thereadingraccoon's reviews
1495 reviews

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack

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funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is a mystery novel about an author who goes on a book tour through Italy and finds herself in the middle of a real-life murder investigation.
Eleanor Dash decides it's time to kill off the main character of her popular "Vacation Mysteries" novels. They were inspired by her ex-lover Connor, and he's been getting a cut of her royalties for a decade. But first, her publisher sends her on a book tour in Italy that is made up of various people, including Collin, her sister-slash-assistant, her ex-lover Oliver, various other authors, fans, and people connected to Collin. But Collin thinks someone is trying to kill him during the tour (the real him, not the book character), and when it starts to look like Eleanor is also a target, she'll have to use everything she knows about solving mysteries to find the murderer before they kill her.
This is supposed to be a witty and entertaining mystery with a relatable lead character and a lot of twists. Eleanor breaks the "fourth wall" and talks to the reader often about her career, love life, and thoughts on pop culture. But I never felt like the reader gets to know the woman behind the quips, and she basically serves as a narrator for this really odd book tour. The other characters are just there to serve as suspects, and their presence doesn't really add anything to the plot.
This might be a good fit for readers who prefer their mysteries low-stress with a lot of humor and food descriptions. But I need a little more grit and realism in my mysteries, and this just didn't feel substantial or memorable to me.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️


🎧 narrator notes: Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is narrated by Elizabeth Evans who does an excellent job with both the female and male voices in addition to the various accents. 


* review copy provided by Macmillan Audio 
Safe and Sound: A Novel by Laura McHugh

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Safe and Sound delves into the gritty mystery of a small town, focusing on a high school senior who goes missing while babysitting her young cousins. Six years later, her cousins, now teenagers themselves, embark on a journey to uncover the truth behind her disappearance.

Grace Crow had the opportunity to leave her small Missouri town with a college scholarship, aiming to start a new life. However, just months before graduation, she disappears from her own kitchen while babysitting, leaving behind only a pool of blood. With no leads, her case remains cold until her cousins take it upon themselves to unravel the mystery, hoping to move forward and escape their hometown.

This novel presents a dark and twisted family drama, highlighting the challenges faced by a young girl striving to break free from her hometown for education and new experiences. The narrative explores themes of betrayal and confinement, especially through Grace's perspective, portraying the abuse she endured and the feeling of entrapment.

The chapters from Grace’s point of view are particularly difficult to read, depicting her hardships and struggles. Conversely, Amelia and Kylie’s chapters offer a refreshing contrast with their sharp dialogue and witty remarks, primarily from Kylie. Their dedication to the investigation, despite their youth, will resonate with readers, especially those familiar with hardscrabble backgrounds and Midwestern roots.

Overall, Safe and Sound is a compelling mystery featuring resilient young heroines who risk everything to protect their loved ones and chase their dreams. It intertwines family secrets, ambition, and a quest for justice, making it a captivating read for fans of twisty mysteries and strong female protagonists.
The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Kill Factor is a young adult futuristic novel about a group of teens accused of crimes and sent to an island to compete for social media followers. The winner will receive a pardon, while the losers will face a life sentence of solitary confinement.

Emerson was robbing her old high school when something went wrong and a fire started, killing the janitor. Once arrested, she receives an offer to clear her record by joining a competition with other juvenile offenders. Her immediate response is to refuse the offer, but her brother thinks she can win, and the social media followers she picks up could help her entire family. However, the offer isn’t what she thought it was, and the teenagers will be picked off one by one in a series of brutal contests, expected to create engaging video content to gain followers.

The Kill Factor is a fast-paced and easy read that will be great for younger, reluctant readers. Although there is death on the page, it isn’t gory or too detailed. The language and dialogue were a little too spare for me personally, but I could see a reader who appreciates a more action-driven novel enjoying it.
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Ghost Station is a science fiction thriller about a woman that joins a space exploration crew to escape her problems on earth. 

Dr. Ophelia Bray has had a professional setback after losing a patient to ERS (a mental condition developed after space travel) and joining a crew headed to an abandoned planet seems like to perfect opportunity to escape scrutiny and try out new treatments in ERS preventative care. But the ship’s crew is resistant to her help after losing a member on a previous mission and strange things are happening on the planet they’ve been sent to gather samples from. Ophelia will have to gain the trust of the other members plus battle the demons of her past if she’s going to fight whatever is affecting their mission. 

This is another exciting Sci Fi thriller from SA Barnes. Once things start kicking off it’s never boring and there is a lot of action and high stakes. Ophelia is an interesting character to follow because she’s fighting her own personal issues from her past and it amplifies the more psychological thriller aspects of the plot. I think it would make an amazing limited series or movie! 
Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Bless Your Heart is a horror novel about four generations of women that help fight monsters in their small Texas town. 

The Evans women run the local funeral home and have been quietly putting the “restless” dead in their final grave. But over a series of days in 1999 bodies have been arriving showing signs of a violent attack and it’s possibly connected to the youngest Evans woman (fifteen-year-old Luna), the mysterious new boy in town and the secret buried under the rose bush. It will be up to the Evans women and the town’s deputy (Roger Taylor) to survive the escalating violence and stop it before it’s too late.

