Binding of Bindings #49: July 2020 Book Wrap-up

August 15, 2020August 28, 2020 JenAcideByBibliophile1 Comment

I’m not going to lie…

the reading game has been tough AF lately.

It’s been month after month of no desire to read, less than thrilling books when I do read, and the relentless drooping of my eyelids when skimming lines.

But finally, it’s as if something has pulled me from the depths of my cookie over-eating, refusals to workout, and dark hole of The End of the F***ing World reruns, and has chosen to give me a gift…

A new lease on life and a love for books about murder, stalkings and cannibalism.

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~* July 2020 Book Wrap-Up *~

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I know we’re halfway into August.

Just let it happen.

1. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Retelling/LGBT

Okay so this one obviously isn’t about cannibalism or stalking, but you’ll notice that as this list goes on, it starts to take a dramatic shift from YA Fantasy to literal cannibalism.

What can I say?

The heart wants what the heart wants.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was pretty mehhhhhh. It’s a mix retelling of Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and some other fairytale called Rappaccini’s Daughter. It’s about a Princess who is cursed with the touch of poison, and is forced into solitude so that the royals can keep her secret hidden…and so she doesn’t, you know…

…kill someone with a poke.

What I had hoped would be an epic tale of sorrow and isolation of a Princess, and a slow-burn love interest where they both know they can’t have one another…was more like eye-rolling insta-love and too many instances where they could get around touching each other.

Meh. Not my jam.

(See my review here)

2. Accidental by Alex Richards

Genre: YA/Contemporary

“𝑩𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”

Ugh. This book.

Accidental is a tear-inducer and makes your teenage self want to crawl under your blankies and wail like a wounded antelope.

It’s the story of a teenage girl who has been living with her grandparents since she was a young girl, when her mother was killed in a car accident and her father bailed. But the reemergence of her father brings secrets to the surface, and this one being that Johanna’s mother didn’t actually die in a car accident.

She was killed by a gunshot wound, and Johanna was the one that pulled the trigger.

It’s about how Johanna comes to terms with something she did as a very young child. An event that she doesn’t remember, but one that changes her life forever. She is thrust into guilt for killing her mother, for taking away the only daughter her grandparents had, and for being the reason that they had to take her in.

This character goes through some serious pits of self-loathing…and damn if I wasn’t living for every second of it.

Obviously gun control is the big theme here, but don’t worry. BOTH sides of this debate are represented.

(See my review here)

3. Seasons of the Storm (Book 1) by Elle Cosimano

Genre: YA/Fantasy

I read this in early July and I still haven’t reviewed it.

Does that tell you anything?

The plot for this book is SICK, which is the whole reason I requested it.

Seasons of the Storm is about seasons being embodied by people, and each time it becomes a new season, the coming season has to KILL the current season in order for their time to start.

Summer kills Spring.

Autumn kills Summer.

Winter kills Autumn.

Spring kills Winter.

Unfortunately, it just wasn’t W–O–W at all.

It’s a story that has multiple characters that the reader has a chance to connect with and become invested in, but instead of their stories and personalities shining through, all we really get is that annoying trope of every pair coupling off.

The main plot is these “seasons” wanting to escape and live a life outside of this world they were brought into. Where there are constantly killing or being killed.

But their escape is rushed, and everything after their escape from the facility was soooooo BORING.

It was like a bad Maze Runner.

4. The Summer I Drowned by Taylor Hale

Genre: YA/Mystery/Thriller

Another book from early July that I have yet to review.

I haven’t decided on a rating for this book yet, and probably won’t until my review. But I will say this…

The Summer I Drowned was a bit forgettable, but still pretty attention grabbing.

It’s not a bad book by any means though!

It’s about a girl who comes back to her hometown after being away for five years. When she was a kid, she fell off a cliff’s edge and into the ocean where she almost drowned. Once a huge swimmer and lover of the water, now Olivia has a deep fear of going anywhere near it.

After countless years of therapy, she decides that going back to her hometown for the Summer (where it all happened) would be great for her healing process.

But when she arrives back, expecting her old friendships to be exactly the same, she realizes that she isn’t the only one who has changed.

The conclusion is actually quite creative and interesting, and definitely unexpected. It makes you question what you read and the main character, which is really all we want in a mystery/thriller isn’t it? But when it comes to that romance? UGH.

Gag me.

5. The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn

Genre: Adult/Horror/Thriller

A Blizzard and cabin in the woods?

Check.

