The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

I have not felt a thrill like this since season two of Tell Me Lies aired - this was exactly what I was looking for: messy friend group, insane secrets, competitive friendships, and absolute chaos. As the reader, you are immediately thrown into craziness, and spend the entire book watching as the characters take everything one step too far, while simultaneously avoid being held accountable for their actions. Clare, our very unreliable narrator, is thrown into a world where she is clearly the outsider, yet longingly wants to be part of an inner circle that will never accept her.

Her co-dependency on Tabitha and their slightly more than platonic relationship is the driving force for Clare's eagerness to join a friend group full of people that truly do not even like each other. As she reinvents herself in order to please those around her, secrets are revealed and dig their claws into her life, desperate to come out yet aggressively pushed under the surface in order to salvage her standing in the group. The group will be accepting one moment, then cold and distant the next - while Clare pretends this does not interfere with her internal drive for acceptance, it is visible to the group, ensuring their hold over her actions.

Tabitha very clearly will die if she is not the center of attention, and it is clear from her actions and deep-rooted desire to be the leader in every situation. While she does hold the power, the others are not immune to the desire to be in charge - you see them conform to her will, yet are quick to side against her the minute she leaves the room. Their toxic tendencies make this an exhilarating read, keeping you on the edge of your seat solely to see what insane side plot they will come up with to descend upon the locals.

Watching Clare slowly unravel and reveal the most insane and chaotic information about herself was like watching a car wreck in action but in slow motion. She is absolutely unhinged, and with her as the narrator, we are thrust into her line of thinking and deranged logic she places behind every one of her choices. It was hilarious to watch Tabitha match her freak, and then totally go off the rails when she realized Tabitha is just as unpredictable as herself. Everyone is manipulating everyone in subtle ways, and the consequences of their actions causes such a severe snowball effect.

Finn's presence as a side character provided the outsider's view, especially when he and Clare essentially began on the same social standing when the book began. His commentary on the group before Clare slowly became entangled with them only intensified as he watched Clare become one of them. However, it seemed that while Clare longed to be a part of their group, she was still quick to dismiss the closeness she shared with them when conversing with Finn.

This was juicy and addicting... every chapter had me sucked further into the madness, and as the characters turned sour, it only draws you in more. Watching their slow descent into revealing their true intentions behind every carefully thought out action was like seeing into their mind and understanding how their brains functioned. Darwent's ability to create three-dimensional characters while only giving the perspective of one is worthy of the highest of praises.

For fans of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Bunny by Mona Awad, and Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering, this book captures the intense and intimate relationships that entwine a deeply dysfunctional friend group that has dire consequences on their lives. I absolutely loved the complex character development and conflicting actions made by the characters, and cannot wait to see what Darwent has in store in her next work.

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Prey Drive (Parallel Prey, #1) by Jen Stevens Review

This is a spoiler-free review! Prey Drive is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.

Dark romance was calling my name and I could not ignore it any longer. Haunted past? Stalker? And we get his POV? Count me in. I know this genre is not for everyone, but it is so entertaining, and I can truly say this was another fun read that keeps the reader intrigued.

Jovie has been through something unimaginable, and the way to start over is to move away from her family in an attempt to rebuild her life after a horrible night. What she does not expect is a mysterious man to become ever so present in her dreams, only to show up as real as you and me. Trying to make sense of this lurking figure, Jovie is just a lamb to his wolf, and only time will show her how much danger she is in when she least expects it.

Sebastian's loss has led him down a dark path that he can never return from, and in his conquest to seek revenge, he crosses roads with Jovie somewhere he least expects it. With Jovie posing a new obstacle in his path of destruction, he must find a way to balance his two lives without merging them. He fails this goal basically three seconds after laying eyes on Jovie, and his interest in her causes a chain reaction no one would see coming. Their relationship lowkey had me giggling and kicking my feet, and since I love a bit of drama, their complicated views of one another really drew me in. Sebastian is basically a little Zade Meadows junior, and that sold me on his character from his very first chapter.