This is a different type of horror novel for me. It takes place in 1999, the lore of the “Strigoi” is a little more unique than your typical vampire or zombie and it has little touches of humor that make it feel like small town women’s fiction. But the violence and gore aren’t for the faint of heart and no one is safe from the bloodthirsty “ghouls”. I could definitely see this as a movie or a television series. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable horror novel that will also appeal to fans of both women’s fiction and mysteries. It looks like it’s the start of a new series and I look forward to reading more about the Evans women and the work that they do. 
3.75 stars rounded to 4 

🎧 Audiobook notes: Bless Your Heart is read by Stephanie Németh-Parker who does an excellent job with the Texas accent and characters of widely varying ages. 
A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

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slow-paced

2.0

A Sweet Sting of Salt is a historical fiction novel with a sapphic romance and a supernatural twist. 
Jean is a twenty-four-year old midwife for her small village on the coast. Her standing with the locals is a little rocky after she was suspected of having a romance with her female childhood friend Jo. Eventually Jo’s mother became suspicious and quickly married her off and Jean hasn’t seen her since. But Jean’s talent with delivering babies has won over most of the women in town and she lives a quiet life alone on the small piece of land her parents left her. One evening the mysterious new bride of her neighbor arrives in the middle of the night in labor and ready to deliver without her husband. Despite the language barrier Jean is able to help out the new mother (Muirin) and bring her husband (Tobias) to her side. But something about their relationship is off and Jean convinces the couple to let Muirin stay with her a few days to heal after the baby. As Muirin picks up more and more English Jean becomes convinced that something is not right with their marriage and it’s up to her to rescue Muirin and her newborn son. But Tobias will do anything to hold on to his family and he won’t let Jean interfere. 
This is one of those books that if you don’t buy the love story you don’t have much else to hang on to. And I really didn’t get the romance. Between the newborn baby, the marriage, the language barrier and just how little they knew about each other (including Jean’s glaring ignorance of Muirin’s big supernatural secret) I never felt any kind of chemistry or attraction between the two of them. Everything Jean does after Tobias repeatedly threatens her puts not only herself but Muirin and her baby and everything Jean holds dear including her farm and the animals at risk. It becomes really frustrating as a reader to endure. She clearly sees herself as some kind of savior but she has no weapons, self-defense skills and is entirely too naive to take on someone like Tobias. When she’s not scrambling to protect herself, lying to the people that care about her how much danger she’s in she’s mostly staring out the window worrying about Muirin which makes it a very dull and slow read. 
I hate giving a debut novel two stars but this book really didn’t work for me. It was a slog to get through and I found the main character foolish and moony over a woman she barely knows. 
Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton

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adventurous funny hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Mal Goes to War is a science fiction novel about a futuristic America in the middle of a war of pro and anti A.I. factions. 

Mal is a sentient artificial intelligence program that is observing the human race (which he refers to as “monkeys”) fight over the concept of AI and its application to humans. Both the Federals (pro augmentation and mods) and the Humanists (violently opposed to A.I.) are at war and Mal finds himself jumping into the thick of it. Mal forms his own found family with a young woman modified to look like a tiny girl, soldiers and a civilian as they travel across a ravaged U.S. 

This was an entertaining adventure with a funny main character that learns to care and fight for the people he’s with. I think readers will enjoy Mal’s observations and ability to outwit everyone whether they be human or computer. 

🎧 Audiobook notes: Mal Goes to War is read by John Pirhalla and Katharine Chin. They do an excellent job of bringing Mal and his companions to life. Plus, there are some additional fun sound effects. 
A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A Short Walk Through a Wide World is a historical fantasy about a woman afflicted with a mysterious illness that forces her to never stay in the same place for more than a few days. She will circumnavigate the globe trying to stay ahead of her debilitating symptoms before they strike. 

Shortly after nine-year-old Parisian Aubrey Tourvel doesn’t join her sisters in throwing their most beloved keepsakes in a well (that they decided was enchanted) she is struck with horrible pain, a twisted body and blood pouring out of her. But, despite her doctor’s best efforts they cannot find a source for her disease. It’s only after they discover that if Aubrey keeps moving to new places every few days that she can stay ahead of the torturous symptoms. Aubrey and her mother travel city to city for years until one day the tween Aubrey strikes out on her own. Over the years Aubrey will grow up, walk across continents and meet people from every walk of life. Her story and adventures will make her famous around the world but a cure will continue to stay out of reach. 

The reader will live a million lives in this book as they travel along with Aubrey. I loved the more intimate moments in the book as she got to know people and they shared things they wouldn’t share with anyone else. I thought the concept was original and how the more fantastical elements kept the story from getting bogged down in the details on how a pampered young girl could survive in the elements without permanent shelter and resources. And there is also a magical library to boot! The part that lagged and where the story lost momentum for me was at the halfway point where I just got impatient with the long “road trip” of it all. I was hoping for a conclusion and a purpose to the whole journey sooner rather than later. But overall, this was a unique story with a main character that didn’t quit. 
Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Your Blood, My Bones is a young adult contemporary dark fantasy about a teenage girl who inherits her father’s land that sits on the edge of two worlds. 

When Wyatt’s mother took her from her childhood home five years ago she left behind her two best friends Peter and James. But when she returns to the farmhouse after her father’s death she is horrified to find Peter chained up in the basement. What no one told her was that Peter was an immortal child from another world and it’s only his ritualistic murder over and over for a century by her family that has been holding back the monsters from another dimension. It will be up to Peter and Wyatt to set aside their feelings for each other and devise a way to close the rip between the two worlds. 

This is a creative, haunting and romantic novel about first love, sacrifice and the dark things that terrible people do for power. I loved Wyatt, Peter and James and I rooted for them the entire time. The setting and the monsters were appropriately creepy and the writing was atmospheric and beautiful. I enjoyed the pacing which was never dull or slow and kept me turning the pages. I look forward to reading Kelly Andrew’s debut novel which includes some of the side characters from this one. 
The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos

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emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.75

Read for book club.