The Drowning Kind

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon








" Some flowers bloom late But the late ones, they always smell the sweetest"

The Drowning Kind, by Jennifer McMahon, is a supernatural, thriller story based on a family who owns a mysterious pool.

The story starts in current days, social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie saying that someone is in their house pool and haunting her.
Jax thinks that it is just one of her sister's episodes But soon found that her sister is drowned in the pool at their Grandma's estate.

Jax returns for the funeral and to settle affairs and found that her dead sister was doing research about the family and grandma's house history and her finding was way more sinister than what she thought.

This story is dark, haunting, sinister, and captivating. The story unravels in two different timelines alternates between the late 1920s and the present day with narrators, Ethel in the past, and Jax in the present day.
I loved the plot, characters, and Jennifer McMahon's writing style. The overall story had balanced thriller, suspense, and horror elements and I enjoyed the history of the family/Pool. Also, the story shows another aspect of human life that we do whatever it takes to fulfill our desperate needs.
Jennifer McMahon has become one of my favorite thriller authors and I enjoyed her previous books a lot and I'm looking forward to reading her future books.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read a good spooky, horror, thriller. This will be a great pick for Halloween read!

Thanks to Gallery/Scout Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Girl, 11

Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Genetics load the gun, personality, and psychology aim it, and experiences pull the trigger.”

Elle Castillo, a former social worker is now the host of a popular true-crime podcast, Justice Deferred that focuses on the cold cases of missing children in her hometown of Twin Cities, Minnesota. Her current season focuses on a serial killer, —The Countdown Killer once she happened to be one of his victims 20 years ago but fortunate to escape before he kills her. Now it's been 20 years everyone happy to believe that TCK is dead or no longer a threat to the community but Elle thinks otherwise.

I read was highly impressed with the audiobook and felt like I was listening to a true podcast. The story unravels from Elle's POV and the serial killer and the page-by-page story shows the dark and the psychological side of the serial killer and Elle's strong spirit.
I like the authors writing style and how she builds the characters. Also been a Minnesotan, this story felt close to the home and gave me the perfect thrilling experience.

The overall story is well done and quite impressive to be the author's debut novel. I’m excited to see what she comes up with next and highly recommends to anyone interest reading crime/podcast novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Suiter Clarke, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this free digital ARC, in exchange for my honest opinion!

Every Last Fear

Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay






----3.5 Stars-----

You have two choices when you’re confronted with your every last fear:
Give up or fight like hell.”
Every Last Fear is a fast-paced, psychological thriller tangled with mystery/thriller about families, secrets, lies, and love.

The story begins when the NYU student Matt Pine received the devastating news that his entire family—his mom, his dad, his little brother, and sister—have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department think otherwise.
He and his older brother who now serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend Charlotte is once was the spotlight for the media.
Now, his family is murdered suspiciously and his life is in unknown danger, Matt must unravel the truth behind the crime that sent his brother to prison—putting his own life in peril—and forcing him to confront his every last fear.


The story is in multiple points-of-views and alternates between past and present. I really enjoyed the author's writing style and all the plot twists, how he developed the characters. When the page turns one by one you will unravel the mystery behind the pine family and the real murderer.


Overall its I had a great thrilling reading experience and looking forward to reading more books from Alex Finlay. If you're looking to read a great Mystery/Thrillers, Every Last Fear will be a great choice.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

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The Hollow Places

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

The Hollow Places is a scientific fantasy book of parallel worlds, portal fantasy, and terrifying creatures with a hint of horror and Comedy.
The story starts when a young woman Kara, goes to live with her Uncle Earl. After a painful divorce without having any aid, she had nowhere to go. When her uncle earl offers her to work at his Museum, Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders with a place to stay, she gladly accepted.

She was happy having her life back together but soon it turned upside and down When Earl has to take a leave for a few weeks to get knee surgery and leaving Museum at kara's hand.

This story is full of adventure taking readers into a fantasy world with unexpected horror. This is my first reading by T. Kingfisher and I enjoyed her writing style, characters/world building. But I wish this story has more creepy/horror elements.

