Leap Year 2016
A special feature here on Gone With The Books to a rare event
My first feature is about something that only happens every four years and what we call a leap year.
My first feature is about something that only happens every four years and what we call a leap year.
Actually, I had hoped, that I could put an fourth book in this week´s Stacking The Shelves post – but nope, no chance.
I have to admit, that I actually planned on reading this trilogy in one swoop – but after I finished the first book I had to put the other two aside for some time.
The Crow Girl*
Author Erik Axl Sund
Victoria Bergman Trilogy #1
Publisher Knopf Doubleday on June 14, 2016
Genre Thriller
Pages 784
Format Hardcover
Source Library
Goodreads
Author Erik Axl Sund
Victoria Bergman Trilogy #1
Publisher Knopf Doubleday on June 14, 2016
Genre Thriller
Pages 784
Format Hardcover
Source Library
Goodreads
It begins in a Stockholm city park where the abused body of a young boy is discovered. Detective Superintendent Jeanette Kihlberg heads the investigation, battling an apathetic prosecutor and a bureaucratic police force unwilling to devote resources to solving the murder of an immigrant child. But with the discovery of the mutilated corpses of two more children, it becomes clear that a serial killer is at large.
Superintendent Kihlberg turns to therapist Sofia Zetterlund for her expertise in the psychopathology of those who kill, and the lives of the two women become quickly intertwined – professionally and personally. As they draw closer to each other and to the truth about the killings, what surfaces is the undeniable fact that these murders are only the most obvious evidence of an insidious evil woven deep into Swedish society.
Thoughts
There is something in the writing style of those two Scandinavian authors that gave me at some point the creeps.
It is kind of sad, that this is one book closer to the end of an obviously wonderful and very well written trilogy. But I enjoyed it anyways and will write about it.
Author Andreas Eschbach
Out Trilogy #2
Publisher Arena on July 1, 2012
Genre Thriller
Pages 528
Format Hardcover
Source Library
Goodreads
Hundreds of thousands of people thinking in common mode, act, feel: that is the coherence, the biggest thread to mankind. Only the 17-year-old Christopher, once the most famous hacker of the world, dares to take up the fight with this gigantic power. When the group around visionary Jeremiah Jones, where Christopher has taken refuge, gets blown up, he and Jones´ daughter Serenity can escape at the last second.
But then Christopher notes to his horror, that he has to deal with a very special opponent – an enemy in his own head …
Thoughts
Andreas Eschbach is no man of loud tones. And he has a fantastic way to bring even the most technical stuff simple and easy to understand closer to the reader.
is a weekly event hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine. This meme is a place that spotlights upcoming releases that we´re eagerly anticipating with pure joy.
This is another premier I am doing here at Gone With The Books. And I thought that no other book than Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie would be perfect enough to share this premiere with me.
is hosted by Tynga´s Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
This time I got some really good book bargains. I have no idea how long I had to wait for the two Karen Marie Moning books - but it was way too long.
At first sight, I was not sure at all, if I would like this kind of novel. I don´t like to read a novel, no matter what genre, only because the entire world goes crazy about it.
Beautiful Bastard*
Author Christina Lauren
Beautiful Series #1
Publisher Gallery Books on February 12, 2013
Genre Love-Women-Erotica
Pages 320
Format Paperback
Source Publisher
Goodreads
Author Christina Lauren
Beautiful Series #1
Publisher Gallery Books on February 12, 2013
Genre Love-Women-Erotica
Pages 320
Format Paperback
Source Publisher
Goodreads
An ambitious intern. A.perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling.
Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He´s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate – and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.
Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family´s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who´d been helping from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative – completely infuriating – creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he´s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe´s so tempting he´s willing to bend the rules – or outright smash them – if it means he can have her. All over the office. As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they´re willing to lose in order to win each other.
Thoughts
This one finally made it into my shelf because I got asked if I could write a review about it. In order to do that, I need to read the book and so I asked the publisher for a reviewer´s copy and got one.
I already know Sophie Jordan from her Firelight-trilogy and even though I don´t like that cover of Reign of Shadows that much (it´s not that it would be kitschy, no, but it´s just not my thing) I like the way she writes.
Author Sophie Jordan
Reign Of Shadows #1
Publisher Harper Teen on February 9, 2016
Genre Fantasy
Pages 292
Format Hardcover
Source Purchased
Source Purchased
Seventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness, and in the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, the kingdom´s lost princess, has been locked away in a tower in the cursed Black Woods ever since. Luna´s survival depends entirely on the world believing she is dead.
