That Night: 4 Stars

Author: Chevy Stevens
Length: 400 pgs.
This is my second Chevy Stevens book in less than a month, and that is no accident. Coincidentally, I read both books while I was home sick from work and finished them in 2 days. Yes, I had extra time on my hands for being at home sick BUT her books are such consistent page turners!! That Night is no different. I picked up a used paperback copy from Goodwill books online and it was in great condition and cost less than $2.

This book was more of a mystery than the other two of hers I’ve read (Still Missing and Those Girls were more suspense/thrillers). This is still a definite thriller, but the main question-who really killed Nicole?-isn’t answered until the very end.

Nicole is the sister of the main character, Toni. When we first meet Toni she’s being released from prison after serving 15 years for her sister’s murder. The book goes back and forth between the events leading up to the night of the murder, and present day where Toni’s trying to get her life back together while out on parole. This book was especially stressful to read just hearing about everything Toni has gone through/is going through. What first stands out to me is her relationship with her mother. Pre-prison, she and her mother do not get along. Toni is the black sheep compared to Nicole’s role in the family as the sweet daughter. She can’t seem to do anything right, and when she meets and begins a long-term relationship with Ryan, things only go downhill. Her mom tends to blame everything negative on the relationship, which pushes Toni further into Ryan’s arms and farther away from the daughter her mother wishes she would be.

Her mom is realistically written in that she’s completely unlikable, short-tempered and flustered (I’m taking notes on how not to treat or talk to my girls when they reach the dreaded teen years). Toni doesn’t make it any easier on herself however, mouthing off and/or completely ignoring her mom when asked to do something. This is where Nicole knows how to play the game- she may be the “good” daughter in that she puts on a sweet face and does what’s asked of her, but she’s calculating in her own way. She knows what she’s doing and she knows how to play the innocent in the eyes of her parents. Toni acts solely on emotion, coming off as frustrated and annoyed in every conversation with her mother.

Unfortunately, outside of her relationship with Ryan, Toni doesn’t find much relief in her school/personal life. Chevy Stevens has created one of the most hateful villains ever with the heinous literal creation of Shauna McKinney. Man I hated that bitch! The sad thing is that I think so many of us know a Shauna McKinney in one form or another. She starts off initially as Toni’s friend-as these bitches often do-but unsurprisingly morphs into SuperBitch for one spiteful reason or another. Have I mentioned this chick’s a total beeyotch?

To say she’s a bitch is actually putting it mildly. Throughout the rest of her high school career Toni is tortured by Shauna and her pathetic group of hangers-on. Her life is made miserable and since her mother constantly pushes her away for one reason or another (her room’s not clean enough, she has a bad attitude), Toni can only go to Ryan for comfort. Things get worse when Shauna drafts Nicole as her newest friend, and then suddenly Nicole’s part of the group that’s making Toni’s life a living hell.

This part was a little bit of a stretch for me. I know that popularity rules all when you’re in school, but the idea that you’d abandon a sibling to the clutches of mean girls just to be categorized as “cool” yourself was somewhat unbelievable. With my kids we teach them that family is first and everyone else can suck it (at least that’s the abbreviated version) so it was super frustrating to see Nicole getting away with this type of behavior. When Toni tries to make her parents aware of what’s going on, all it takes is a little nice-girl act from Shauna for Toni’s mother to give her a lecture about forgiveness and getting along with everyone. No one believes Toni or takes her at her word and that’s exasperating.

This all serves to lead up to that fateful night in the book’s title where Nicole is brutally murdered. We learn the chain of events that put Toni and Ryan behind bars. We see Toni’s mother lose all trust for her surviving daughter and basically abandon her to the legal system. If I haven’t mentioned Toni’s father before now, it’s because his character is useless. He gives half-ass excuses for his wife’s behavior all while pushing Toni farther and farther away. It’s sad to learn that Toni’s most supportive relationships will be built with fellow prison inmates, instead of the friends and family who should’ve been there for her in the first place.

Found guilty of Nicole’s murder (thanks to some helpful testimony from Shauna and crew), Ryan and Toni are separated and sent to prison for their respective sentences. Even after Toni’s finally released, she can’t seem to find any peace. She’s an ex-con out on parole with nowhere to stay, no job, and the stigma of being known as a sister-murderer in her hometown. She quickly runs into one of the girls who testified against her, and later she runs into Shauna herself, who proves that she still has power to make Toni’s life a living hell. In fact the constant, lingering fear of Toni’s being sent back to prison sits like a knot in the reader’s stomach. Nothing is easy for this girl. You’d think finally getting out of jail after serving time on a bullshit murder charge would relieve some stress, but for Toni-when she decides once and for all that she’s going to solve her sister’s murder-it’s like the trouble’s just beginning.