With Jovie and Sebastian forming a complicated relationship, it leads to putting Jovie in a danger that she could not imagine, with Sebastian needing to find a way to keep her in his life while carrying our revenge. Yes, he may be a stalker, but he is polite! Kind of. At least he does not hide who he is from Jovie, so it is a point in my book. He certainly has some serious things to work through, but he has allowed revenge to take over his life, and he is becoming sloppy. He is passionate about two drastically different parts of his life, and takes both of them to the extreme.

Once the story gets into Jovie and Sebastian's relationship, we see them do so many things... literally I do not think that they were ever NOT doing something. And let me tell you, I was not complaining at all -- the author was able to pace the story and the spicier scenes together that still kept the story's pacing while giving a tasteful amount of spice. This being a dark romance, I will say that these scenes may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I would recommend looking into content warnings if you do not fair well on that front.

The ending of this book let me somewhat confused... not sure if we are headed toward the paranormal route or if there is something major to be revealed in the second book, but I will definitely be finishing this duet to get to the bottom of it. Sebastian and Jovie have such an interesting dynamic with each other, and with both having some significant things to work through, I need to see how it ends for them.

If you are looking for something Haunting Adeline-adjacent, but more tame, this is definitely a great choice to slowly work your way into the genre, without diving in head-first. I did not know what to expect from this story, but the summary was so intriguing, I just had to abandon my fantasy TBR to begin this duet. Stuff Your Kindle Day is officially two for two this month for me, and I honestly did not want to put this book down -- if I was not busy, I would have finished it in one sitting.

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King (Adair Empire, #1) by K.L. Donn Review

This is a spoiler-free review! King is currently available for free on iBooks and Kindle.

King does not hold back and immediately throws us into Lilith and King's story and relationship. Everything was happening so fast, and I felt as if I was pushed right into the story without having any build up to who the characters were and what the exact situation was that they were in. The author wastes absolutely no time and places Lilith in King's clutches in a matter of pages, and we are left wondering what exactly his interest in her is.

The smut definitely made up for some of the plot holes and insta-love that Lilith and King had. I really wish the book was longer -- in my opinion, we could have had at least another one hundred pages to the total in order to learn more about the characters and their relationships with one another. Atticus and Luther's protectiveness over Lilith could have been explored more, and King's interest in Lilith definitely could have used some more backstory in the beginning of the book.

Lilith's backstory before meeting King -- at least, what we were given of it -- was definitely important to her character and the way that she responded to every situation she was in. She basically replaced cocaine with King in a way, and I felt as though it was going against everything she said she wanted to do, since she did not want to do drugs anymore. There was just so much going on in this book as the plot was leaping around every chapter, so the characters did not get a big chance to develop in a way that would have added more substance to their journey.

Major jumps are made in Lilith and King's relationship all throughout the book, and it was giving me a bit of whiplash, because I still felt as though we needed to know more about them as individual characters and when they were together. We definitely had more of King's backstory, and that was a highlight in the character development sense. Compared to King, I felt as though we were given a list of information about Lilith and that was that.

If you are looking for a fast-paced dark romance, this book is for you. I am not usually a fan of an insta-love situation, but King and Lilith's connection was intriguing and held up throughout the book.

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The Devil I Don't Know (Brooklyn Kings, #1) by L.K. Shaw Review

This is a spoiler-free review! The Devil I Don't Know is currently available for free on iBooks and Kindle.

Brenna and Jacob are forced to marry in effort to strengthen their families and their forces against the Russians in a union between the Irish and Italian mafias. I was in the mood for an arranged marriage read and this book certainly delivered -- my jaw was dropping left and right. The tension between Brenna and Jacob is so thick you could literally feel it between the pages of the book, and I was literally on the edge of my seat reading every chapter.

With Jacob and Brenna's family lives and relationships so drastically different from one another, they already have so much to learn about one another after they marry. Brenna's family has kept her far removed from their business and left her in the dark, whereas Jacob's family has him heavily involved in nearly every business matter they conduct.

