauma, Barbie shirts, guilt, penance, and the purest air in Japan.

The tense, chilling story of four women haunted by a childhood trauma.

When they were children, Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko were tricked into separating from their friend Emily by a mysterious stranger. Then the unthinkable occurs: Emily is found murdered hours later.

Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko weren’t able to accurately describe the stranger’s appearance to the police after Emily’s body was discovered. Asako, Emily’s mother, curses the surviving girls, vowing that they will pay for her daughter’s murder.

Like Confessions, Kanae Minato’s award-winning, internationally bestselling debut, Penance is a dark and voice-driven tale of revenge and psychological trauma that will leave readers breathless.

This book was amazing! I’m officially obsessed with this author. I genuinely hope she keeps writing thrillers like this because I’m very interested in keeping on reading them.
This book follows four ten-year-old girls and the aftermath of their friend being murdererd while they were together. The mother of the girl that was killed tells them that either they have to find out who killed her daughter or perform an act of penance by the time the statute of limitations is expired. As a side note, at the time there was a statute of limitations during which criminals could be charged so they had fifteen years to find the murderer. Each other tells their own experience of what happened the day of the murder, so the story is repeated a few time with the different POVs – I personally didn’t mind this, but I can see some readers not liking this.
Just like in “Confessions”, this thriller shows in a very raw way the ugliness in human beings. The undertone is creepy and tense, and there are some twists added to the mix! I personally think the twists from “Confessions” were a little better on the shock factor, but these were okay.
It was very difficult to put this book out because I was very invested in it. I highly recommend this book and her other book “Confessions”. The stories are very different, but they are written with the same style and structure, so if you read any of these books before and liked them, you should definitely grab the other.

“Being smart is the worst thing one can be in modern society. All it ever means is more work.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: pad thai with peanuts, the “board”, inconvenient neighbors, wifi passwords, big piles, angels, committees, new video games, dill, kitties, and… frypans that ruin lives.

In a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone?

Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.

Told in Fredrik Backman’s singular witty style with sharply drawn characters and relatable antics, The Answer Is No is a laugh-out-loud portrait of a man struggling to keep to himself in a world that won’t leave him alone.

This quirky story was so funny, I actually laughed at how loud a few times! If you are familiar with Fredrik Backman’s work, you will definitely recognize his style here.
We have our main character Lucas, who is a very happy and proud loner and introverted guy who just wants to be left alone to play video games and eat pad thai… but a frying pan ruins it all. Well, you’ll need to read it to know what happens!
What I really love about Fredrik Backman is that he is able to write really funny stories and make them wholesome while subtly sharing his views and comments on humanity. He has a really special way of writing that I find fascinating and very unpredictable. For example in this book, a small detail I really liked was how the reader distinguishes the characters by what they were wearing instead of their names – that was a really simple detail but it made the book more interesting!
There were plenty of quotes I absolutely loved, so I’ll leave a few of them here:

“Best to be like dill, Lucas has concluded. Not like basil, the most anxious and ingratiating herb, but also not like cilantro, that conflict-seeking lunatic. Be dill. Nobody cares about dill.”

“Lucas opens the door with the defeated manner of a sausage that dressed itself up as a carrot to avoid being eaten by a bear, only to be found by a rabbit.”

“Absolutely zero people go to therapy because yesterday they were sitting in a comfortable chair, eating a perfect pizza, drinking a good glass of red wine, watching a really funny movie. So that’s how Lucas lives, all the time.”

“I usually keep my peanuts next to a jar of peanut butter, so they understand what I’m capable of!”

It was exactly what I needed to read at this moment. It was a really fun and easy-to-read short story!

“When you choose the path of an artist, nothing is promised, but everything is possible.” – 3.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: entrepreneurial teens, new releases, sabotage, saxophone, cute halmeonies, music school, K-beauty products, K-pop idols, Paris, marketing, competition, sales, and a ton of hi-chews.

A romantic comedy about two entrepreneurial Korean American teens who butt heads—and maybe fall in love—while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school.

There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful student-run enterprise. With each sale, Valerie gets closer to taking her beloved and adventurous halmeoni to her dream city, Paris.

