Monthly TBR: August

Hi Y'all! Well, I’m here to check in and tell you how my July  TBR list went. This month was an awful reading month for me, I read only 4 books and 2 of those were from my TBR list. I’m also halfway through one of the reads so I say almost 3 books from my TBR isn’t bad. Well, here’s my list for August and come back next month to see how I did! 

Review: Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica

Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica

Published: June 27, 2017

Publisher: Park Row Books

Format: via publisher

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

"The bad man, Daddy. The bad man is after us."

Clara Solberg's world shatters when her husband and their four-year-old daughter are in a car crash, killing Nick while Maisie is remarkably unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident…until the coming days, when Maisie starts having night terrors that make Clara question what really happened on that fateful afternoon.

Tormented by grief and her obsession that Nick's death was far more than just an accident, Clara is plunged into a desperate hunt for the truth. Who would have wanted Nick dead? And, more important, why? Clara will stop at nothing to find out—and the truth is only the beginning of this twisted tale of secrets and deceit.

Told in the alternating perspectives of Clara's investigation and Nick's last months leading up to the crash, master of suspense Mary Kubica weaves her most chilling thriller to date—one that explores the dark recesses of a mind plagued by grief and shows that some secrets might be better left buried.

My Thoughts

Every Last Lie is another intriguing read by Mary Kubica. This one felt more rooted in real life and definitely could’ve happened to anyone. We met Clara who has just had a baby and is clueless to what is happening in her husband's job and life until the unthinkable happens and she is left a widow and with a daughter who was witness to her husband's horrible and tragic death.

Nick is a devoted husband and father who is building a career until he starts losing clients and with a client who is suing him he is slowing losing everything and doesn’t know how to tell his wife.

Told by Clara in the present and Nick in the past we slowly see the unweaving of the tale as to what happens and how Nick died. Was it just a horrible accident or was it something more sinister? More importantly, can Clara deal with all these secrets that she is learning about her husband and trying to deal with her children. This is classic Mary Kubica at her best. She always gives us intense and suspenseful storylines that never has us knowing what happens until the very end. This is another winner no doubt! 

Review: Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica

Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica

Expected Publication: May 17, 2016

Publisher: MIRA

Format: via NetGalley

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she's the person Quinn thought she knew.

Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected. 

As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under Pearl's spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fast and far we run, the past always catches up with us in the end.

My Thoughts

In recent months, I’ve been so into mystery/suspense novels that I can’t seem to get enough of them. In the process I became introduced to Mary Kubica and man am I so glad I found her! Her novels are the best they leave you glued to every page and throw you for a loop every time!

In her newest novel Don’t You Cry which is told in alternating storylines we met Quinn who wakes up one day and finds her reliable roommate Esther gone with no explanations. We see Quinn take a look back on their friendship while she tries to find out what happened to Esther and if it was by choice or was there foul play in her disappearance. We also met Alex who lives in a tiny town with its own haunting past as he finds a new girl in town and is intrigued by her actions and is drawn to her for some reason. Alex has his own demons to deal with, between an alcoholic father and a mother who left him as a child he has had to deal with a lot growing up so when he sees this new girl he is instantly taken by her and is determined to learn what she is all about and why she is there.

You think by having alternating storylines one would get confused but this is hardly the case. As you read you think you have things figured out but then in the next chapter everything you thought was true isn’t and that’s what I love most about Mary Kubica’s novels, she gives you everything and nothing at the same time. I‘ve come to realize with her books you can’t take things for what they are, there is always something lurking around the corner.

In Quinn and Esther, she gives us complex characters that are not only smart but have layers of emotions that play into who they are and how they react to those around them. I don’t like giving away spoilers so I won’t but all I can say is wow! This book will have you doubting everything you just read when you reach the end. This is one book with so many twists and turns you just can’t wrap your mind around it all and that’s the main reason why you have to read this!

Review: Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica

Published: July 28, 2015

Publisher: MIRA
Challenge: 2015 SRC

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can't get the girl out of her head…

Heidi Wood has always been a charitable woman: she works for a nonprofit, takes in stray cats. Still, her husband and daughter are horrified when Heidi returns home one day with a young woman named Willow and her four-month-old baby in tow. Disheveled and apparently homeless, this girl could be a criminal—or worse. But despite her family's objections, Heidi invites Willow and the baby to take refuge in their home.

Heidi spends the next few days helping Willow get back on her feet, but as clues into Willow's past begin to surface; Heidi is forced to decide how far she's willing to go to help a stranger. What starts as an act of kindness quickly spirals into a story far more twisted than anyone could have anticipated.

My Thoughts

This is an emotional story of two women who have gone through hell and back but who have dealt with the aftermath in different ways. We meet Heidi who seems to have it all but who is going through things that she has buried deep within herself that she has never dealt with and that will slowly come to the surface in the most drastic way. She sees Willow who is a young girl with a baby daily on the train platform and has a soft spot for them and is determined to help them in any way possible. Heidi is the type who wants to help the world and everyone yet her personal life is in shambles. Her daughter doesn’t talk to her and her husband is focused on his career. She has made it her mission to help Willow and the baby no matter what her husband and daughter say but we later see she almost becomes obsessed and by the end we see why.

Willow is a girl who comes with excess baggage in more ways than one. We get the backstory on her life and we see how she goes from a family to a horrible foster family. She goes through things that no one much less a child has to go through yet she survives with the luck of a great friend. However ever since her family was torn apart she is determined to get some of it back but when she realizes she can’t she does something that might never be forgiven again.

This is the story of two women who are on the brink of disaster with twist and turns I never saw coming. I thought the story was going one way when I was thrown a curveball which I really thought made the story so much richer and definitely more unexpected which I love. This is one book that you will find more and more amazing as you read and peel back layers upon layers of storyline; it’s the ultimate gift that keeps on giving.

WoW [104]

Waiting on Wednesday [WoW] is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

             Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica

Expected Publication: July 28, 2015

Publisher: Mira

Synopsis...

She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can't get the girl out of her head.

Heidi Wood has always been a charitable woman: she works for a nonprofit, takes in stray cats. Still, her husband and daughter are horrified when Heidi returns home one day with a young woman named Willow and her four-month-old baby in tow. Disheveled and apparently homeless, this girl could be a criminal or worse. But despite her family's objections, Heidi invites Willow and the baby to take refuge in their home.

Heidi spends the next few days helping Willow get back on her feet, but as clues into Willow's past begin to surface, Heidi is forced to decide how far she's willing to go to help a stranger. What starts as an act of kindness quickly spirals into a story far more twisted than anyone could have anticipated.

Why I Can’t Wait…

I love a good thriller and this one seems like another awesome read by Mary Kubica. Sounds like a great story line and book one I can’t wait to get my hands on!

Feel free to link me to yours.