The dynamic between Brenna and her family was wholesome compared to the other things happening in the book. Her little sister was able to provide some type of comedic relief to the story, while her mother was there to show that she had a support system. Jacob's father was dying, but he was still loyal to his son and did try to do the best that he could, at least for as far as I could see.

Looking at the evolution of Jacob and Brenna's relationship once they are married, it does go a bit fast, but I think that it was because they both realized that they wanted similar things out of the marriage and understand that their marriage was more than just the two of them. "Where is my wife?" is said multiple times and I was loving it every time.

Glad to see actual mafia business taking place in this book compared to a lot of mafia romance books that just say the male lead is in the mafia and then follows with everything mafia related happening off screen. Jacob is very involved in his family affairs, and that was definitely reflected in their story. I wish that we spent more time on the aftermath of a lot of the issues caused by the Russians and internal familial issues that Jacob was dealing with. There was a lot of action going on in the third act and I would have loved to see how Brenna and Jacob dealt with everything after it happened.

I sped through this book so much faster than I expected -- forty minutes of reading put me nearly two thirds of the way through. The Devil I Don't Know is the perfect gateway mafia romance if you are looking into getting the genre without being overwhelmed. A great beginning to the series and I will definitely be continuing on with the author's works. Fans of Keep by Kaye Blue looking for something similar will definitely enjoy Brenna and Jacob's story.

You can add The Devil I Don't Know and the rest of the series on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

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A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham Review

This review does not contain spoilers for A Flicker in the Dark. Trigger warnings include self-harm, suicide, sexual assault, drug use, and murder.

I personally was not a fan of the author's style of writing -- I found that it read a little choppy in the beginning and felt as though the main character was throwing facts and information at you that were not relevant to the story that they were trying to tell. Rather than reading with a flow, it read more like you were in someone's head trying to follow a thought process about something that even they did not understand what was going on or what was necessary to the plot. The story did not pick up for me until about two thirds of the way through when the story really started to evolve.

However, it is definitely a quick read -- you are easily drawn into the world of our main character, Chloe, a medical psychologist with a serial killer as a father. She quickly becomes involved in the search for girls who are going missing twenty years after her father was arrested for the very same thing. Told through both twenty-year-old memories and present time, we see Chloe's development from discovering her father was doing wicked things to her life decades later being thrown right back into the ring.

We get an inside look from Chloe on what these girls were like before her father murdered them as the book progresses -- each of the girls with their own stories, personalities, and stand-out traits that have stayed with Chloe over the years. 

Willingham gives us an inside look at Chloe's relationship with these girls -- how well she knew them, if they were friends, if they only talked to her because they liked her brother -- the more we read on, the more we see how they influenced her as well. Additionally, we are able to see the events that took place leading up to Chloe's father's arrest and how he came to be identified as the one who murdered these girls.

The journalist looking into these new copycat killings definitely causes an internal battle for Chloe as she is basically forced to relive her father's killings all over again, but as if she is aware of what is happening the entire time. He comes into her life the month before the twenty year anniversary of the first girls' disappearance, and is there to stay until these killings are solved -- and he makes it very clear to Chloe that even if she does not speak to him, he will continue to look into the new murders.

Chloe's relationship with her brother, Cooper, and with her fiancé, Daniel, are complicated to put it simply. It feels as though she never shows her true self to anyone, not even herself. We learn more about Chloe and her complicated past as the story progresses, and with it I found myself viewing her as an unreliable narrator. She puts herself in unnecessary circumstances and continues to make every possible wrong move, convincing herself that she is doing the right thing.

I personally found this book a little predictable, but I have always been good with guessing the ending to things, especially horror and thriller movies. The author was able to tie up all loose ends, and in my opinion, I think the main character had the ending she deserved for herself. I would recommend this book to fans of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Bleeding Hearts by Dana Louise Provo -- read my review, here.

You can add A Flicker in the Dark on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on publications and releases.

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The Housemaid by Freida McFadden Review

This review does not contain spoilers for The Housemaid. Trigger warnings include domestic abuse, violence, and crime.

There are a ton of writing cliches littered throughout this book - even in the first chapter, we see a "I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding" line from our main character, Millie.