Enter the new kid in class, Wes Jung, who is determined to pursue music after graduation despite his parents’ major disapproval. When his classmates clamor to buy the K-pop branded beauty products his mom gave him to “make new friends,” he sees an opportunity—one that may be the key to help him pay for the music school tuition he knows his parents won’t cover…

What he doesn’t realize, though, is that he is now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor.

Stakes are high as Valerie and Wes try to outsell each other, make the most money, and take the throne for the best business in school—all while trying to resist the undeniable spark that’s crackling between them. From hiring spies to all-or-nothing bets, the competition is much more than either of them bargained for.

But one thing is clear: only one Korean business can come out on top.

When I started this book, I knew it would be a love story, but I had no idea what the premise was about – it turned out to be much more than a romance! I admit I was surprised by the concept and the choice of the plot, but it ended up being a fun story —a business rivalry between the main characters over who sells more K-Beauty products at school. Unique, right?
The characters were okay. I liked Valerie for being a smart and dedicated businesswoman, but she was annoying at times, especially when she pushed her business on others and even put it before her friends and family (which happens for most of the book) – but she eventually learns, it just takes her a while. Wes was nice and sweet, and an okay male lead… but he felt a little bland to me. I was also not impressed with the side characters and I didn’t care that much about them – they were not bad, just not great or memorable.
As far as tropes go, I would definitely describe their relationship as an enemies-to-lovers romance – although the hostility comes mostly from Valerie. And I guess you can look at this story as a coming-of-age kind of story since both main characters do a lot of growing throughout the book. They both deal with a lot of high expectations coming from their family, so I understand their decisions and thought processes.
One thing I liked about this book is the commentary on what it is like to come from an immigrant family. It was interesting when the main characters were talking about feeling like they don’t belong anywhere – that touched my heart!
Kudos to the author for writing a unique and creative debut. It was fun and entertaining for what it was – didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.

““Si vis amari, ama,” you tell me. If you wish to be loved, love.” – 3/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: rosaries, confessional booths, celibacy, churches, rules, sins, and red lipstick.

There are many rules a priest can’t break: A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God.

I’ve always been good at following rules. Until she came. My name is Tyler Anselm Bell. I’m twenty-nine years old. Six months ago, I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church, and God help me, I would do it again. I am a priest and this is my confession.

Priest is a standalone, full-length novel with an HEA.  For mature audiences only

This was a little disappointing, but maybe I had high hopes for it?
I don’t read a lot of taboo romances, but this book piqued my interest because of its nature – a forbidden romance with a priest as a main character. And while the idea was interesting… the story did not deliver.
I think what disappointed me the most about this book was how weak the plot was. Everything felt too… artificial? We have Father Bell who is very holy (but apparently is also always horny), and he “falls in love” with a stripper who happens to be very rich and super intelligent? I mean, c’mon…
I was expecting a little more other than the taboo aspect, but there were a lot of things that felt flat to me. Both main characters were very bland, immature, and one-dimensional, and I kept thinking about how they were always contradicting themselves and their own story. With that said, for the most part, I liked Father Bell as a character – Poppy I didn’t like as much. She came to the church seeking absolution for her sins, but she clearly didn’t want it since she was constantly and deliberately trying to seduce the priest.
The “romance” they had was only based on sex, they didn’t actually build a relationship so it was essentially an insta-love story – which is also not my favorite trope to begin with. The spice was good though, and that’s why I’m giving this a 3 instead of a 2!
At the end of the day, it was entertaining for what it is, but it wasn’t a great book. I’ve heard great things about the second book in the “Priest” series, so I’ll probably read that and decide afterward if I’ll continue reading the series! If I were to recommend this book to other readers, I would say to read it if you’re in the mood to read something easy and hollow, but full of smut.

“The lake is darker than a coffin with the lid shut,” she’d say. “And as deep as the ocean. If you sink under, you’ll never come back up again. You’ll be trapped forever.”– 3/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: lakes, models, social media, police investigators, drugs, and deceit.

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving.

With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy surprises, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake unveils more than one twist that will shock readers until the very last page.