The fast-paced nature of the book only added to the tension building. By the end of the book I was DYING to know what was going to happen, and if more bad things were going to happen to my sweet little ex-con Toni, if she was going to get her dog Captain back, and if anyone was ever going to punch Shauna and/or Toni’s mom in the face.

I won’t answer those questions for you, but I was happy with how everything went down in the end. This was another unputdownable read for me from Chevy Stevens.

Truth or Beard: 4 Stars

Author: Penny Reid
Length: 390 pgs.
I picked this book up as a freebie after seeing it all over Goodreads getting rave reviews. The price dropped to zero, and you can’t beat that, so I downloaded a copy to my kindle and read it as a BOTM with my favorite Freebie group. No one is more surprised than I am at how much I loved this book! I am honestly not one to enjoy contemporary romances. I went through a definite chick-lit phase when I was younger and I loved authors like Marian Keyes, Jennifer Weiner and Jane Green. Since then I’ve moved on to different genres, and I usually pass by modern romance when I’m looking for my next book. I’m not a fan of insta-love, I hate when there’s a “big misunderstanding” between the two main characters and they somehow never talk to each other to clear it up, and I just have a hard time connecting with the characters in this genre.

I was excited to discover that that was not the case for me here. I immediately fell in like with the female main character Jessica James, when she shows up to a Halloween party dressed up as a sexy Gandalf. Yes, sexy Gandalf, complete with beard and the you-shall-not-pass stick and errthang! Her internal monologue cracked me up right away.

”I was halfway across the lot, lost in delighted mental preparation for my father and brother’s scowls of disapproval…

A sinister giggle escaped my lips. I’m not much of a giggler unless I’ve done something sinister.”

Jessica immediately notices her longtime crush, Beau Winston, at the party-but the twist is that after an unexpected, steamy make-out session, she finds out that it isn’t Beau after all. It’s his twin Duane – and she and Duane have never gotten along. Jessica then becomes very confused, because the make-out slash fondling session is causing her to second guess her lifelong feelings in a way she’s not comfortable with at all.

”It was all Duane’s fault. His words and lips, and hands, and eyes, and his penis’ fault.”

I truly enjoyed the camaraderie between Jessica and Duane. Duane’s status as the not-as-nice-as-Beau twin makes him way more enjoyable a character in my opinion. I liked how he tried to put on an unaffected face but couldn’t help the way that his feelings for Jessica make him completely vulnerable. Despite my previous disinclinations towards this genre, I fell fast and hard for Duane Winston (right alongside Jessica James).

I laughed out loud throughout this entire book, and I cried several times as well. The writing prompts some real emotion which is apparently the magic appeal of Penny Reid. She doesn’t just give us two relatable characters to root for, but also three dimensional family members and friends as well whose personalities and banter add to the richness of the story.

And those steamy scenes! Wowza. Those were pull-at-your-shirt-collar-and-fan-your-face hot. Made all the better because these are two people you really, really like.

I could take or leave the extra storyline involving the Winston bros. and the Wraiths, a motorcycle gang, but it served its purpose towards the end of the book so I didn’t really mind it and I appreciated that it was quickly wrapped up. And I loved that a different complication-something that could have warped into the “big misunderstanding”-was quickly squashed by Jessica because she’s, well, a smart girl with a brain and she knows better than that. And I feel like Reid gives us credit as readers as well, for not indulging that as a serious issue.

So I’m officially a Penny Reid convert and can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

Up Next: Audiobook

Author: Sarah Maas
Length: 418 pgs.
Audiobook Length: 12 hours 25 minutes
I'm so excited to start this! The first book in the series was a 5 star read for me! I read the first book on my kindle and I have Crown of Midnight in kindle format as well but I picked up the audiobook companion recently for $3.99. Now that I've finally completed The Good Daughter I will be starting this on my drive home.

Those Girls: 4 Stars

Author: Chevy Stevens
Length: 385 pgs.

It’s been a while since I read Chevy Steven’s debut novel Still Missing, and I still remember how creepy and disturbing it was. I saw Those Girls on sale for 2.99 and immediately picked it up. It did not disappoint!

The book focuses on three sisters: Jess, Courtney and Dani. Their dad is an abusive, neglectful alcoholic and they mostly have to fend for themselves. One night their dad comes home drunk yet again and things quickly turn from bad to worse. The girls find themselves on the run.

It was hard, at that point, to read about how the girls had been living: no money, little to no groceries, working on a their landlord's farm to try to make up for the rent that their father was paying late again. Their mother died a few years before, and since then things had deteriorated to the point where they had to take care of themselves, feed themselves breakfast/lunch/dinner (assuming there was enough food in the house to do so), tuck themselves in at night...any mom's heart would break at the thought. Their memories and feelings are visceral, told from Jess's (the youngest sister) point of view, so it's easy to bond with them.