I also Google Translated the Italian landscaper, Enzo, said to Millie, and it was obvious that our lead was in danger from the beginning. And it is clear that Millie thought just the same, and did just that as well. The second she realized that Enzo had told her "danger," she should have turned around and ran away from that family as fast as she could.

Nina and Cecelia freak me out -- Nina definitely keeps information from Millie and chooses what she knows. Keeping vital information from Millie and causing rifts early on in Millie's employment can only lead her down a dark road. The way that Nina interacts with Millie when they are in front of other people astounds me. Even if you are not too found of someone, I could never imagine talking about them right in front of their face and speaking so rudely to someone that you originally said was so amazing.

I found myself constantly feeling bad for Andrew during Part I of the book -- he clearly was not happy in his marriage with Nina and it become glaringly obvious as you get further into the book. However, in the second half of the book, my pity for him turned to suspicion, especially after the countless warnings Enzo gives Millie.

We have a change in perspective as Nina's point of view takes the lead in Part II of the book, where we are able to see the early stages of Nina and Andrew's relationship and marriage. It completely changed my stance on the characters, as we are introduced to the other side of the story we had only expected. Enzo's character development and Nina's background are given top priority in these chapters, and it was very interesting to see their dynamic play out.

Part III takes us back to Millie's perspective and shows the progression of her time in Nina and Andrew's house, and we also maintain a glimpse into Nina's perspective as the conclusion fast approaches. McFadden does a pretty good job of developing all three of the main characters and their personalities as the tone of the book shifts the more you read. Millie and Nine have their ultimate "girlboss" moments that were mildly unexpected, but certainly well-received.

In all honesty, when I was a few chapters in, I wasn't too sure if I was going to enjoy this as much as I did. The writing was a little iffy for me, but with the short chapters it became a very quick read and I found myself flying through the book in no time. The plot takes a moment to heat up and I had to push myself in the beginning to keep going, but I'm very glad that I stuck with it to the end.

I would recommend this book to fans of Verity by Colleen Hoover -- you can read my review, here -- and Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage, as well as fans of psychological thrillers. If you have not read the two mentioned books and enjoyed The Housemaid, then I definitely recommend picking them up!

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Verity by Colleen Hoover Review

This review contains spoilers for Verity - please read with caution. Trigger warnings include graphic depictions of violence, child death and violence, and murder.

You can read my reviews for other Colleen Hoover books on my blog, here: It Ends With Us and Finding Cinderella.

I want to start off this review by saying this has to be one of Colleen Hoover's best works -- Verity is very different from her other novels, but the suspense of reading this book had me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book to fans of thriller and psychological genres, especially fans of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Bunny by Mona Awad.

The first chapter of Verity does not even begin to describe the emotions and twists that you will be put through by the end of the book. Hoover starts us off by immediately having our main female character, Lowen, bear witness to a tragedy that she could have been spared from seeing if the circumstances were in her favor. This tragedy brings our main male character, Jeremy, into Lowen's life and his presence is not fleeting -- he is here to stay. If only I could yell into the pages and warn Lowen that any man with a "J" name is not to be trusted, she would not be in this mess.

Lowen, a writer whose books are being published but not hitting the charts, is brought to a meeting where she is offered the chance to finishing writing Verity Crawford's bestselling thriller series, as she has been in an accident that leaves her unable to do so. And because there are no coincidences in Hoover's books, Jeremy happens to be Verity's husband, aiding in the search for a co-author.

Jeremy and Lowen's first interaction with each other was Jeremy help clean blood off of Lowen and bond over the fact that they both had a death in the family very recently. And as soon as they have the opportunity, they leave each other's lives and are just as quickly thrown back in when Lowen decides to accept the offer of completing Verity's book series. Personally if I was Lowen, I would be running for the hills -- why does her writing sound so similar to Verity's? How did they discover this? 