But that doesn´t stop Luna from longing for a life beyond the stifling tower walls. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer who has braved the Black Woods in search of a land where the sun still shines, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is far more treacherous than Luna ever realized. Hideous, flesh-hungry creatures lurk behind every corner and each stranger they encounter has frightening ulterior motives. With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.
Thoughts
There is always something about the real world to find in her stories, she gives the reader enough space for its own fantasy and still leaves enough room for her own.
This is kind of a premiere for me because it is my very first Stacking The Shelves I am posting. Since December last year I was looking forward to this, and yesterday, the big moment was finally here: I could hold the new book by Sophie Jordan in my hands!
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No, it´s not an early Valentine´s Day kind of thing, though love and passion are great & powerful things, that´s not what I am so excited about.
This is one of the most beautiful series, Nora Roberts has ever written. No matter how long it has been since I´ve read those series the first time, it is always a pleasure to re-read it. And every time I do so I find something new that catches my eye and get again touched by it.
Author Nora Roberts
Chesapeake Bay Saga #2
Publisher Berkley on June 4, 2013
Genre Novel
Pages 368
Format Paperback
Source Purchased
Source Purchased
Ethan Quinn is a waterman. He wasn´t born to the tradition but has embraced it. He´s a quiet man whose heart runs as deep as the waters he loves. And now, with his father gone, Ethan is determined to make the family boatbuilding business a success. But amidst his achievements lie the most important challenges of his life …
There´s a young boy who needs him and a woman and child he loves but never believed he could have. To shape his life around them, Ethan must face his own dark past – and accept not only who he is but what he hopes to become.
Thoughts
Nora Roberts writing style in this saga is a bit different from the style her books show today. I am not saying, that´s bad, but as a longtime Nora Roberts fan I can tell the tone today is slightly another.
Okay, Nora Roberts is usually not the kind of author who needs to bend real facts the law has, to create a plot. This time she did, to give her main figure a reason to do what she does and to have a plot that seems realistic.
Author Nora Roberts
Publisher Berkley on April 14, 2015
Genre Novel
Pages 512
Format Hardcover
Source Purchased
Goodreads
Shelby Foxworth lost her husband. Then she lost her illusions… The man who took her from Tennessee to an exclusive Philadelphia suburb left her in crippling debt. He was an adulterer and a liar, and when Shelby tracks down his safe-deposit box, she finds multiple IDs. The man she loved, wasn´t just dead. He never really existed.
Shelby takes her three-year-old daughter and heads south to seek comfort in her hometown, where she meets someone new: Griff Lott, a successful contractor. But her husband had secrets she has yet to discover. Even in this small town, surrounded by loved ones, danger is closer than she knows – and threatens Griff, as well. And an attempted murder is only the beginning …
Thoughts
In the end, it turns out to be the right move because The Liar is one great read and very entertaining.
This is the first book I´ve ever read by the author. I was bored, wanted something to read and went to my library, where I found this first part of a Sci-Fi trilogy. It sounded very interesting, so I took it home.
Author Andreas Eschbach
Out Series #1
Publisher Arena on May 1, 2010
Genre Thriller
Pages 461
Format Hardcover
Source Library
Goodreads
A World in which no one is alone. A 17-year-old, who has unique skills. And a hunt, that will stay unprecedented. Christopher is on the run. Together with the peers Serenity he is on the road in the desert of Nevada. Somewhere out there must live Serenity´s father, the visionary Jeremiah Jones, who has forsworn all technique, after he had seen which danger the worldwide connection could bring.
But an elopement from the technique – is that today even possible? Serenity soon senses, on what and especially to whom she got involved with. ´Cause the inscrutable Christopher is not just somebody. Christopher has once done the most famous hack in history. And now he is in the possessing of a secret, that couldn´t be any more dramatic: The days of humankind, as we know her, are numbered.
What if, the knowledge and the thoughts of an individual are now available for an entire group? Wouldn´t then freedom and unity rule on earth? Would the human being finally no more be so horrendous alone? Or could thereby a power arise that would become the world´s biggest thread?
Thoughts
Usually, I am not that much of a fan when it comes to Sci-Fi books. Don´t actually know why that is in particular but I guess it got something to do with the fact that I am no tech girl.