If I’m being honest, this book was a little disappointing. I’ve been in a huge Riley Sager kick, so I’ve been reading his books whenever I have the chance. But this book… was a bit of a failure for me.
The thing that bothered me the most about this book is how it has a paranormal element. He has some books where he hints about paranormal events, but this is the first time I’ve seen him confirm the events. Maybe it’s because I had high expectations and thought “there’s no way he’ll use this storyline for obvious reasons”, but the author went there… and in my humble opinion, it didn’t go very well.
The story itself was not very strong. I was interested in the beginning, but slowly I started losing interest. I liked the characters very much, and in true Riley Sager’s fashion, there are plenty of plot twists – that was a plus for me!
So… I don’t know about this one. I was invested in the beginning, but the end disappointed me. Probably one of my least favorite books from this author.

“(…)He told me once that sometimes, with some people, it’s not about winning or losing, That with some people, it’s just about playing.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: gambits, chess plays, strategy, championships, tournaments, bratty siblings, medical bills, and grief.

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays. After the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning bad boy of chess.

Nolan’s loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone—especially Mallory. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory opens the door to sorely needed cash prizes and, despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist….

As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, the spotlight is hotter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce(-ly attractive. And intelligent…and infuriating…)

I don’t think I’ve ever read a story with a chess theme before, so this was a very interesting and fun read to me! I enjoyed this book for the most part: it was fast-paced, there were plenty of fun situations, and I liked the chess theme very much. I also enjoyed the romance, and the situations created by the author for them to keep meeting – that was one of my favorite things about this book. Who knew chess could be so fun?
Now, with that said, I didn’t rate this book higher because there were two main things about the story that I didn’t like that much. The first one, and the worst, in my opinion, is the constant sex talk. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m no prude and I’ve read plenty of young adult romances that had sex scenes or sex talk, and that didn’t bother me in the slightest… but this book was on another level. It was uncomfortable to read at times because not only they were constantly talking about it, but the weirdest part was that even her younger sibling (who is 12 years old btw) was also part of the conversation – and even initiated it at times. She kept taunting Mallory about her sexual experience and preferences, and even told the male lead about her sister’s sex life… and it’s just uncomfortable to read. This is probably my least favorite thing about this book! I just think it was unnecessary to the story.
Another thing I didn’t love about this book was Mallory’s personality. She’s not the worst character I’ve ever encountered in YA romance, but it’s funny how she tries to portray herself as a responsible young adult… while being very immature! She has a massive victim mentality and she keeps telling the readers that she is responsible for the demise of her family – which, spoiler alert, she is not. It just got tiring and I kept rolling my eyes while she kept whining. Again, not the worst character ever, but very annoying and difficult to empathize with at times.
This is not exactly related to the story itself, but I thought I mention it here: the author added a note at the end of the book – that I highly recommend reading if you’re reading this book -, where she talks about how chess is mainly a male-dominated sport and how there is a lot of gender inequality. I had no idea! I was very surprised to know that there are separate tournaments for men’s and women’s chess. I thought this was very interesting and insightful knowledge, and I’m glad the author decided to share it with the readers to give some perspective.
If you ask me if I thought the book was realistic, I would tell you the truth: I don’t know. I don’t know a lot about chess, so I can’t tell you if the story is accurate compared to real life or not. But if I had to guess, I would say it’s not the most believable story because the main character is a teenager who hasn’t played chess for a while… but she’s very talented to the point that she beats trained players like it’s nothing. That to me is a little hard to believe, but who knows? Also, it’s not that serious, this is fiction after all!
Overall, I liked this book. It’s not a perfect book by any means, but the story was entertaining and I had fun reading it. I probably wouldn’t recommend this to a younger audience – like pre-teens and younger – because of the reason I mentioned before. Don’t be fooled by the cover like I was!

“We all push sometimes, just to make sure someone is on the other side, pushing back.” – 5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: proverbs, emails, Internet trolls, online games, churches, cyberbullying, religion, abuse, trauma, sexism, scars, cute dogs, and hoodies.

Rev Fletcher is battling the demons of his past. But with loving adoptive parents by his side, he’s managed to keep them at bay…until he gets a letter from his abusive father and the trauma of his childhood comes hurtling back.

Emma Blue spends her time perfecting the computer game she built from scratch, rather than facing her parents’ crumbling marriage. She can solve any problem with the right code, but when an online troll’s harassment escalates, she’s truly afraid.

