2 stars – Book Dust Magic

Another not-so-good book club pick: Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister #bookclub #thriller

After starting on a not so good foot, in the other half of January me and my girls picked another book to read together, and this time we were even less thrilled.
I was excited to read another book by Gillian McAllister as I liked some of her novels in the past, but unfortunately Just Another Missing Person didn’t do it for me.
You can read my review bellow.

This novel was first time published on August 1st 2023 and it has 384 pages.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

22-year-old Olivia has been missing for one day…and counting. She was last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again.

Julia, the detective heading up the search for Olivia, thinks she knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her husband and daughter. But she has no idea just how close to home this case is going to get.

Because the criminal at the heart of the disappearance has something she never expected. His weapon isn’t a gun, or a knife: it’s a secret. Her worst one. And her family’s safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia – and must frame somebody else for her murder.

If you find her, you will lose everything. What would you do?

This clever and endlessly surprising thriller is laced with a smart look at family and motherhood, and cements Gillian McAllister as a major talent in the world of suspense and a master of creating ethical dilemmas that show just how murky the distinction between right and wrong can be.

Review:

This was a book club pick for January.
I was excited to read this author again, as I previously loved her other two books, and because in the meantime her career skyrocketed (or so it seems to me).

Unfortunately, reading Just Another Missing Person was not a good choice by me and my friends. Out of five of us, only three of us managed to finish it, and not one of us gave it a rating higher than 2.
So I think in this case it’s a book, not us.

The biggest turn down was the way it was written. Some chapters were written in third person, some in second, with so many characters that it was hard to get into the book.
I couldn’t connect to anyone really, but I didn’t have trouble to judge that mum who threw her son to the wolves and I am still not sure if she was even aware of that.
Since that was the only case when I felt at least something, I will hang on it if anyone ask me how I feel about this book.

Also, I have to mention that the father of a missing girl sounded like a creep and gave me chills. It was like reading from perspective of an adult who is romantically in love with his daughter.

I couldn’t care about the missing girl as the author didn’t do anything to make us connect with her.
The only character I can say I was intrigued about was that young guy who dated the missing girl.

Unfortunately, this was a big let down for me and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

I made a mistake for not picking up Wrong Place, Wrong Time instead, but now, after finishing Just Another Missing Person, I lost the will to give it a try.

So… this was a mess: The Last Word by Taylor Adams #bookreview #thriller

The Last Word by Taylor Adams book cover, William Morrow

As you probably already know, I am a member of a book club where four of us girls (plus from February one guy as a new member) pick a book or two and read it together, while discuss it all along as we read.
2024 didn’t start on a good note, as both books we read in January weren’t that good.

Today I bring you my review for a book that got lot of hype at one point in 2023. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of it, but at least my FOMO was cured.

The Last Word was published on April 25th 2023 and it has 340 pages.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

After posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy—or very, very dangerous—in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge.

Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.

One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?

As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?

Review:

This was a January pick for our book club and unfortunately 2024 didn’t start well.
The Last Word was a mess, and the book we read after this one was even worse.

I would like to say that this novel started promising. The writing style was good, slow but interesting, and it was easy for me to connect with Emma.
She was a loner, clearly suffering with depression after a tragic event in her life.
I could understand why she chose solitude and comfort in this new, boring way of living (if you can call it that).

However, with part 2 being written in a different way, all the connection I had for the story and our MC slowly but surely fell down the drain.

It’s not even about the choices Emma made, it was mainly the writing style.
All of the sudden beautiful prose was replaced with harsh storytelling, with more action that in Terminator movies.
At one point so much was going on that it made puree in my brain, it was too much to handle.
Especially as I didn’t enjoy the story anyway, nor did I like the characters enough.

The closer to the end we were, my connection to the story was less and less there, until it faded completely.

The last few chapters were pure torture and I couldn’t wait to be done with it and move on.
The only reason I decided to finish The Last Word is because my FOMO activated, just like it does every time I take part in buddy reads.

If anyone asks me, this book got more hype then it deserved.

The one that misguided us: The Ex Between Us by Nicola Marsh #BookReview #BookClub

Today I bring you my review for a book I read with my girls in our book club. We all expected thriller and were left little disappointed. Still, it was a good reading experience. After all, the joy of book clubs is in the discussions and other talks that come out inspired by the happenings from the books.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

he best of friends keep the deadliest secrets…

Jo is my best friend. From high school to adulthood, we’ve gone through everything together. Even when I made a foolish mistake and betrayed her in the worst way, she forgave me. She’s godmother to my son and our lives are intertwined. We want the best for each other, always.