Under a pen name, Lowen accepts the offer once negotiating the price, and travels to Jeremy and Verity's home in order to go through her office and notes to get herself sorted and in the mindset to complete the series. It is in her office that Lowen discovers a manuscript -- Verity's autobiography -- and begins a descent into unravelling who Verity was as a person before her accident, and what haunts this family. Lowen will read a chapter at a time, and if I was in her shoes, I would be devouring the entire manuscript instead of putting it away when she felt it became "repetitive," as this causes Lowen to only know part of Verity's side to the story as she continues to stay at the Crawford home. 

Verity's manuscript is filled with some of the most insane encounters and actions that I have read. She thinks about killing one of her daughters, Harper, because she thinks Harper will kill Chastin. The things that she did to Harper are insane, I have never read a book where a character had such a harsh reveal of their actions, and I was truly shocked.

In a home that does not feel like a home, Lowen begins to spend her time reading this manuscript rather than actually sorting through Verity's notes on her book series. We begin to Lowen judge Verity's actions and somewhat confront Verity once strange occurrences happen near Verity. I was on the edge of my seat when Crew, Jeremy and Verity's son, was found in Verity's room with a knife and bleeding from his chin -- especially when he told Lowen that his mother does not like it when he touches her knives. Like Lowen, if there was a sign to get out of that house, this would be it.

As I was reading this book, I was increasingly becoming paranoid that Verity was literally going to be standing behind me wherever I turned -- Hoover does a great job in creating her presence in the house and in Lowen's life. It felt as if Verity was haunting not only Lowen but the reader as well, almost like you could feel her presence when you were reading scenes where Lowen was sure that Verity was standing at the stairs or in the window. Every time it was mentioned that Verity was either awake or walking around, I could only picture Samara from The Ring movies.

This book had me on the edge of my seat and constantly looking over my shoulder as I devoured this in essentially one sitting. Hoover draws the reader immediately in and you are given new, wild information about Verity throughout the book at the pace of Lowen's interest in her manuscript. We see the outside view of Lowen and Jeremy's relationship through the eyes of April, Verity's nurse, and through Crew, the sole living child of Verity.

Much like how Verity's manuscript showed her obsession with Jeremy, we slowly see Lowen go deeper and deeper into a trace for Jeremy, and eventually Lowen seems to make her time at the Crawford house revolve around Verity and not completing her book series.

It was so incredibly interesting to see Verity's thought process through her manuscript pages and the constant struggles and battles she faced internally and with her family. Her husband expresses early on that he could potentially have more love for the twins than his own wife, and we see Verity's immediate struggle with the realization that the one person that was supposed to love her the most in her life has pushed her down to third place.

I personally thought it was clear that Verity's manuscript was leading to the fact that she knew that Jeremy thought that she had something to do with Harper's death -- even in the beginning of the book when it was revealed that she drowned in the lake, I had a feeling that it was very much not an accident. It is gripping to read Verity's chapters, and the final words in her manuscript only confirm what I had thought, that it was Verity who gave herself the fate she finds herself in now.

But then I read her letter.

Verity's letter to Jeremy reads so differently than her manuscript, feeling filled with more hopeful emotions and urgency to explain her side of the story and give reasoning behind what she wrote in her manuscript. To see her describe Jeremy already have read the manuscript and basically attempt to murder her had me gasping aloud. She is pleading with Jeremy to understand the manuscript and what she witnessed while being in the house as Lowen entered their home and eventually found the printed version of the manuscript Verity so desperately wanted to find.

This letter, explaining that she did not kill her child and that Jeremy was the one responsible for her car accident, makes the reader take a harsh turn into Verity's mindset -- we have only been exposed to her thoughts through a manuscript claiming that she has done a number of heinous things, and now we see her pleading to Jeremy to understand what he actually saw. When Lowen found the letter, I knew in my heart that there was no way Jeremy would ever read it or know it its existence -- he has just murdered his wife, and what would it do to him to find out that she was not the culprit? And what if Lowen is right, and Verity only wrote the letter recently, to cover her tracks or if she survived his attempt on her life? So, that leaves one final question on what to believe.

Are you team manuscript or team letter?

You can add Verity and the rest of Colleen Hoover's books on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!