For every Mary Higgins Clark fan, I have to put a warning out: this thriller isn´t at all like the thrillers we are used to reading from her. There is no psychological finesse, no brilliant writing style and for sure no great characters. I don´t know if it´s only me if I am grown out of her way of writing, or whatever. This isn´t the first thriller of her I´ve read – but maybe the last. All her books were great if not fantastic reads for me, and I really had my pleasure with them. But this one? This one was a huge disappointment.
Publisher Simon & Schuster on June 23, 2015
Genre Thriller
Pages 272
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶
At some point I felt like, this novel is a huge affront to Mary Higgins Clark. Presented with her name, yes, but without any of her inside. The story was so predictable, there was so less to no tension build and the end was so weak – seriously? What happened to the brilliance in her writing, her clear and powerful words, her way of surprising the reader and giving some twist and unexpected turns to the plot? Where was her fantastic way of describing her characters, of showing how they had to come to terms with whatever happened during the thriller?
Since I know her books, I loved her soft but meaningful style. Her tone was pure fun for me and I always discovered something new on every page. In this thriller, you´ll find a lot of unnecessary things and I don´t know that from her.
Happy reading
Mary Higgins Clark
The Melody Lingers On*
by Mary Higgins ClarkPublisher Simon & Schuster on June 23, 2015
Genre Thriller
Pages 272
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶
As the sole assistant to a famous upscale interior designer, Lane Harmon, mother to five-year-old Katie, is accustomed to visiting opulent homes around the tri-state area. A born optimist, Lane finds the glimpse into these gilded worlds fascinating, and loves the reward of exceeding the expectations of their often-demanding owners. When she is called to assist in redecorating a modest townhouse in Bergen County, she knows the job is unusual. Then she learns the home belongs to the wife of a notorious and disgraced financier named Parker Bennett.
Parker Bennett has been missing for two years. He dropped out of sight just before it was discovered that the $5 billion dollars in the fund he had been managing had vanished. Bennett had gone out on his sailboat in the Caribbean. Was it suicide or had he staged his disappearance? The scandal around his name has not died down. His clients and the federal government all want to trace the money and find Bennett if he is still alive.
Lane is surprised to find herself moved by Mr. Bennett´s calm dignity and apparently sincere belief in her husband´s innocence. Gradually, Lane finds herself drawn to Eric, the Bennett´s son, who is similarly determined to prove that his father is not guilty. Lane doesn´t know that the closed she gets to the Bennetts, the more she puts her life – and her daughter´s life – in jeopardy.
Story
Lane and her boss Glady work on the interior decoration of a house, where Anne Bennett will move in. After her husband Parker betrayed many people of their money and disappeared right after that, she is short of money and needs to move. When Lane meets her son Eric Bennett for the first time, she feels a certain connection to him and does something she hadn´t done in a long time: dating. But not everyone is happy to see them together. Many people believe that he´s done his share to help his father betray all those people. And after Lane helped her boss to change the interior decoration of the Countess de la Marco´s apartment, things change. Will Lane really get together with Eric?
Style
The plot is nice, and could have been developed into a wonderful and entertaining story, but no. The Melody Lingers On is an almost boring read, the tone isn´t right and the strength and confidence that we´re so used to in her female protagonist are nowhere to find.At some point I felt like, this novel is a huge affront to Mary Higgins Clark. Presented with her name, yes, but without any of her inside. The story was so predictable, there was so less to no tension build and the end was so weak – seriously? What happened to the brilliance in her writing, her clear and powerful words, her way of surprising the reader and giving some twist and unexpected turns to the plot? Where was her fantastic way of describing her characters, of showing how they had to come to terms with whatever happened during the thriller?
Since I know her books, I loved her soft but meaningful style. Her tone was pure fun for me and I always discovered something new on every page. In this thriller, you´ll find a lot of unnecessary things and I don´t know that from her.
Characters
The author is well known and famous for her self-confident, independent and well situated female main figures, which have made a nice career, live in a nice surrounding and have at some point in their life been treated very badly by it. Well, at least that one is given in this thriller.
Lane lost her husband after only a short year of marriage and has a little girl who´s never seen her father. She loves her work, but her boss is a dragon and when she starts to work on two different projects, she soon discovers how cruel not only life can be but also the press. What I found the most annoying about her was the “I don´t know what to do” sentence that I was reading on almost every fourth page.