Group of adults focused entirely too much on themselves?

Check.

Wendigo-like creatures spraying red across the serene snowy landscape, butchering human bodies and expertly planning how they will get their prey?

Check.

The Shuddering is basically a fucked-up version of Until Dawn, but in book form and without Rami Malek.

*sad face*

It was the first pick in my newest book club:

If You Like Cannibalism.

Cute, right?

Five adults go out to a cabin as a last get-together before one of them moves to another country. But while there, in the dead of winter, they all start to get picked off.

One by one.

Your typical horror, right?

How one of these characters gets killed is sooooo beyond fucked. Beyond twisted, BEYOND DEMENTED…but oh so good.

6. I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick

Genre: YA/Mystery/Thriller

I Killed Zoe Spanos was another great YA mystery/thriller that I can add to my list of books that were just done right.

The story centers on the disappearance of a girl named Zoe Spanos, who vanished on New Year’s Eve from the Hamptons without a trace. The following summer, a girl named Anna Cicconi arrives in the Hamptons for a job as a nanny, and as a way to take a break from the partying she was doing in Brooklyn.

But when Anna arrives and begins to learn about the disappearance of this girl Zoe, she also learns how eerily similar the too look. It’s not long before Anna obsessively begins finding out more on this missing girl, and eventually…

…she ends up confessing to murdering her.

The story flips back between the summer when Anna arrives, and to a few months after her confession. But a local refuses to believe Anna is responsible for Zoe’s death, so she takes it upon her self to find answers.

Seriously, what a trip.

I had suspicions about where this would go, and some were correct. But where it actually ended up? I didn’t foresee that. And to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the ending because it felt a little too forced and unbelievable, and I wanted things between certain characters to be tied up.

But overall, a solid mystery.

(See my review here)

7. Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall

Genre: Adult/Thriller/Mystery

OKAY.

On to the good shit…

Stalkers.

July’s pick for the Psycho Sloth Book Club was Our Kind of Cruelty, and I seem to be one of the only people in the group who actually liked it.

If you don’t know about the Psycho Sloths – we all fell in love with Joe Goldberg from YOU and his stalkery yet totally justifiable means of murdering people who just aren’t good influences on the women he loves.

We love his passion. His dedication. His heart and soul!

And especially that Penn Badgley plays him in the show.

He’s a lover, not a killer.

Anyways, now the book club has turned into a stalker extravaganza!

Enter: Mike Hayes.

Mike is a sexy man with a great bod, a successful job and an unflinching loyalty and love for his girlfriend Verity. He works long hours to provide for her, built their dream home and keeps it the way she likes and always thinks of her first.

The only problem is that Verity is engaged to someone else.

Woe is Mike.

But the reason Mike continues to pursue Verity is because he thinks they are still playing Crave – a game they made up when they were dating where Verity would enter a club alone, and when a guy came up to hit on her, Mike would intervene and then they’d get all hot and heavy.

This isn’t just a tale of loving from afar though. This shit gets WILD.

Even now, I am so unsure of what the truth is. Is Mike crazy? Or is Verity just a bitch? I DON’T KNOW! But I will say this…

…I’m just trying to find my Crave partner.

8. Brother by Ania Ahlborn

Genre: Adult/Horror/Thriller

Hey,

Literally, the best for last.

This book means EVERYTHING to me, okay?

E–V–E–R–Y–T–H–I–N–G!

It was the SECOND book in one month for the If You Like Cannibalism Book Club, and lemme tell you hooooney…

So. Much. Cannibalism.

I feel complete. Almost whole.

As if I have been waiting my entire life for this fucked up, brutal and demented way of thinking that flows through Ania Ahlborn’s beautiful head.

She is the horror goddess.

Brother is about a sweet family of cannibals who live in the outskirts of Appalachia, some time in the 70’s. They lure cute, young strawberry blondes onto their property where they torture and kill them, and then eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

But this story is SO much more than that. It follows main character Michael Morrow, who has never wanted to hurt people the way his mother and brother Reb seem to. He doesn’t get enjoyment out of his tasks of chasing the girls down when they escape, or chopping up their bodies. But when you’re a Morrow, it’s kill or be killed.

Any author who can make me love a character who is mentally unhinged and/or does horrible things has all of my respect. Ania Ahlborn is 100%, without a doubt, my new favorite author. She thrusts so much humanity and unrelenting hopelessness into her stories, and has made my skin crawl while putting the hugest smile on my face.

Read this, and everything else she writes.