When Rev and Emma meet, they both long to lift the burden of their secrets and bond instantly over their shared turmoil. But when their situations turn dangerous, their trust in each other will be tested in ways they never expected. This must-read story will once again have readers falling for Brigid Kemmerer’s emotional storytelling.

I read this book in one sitting – that should tell you how amazing it was! I thought it would be difficult for it to be as good as “Letters to the Lost” (which was also incredible), but I was wrong. This story gives you all the feels – both main characters have their ghosts, so the story is sad and heavy, especially when you begin to understand their backstories a little better. But at the same time, it’s a very heartwarming story.
Part of the reason why this is such a good book is because it has great characters, great character development, and also great relationships. If you read the previous book (if you didn’t, you should definitely read it first before going into this one), you are introduced to Rev, Declan’s best friend, who is our main character in this book. Rev’s backstory is very heavy since there was a lot of abuse coming from his dad, but Emma (the love interest) also has her struggles. She is a gamer who created an online game used by her school colleagues and is being harassed online (which gets progressively worse). Not only that, but she also has family issues to deal with. As you can probably tell by now, it’s an emotional read!
The romance was cute and I liked how their relationship developed so organically. They had good chemistry, and it was nice to see them help each other with their issues. Sure, it’s a romance, but it’s not only a romance. It’s also a story with great meaning since it’s about growing up and learning to deal with life’s traumas.
Going back to the relationships in this book, I have a few of my favorites to share with you. It was great to see Rev’s parents being supportive and giving him all the love he deserves, so that was one of my favorite relationships from this book! It was also nice to see how Declan was so present in this book. He is a very important person to Rev, and it was nice to see them together and see their relationship grow even more. And can we talk about Mathew? He was such a nice addition to the story and he provided one more beautiful layer to the plot – and also had a wonderful relationship with Rev.
Now let’s talk about the writing. It was awesome because reading this book was smooth like butter! Despite the heavy subjects, it’s an easy book to follow, it is detailed, and it is very easy to empathize with the characters. When they are suffering, you will suffer. When they are happy, you will be happy!
You can’t help but root for both of them and their happiness! It’s an excellent book, and I’m glad I finally read it and concluded the duology. I honestly can’t recommend this duology enough – start with “Letters to the Lost”, and then read this one! It’s beyond amazing for a contemporary YA.

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: memories, pain, ceremonies, love, snow, and the feeling of sunshine.

In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community’s Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.

The Giver is set in a future society which is at first presented as a utopia and gradually appears more and more dystopic, so could therefore be considered anti-utopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life. Jonas’ society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to “Sameness”, a plan which has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of “Receiver of Memory,” the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed to aid in decisions that others lack the experience to make. As Jonas receives the memories from his predecessor—the “Giver”—he discovers how shallow his community’s life has become.

I’m sure you have seen this book before (or maybe even seen the movie version) because it has been around for a while. Some even consider it a classic! I’ve seen this book cover plenty of times before, but only when I saw a snippet of the movie I became interested in reading it – and now I finally did.
I enjoyed the book for what it was: a very interesting dystopian story with a unique concept. In this book, society “burdens” only one person with the memories of… well, everything, good and bad. They live happily and orderly because they don’t understand the concept of pain and don’t know what was there before – the only person who does know is the Giver, and now he is responsible for passing the knowledge to twelve-year-old Jonas, our main character, who has received his life assignment as the Receiver of memories. As you can imagine, poor Jonas had no idea of how heavy the task would be, especially when he started to understand what was behind his beloved community. After he starts receiving the memories, he begins to understand what suffering, hunger, poverty, and war are. On the positive side, he also starts understanding the concepts of color, snow, sunshine, and feelings like love.
Although I liked the book for the most part – I wasn’t too keen on the last quarter of the book if I’m being honest. The “solution” was very unsatisfying for being so sudden and rushed, and the ending was a little too ambiguous for my taste. I understand the author’s choice and the purpose of the chosen ending – to make the reader fill in the blanks – but it felt like an “easy escape” to the complex story.
So I didn’t love the ending, but overall I believe this is an impactful dystopian book with a very interesting concept. It is also a fairly short book, so that’s always a plus! I have to admit I have no intention of continuing the series, especially after reading reviews of the second book – so I’ll end it here!