I hope she approves of my new boyfriend Noah. How could she not? Noah is kind, attentive and loves me for who I am. But when I introduce them over dinner one evening, Jo doesn’t look happy. She’s always been protective of me and as Noah clutches my hand, I force her reaction to the back of my mind.

But later Jo tells me that someone is threatening her and she fears for her life. And all too soon, the threats land at my door too. At first it’s small things: my precious roses destroyed, my mail sabotaged. But when I receive a note saying, “I want your life,” I’m terrified.

Someone wants to cause me harm. They’re prepared to take everything I love. But are they closer to me than I could have ever imagined?

Review:

This was October pick in our book club and the five of us were looking forward to read it.
In the end, only three of us managed to finish it, which speaks on it’s own.

By the synopsis, we expected a thriller when in reality we got women’s fiction going all out of it’s way to kookoo land by the end, with thriller aspects at the very epiloque.
Just like my friend Ani stated, if nothing, it read like villain original story or however you call that genre.

The book was written in first person following two friends’ perspectives: Abi‘s and Jo‘s.

This novel had interesting but also awful set of characters, where all the people were toxic to each other and for some reason kept staying together.
They reminded me why my policy is “no friends are better than fake friends”.🙃
The only somewhat normal character was Abi’s son Rob, but the author managed to ruin him too with some of his comments (also, he was gone for most part of the story).

Abi was my least favourite of them all. She was spoiled to death and didn’t even realized her actions and Jo I liked until the very end when the author decided to kill all of her potential and ruin her completely.

I wish Nicola Marsh didn’t decide to jump on that “thrillers are popular” train and wrote coming of age end for Jo.

As for the writing, it was good and it was very similar to Jane Fallon’s.
My friend Amanda and I agree: it felt like we were reading Fallon’s work.

Overall, it was a good book to pass time and I am glad I read it along with my friends because that way I enjoyed it more then I would if I was reading it on my own.

The one I expected more from: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Book Review) #MyBrilliantFriend #BookReview #Blogtober

Today I am bringing you a book that is very popular and it feels like everyone around me and their mothers loved it. I read this together with my friend Amanda.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante was first published on October 19th 2011. It was originally written in Italian and has been translated to many languages over the years. I have read an English translation.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists.

Review:

This was a buddy read with my dear friend Amanda.
After we finished our buddy read for a brilliant book Where The Crawdads Sing we decided to read another book from Literary Fiction genre.

As My Brilliant Friend is so many people’s favourite, and it is about friendship, we decided to go with it.

I will be first to admit I went into the story with high, huge expectations.
So many people around me loved it and recommended it, so it was obvious I expected to like it too. In fact, I expected to fall in love with the story and it’s characters, and to be completely engrossed with the series.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happened.
I found the story boring, didn’t get attached to any of the characters and therefore didn’t care about them at all.
The only character that kept some of my attention was Lenu, the main character.
The friendship between Lenu and Lila wasn’t the healthiest and I would call them frenemies instead of friends.

Lila was okay at first, but as they got older it bothered me that every single guy except her own brother was in love with her and wanted to marry her.
I never liked the stories about one perfect girl every guy can’t stop looking at, so I didn’t like this one either.

The writing style was also not my cup of tea. It was passive and colorless, never wowed me with beautiful sentences like it usually happens when I read literary fiction.

Most of the time I was bored and at 80% mark I wanted to dnf it, which the old me would certainly do.

I won’t continue with the series because it obviously isn’t for me. I simply don’t care what will happen with the characters.
I don’t think I’ll even ask my friends who read the whole series to tell me important bits in few sentences. That is how uninterested in the continuation I am.

Important story done in an unusual way: I am Margaret Moore by Hannah Capin #BookReview @WednesdayBooks #Mystery

I am Margaret Moore by Hannah Capin book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I want to talk about the book that was promoted highly before it was released earlier this year. I was lucky enough to receive a copy before the book hit the shelves, but was also unfortunate in sense o that I didn’t have enough time to read it. Now when I finally have more free time on my hands, and am organized better I slowly but surely go through my Netgalley shelf and read/review all of those neglected stories I promised I will talk about here on my blog.
I am Margaret Moore was published on March 15th 2022 and it has 320 pages. I want to thank the publisher Wednesday Books for providing me an ARC.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Each summer the girls of Deck Five come back to Marshall Naval School. They sail on jewel-blue waters; they march on green drill-fields; they earn sunburns and honors. They push until they break apart and heal again, stronger.