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Stay Witchy ❤

Book Reviews

Book Review: A Whisper in the Dark by Jessi Elliot and K.J. Sutton

May 30, 2020 JenAcideByBibliophile7 Comments

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the authors, Jessi Elliot and K.J. Sutton, for an honest review.

Genre: Adult/Fantasy/Romance/paranormal-Vampires

Plot: A city ruled by vampires. A disgraced princess. A world underground.

Charlotte Travesty lives in a world of comfort. Glittering nightclubs, a lavish mansion, and a staff of humans at her beck and call. Being a royal vampire means her future is secured—all she has to do is get through the Awakening, an ancient ceremony every vampire experiences when they come of age.

But when her Awakening arrives at last, everything changes in one terrifying instant.

Cast from her home and rejected by the royal family, Charlie is forced into a life of fear and brutality. Where creatures called weepers live below the city, kept at bay by an unlucky sector of fighters enslaved by the very king who cast her out. Charlie now finds herself among the ranks.

She soon learns that weepers aren’t all she needs to fear in her new life. Other workers are dying in the tunnels below ground. Charlie knows that if she’s going to survive, she must form alliances with the very humans that despise her. But will she win their trust in time? Or will she die in the very darkness she was born to rule?

For fans of Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City and Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series, A Whisper in the Dark is the first volume in the Charlie Travesty serial.

Opinion:

“The crown rests beside me – it must have fallen off while I slept.”

A quick introduction to a new Adult Fantasy series that are bringing the Vamps back with a vengeance!

I LOVE anything by Kelsey Sutton, so of course when I found out she was working on a series of novellas with an author I hadn’t had the pleasure of knowing about, I was SOLD. And in true K.J. Sutton fashion, she literally gives ZERO information ahead of time about what she is writing, and then just displays it in all it’s glory on release day, on a platter of gold and blood. ❤

This first installment of the Charlie Travesty series was AMAZING! I was hooked from the first page until the last, immediately in love with our leading vamp Charlie, and obsessed with the world. I absolutely love a dystopian styled fantasy, especially one where Vampires rule over humans, and one where a royal “falls from grace“.

In this vampire world, the Awakening is the moment when a vampire comes into who they are. Each eye color dictates where a vampire will reside and what their interests will be. Charlie, being an artist, hopes to wake with emerald eyes that will take her into Sul, the quarter for artists and writers. But when she wakes, her eye color shows the true proof of who Charlie really is.

I am so impressed with how easily this story flowed. Usually when you get a book written by two or more authors, there is a disconnect between the writing styles or the switch in voices in painfully obvious. And being such a HUGE K.J. Sutton fan, I figured I’d easily be able to tell which parts were written or influenced by Kelsey.

Well. Color me wrong AF.

You would NEVER guess this was written by two different people! The melding of these two creative minds is impeccable, and the story and world they created was addicting as hell. And even though I’m not a big novella reader, I really found myself preferring this pacing. It gets to the point, but not in a rushed way. I honestly had no problems at all with this book, and all I want is to read everything else these two beautiful writers put onto paper.

Cover Reveal · Upcoming Releases

Cover Reveal: A Whisper in the Dark (Charlie Travesty, Book 1) by Jessi Elliot and K.J. Sutton

April 10, 2020April 9, 2020 JenAcideByBibliophile12 Comments

Book Title: A Whisper in the Dark

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Series: Charlie Travesty, Book 1

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Authors: Jessi Elliot & K.J. Sutton

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Release Date: April 28, 2020

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**~~ Cover Reveal ~~**

Happy Friday!

I have paired up with authors Jessi Elliot and K.J. Sutton to bring you a cover reveal of their upcoming release!

HERE is the BEAUTIFUL cover for the upcoming release of Book 1 in the Charlie Travesty Series – A Whisper in the Dark!! It is an Adult Fantasy dripping in sinful Vamp vibes, decadence and pure brutality!

Perfect for fans of Charlaine Harris’s True Blood series, and for those who are still nursing a book hangover from Sarah J. Maas’s first book in the Crescent City trilogy – House of Earth and Blood.

~Click here to add it to your Goodreads shelf!~

~Click here to Pre-Order a copy!~

~Synopsis below~

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Book Synopsis

A city ruled by vampires. A disgraced princess. A world underground.

But when her Awakening arrives at last, everything changes in one terrifying instant.