Despite how bad they have it at home, it doesn't get any better once they hit the road. There’s not much assistance to be had for three underage females with no money, unable to go to the police and without any additional family. Their truck ends up breaking down and they’re lucky (?) enough to be offered help by a few people who are passing by. Like one of those eerie movies that takes place in a remote area, the tension slowly builds until we’re convinced-as the girls are-that something terrible is about to happen, something worse than what they’re running from.

Their worst fears are realized-and, after putting themselves in even more danger to get to safety, they find themselves on the run yet again. This time they seek immediate shelter and change their names.

The book then takes an unexpected time jump about 16 years or so in the future. We see how each girl moved on-or didn’t-from their horrifying shared experience. There’s a new character introduced, one who will force the women to face the very real and scary demons from their past. And here is where the second roller coaster begins. The reader’s barely recovered from everything that happened in the first half of the book when our sisters are plunged into danger once again.

I liked the different personalities each sister had and how those contributed to the story. They each carry the weight of their secrets differently.

Steven fosters a masterfully creepy environment, creating a small town I sure as hell wouldn’t want to break down in. The people who live there aren’t any better and the whole thing just gives me the shivers. I had the thought "Get out of there!!!" pop into my head on more than one occasion.

I wasn’t sure how things were going to go, having only read one book by Stevens before this, so I didn’t know if I should anticipate a happy ending or if the characters’ lives were going to continue the pattern of tragedy. I cried with the characters and bit my nails at the events that unfolded over the second half of the book. Like the sisters in the beginning, you KNOW something bad is going to happen, you just aren’t sure how or when.

This was a definite page turner for me. I read it when I was home sick for 4 days and it was the silver lining of a crappy week. And this time I won't wait so long before reading the next Chevy Stevens book!

Warcross: 4 stars

Author: Marie Lu
Length: 353 pgs.

Wow this book was fun to read!

The action starts immediately, with author Marie Lu introducing us to the world that Warcross exists in via the life of the main character Emika Chen. Emika is a hacker who makes a paltry living by working as a bounty hunter. She’s notified by police when someone is wanted for betting on a virtual reality game called Warcross. Real betting on this game is illegal and Chen spends her time tracking down the people who are wanted for this reason. In the beginning pages, she’s on the search for one such fugitive, and we immediately see the differences between her world and ours.

”A smattering of students and tourists sit at the tables. When I point my phone’s camera at them, I can see their names hovering over their heads, meaning none of them have set themselves on Private.”

Warcross is a way of life in this world – most people play it, or use the virtual reality world as a means of relaxation and escape from real life. It was created by 21-year-old billionaire Hideo Tanaka, and culminates in a yearly Warcross Championship. Emika, after being cheated out of collecting a reward on a bounty, skulks home to watch the opening ceremony with her roommate. During the ceremony, she decides to use her hacker talent in a way that accidentally ends up placing her on the radar of every single person who is watching the ceremony- including Hideo Tanaka himself.

Emika’s immediately whisked off to Tokyo at the behest of Tanaka, who informs her that someone’s messing with his Warcross code and sabotage is suspected. He’s got other hackers on the case, but Emika agrees to help locate the person-or persons-responsible. As a cover, she’s enlisted as a rookie pick for the Warcross Championship and finds herself thrown into a completely different life, one filled with media attention, a lavish apartment and clothes, new Warcross teammates who may or may not be the guilty party she’s searching for, and danger.

Can she survive in the championship long enough to get the job done? Can she trust her teammates? Who’s trying to sabotage Warcross-and why?

In the midst of all this mystery and drama, we get to witness the tampered reality that Chen exists in. With the help of special new contact lenses released by Tanaka, everyone basically walks around in a virtual reality version of the real world. It’s delicious and half the fun of the book to see brought to life the vibrant world Lu’s created.

Another interesting aspect is the introduction of the Dark World. It’s the virtual reality version of the dark web, and Emika finds herself there a few times in the book with very interesting outcomes.

Now, about Hideo himself. When he and Emika first met and I started seeing the indications of a potential love match, I found myself rolling my eyes. I thought it would be an unnecessary addition of a cliché storyline, I just hoped it wouldn’t get overly cheesy. By the middle of the book, though, I was rooting for them to get together. The chemistry was palpable and I wanted more than Lu was giving me!

”I’m very aware of our proximity to each other, as if I could feel the ghost of his presence against my skin."

This is my first book by Marie Lu, and I wasn’t sure if I could trust her not to take this sweet little romance away from me. I won’t reveal the answer to that here!

I spent a few nights staying up late reading this book. The action of the Warcross championship combined with the bounty hunter storyline and the semi-relationship that was developing between Emiko and Hideo kept me chomping at the bit for more.

Fair warning that this book ends with a cliffhanger. In a series we never get what we want in the first book so it is what it is. I was saddened and a bit disbelieving at the events that unravel within the last few pages, but it was definitely a fun read overall and I loved it. Better yet, I can add Lu to the list of writers whose other books I need to read!

