2019 Reads

2015 Reads | 2016 Reads | 2017 Reads| 2018 Reads

Last updated: September 3rd, 2019

January

1. ★★★☆☆.5    What Have You Done by Matthew Farrell
2. ★★★☆☆.5    The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders
3. ★★★★☆       A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna
4. ★★★★☆       The Current by Tim Johnston
5. ★★★★☆       Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers

February

1. ★★★★☆.5    The Matchmaker's List by Sonya Lalli
2. ★★★☆☆.75  Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith
3. ★★★★☆       The Au Pair by Emma Rous
4. ★★☆☆☆.5    Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

August

1. ★★★★☆       The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

September

1. ★★★★☆       The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
2. ★★★★☆       The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

October

1. ★★★★☆       Find You in the Dark by Nathan Ripley
2. ★★★★☆       The Homecoming by Andrew Pyper
3. ★★★★☆       The Butterfly Girl (Naomi Cottle #2) by Rene Denfield

November

1. ★★★★★       Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell
2. ★★★★★       The Tattooist of Auschwitz (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #1) by Heather Morris
3. ★★★★☆       Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

December

1. ★★★★★       Red Rising (Red Rising Saga #1) by Pierce Brown

Books read this year: 19

Review: Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell

Title: Truth and Lies (DI Amy Winter #1)

Author: Caroline Mitchell

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 348 (Paperback)

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publication date: August 30th, 2018

Synopsis from Truth and Lies' Goodreads page

Meet Amy Winter: Detective Inspector, daughter of a serial killer.

DI Amy Winter is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her highly respected police officer father. But when a letter arrives from the prison cell of Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious husband-and-wife serial-killer team, it contains a revelation that will tear her life apart.

Responsible for a string of heinous killings decades ago, Lillian is pure evil. A psychopathic murderer. And Amy’s biological mother. Now, she is ready to reveal the location of three of her victims—but only if Amy plays along with her twisted game.

While her fellow detectives frantically search for a young girl taken from her mother’s doorstep, Amy must confront her own dark past. Haunted by blurred memories of a sister who sacrificed herself to save her, Amy faces a race against time to uncover the missing bodies.

But what if, from behind bars, Grimes has been pulling the strings even tighter than Amy thought? And can she overcome her demons to prevent another murder?

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Thomas Allen & Son for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This is another psychological thriller book, however, this one is from the perspective of a cop, which I found to be different and refreshing! I don't want to give too much away about the things that happen in the beginning of the book because I don't want to spoil anything, however it dragged me right in from the beginning and I read it in one sitting!
I absolutely LOVED the suspense and the plot twists in this book - I found it to be fast paced and was taken by surprise for a fair amount of the twists and turns in the book.
I loved how the characters developed and changed throughout the book as well as how the affected and changed each other. I loved how the main character, Amy Winter, was forced to make some hard decisions, and I also enjoyed that she put others in front of herself - she is very selfless, and it made reading about what happened to her in the past as a child painful, but also very eye opening as well. Reading about what happened to her shows the reader why she is the way that she is, as well as why she makes the decisions that she does. It shows who she is, and I really enjoy books that show characters in that way, as well as books with characters that have had something bad happen to them in the past, so that the reader can see how they have overcome it as well as how it has affected them. It makes them feel more real, and I find that it is easier to connect to flawed characters than to perfect, unrealistic characters.
I also really enjoyed the setting of the book - the author did an amazing job of describing the settings, the surroundings, and the people and objects in the book. It felt like you were right there with the detectives when they were trying to find the bodies of the victims.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were flawed in ways that made them easy to connect to and felt realistic, the twists and turns kept the book interesting and fast paced, and the descriptions of the setting and people in them were very well done and made the story, and the book, more life like.
I can't wait to get my hands on the second one!

Overall - ★★★★☆

Review: Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia (ARC)

Title: Leave No Trace

Author: Mindy Mejia

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 319 (Paperback - ARC)

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Publication date: September 4th, 2018

Synopsis from Leave No Trace's Goodreads page

There is a place in Minnesota with hundreds of miles of glacial lakes and untouched forests called the Boundary Waters. Ten years ago a man and his son trekked into this wilderness and never returned.

Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were presumed dead until a decade later...the son appeared. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he was violent and uncommunicative and sent to a psychiatric facility. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with their high-profile patient. No matter how she tries, however, he refuses to answer questions about his father or the last ten years of his life

But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy who is no longer a boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world.

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I loved this book! There were so many things that I loved about it.
The main character has loads of piercings and pink hair, which I adore. You don't see colourful characters like that too often, so when I read a book with them, I get super excited about it.
The entire idea of this book is amazing as well - I love the idea of someone who had gone missing years ago randomly showing up, and they seem perfectly content with the way their life was going. It makes you think about what their life was like, what they were going through, and how they lived.
This book had a lot of very small twists and turns that came out of nowhere which I also really like. You never knew what to expect next!
The entire plot was also very well done. The writing was great, the development was wonderful, and the length of the book was perfect - sometimes thrillers are a little too long or a little too short, but I really liked the length of this one - I read it in two sittings (which is the perfect length for me!)
The ending made me feel a lot of emotions as well, both good and bad. The entire book is about the son trying to get back to his father to save him, and (no spoilers!) but it was a fulfilling, but VERY sad ending. However, I couldn't really think of ending it any other way, as the entire book was leading up to it, so I think it captured the book perfectly.

Overall - ★★★★★ 

Review: Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent (ARC)

Title: Lying in Wait

Author: Liz Nugent

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 310 (Paperback - ARC)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada

Publication date: November 27th, 2018

Synopsis from Lying in Wait's Goodreads page

The last people who expect to be meeting with a drug-addicted prostitute are a respected judge and his reclusive wife. And they certainly don't plan to kill her and bury her in their exquisite suburban garden.

Yet Andrew and Lydia Fitzsimons find themselves in this unfortunate situation.

While Lydia does all she can to protect their innocent son Laurence and their social standing, her husband begins to falls apart.

But Laurence is not as naïve as Lydia thinks. And his obsession with the dead girl's family may be the undoing of his own.

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Canada for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is not your typical psychological thriller - the book opens with the death of a character, and the description of who killed her - two of the main characters. You know who killer her throughout the entire book, and it is a description of what happens after the girl gets killed.
Most psychological thrillers are someone stalking/trying to kill someone else, and usually ends with a death, or the entire book is a mystery of who killed someone. This book is different - we already know who killed her, and it's the story of what happens after.
This book is very twisted, which seems to me to be something that Liz Nugent is known for (I've read her other book Unraveling Oliver, my review can be found here, and I found it to be just as twisted, which I also loved). I love how the plots are very dark, twisted, and sinister, and how the characters lean into that.
Her characters are also very dark - they have secret agendas, and their minds are very dark.
Another thing I really liked about this book is how we got to see a lot of flashbacks, and hear a lot about the characters lives in the past; this really helped to see how the characters have changed as well as how they have stayed the same.
Her settings are also perfect - they match the vibes of the books perfectly, and the settings really match up with the story lines. Both of the books that I have read by Liz Nugent have both had very powerful settings, and I found that the plot, characters and the overall story line itself has been impacted by the settings.
Overall - powerful, dark and sinister, this book is a great read for those dark winter nights!
Overall - ★★★★☆ 

Blog Tour: You are the Everything by Karen Rivers

Title: You Are the Everything

Author: Karen Rivers

Genre: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction

Pages: 272 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Publication date: October 30th, 2018

Synopsis from You Are the Everything's Goodreads page

Can you want something—or someone—so badly that it changes your destiny?

Elyse Schmidt never would have thought so, until it happened to her. When Elyse and her not-so-secret crush, Josh Harris, are the sole survivors of a plane crash, tragedy binds them together. It’s as if their love story is meant to be. Everything is perfect, as perfect as it can be when you’ve literally fallen out of the sky and landed hard on the side of a mountain—until suddenly it isn’t.

When the pieces of Elyse’s life stop fitting together, what’s left?

You Are the Everything is a story about the fates we yearn for, the fates we choose, and the fates that are chosen for us.

THOUGHTS

I received a free copy from Thomas Allen & Son in exchange for an honest review - thank you!