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Social Media Tags:

Instagram: @authorjessielliot , @kelseysuttonbooks

Website: https://www.jessielliott.com/ , http://www.kelseysuttonbooks.com/

Twitter: @authorjelliot , @kelseyjsutton

Goodreads: Jessi Elliot , K.J. Sutton

Book Reviews · New Releases

Book Review: Restless Slumber (Fortuna Sworn, Book 2) by K.J. Sutton

February 22, 2020 JenAcideByBibliophile3 Comments

*Warning: This review contains spoilers to book 1, Fortuna Sworn! Tread carefully*

(See my review of Book 1 here)

Genre: Adult Fantasy/Dark/Fae

Plot: “Before I met you, I thought Nightmares were creatures of pain and darkness. Why, then, are you constantly seeking freedom and light?”

Fortuna’s entire life has changed.

She has no idea how to balance her new responsibilities and who she used to be. There are hundreds of faeries in her head, her brother seems to have lost touch with reality, and a werewolf won’t leave her side. Maybe the utter lack of control is why her abilities seem to be changing, as well.

Then there’s Collith. Enigmatic, beautiful, and infuriating. Not only a king of the faeries she despises so much, but also her mate. His gentle pursuit causes confusion in her normally unwavering relationship with Oliver.

As a result of it all, Fortuna now finds herself surrounded by new enemies and ones from the past. The question isn’t whether she is strong enough to make change in such a corrupt court.

It’s whether she will survive long enough to do it.

Content warning: This novel depicts scenes of sexual violence and domestic abuse.

Opinion:

“What do you fear, faerie?”

“The lights of anger and resentment in their eyes gave way to pain and terror. Screams, cries, and moans filled the room, more lovely than a string quartet.”

Where…do I even begin?

This book has ravaged my soul. Ripped my barely there black heart from it’s cobwebbed, rock bottom hole in the rubble of my chest, and left me aching like a widow at a love parade. I am shock. I am devastation. I am wondering how I didn’t see this coming, what with HB stabbing me in the back with Wicked King last year, and me assuming Kelsey Sutton would only want to bring a smile to my face…instead of this contorted expression of betrayal and deeply sadistic thrill that is now etched into my features.

Well done, Kelsey.

Fortuna Sworn has just been crowned the Unseelie Queen, rescued her brother Damon, and returned to life above ground. But try as she might, she can’t escape her new duties or the faeries she is now bound to. And with her relationship to Collith, her mate and the Unseelie King, shifting from loathing to something…more, she can’t help but revel in this newfound power. But Fortuna’s ruthless decisions that helped get her on the throne are coming back three-fold, and there are threats at every turn. Unsure if she can finally trust the mate that she has bound herself to, and suspicious of the motives behind the Seelie King’s kindness, Fortuna is forced to do confront everything that makes a Nightmare – Fear.

“Nothing had been real and then with no warning, everything was.”

There is SO much happening in this sequel, I hardly know where to begin. Restless Slumber is packed with magic, supernatural creatures, betrayal, murder, lust, secrets, blindsides and anything and everything that could make you want to weep with unhinged joy. Gone is the ethereal and mystifying tale about a woman rescuing her brother and marrying a Fae king. This book is DARK. It’s raw, it’s unapologetic and it gets right in your face forcing you to dismiss every sense of morality that you so desperately cling to. There are NO RULES in this dark fantasy, but don’t worry, you won’t even miss them.

Restless Slumber is W–I–L–D. There are constant assassination attempts, eloquently phrased sentences spoken to entrap someone, blindly made deals in secluded areas, secrets woven into webs of deceit, and completely OUT OF NOWHERE blindsides that will make you want to scream. There are witches, werewolves, sirens, vampires and goblins. There’s necromancy that brings a slew of corpses after Fortuna, epic battle scenes that pit supernatural creatures against one another, and moments where you question if you’d actually want to be dragged into the forest by a faerie. Because these aren’t the sweet and mystical beings that YA Fantasy likes to portray them as.

The Fallen in this book are brutality at it’s finest and beauty as it’s darkest.

Speaking of brutal, let’s talk about our dark Queen Fortuna.

“Then, once they were all crowded within my skull, I released the creature living inside me. The creature that I’d denied too long, too often.

Fear.”

If you guys thought Celaena Sardothien was a sassy badass who didn’t give one Fae Fuck, you need to rethink what recklessness in it’s most stunning form looks like. Fortuna, is the literal definition of a Queen. She has no mercy, loves the thrill of shoving a nightmare down someone’s throat, and has a sharp tongue that would leave anyone shaking. She is brash, unrelenting and unapologetic for the things she does. She doesn’t care if anyone likes her or is on her side. She doesn’t need someone in her corner rooting for her and holding her hand.