The Good Daughter: 3 stars

Author: Karin Slaughter
Length: 528 pgs.
Audiobook length: 17 hours 52 minutes

I am honestly not sure how I feel about this book. I usually have a pretty solid opinion either way once I’ve finished something, but The Good Daughter pulled me in a lot of different directions.

My first Karin Slaughter book was Pretty Girls, and I felt that book was miles ahead of this one as far as suspense and shock factor and general cleverness goes. This was no Pretty Girls.

Warning – spoilers ahead!

I know what I didn’t like about the book.

I disliked most of the characters: the clear cut bad guys who murdered the Quinn matriarch. The main characters who had-in my opinion-a strange way of dealing with the events that unfolded throughout the book (heck, I despised Rusty Quinn for 2/3 of the story because I didn’t understand his thought process and actions). The cops in the small town of Pikeville, who handled the school shooting and its aftermath horribly and inappropriately. The Culpepper family members, who tortured Charlie throughout her years in school because they remained convinced the Daniel and Zachariah were innocent, and that the whole murder was a set up by Rusty to frame the Culpepper brothers. Antagonists are necessary in any story, but there’s usually some likable main characters or a hero that is thrown in to balance things out, give you someone to root for. I didn’t want bad things to happen to Charlie and Sam, but I wasn’t really rooting for them, either.

I HATED how dragged out the day of the school shooting was. Every small detail is noted and expanded upon. Charlie is injured by the cops while trying to protect a teenage girl who’s being brutalized by them – though she is presumed guilty of killing two people in an elementary school – and no one does anything about it, even her (estranged) husband. No one in Pikeville, GA seems to have a conscience or code of ethics, or any real sense. Cops are corrupt, district attorneys plant evidence and frame people or don’t care to conduct proper investigations. Townsfolk are small minded and make ignorant assumptions.

I listened to the audio version of this book and because my listening is mostly limited to my work commute (which totals about 2.5 hours per day) it took FOREVER to get past the day of the shooting- maybe 3 days or so. This part could have been whittled down quite a bit, especially when you’re wondering WHAT THE HELL this tragedy has to do with ANYTHING, or at least what it has to do with the events that unfolded between the Culpeppers and Quinns 28 years prior. Are these two events linked? Are they completely separate and only serving to bring together the main characters? That’s not made clear for quite some time. I guess that’s part of the mystery but for me it made me feel like, what is the point or purpose of this part of the book? Do I really need to know all these details or is this just Slaughter’s style? Is there a reason this is being so drawn out?

By the time we moved on to day 2 (in the book) I was bored and frustrated, but hanging in there. To be fair, though I have issues with the pacing and the plot, the quality of the writing is obvious. Karin Slaughter does have a way of bringing characters to life. So I suppose it still says something that most of them elicited a real sense of annoyance and/or anger within me, because at least they felt real enough for me to have opinions on them.

The book would pick up the pace occasionally but then slow down and we’d be back to moving sluggishly through minutes, hours. It didn’t truly GRAB me until there was about two and a half hours left. At that point I wondered when shit was going to start going down. We’re talking about a book that has countless 4 and 5 star reviews, and I’m surprised to find myself in the minority, but there you have it. Perhaps most people enjoy the detailed way Slaughter examines everything that happens and everything that’s said by and to the characters. Perhaps they were prepared for a book that spends more time exploring the characters’ personalities and internal struggles than it does any sort of specific event in the book. Sure, you can argue (rightly) that their personalities and struggles come as a result of certain events that occur, but I was under the impression this was a thriller. It plays out as more of a sad story of one family’s abbreviated history, with a few twists thrown in at the end.

Speaking of the twists….

I was surprised to find out who was also involved in the school shooting, but once the initial cat was out of the bag, I pretty much guessed the rest and just listened as it played out mostly like I’d expected.

I was also surprised to find out who was REALLY involved in the murder of Sam & Charlie’s mother all those years ago, but the revelation didn’t really shake me. In fact, I didn’t realize there was anything left to reveal about that day, so while the information was unexpected, it didn’t serve to answer any questions, because I hadn’t asked any.

I think my strongest feeling about this book is just plain disappointment. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. The title, after finishing the book, doesn’t really make sense. Nor does the creepy cover which in itself promises a different sort of story.

I reserve the right, however, to contradict myself. This was a good book in that it was expertly written. Slaughter is obviously a master of details, but this one was just too detailed for my liking. I’m glad I got it off my TBR because it’s been calling my name for a while. You can definitely still like a writer without liking a book they’ve written, and I think that’s the case here. I have a copy of Slaughter’s Kisscut that I still look forward to reading, and I won’t forget the horror of Pretty Girls.

The Good Daughter just wasn’t for me.