“Women need to do that, you know. Look out for each other. There’s a special place in hell for those who don’t.” – 4.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: road trips, loose teeth, diners, phone booths, movies, old jackets, and a ton of plot twists.

Charlie Jordan is being driven across the country by a serial killer. Maybe.

Behind the wheel is Josh Baxter, a stranger Charlie met by the college ride share board, who also has a good reason for leaving university in the middle of term. On the road they share their stories, carefully avoiding the subject dominating the news – the Campus Killer, who’s tied up and stabbed three students in the span of a year, has just struck again.

Travelling the lengthy journey between university and their final destination, Charlie begins to notice discrepancies in Josh’s story.

As she begins to plan her escape from the man she is becoming certain is the killer, she starts to suspect that Josh knows exactly what she’s thinking.

Meaning that she could very well end up as his next victim.

Ooh, how I missed finding a good thriller like this where you can’t figure out who the psycho is! This is exactly the type of thriller I enjoy the most: eerie… and full of plot twists!
This book follows a college student named Charlie who is grieving the loss of her best friend who was murdered by a non-identified serial killer and decides to leave campus. So she takes a ride to Ohio with a guy she knows nothing about, no questions asked – to each their own, I guess. And that my friends, is the cool thing about this book: you have no idea who to believe because you can’t figure out what is reality and what is fantasy!
I’ll admit when I first started this book, I thought the pace was very slow, but with time it won me over. The pace picks up and you get hooked and stuck in a web of lies and deception!
The fact that the story is situated in the 90’s gives it an extra eerie vibe – especially because cell phones weren’t a thing and communication wasn’t as it is today, it was normal to only use pay phones. I really enjoyed the dark atmosphere and the eeriness of the details, and I was getting very anxious about what would happen next. Let’s just say, I didn’t see it coming… I didn’t see any of that coming!
Sure, I understand some parts may be too unbelievable to some readers, but we have to remind ourselves that this is fiction. I had a blast reading this and it was very difficult to put it down. Recommend it for the entertainment value!

“Perhaps they are worse than evil – they are bored.” – 3.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: private islands, wild animals, water bottles, search dogs, consequences, dehydration, revenge, and survival.

It was just supposed to be a family vacation.
A terrible accident changed everything.
You don’t know what you’re capable of until they come for your family.

After moving from a small country town to Seattle, Heather Baxter marries Tom, a widowed doctor with a young son and teenage daughter. A working vacation overseas seems like the perfect way to bring the new family together, but once they’re deep in the Australian outback, the jet-lagged and exhausted kids are so over their new mom.

When they discover remote Dutch Island, off-limits to outside visitors, the family talks their way onto the ferry, taking a chance on an adventure far from the reach of iPhones and Instagram.

But as soon as they set foot on the island, which is run by a tightly knit clan of locals, everything feels wrong. Then a shocking accident propels the Baxters from an unsettling situation into an absolute nightmare.

When Heather and the kids are separated from Tom, they are forced to escape alone, seconds ahead of their pursuers.

Now it’s up to Heather to save herself and the kids, even though they don’t trust her, the harsh bushland is filled with danger, and the locals want her dead.

Heather has been underestimated her entire life, but she knows that only she can bring her family home again and become the mother the children desperately need, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them all alive.

This book was very interesting! You can think of “The Island” as a psychological thriller – it follows a family that gets stuck on a private island in Australia and is trying to survive. Well, actually it’s not that simple, because it’s not the nature they are trying to survive from. Let’s just say I’m glad I started this book without knowing too much about it – so if you don’t know what the book is about, I recommend you do the same!
Even though this is a little different from the thrillers I usually pick up, I had a good time reading it! The atmosphere is very disturbing and I remember feeling stressed the entire time because I had no idea about what was going to happen! It’s a book full of action and suspense, and also a little violent, so be aware of that.
I also liked the characters, but I especially liked Heather as the main character. She was very intelligent and kind to her husband’s kids (even when they were super rude to her).
Yes, it’s not exactly your typical thriller, but I was never bored. The book is very gripping and it was hard to put it down, so I definitely recommend it to other readers!