Each summer Margaret and Rose and Flor and Nisreen come back to the place where they are girls, safe away from the world: sisters bound by something more than blood.

But this summer everything has changed. Girls are missing and a boy is dead. It’s because of Margaret Moore, the boys say. It’s because of what happened that night in the storm.

Margaret’s friends vanish one by one, swallowed up into the lies she has told about what happened between her and a boy with the world at his feet. Can she unravel the secrets of this summer and last, or will she be pulled under by the place she once called home?

Review:

I am Margaret Moore was different from everything that I have ever read.

The writing style is very poetic and often repetitive. Assuming that it was repetitive so the author would emphasize the blur in MC’s head and also take us on a journey where we would, slowly, but surely, connect the dots that would lead us to big revelation in the end, I appreciate it in whole honesty.

Still, if I am being true to myself (and you guys), the writing style didn’t do it for me.
If anything, it only disconnected me from the main character and although I recognize how important the story is, and that it would be emotionally wracking to some readers, I couldn’t get into it, no matter how hard I tried.

Reading this book was like being in the mist myself, somewhere hidden in an imaginary woods, levitating above the creek and not being able to really see, feel or live the story Hannah Capin made.
Because of that, I feel sorry.

And I feel sorry this novel didn’t win hearts of readers all over the world, because in general, I think it was a beautiful story, written in a way that makes it difficult for readers to connect with, and my opinion is that it would work better as a short story.

The one that wasn’t for me: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix @PRHGlobal #partner #horror #books

The Final Girl Support Group book cover US edition

GIFTED / Hi guys, today I want to talk about a book I read recently, that is pretty hyped up. Horror genre is still pretty new to me when it comes to books (movies I wantch all my life and it’s my favourite genre) so I don’t know what works good for me and what not, so I am prepared for failure when I chose the book, until I get to know my taste better.

The Final Girl Support Group was the book I hoped I would love, but unfortunately, that didn’t happened.

The novel was published on July 13th and it has 352 pages. I want to thank Penguin Global and Berkley books for inviting me to read and review this title.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

A fast-paced, thrilling horror novel that follows a group of heroines to die for, from the brilliant New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

In horror movies, the final girl is the one who’s left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she’s not alone. For more than a decade she’s been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette’s worst fears are realized–someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.

Review:

Unfortunately, this just wasn’t for me. And I am sure this is really “it’s not you, it’s me” case.

In all honesty, the reason I picked up The Final Girl Support Group was the hype it was getting even before it’s release, due to the author’s popularity.
I usually love horror movies, slashers and gory are my jam, but here in this book… although I do appreciate the action… most of the time I felt lost.

From the very beginning something felt off. It was probably the writing style I just couldn’t get into to save my life and the narrator and her craziness/paranoia didn’t click with me either.
I am aware that anyone in her place would lose their sanity too.

There were also so many characters, so many final girls obviously based on already created final girls in cult horror movies we all seen or at least heard of, that it took me way much time to acknowledge them.

There was an aha-moment that surprised me in a good way, but that was it.

If I am being honest I just didn’t care. I didn’t care about the plot, I didn’t care about the characters, I didn’t care about the end, and I feel sorry I wasn’t more invested.

It was clear to me around 15% that this book wasn’t for me, but I wanted to finish it as I had an ARC.

After I finally pushed through it I couldn’t believe it had only 352 pages. It felt like it was long as an eternity.

So my conclusion is, once again, that this book just wasn’t for me and I don’t think I will read more of Grady Hendrix’ work.

So… This was boring: The Project by Courtney Summers #BookReview #Cults

The Project by Courtney Summers book cover US edition 2021

GIFTED / Hi guys, today I want to talk about a book I was excited about, but then I was left disappointed. It is unfortunately and I am not thrilled to post my negative review, but it is what it is: I didn’t like the book, and me being honest in my reviews, means I won’t always write the praising ones.