Overall I enjoyed the story and recommend it to anyone who likes to read fantasy books with light horror.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this free copy to read and review in exchange for an honest opinion.

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A House at the Bottom of a Lake

A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She’d heard of people, adults usually, intentionally turning a good thing into a bad thing. When things were going good, adults liked to ruin them. Her own mom called it a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’ And you did it to prove to yourself that it wasn’t so good to begin with.”

When 17 years James meets Amelia at his dad's Hardware store, they fell in love, and both been attracted to each other they decided to go on a first date. Instead of going on a typical first date two 17-year-olds go, They decided to venture out on a lake in a canoe with the expectation to enjoy. But the sweet date changed to an exciting adventure when they found a hidden lake behind two lakes and it is not just a lake, it's a lake with a house at the bottom.
This is one unique book with a mixture of horror, mystery, thriller, and fantasy element and the entire story is full of eerie, haunted vibes that I could not stop reading the book.
Also, this is my first reading of Josh Malerman's books, and I enjoyed the author's writing style, the setting, and the world-building a lot. He was able to build this mysterious world in readers' minds with the full of ominous.
But the ending was a little bit disappointing and I wished this could be a pure horror novel instead of more fantasy.
I will be definitely picking more books from the author in the future and highly recommend this book if you like Fantasy/YA genre.

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After Midnight

After Midnight by Teresa Medeiros
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“Perhaps it’s time you learned, Miss Cabot, that beneath the silk waistcoat of every gentleman beats the heart of a beast.”

With him looming over her in the moonlight, his voice a smoky growl, that claim wasn’t difficult to believe.
“Even beneath yours, Lord Trevelyan?” He leaned even closer, his brandy-scented breath grazing her lips.

“Especially beneath mine.”
________________________________
Caroline Cabot is the elder of three sisters of the Cabot family and has been taking care of her two younger siblings since their parents died. She loves her sisters dearly and worries about their financial status and finds suitors for her sisters.

when she received a letter from her sister, Viviane saying that she is about to marry Adrian Kane, the notoriously mysterious Viscount Trevelyan, her younger sister, Portia tells her that Viviane is being courted by a vampire.
Initially, Caroline dismisses the stories/Gossips about Adrian but it is more difficult to deny the mounting evidence against him and she is about to find the truth before it's too late.

This story is a mix of Historical Romance with paranormal elements and the first book of the Cabot series.
Also, the May pick for#therakeappreciationsociety and I was so intrigued to read the story after seeing the synopsis.

The things I like most about this story are the characters and the setting. Adrian is a swoon-worthy hero with his mysterious and seductive personality. Caroline is a strong and courageous woman who goes above and beyond to make her sisters happy.

But sadly the story does not focus much on romance between two leads but the caroline's process to find out whether Adrian is a vampire.
Also, from time to time I was confused with the plots where it jumps from one scene to another without any indication and the villain barely exists in the story and showed in the last 100 pages.

So overall, I think this story had great potential but was poorly constructed but not too bad to be my first reading experience with Teresa Medeiros's Books.
I did enjoy the reading journey and curious to read the next book.

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The Endearment

The Endearment by LaVyrle Spencer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoyed LV’s writing a lot and one of my favorite. I love Karl he is honest, hardworking, and has a heart of a Saint.
My favorite character was James, the little boy who had full of courage and willingness to learn and survive in Frontier.😘
I wish I could like anna more. My heart was broken when she started lying one after another and hide the truth from Karl even when she had a chance to come forward. I fully understand the situation she was in and the hardships they have to concur. but I wished she could be fully honest with Karl before they enter into the marriage.
throughout the story, the author did a great job by showing many sides of the main characters and show us how they worked together to make the marriage work. I was impressed by anna’s courage, determination to make things right, and Karl’s caring, forgiving, understanding nature. I think the moral of this story is No marriage is perfect and all sunshine but two people can share one umbrella and survive the storm together and At the end of the day, what matters most is the love we have for each other.❤️

Overall this was an emotional yet good reading. I learn a lot about flora &fauna in Minnesota 😀 and I can't wait to read her next book.
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