But I missed the inner strength. Instead, Mary Higgins Clark created her figures very pale, insecure and so hesitant – it was … I have no further words …
But I missed the inner strength. Instead, Mary Higgins Clark created her figures very pale, insecure and so hesitant – it was … I have no further words …
Conclusion
This has been the worst thriller by Mary Higgins Clark I´ve ever read. For some reasons I can´t get rid of the feeling, that this one wasn´t written by her – at least I have serious doubts. Maybe she´s done with her career as a writer, maybe this one was an exception and the next one will be great again, I don´t know. All I know is, I can´t recommend it. Sorry, but I just can´t.Happy reading
Mary Higgins Clark, born 1928 in New York, lives and works in Saddle River, New Jersey. She sold her first story 1956 for $100 to a magazine. After the sudden death of her husband in 1964 she wrote her first book, a biographical novel about George Washington. Her first suspense novel Where are the Children from 1975 meant a turning point in her life and carrier: He became a bestseller. She is #1 international and New York Times bestselling author, has written thirty-four suspense novels; three collections of short stories; a historical novel; two children´s books; and a memoir, Kitchen Privileges. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark she has coauthored five more suspense novels. Her books have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone. She is the most successful thriller author worldwide.
*I read the German edition on October 26, 2015, by Heyne
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This Girl is the third and last part of Colleen Hoovers Slammed trilogy. Sometimes it pays off that you don´t read a book during its hype.
After I´ve heard so many good things about this trilogy, got so many times asked why I hadn´t read it.
Author Colleen Hoover
Slammed Trilogy #3
Publisher Atria Books on August 13, 2013
Genre Novel
Pages 320
Format Paperback
Source Library
Goodreads
Layken and Will´s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young loves, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can´t resist his wife´s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.
Thoughts
After I´ve heard so many good things about this trilogy, got so many times asked why I hadn´t read it, I kind of felt awkward and went to the library to see if they had it.
I will never be a huge fan of Cecelia Ahern although I liked her novel P.S. I love you a lot. But this new book simply wasn't for me.
The Marble Collector
Author Cecelia Ahern
Publisher Harper Collins on November 5, 2015
Genre Novel
Pages 304
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
The Marble CollectorAuthor Cecelia Ahern
Publisher Harper Collins on November 5, 2015
Genre Novel
Pages 304
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
When Sabrina Boggs stumbles upon a mysterious collection of her father´s possessions, she discovers a truth were she never knew there was a lie. The familiar man she grew up with is suddenly a stranger to her. An unexpected break in her monotonous daily routine leaves her just one day to unlock the secrets of the man she thought she knew. A day that unearths memories, stories and people she never knew existed. A day that changes her and those around her forever.
Thoughts
I don´t know for sure what it was, that kept me from getting really haunted by this novel. The lack of drive, the many things that I wasn´t really interested in or something else.
The book was praised by one critic, that Paula Hawkins uses an “unpretentious and clear language” and that she further gives a “precise observation” and there is also mentioned that The Girl on the Train is an “elaborated thriller” – that says at least Michal Streck from the magazine Stern. I agree with the clear language, yes, and in some ways, I agree that the author could bring a bit of finesse to the story, but I don´t agree with the rest. For many reasons, I couldn´t jump into the hype feeling everyone - except me, among a few others - was having.
The Girl On The Train
by Paula HawkinsPublisher Riverhead Books on January 13, 2015
Genre Thriller
Pages 336
Format Hardcover
✶✶✶
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She´s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It´s only a minute until the train moves on, but it´s enough. Now everything´s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
Story
Rachel is a very unhappy woman. Since her husband left her for a not only a bit younger woman but also one who got pregnant, her life is one single hell. She is depressed, drinks way too much and the ride on the train every morning is the only thing that brings her in contact with other people – and lets her torture herself even more. Because every day the train stops at one station from where she can see straight to the house where she and her ex used to live. Now only he lives there with his new family and Rachel is kind of forgotten.
But when she one day sees something awkward and goes to the police, all of a sudden she finds herself in the middle of a nightmare. One, she can´t ignore nor flee from.
Style
Maybe it´s me, maybe I expected after all the hype I witnessed about this thriller, really too much from it. But at some point, I was close to doing something, that I´d never done (and still haven’t!): that I call it DNF. Yes, I wrote at Goodreads, shortly after I´ve started, that it was “Kind of boring. That I´d hoped that´d change soon. And that otherwise, this book would risk becoming my first DNF …”
Well, it didn´t come to a DNF, but it was close – REAL CLOSE! I know a lot of fantastic thrillers, a lot of titles who could really give me the creeps, put a chill down my spine and made me want to go outside and run after I was finished with them, ´cause I had so much nervous energy running through my body that I had to go outside to get rid of it, to simply calm down.