She holds her own damn hand.

But even so, Fortuna does have morals and dreams of making things better for the faeries. She stands up for victims and those who are tossed aside or abused. She is a voice for the sufferer and an executioner for the wicked. She is incredibly resilient and strong, and doesn’t look for approval from others. She knows what she wants and takes it, and it’s impossible not to love her completely. Especially for her patience and persistence with Damon.

Fortuna has indeed “rescued” Damon from the Unseelie court and from Jassin (good riddance), but Damon is a shell of who he once was. He is gaunt, withdrawn and has vowed to never forgive Fortuna for what she did to the faerie he loved. Most of the time he refuses to even acknowledge her presence, and it makes rooting for him so hard. But of course, that’s all you want to do. Damon’s situation is so tangled and doused in trauma, leaving him a skeleton of the Nightmare he once was. He’s in a haze of Stockholm Syndrome for this beautifully wretched faerie that enslaved him for two years, yet some piece of him also knows that he was treated horribly. Throughout the story Fortuna battles against giving him space and wanting to force him to forgive her, because though she hates to admit it, Damon is her weakness.

“I have weaknesses. I am vulnerable. But all of them are tied…to you.”

Speaking of weaknesses…

If you’re looking for a slow-burn romance that will beckon you towards its fluorescent flames with promises of warmth and contentment, fulfillment and happiness, coaxing you closer and closer, until you’re only a breath away from its beautiful blaze…only to have it push you in, engulfing your body in an agony and anguish that you can’t escape – well, this is the book for you.

The romance that is, but also isn’t! Strong as she may be, Fortuna just can’t seem to break down that wall for Collith. And to be honest, who can blame her?! The guy bribed her into marrying him, and still withholds so many secrets from her that I can’t even decide if he’s a good guy or not. But of course, I am horribly in love with him. He is darkness shrouded in gentleness. He is eloquent, calm and sincere. Sure he holds back and is a faerie of few words, but there’s something to be said for his patience and stability. He proves to be dependable at every junction and always puts Fortuna first. Sounds like the real deal to me.

But in classic K.J. Sutton style, she has to put my heart into a panic blender.

Collith isn’t the only love interest in Fortuna’s life. There is Laurie, the Seelie King who is both slightly irritating but also swoon-worthy, who keeps flirting with Fortuna even though I wish he would just BACK OFF. But then…there’s Ollie. *Sigh*…my heart. When Fortuna was a child, Ollie was, what Fortuna assumes (and what the reader is told, but I’m suspicious), created by her through her subconscious. He lives in a dreamscape that they created together, and she meets him in her sleep every night. He has been a rock for her for years as a friend and confidant, and since recent years, something more. The bond Ollie and Fortuna share is so precious and gentle. Around Ollie, this fierce and harsh form of Fortuna falls away, leaving a regular girl with regular feelings and thoughts. She is vulnerable and honest with him, and it brings such a loving and alluring side to Fortuna that the reader doesn’t normally see.

But what I really need to talk about, is this goddamn cliffhanger.

My soul, was shattered by this ending.

I spent 45 minutes staring at nothing after finishing this book. I sat on my living room floor at a complete loss, unable to form coherent sentences, and stricken by what happened. Usually I crave for an author to torture me and shred my feelings into nothing…but THIS?! THIS?? This was just cruel….and I loved every second of it.

But now, all we can do is wait for book three. And I am praying to all hell that it comes quickly, because I still feel like I’m going to vomit all my hopeless romantic emotions up. And so with that, all I have left to say is…

a demon? FFS.

Book Reviews · Netgalley · New Releases

Book Review: Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 JenAcideByBibliophile1 Comment

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Harlequin – Mira, via Netgalley for an honest review.

Genre: Mature YA/Mystery/Thriller

Plot: Goode girls don’t lie…

Perched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. Its elite status, long-held traditions and honor code are ideal for preparing exceptional young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond. But a stranger has come to Goode, and this ivy has turned poisonous.

In a world where appearances are everything, as long as students pretend to follow the rules, no one questions the cruelties of the secret societies or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. But when a popular student is found dead, the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.

But look closely…because there are truths and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened.

J.T. Ellison’s pulse-pounding new novel examines the tenuous bonds of friendship, the power of lies and the desperate lengths people will go to to protect their secrets.