The Project came out on February 2nd 2021 and it has 352 pages. I want to thank St. Martin Press, Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read and review this book via Netgalley.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died in a tragic car accident, her sister Bea joined the elusive community called The Unity Project, leaving Lo to fend for herself. Desperate not to lose the only family she has left, Lo has spent the last six years trying to reconnect with Bea, only to be met with radio silence.

When Lo’s given the perfect opportunity to gain access to Bea’s reclusive life, she thinks they’re finally going to be reunited. But it’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t want to be found, and as Lo delves deeper into The Project and its charismatic leader, she begins to realize that there’s more at risk than just her relationship with Bea: her very life might be in danger.

As she uncovers more questions than answers at each turn, everything Lo thought she knew about herself, her sister, and the world is upended. One thing doesn’t change, though, and that’s what keeps her going: Bea needs her, and Lo will do anything to save her.

From Courtney Summers, the New York Times bestselling author of the 2019 Edgar Award Winner and breakout hit Sadie, comes her electrifying follow-up—a suspenseful, pulls-no-punches story about an aspiring young journalist determined to save her sister no matter the cost.

Review:

When I found out The Project was READ NOW on Netgalley, I was so happy and excited, as I’ve heard only good things about Courtney Summers’ work.
Her book Some Girls are is on my radar for some time now, and with Sadie being a huge hit last year, you can guess why I expected to be thrilled with her newest novel.

As time passed and life got in the way, unfortunately I picked up The Project after it’s release, with my expectations lower then before, as many negative reviews pop up on my feed and in the book community in general.

My first problem with the novel was that, although with the theme it followed it sounded promising, the execution was just boring.
In matter of fact, this is one of the most boring, if not THE most boring book that I have ever read.
I feel like in the whole story nothing actually happened, and often I felt like I was behind the doors of a cult, listening to their preaching.

I expected some action at least close to the end, but when “big thing” was revealed I don’t think anyone was shocked, as everyone and their mothers could have guessed it.
And if I am being honest, I didn’t even care at that point.

I don’t appreciate how this was marketed as horror, thriller, suspense, when in reality it is a drama about cult.

Publishers, please don’t wrap a dull drama story in shiny paper called horror, it is so misleading and not okay.

I also don’t understand why the author and publishers decided for The Project to be a ya book?
Was it because Sadie was that genre? Or maybe they thought it could potentially sell more copies?
Whatever the reason, I have strong opinion that if the book was aimed for adult audience, without restrictions it could have been better. Maybe not way better, but at least little better.

I feel like the story was inspired with Church of Wells. I could be wrong.
However, I just want to mention that I watched several videos about that cult, years ago, and I was more entertained and thrilled then I ever was while reading this novel.

The book is written in dual timelines, following two sisters, Bea and Lo.
Lo’s POV was written in first person, and Bea’s in third.
I also want to stress out that the prologue of the story has nothing to do with the story itself and it is misleading.

As for the characters… oh, Lo was so… unlikable, full of herself thinking her boss needs to promote her after she was there for a year, without right education in the first place, and she came off as the world owes her something.
It is still not clear to me who took care of her while she was left alone, while her selfish sister Bea ran off to cult while Lo was still in the hospital.
And where was the child service in this whole story??

Not to end this review on a negative note, I want to say I did enjoy some of the dialogues between characters.

After finishing The Project, I don’t think I will read Sadie. I lost the will.

The one with… stupid main character (sorry, not sorry): Survive the Night by Riley Sager @PRHGlobal #partner #horror #thriller #bookreview

Survive the Night by Riley Sager book cover US edition 2021

GIFTED / Hi guys! Today I am talking about a book that I read along with my girls in our book club. These days I am mostly focused on buddy reads, as I feel like I get more from the book when I discuss it with others. My favourite buddy in crime is Amanda from ChocolatePages, we read many books together this year, and I hope we’ll continue with it. Survive the Night was the August pick in the book club we are both members of.

This book was published on 29th June 2021 and it has 324 pages. I want to say thank you to Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

It’s November 1991. George H. W. Bush is in the White House, Nirvana’s in the tape deck, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.

Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father. Or so he says. Like the Hitchcock heroine she’s named after, Charlie has her doubts. There’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t seem to want Charlie to see inside the car’s trunk. As they travel an empty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly worried Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s suspicion merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?

What follows is a game of cat-and-mouse played out on night-shrouded roads and in neon-lit parking lots, during an age when the only call for help can be made on a pay phone and in a place where there’s nowhere to run. In order to win, Charlie must do one thing–survive the night.