But this thriller is average (at least for me), on some pages kind of well-written average, but still average. Maybe other readers don´t agree with me, but that´s ok. This is my opinion about this book; this is how I feel about it.
It was kind of interesting to watch how the figures came to the same conclusion I had very soon already, that I have to admit. And to see how they were dealing with it was at least in some scenes, nice to read. But I also missed a lot of things in this book. Where was the unpredictable? The “I-didn´t-see-that-coming” moment? Or how about some really shocking moments, where you finally start to see what type of thriller that is? Some huge WOW moment where a great thriller usually gets you right into it? Nothing in sight, no, not even close.
Characters
I was annoyed by the way some characters were acting, I couldn´t and still can´t stand the way how Cathy treated Rachel, or how Rachel was behaving. Her self-pity, how she drowns in it, how she excuses everything she does or doesn´t – Woman get yourself together, suck it up and get over it! You´re not the first woman who experiences something like that and no one said it´ll be easy. So show some self-respect and at least some dignity!
And that Anna - what in the world is she thinking or doing?
Don’t get me wrong. I understand that a mother and woman, who took the husband from another woman, is acting weird if the ex shows up again and again. But what she does, thinks and finally tells the police, sorry but that is just mean, cold and completely over the edge. She oversteps a line here.
I admit that the author has a good way of creating figures. Until some point they were convincing and it was kind of good to watch them. I felt annoyed, I felt angry, I felt pity and until a certain point, I thought why the heck is Tom still doing what he´s doing with Rachel, to her? Why all those talks, all those tries to get some sense into her if not for the reason to keep her away from his new life? I read a few more pages and after some further chapter,s I was quite sure who the murderer, the bad guy had to be – and guess what? Yep, I was sooo right! But I guess that wasn´t how it was meant to be by the author. I guess she wanted her readers to puzzle about it – why else would she have given all those hints about the husband of the murdered figure? Why show his violent behavior through the eyes of the murdered person and the soft behavior towards the police and Rachel, if not for fooling the reader a bit?
Conclusion
My expectations were definitely way too high. As sad as it is, but it´s the truth. Yes, I enjoyed some scenes, and I had some kind of pleasure reading it all the way to the end – but that´s not enough to give this title more than the stars I gave. I wasn´t thrilled or hooked, I missed a stunning plot or some intriguing figures that were able to get in touch with them. I read it all to the end for three reasons:
-I didn´t want to give the author the gratification that this would be the first title I did not finish -I was hoping that there would come a wow effect, a moment where I would think now we´re getting to the point here – which never happened.
-I wanted to give the author a chance to finally catch me – which also didn´t happen.
So I have finished it but can´t recommend it with a pure conscience.
Happy reading
Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkins grew up in Zimbabwe. 1989 she moved to London, where she still lives. Over 15 years she worked as a journalist, before she started writing novels. Her first novel Girl on the Train captured instantly the top of the bestseller lists in England and the US and even before the publishing date DreamWorks secured the movie rights.
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Author Julia Kagawa
The Talon Saga #1
Publisher Harlequin Teen on November 1, 2014
Genre Young People 13+
Pages 464
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragon kind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George. Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey—and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him—and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.
Thoughts
Usually, I am not a fan of green, especially not of the bright green that was used for the cover, but in this case, combined with the yellow, orange and blue, it looks great.
Chevy Stevens has a great way to let the reader participate not only in their search for the real evil here but also how they manage to pull their life together again. Her tone is steady but very haunting and she shows the small-town life to its fullest. Her way of building up the tension chapter by chapter is just fantastic and at some point, the reader gets kind of a clue who the real bad guy is in this brilliant thriller.
