I’ve slacked on blogging weekly for the last few months, but I’m determined to get back into a routine! Work has kept me busy, leaving me no mental energy to blog after work. But I’ve been doing some reading here and there, so I thought I’d share book review volume XV of what I’ve been reading this year (lots of good thrillers in this batch!). As always, you can see my latest reads on Goodreads. Let’s dive in!
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
After scrambling to reach my reading goal at the end of last year (read more about that here), I started this year off strong with one of my favorite thrillers, Gone Girl. Having seen the movie, I always read the book with the actors’ voices in my head. Does anyone else do this with reading once they’ve seen the movie? Although I’ve read many great thrillers since, and I already know how it ends, it’s so clever that I occasionally reread it because it’s so good. I’m constantly comparing new thrillers I read against this one. If you still haven’t read it, jumping on the bandwagon is never too late! I also love Gillian Flynn’s other novels, Sharp Objects and Dark Places — I also highly recommend both. She’s a brilliant writer, and I can’t wait for her to release her next book, which she’s supposedly working on right now!
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
Unfortunately, this one was lackluster to me. Roswan Caine answers a live-in nannying ad at the Heatherbrae House, a luxury “smart” house with cameras everywhere and an app that controls everything. It was supposed to create a spooky setting, but I didn’t find it suspenseful. The job post seemed too good to be true, and it turns out it was when one of the children ends up murdered, and she’s in prison awaiting trial for the crime. The story is told as Rowan writes letters to her attorney pleading her innocence, telling him the whole story from the beginning. I found most of the story to drag on and a bit boring up until the last part, but even then, the ending was disappointing and underwhelming. If you want to read a Ruth Ware novel, I recommend reading The Woman in Cabin 10 instead.
The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose
I loved the storyline of this fast-paced, suspenseful domestic thriller. Sarah Morgan is a top defense attorney and partner with a corner office at her firm. Meanwhile, her husband, Adam, struggles with his career as a writer and often feels second fiddle to Sarah’s demanding job. However, Adam’s secretly kept busy with an affair with Kelly Summers until someone discovered her murdered in the secluded woods in Adam and Sarah’s second home. Shortly after, Sarah finds herself as her husband’s lawyer, a man charged with stabbing his mistress to death. It’s a twisty thriller that I couldn’t put down because I needed to know if Adam was guilty or innocent, and the unreliable narration worked for me in this one. This story has significant plot holes, but I was willing to suspend my belief for this quick read.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
This is one of my new favorites, and I can’t recommend this one enough for anyone looking for a new twisty read. It reminded me much of The Wife Between Us, which I also enjoyed. The Winchesters, a wealthy family, hire Millie as their new housemaid. Millie is desperate for a fresh start after recently being released from prison and is living out of her car. However, upon arrival, the gardener warns Millie of danger, and she soon realizes Nina Winchester is difficult to work for. Given her prison background, Millie decides to tough it out due to limited options, but she does feel bad for Andrew, the hot husband, who’s stuck on Nina’s emotional roller coaster. It’s a fast-paced read leaving you to be a fly on the wall, watching the drama unfold and speculating who’s got the most to hide.
Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover
A novella making this one a quick read. This one stars Daniel and Six from Hopeless and Losing Hope (read my review of Losing Hope here), who were Holder and Sky’s best friends. A chance meeting in the janitor’s closet leads Daniel and Six to profess their love for each other despite not knowing who the other is because it’s dark, and then she runs off like Cinderella. When they meet again, neither realizes they had fallen in love already once the previous year. I recommend reading the other two books first to understand the backstory, but you can read this one as a standalone. Also, Holder and Sky both make appearances in this novella which readers of the previous two books will appreciate.
What have you recently read that I should add to my to-read list? Please leave your recommendations in the comments! To see more of my book reviews, click here. xo
Owww such a great list Kelly! I haven’t read Gone Girl but loved the movie so maybe I should? I just read Hopeless and started Losing Hope- loving this series- well I love all of Colleen Hoover’s books! 🙂
As an Avid reader I am loving that you have the book review section. Also I subscribed because of it.
I have heard great things about The Housemaid, so this definitely bumped it up my TBR list! I have not had luck with Ruth Ware so far either…
The Perfect Match sounds so good! I love a good thriller and a good mystery novel, so this one seems like one I’ll have to add to my “want to read” list on Goodreads. Thank you for sharing and loved your review!
Just put the housemaid on my list!
Great list, thank you 🙂
I absolutely find that I hear and picture the actors in any book that I read AFTER watching the movie…. which is one reason why I try to watch the movie first. What a great group of thrillers!
What a great selection of books. I’ve not read Gone Girl, but I do generally prefer to read the books before watching the film. (and I generally prefer the books!)
I thought I’ve read all the Colleen Hoover books but not that Novella! I really liked the perfect marriage as well
I love Ruth Ware. Currently reading The It Girl by her and so far so good
I have seen the movie Gone Girl. It was so good. I would like to read the book.
These look like some good reads! I’m more of a non-fiction reader so a book I’ve read recently: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel and I’m currently reading The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia. Highly recommend!
so many great book reviews! lots i can add to my reading list.
I love reading. Thank you for this book review and your recommendation.
Your blog is so lovely and you write reviews so well!
I love your recommendations. Thrillers are always fun to read. Thanks for putting this awesome post together!
Wow, this is such a great list. Might inspire me to start reading again, like a physical book not audiobooks haha. Thank you for sharing
Great reviews! I think I’ll have to suggest the Housemaid as the next read on my book club’s list. Thanks for the suggestions!
I need to read more in 2023! Thank you for the recommendations.
Great list! Need to add Perfect Marriage and Gone Girl to my reading list 🙂
These suggestions look amazing! I’ll add them to my book list! Thank you!
Love these reviews. Thank you for all the reviews, it really helps to decide my next read
Thanks for this list – I will be adding The Housemaid to my list! I desperately need to get back into reading also!
Such a great list! Gone girl is my all-time favorite.
I absolutely LOVE getting book recommendations. I haven’t read any of these yet but they are now on my list. I just picked up 4 books from the library today!