Recent Reads // Vol. 3

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Hi friends!

I’m super excited to share another post in my “Recent Reads” series.

I always say this but I lovelovelove books, and talking about what I’ve been reading! (:

I’ve been reading a lot more lately and I’m happy about it, haha. I just want to say that these books are mostly suspense/thrillers again. 🙈

Some of these books were just okay, but some were amazing.

So, let’s dive into my recent reads!

(By the way, you can add me on Goodreads to always see what I’m reading.)

• Never Have I Ever

I was pretty excited to read Never Have I Ever because the premise and plot sounded super interesting. It’s about a suburban mom with a seemingly perfect life, whose past catches up with her and threatens to ruin everything. I couldn’t really connect with the writing, and the book alternated between being slow and boring, and then faster and more entertaining. The final plot twist at the end was… kind of disturbing and not what I expected either. I had a hard time deciding how to rate this but I went with 3/5 stars.

• In the Blood

In the Blood was a pretty unique suspense novel. Lana was a troubled child and now she’s an adult, babysitting a troubled child named Luke. Lana also has secrets, secrets which she lies to cover up. Luke orchestrates a scavenger hunt and as Lana plays along, she realizes that Luke might somehow know all of her secrets. For the most part, I enjoyed reading this book. A few things bothered me but it was still pretty good. I also guessed most of the twists before they happened. But overall, I gave it 3/5 stars.

• Lock Every Door

Riley Sager is an author that I’d been wanting to read for a while, and I’m so glad I read Lock Every Door! The plot seemed super interesting to me. It’s about a young woman named Jules, who’s down on her luck and in need of a new job and a place to live. So when she finds an ad looking for an apartment sitter, she’s excited to find a place to live for 3 months and a chance to make $12,000. But if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. It seems like the residents of this apartment are hiding a dark secret. This book was addictive, full of suspense, and even kind of spooky. The only thing I didn’t like so much was the ending but I still gave it 4/5 stars. [You can read my full review on Goodreads here]

• 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

12 Rules for Life is probably the BEST self-help book I’ve ever read. It’s not fluffy like so many others. It’s actually deep and meaningful. I absolutely love Jordan Peterson’s mind. He’s so intelligent and honest. This is a great book for anyone who’s struggling with something – whether it’s anxiety or depression or addiction or something else. The advice is actionable and inspiring, but also comforting. Like everything will be okay because everything is figureoutable. I gave it 5/5 stars. [You can read my full review in this blog post.]

• Final Girls

Final Girls is another book by Riley Sager. Ten years ago, Quincy Carpenter survived the scene of a horror movie – 5 of her friends were murdered but she was the sole survivor. She’s one of 3 girls known to the national press as the “final girls” – the other 2 are Sam and Lisa. But Lisa was recently found dead in her bathtub, and Sam appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past and Quincy wonders about Sam’s motives. This book was addictive and it was fully entertaining to me. I love slasher films and suspense novels, so it was fun to see the two sort of mixed together in this story! I gave it 5/5 stars.

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I had already read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo about 6 years ago but I loved it so much and when I saw it on ThriftBooks(get a free book here), I just had to purchase it and read it again! Harriet Vanger was a member of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, but she disappeared over 40 years ago. Now, her uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist, to investigate. Mikael is aided by the pierced and tattooed Lisbeth Salander. Together, they tap into a vein of unfathomable corruption. This is such a great mystery story! I gave it 4/5 stars.