That Night*
by Chevy StevensPublisher St. Martin´s Press on June 17, 2014
Genre Thriller
Pages 462
Format Paperback
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶✶
They said she was a murderer. They said she killed her sister. But they lied. As a teenager, Toni Murphy had a life full of typical adolescent complications: a boyfriend she adored, a younger sister she couldn´t relate to, a strained relationship with her parents, and classmates who seemed hell-bent on making her life miserable. Things weren´t easy, but Toni could never have predicted how horrific they would become until her younger sister was brutally murdered one summer night. Toni and her boyfriend, Ryan, were convicted of the murder and sent to prison. Now thirty-four, Toni is out on parole and back in her hometown, struggling to adjust to a new life on the outside. Prison changed her, hardened her, and she´s doing everything in her power to avoid violating her parole and going back. This means having absolutely no contact with Ryan, avoiding fellow parolees looking to pick fights, and steering clear of trouble in all its forms. But nothing is making that easy – not Ryan, who is convinced he can figure out the truth; not her mother, who doubts Toni´s innocence; and certainly not the group of women who made Toni´s life hell in high school and may have darker secrets than anyone realizes. No matter how hard she tries, ignoring her old life to start a new one is impossible. Before Toni can truly move on, she must risk everything to find out what really happened that night. But the truth might be the most terrifying thing of all.
Story
Toni and her boyfriend Ryan are convicted of murder and struggle with the fact, that someone hates them both so much, that he or she doesn´t hesitate to do everything to put them behind bars for a very long time.
Style
Chevy Stevens shows their story in a very emotional plot. Her language is simple but very effective. The reader gets to know what happened before that horrific night, during Toni´s prison time and what happened after she´s been released.
The author shows in a very thrilling way how the two main figures fight to prove their innocence, what huge impact that bloody night had on Toni´s family and the social life of her and her boyfriend. But not everything is going smoothly when they both get out of prison. Someone does everything to get them into trouble again and it becomes very clear that Toni and Ryan have an enemy for life.
The reader gets not only involved in a great story where a psychological finesse takes place in a very brilliant way but also meets characters who have to fight their way back into a small town they both call their home. Toni wants nothing more but to live her life as normal and as under the police radar as possible. But when she has to realize that someone does everything to bring her behind bars again, she stands up and fights. The way how she does that shows a lot of emotions and what it can mean when you come across the plans of others only because you´ve got something, they never will: Love.
Characters
The author has put a great mix of opposed characters together which are so profound and here and there are very evil. Chevy Stevens digs deep into the psychological bag of tricks. Her figures persuade the reader, appear very real and play together in a great way.
Racking jealousy, overwhelming hate, passion, fear, sadness, enviousness, and chill throw the different characters together; create a lot of pain and a story that gives the reader not only the creeps but also fantastic reading time.
Chevy Stevens hasn´t only written her thriller in a great way, she also knows how to create characters that are profound in their hate as well as in their actions. Her figures show incredible inner strength and from time to time you´re asking yourself who the one is who is still imprisoned. `Cause after a while you´ll get the impression, that Toni and Ryan aren´t the ones anymore. Even on parole, they seem to be freer than anyone else - one figure in particular. Every page of this book shows how deep and dark a soul can become and that sometimes the real prison lays within a person itself.
Conclusion
That Night is one hell of a thriller and offers the reader not only great entertainment but also a magnificent thrill. Unexpected twists and surprising conclusions make this thriller a great reading experience. You have to read this, that´s for sure!
Happy reading
Chevy Stevens
Chevy Stevens is the author of Still Missing and Never Knowing. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a realtor. When she held open houses, she had a lot of time waiting by herself between potential buyers, and Stevens would spend this time scaring herself with all the things that could happen to her. The most terrifying scenario she thought up became the story behind Still Missing. Stevens grew up on a ranch on Vancouver Island, and she still calls the island home. When she´s not writing, she´s hiking with her husband and her dog in the local mountains.
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Author Colleen Hoover
Slammed Series #2
Publisher Atria Books on September 18, 2012
Genre Novel
Pages 320
Format Paperback
Goodreads
Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will´s past re-emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge … how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop `carving pumpkins.`
Thoughts
It is January and Will writes his thoughts and feelings into a diary. Nothing he thought he´d ever do, but now it seems the only way for him, to deal with certain things.
Author Arwen Elys Dayton
Seeker #1
Publisher Delacorte Press on February 10, 2015
Genre Young Adult
Pages 448
Format Hardcover
Source Library
Goodreads
The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath; she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor. As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world. And she'll be with the boy she loves--who's also her best friend. But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes. Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought. And now it's too late to walk away.
Thoughts
No electrical power, no Smartphones or other technical progress. But that´s only half the truth; Arwen Elys Dayton lets her story play in a world that could be easily the present of the world we know but in another world.
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