Mar 19, 2023

You Won’t Believe Me by Cyn Balog

You Won't Believe Me
Cyn Balog

Willow is alone, confined to a bed with restraints. She can't remember how she got there...or how long she's been there.

An old lady appears in her room to feed her twice a day. Granny doesn't talk, but Willow can hear thumping from somewhere beyond her door. It's not Granny's shuffling steps. It's too loud to be Granny's cat. Is it someone? Something?

Then Granny's cat dies in Willow's room. And Granny follows a few days later. Willow will do anything to survive. But freeing herself from her bed is only the beginning... Because there is someone else in the house. Who is this mysterious teen who calls himself Elijah? And is he the reason she's hostage or the key to her escape?

GenresHorrorYoung AdultMysteryThriller

Expected publication

June 27, 2023

REVIEW:

Lisa M, Reviewer

Last updated on 20 Mar 2023

My Recommendation

You Won’t Believe Me started out strong and had my interest immediately.  I did enjoy the ending as well, but there was a lot of drag & slow in the middle.  The meandering with no apparent purpose, bogged me down several times.  

I think the characters and plot could have been so much more.  The idea and twists were great, but the action and interest was lacking.  

I was given an advance copy of this book for review purposes.

The Island by Natasha Preston

The Island

Natasha Preston

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Hot on the heels of the New York Times bestsellers The Twin and The Lake, another pulse-pounding read from the undisputed queen of YA thrillers!

They said goodbye to their friends and family for the weekend. They weren’t counting on forever.

Jagged Island: a private amusement park for the very rich—or the very influential. Liam, James, Will, Ava, Harper, and Paisley—social media influencers with millions of followers—have been invited for an exclusive weekend before the park opens. They’ll make posts and videos for their channels and report every second of their VIP treatment.

When the teens arrive, they're stunned: the resort is even better than they’d imagined. Their hotel rooms are unreal, the park’s themed rides are incredible, and the island is hauntingly beautiful. They’re given a jam-packed itinerary for the weekend.

But soon they'll discover that something's missing from their schedule: getting off the island alive.

GenresThrillerYoung AdultMysteryHorrorMystery ThrillerContemporaryFiction

336 pages

First published February 28, 2023

REVIEW:

I was certain I would like The Island by Natasha Preston.    An island AND a theme park combo!   Thrillers and theme parks just go hand in hand.  

Six teenage influencers are chose to spend a weekend at a new luxury hotel and theme park, on a private island, as a way for them to promote it via their social media accounts before the park’s opening to the public.   Of course, something goes wrong, & keeps going wrong.  Ha.  

I enjoyed this book and finished it in a couple of days.  It began to get a little out there, with who to trust & who not, but it was a good read. 

I was provided this book via NetGalley and Random House Children's & Delacorte Press exchange for an honest review.

Mar 8, 2023

Pieces of Me by Kate McLaughlin REVIEW

Pieces of Me

Kate McLaughlin

The next gut-punching, compulsively readable Kate McLaughlin novel, about a girl finding strength in not being alone.

When eighteen-year-old Dylan wakes up, she’s in an apartment she doesn’t recognize. The other people there seem to know her, but she doesn't know them – not even the pretty, chiseled boy who tells her his name is Connor. A voice inside her head keeps saying that everything is okay, but Dylan can’t help but freak out. Especially when she borrows Connor’s phone to call home and realizes she’s been missing for three days.

Dylan has lost time before, but never like this.

Soon after, Dylan is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and must grapple not only with the many people currently crammed inside her head, but that a secret from her past so terrible she’s blocked it out has put them there. Her only distraction is a budding new relationship with Connor. But as she gets closer to finding out the truth, Dylan wonders: will it heal her or fracture her further?

GenresYoung AdultMental HealthContemporaryFictionRealistic FictionMysteryYoung Adult Contemporary

368 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 18, 2023

REVIEW

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Pieces of Me

by Kate McLaughlin (Goodreads Author)

Read in January 2023

I finished Pieces of Me, by Kate McLaughlin, fairly quickly. I enjoyed the way the others in her head were presented. Quite an interesting way to present DID. The story begins with 18-year-old Dylan, who wakes up one day in an unfamiliar apartment with people she doesn't know. She has been missing 3 days, with no ideas how she got there nor why they are calling her by a different name.

Soon enough, Dylan is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. She must learn to get along with the many people - versions of her?, that are inside her head. She quickly learns she has a secret from her past that her “ house in her head full of people” have been trying too protect her from.

Pieces of Me was a success at putting a creative spin on a mental health situation most of us have little or no experience with. I’m sure the fiction doesn’t even begin to cover the complexities of the situation, but it was a great story for someone who might want to explore more.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.