Opinion:

“Goode perches like a gargoyle above the city’s small downtown…It is quiet, dignified, isolated. As are the girls who attend the school; serious, studious. Good. Goode girls are always good. They go on to great things.”

After the unexpected deaths of her scion father and mother, Ash Carr arrives at Goode – a private college preparatory school for teenage daughters of the elite. Goode breeds exceptional ladies who go on to top schools, and who become leaders in their industries. As a sophomore, Ash is quickly thrust into the strange dynamics of these powerful and privileged girls. Keeping up with the honor code of the school and high intensity academics is one thing, but navigating the ways of her classmates is an entirely different game. But things for Ash have never been easy, so why should her time at Goode be any different. After the sudden death of her roommate turns Goode upside down, Ash fights to keep her name cleared of any involvement. But things are beginning to unravel, and no secret is safe, not even hers.

I love a good murder mystery/thriller, but a murder mystery in a private school of privileged girls? Psh. Cancel my evening and clear my schedule, because I am THERE! One series that has been a personal favorite of mine for years is Private by Kate Brian. It’s a YA drama-fest of secrets, lies, murder, backstabbing, secret societies and boatloads of privilege. Needless to say, when I came across Good Girls Lie, I needed it in my hands immediately.

And it was all I could have asked for…

and then some.

This book is oozing with secrets made of manipulation that have been dipped in lies, doused in deception, coated with blindsides, and sprinkled with levels upon levels of twists. Think you know where this is going? Think again. Think it’s over? THINK AGAIN! J.T. Ellison keeps the reader drowning in psychological torment until the very last page. So much so, that you’ll even find yourself reading the acknowledgments just to get a deeper look inside the head of this author.

I was unimaginably hooked on this story and the character of Ash. I needed to know her deep dark secrets, and the secrets of all these strange girls at Goode. Because they aren’t just rich girls thrust into a top school because their daddy knows a guy. Oh no. These girls are brilliant, border-line geniuses in their fields. Whether it is art, business, computers or writing – these girls excel in every subject. They are cunning and devious, sure, but also surprisingly honest and mostly decent to one another. And yeah, they’re a little crazy, but that’s to be expected.

“It’s a bit like entering a prison, only here, the inmates are upstanding teens with daddy issues.”

Goode is the typical private bordering school that we have seen and read about. There are the popular head girls who rule over the school, secret societies and hazing, and a whole lot of sneaky things going on in the shadows. But the real star of this story is Ash Carr and her journey to Goode. Before her father suddenly dies of a drug overdose, and her mother commits suicide shortly after finding his body, Ash is told that she will be attending Goode in two months time. But after the death of her parents, and with her inheritance tied up until her twenty-fifth birthday, Ash is granted a scholarship into Goode by the dean of the school.

But naturally, Ash’s past is much more complex than one could ever guess.

“They say her name, an unbroken chain of accusation and misery.”

Ash.

Ash is such an interesting character to have tell this story. My initial reaction upon learning that she is harboring a dark secret made me watch her closely, but her character is so intricately created that you forget to look at her as anything but a teenager. She keeps to herself at school, doesn’t make any quick and strong relationships with any of the other girls, and simply focuses on her studies and staying under the radar. She is the embodiment of a girl who has seen tragedy and hurt throughout her life, and I felt such a sense of sadness for her. But naturally, there are instances throughout this story that makes you question her and the motives of every single girl around her.

“Lies will flow from my lips, but there may perhaps be some truth mixed up with them; it is for you to decide whether any part of it is worth keeping.” – Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

I have been reading a TON of thrillers lately, so I had a pretty good idea of where this was going. But NOT AT ALL to the extent that it went! Every time I made a conclusion on how this book would end, something would happen that would force me to rethink everything. And even when I finally got all the answers, ANOTHER blindside was waiting for me! This is the kind of thriller I have been needing. One that makes my face hurt while giving me a weird sense of envy that I was never shipped off to a boarding school and tapped into a secret society.

Woe is me.

As a whole, I loved Good Girls Lie. Why yes, there were a bit of unnecessary PG-13 (R?) rated scenes that I didn’t see any point to. And yes, the constant drastic age differences in these romantic relationships did make me slightly uncomfortable. But, what is life, right? All in all, this is a really addicting story about secrets and the need for freedom. It’s sad, it’s dark and it is even a bit sweet…sort of. My only true qualm is that this is a stand-alone, when all I really want is about ten more of these books.