Review:

So… this was a shitshow full of mad people. And I don’t mean it in a good way.

Let me start this review on a positive note.
As Riley Sager is a best selling author, I expected to like his writing style, and although I wasn’t a fan of all the things he has written in this particular novel, I do admit that his words are easy to follow and the book reads easy and fast.
To give you and example how fast it reads, I will just say that it was our August pick for our book club and instead of planned 7, it took us only 4 days to finish.

The premise was promising, but with all the negative reviews appearing I didn’t have too high expectations.
However, I did expect to be fascinated with Josh’s character (because of one BookTube review) but that didn’t happen.
Also, in one of my Goodreads friend’s review I read that Charlie is one of the stupidest characters ever written, and after I finished Survive the Night, I 100% understand why my friend feels that way. I also agree with her, to some point.
It is hard to root for someone who acts so against their well being.
If I am being honest, one part of me even wanted for her not to survive the night.

As for the big relevation I wasn’t surprised at all, as the author gave us only few characters in the whole story, there weren’t much choices to chose our suspect from.

Last thing I want to mention is how I am not happy with the way mental illness was handled.
We never got the answer what Charlie’s diagnosis were, the author almost approached it as some kind of superpower, at some parts it felt like it was used just to mess with our mind and one chapter closer to the end reminded me of the way mental illness was handled in the history, when ppl in mental hospitals were put under electricity hamlets to be cured.
That chapter left bad taste in my mouth.

In the end I will just say that I am still eager to read Riley’s book called Lock Every Door, and this one I will just pretend it wasn’t written by him.

The one I was disappointed with: Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (Book Review) @PRHGlobal #partner #BookReview #BookBloggers

GIFTED / When you’re a book review you sometimes come across books you don’t like, even if you wanted to. This happened to me with Olive, Again, a book I wanted to read for a couple of months before getting a chance to.
This book was published on October 15th by Penguin Random House, and it has 304 pages.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / Prickly, wry, resistant to change yet ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic, Olive Kitteridge is “a compelling life force” (San Francisco Chronicle). The New Yorker has said that Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an astonishing force,” and she has never done so more clearly than in these pages, where the iconic Olive struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine. Whether with a teenager coming to terms with the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth during a hilariously inopportune moment, a nurse who confesses a secret high school crush, or a lawyer who struggles with an inheritance she does not want to accept, the unforgettable Olive will continue to startle us, to move us, and to inspire moments of transcendent grace.

Review:

Once again I didn’t do my homework, and went into Olive, Again without knowing it was a sequel to already published book called Olive Kitteridge.
Nevertheless, this book can be read on it’s own.
However, if I read it’s predecessor, I would just skip this one for sure.

I’m not saying this is a bad book, because, judging by other readers’ and critics’ reviews, it is a really, really good book, but it wasn’t for me.
I just couldn’t see it’s greatness, I guess.

I think that the main reason why I couldn’t connect with the story was that the main character, Olive, is so much older then me.
This is the thing I realized while reading this novel: I just can’t enjoy the story, connect with it if the characters are so much older then me (we talk here about 70+ years old characters, and even 80+ as the story progressed).
Therefore, thanks to this piece of literature, I made a decision not to read books featuring old main characters any more (at least at this period of my life).

The second issue I had with Olive was that I didn’t like her as a character at all. I know she is described as honest, outright and ruthless, but to me, she often came as just rude.
I just didn’t like her energy and I could not care for her or what was going on in her life, and it especially showed as I was further into the story.
I caught myself scanning the last 50 pages of the story because I just wanted to be finished with it.

It is a shame, I do know, but it is what it is!

Also, when it comes to writing style my expectations were pretty high because this novel is labelled as literary fiction, which stands for beautiful prose.
Unfortunately, I was very disappointed because it read as simple general fiction.

Still, I have to note that the book covers some pretty important things and some of the stories that involved other characters were interesting.

On the other hand, there were some situations that made me feel uncomfortable (like when Olive said that it was stupid that an adult man cries aloud, and even if he’s Jewish, it’s still stupid).

In the end I’ll just repeat that Olive, Again is very loved book and I am aware that many people won’t agree with my opinion.
As for me, I won’t be reading Elizabeth Strout’s other work because I don’t think I would enjoy it at this stage of my life.