Review: The Cellar

The Cellar by Natasha Preston
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Cellar kinda stomped my spirit. I just KNEW this was going to be SO. GOOD.

It wasn't.

For one the story needs to decide if it's adult or not. You can have immature characters, young characters, and still be an adult book. The Cellar unsuccessfully straddled that fence and were this book a male, that failure would have been painful. And while I'm on the subject of characters, it's probably possible to make a character more annoying than Summer (and Preston tried with Clover and Lewis) but it would take a lot of effort. Waiting for the main character's death scene like the Grinch looking down on Whoville most likely isn't what the author was going for.

Or maybe she was and if so, Bravo!!

Clover is the most pathetic villain both in imagination - I read the Butterfly Garden, too - and follow through. He ticks every cliche box on every villain how to list there could possibly be. It's hard to be scared or even unnerved by a character so thoroughly superficial and dull.

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Review: The Victims' Club

The Victims' Club by Jeffery Deaver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short story which in my opinion has just an excuse to give a good back-story - except here. Here, it was just enough for this specific story. My only irritation here is that I missed the point where the twist was alluded to. I knew to pay attention to the list that was given but I missed it. That's not the author's fault, I mean it was RIGHT THERE and I missed it. So, okay, kudos to you, Deaver. Nicely done.

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Review: Stillhouse Lake

Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

OMG, y'all! This is a freaking amazing book! If you're looking for a badass female with some straight-up focus on being who you want to be when you grow up, "Gwen" is your girl. I feel like I'm a bit harsh as a book critic, I am picky about my characters and the plot line but I have no complaints beyond "why is this over?!?!"

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Review: Interference

Interference by Amélie Antoine
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It got an extra star because it was good until it became maddening. The big reveal? So completely unrealistic! Even fiction needs some quantity of reality. One thing I'll give the author, her characters are written well, assuming they are written to be hated.

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Review: The Marriage Lie

The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this! Watching Iris unravel her husband was as infatuating as it was infuriating. What I didn't like is the ending. But just because I didn't like it doesn't mean it wasn't a good ending, I mean here I am, the day after, still thinking about it. That's a sign of a well written novel.

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Review: Dahmer Detective: The Interrogation and Investigation That Shocked The World

Dahmer Detective: The Interrogation and Investigation That Shocked The World by Patrick Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this up after watching Kennedy on a Dahmer interview. I became as fascinated with the detective as I have been with Dahmer. His book did not disappoint. Granted this guy was a cop and not a writer so things like every sentence of dialogue starting out with "Hey, Pat..." or "Hey, Jeff..." began to wear raw but even so, the book was so interesting. There are definitely things I found out here that years and years of documentaries didn't tell me. If you're Dahmer Darling, this is worth it.



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