Going into this book, I was prepared for a super cute, super sweet love story, mingled with a fair amount of sadness, and I got exactly what I was expecting!
This book is about two teenagers, who are the (un)fortunate survivors of a plane crash where everyone else they are with are killed. It is about suffering, survival, pain, and most importantly, love.
This book had a good amount of super cute elements, which I was very much a fan of. I loved how much Elyse is crushing on Josh (it brought back a lot of memories from when I was in high school and felt that way about someone) and I really loved how much she loved him.
I also really enjoyed how the author was able to continually remind the reader that these two, who did survive, are struggling with it. It's not easy to survive such a traumatic experience, and it for sure is not easy to survive an experience with one other person when everyone else doesn't. I liked how the author had these two struggle with survivor's guilt, how she had them struggling with their own and each other's injuries, and how she had them trying to figure out their lives not only as teenagers, but also as people who had been through something so difficult that it changed every single thing about them as individuals, and as a team.
And the ending. OH MY GOSH the ending. No spoilers, but all I can say is that I DID NOT EXPECT THAT ENDING.
Overall - ★★★☆☆.5

About the author:
Karen Rivers' books have been nominated for a wide range of literacy awards and have been published in multiple languages. When she's not writing, reading, or visiting schools, she can usually be found hiking in the forest that flourishes behind her tiny old house in Victoria, British Columbia,, where she lives with her two kids, two dogs, and two birds. Find her online at karenrivers.com and on Twitter: @karenrivers and Goodreads

Q&A with Karen Rivers!

1. What is your favourite place to write?

I have four place in my house where I technically write: In bed, at my desk, at the dining room table, and on the couch. But most of my "writing" takes place when I walk in the woods behind my house. That's where my ideas are untangled and smooth out and become fully formed. The rest is just typing.

1. How many books do you read in a year?

Between 100 and 150. More in the summer (in vacation) and in the winter (cozy, in front of the fire!) I read every day. Best part of the day!

1. What do you hope readers will take away from You are the Everything?

I hope they know that love is always the point, in whatever form: friends, family, romantic partners. Love is the reason. <3

TOUR-WIDE GIVEAWAY
The winner will receive 1 copy of You Are the Everything (Hardcover) by Karen Rivers.
Giveaway details:

Click here to enter!

• Canada Only (full rules found in the T&C on Rafflecopter)
• Giveaway ends on Wednesday, November 28th @ 11:59 pm EST
• Winner will be drawn randomly through Rafflecopter, contacted via email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize

Get your copy today!

Indigo

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com

Review: Vengeful (Villains #2) by V. E. Schwab

Title: Vengeful (Villains #2)

Author: V.E. Schwab

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 480 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Tor

Publication date: September 25th, 2018

Synopsis from Vengeful's Goodreads page

Eli Ever and Victor Vale were only medical students when their mutual discovery that near-death experiences can, under the right conditions, manifest extraordinary abilities.

They were best friends, and rivals, and then enemies. They were dead, then alive, and then---Eli killed Victor, once and for all.

Or so he thought---but Sydney Clarke felt otherwise, and used her own superpower to tip the scales. Now, a trio hides in the shadows, while another takes advantages of post-death life to take over the city of Merit.

If there can be life after death—will there be calm after vengeance, or will chaos rule?

THOUGHTS

 Victoria Schwab has always been, and always will be, one of my all time favourite authors. That has unquestionably been cemented with this book.
I really enjoyed every single thing about this book, which isn't something I say often.
Her characters, new and old, are absolutely perfect. I loved being able to see the growth from her older characters, and being able to have new characters come in and still be able to grow as heroes and villains in such a fast-paced book.
I loved how evil her characters have become - in the first book we see two university students that unquestionably have evil in them, but they still have some good at heart. I loved seeing how them, and other characters, grew into more evil, more dark characters, and that made them feel even more real (even though, well, they're evil).
I also loved how this story jumped between time periods. I normally hate it when a novel does that, but honestly there is not other way that this could have worked as well as it did had that not been a part of the story. I loved being able to see so much more about these characters through looking at their backstories, and that allowed me to see them as more real (well, as real as people with ExtraOrdinary abilities can be).
I also loved the feeling of this story. It was so dark and twisted, and it was the perfect read for this time of the year. I loved the spookiness of it and the darkness that was hidden around every corner.
Another thing that V.E. Schwab does so well is pull you into a story. You can pick up one of her huge books and start reading it, and the next thing you know you've devoured the whole book and still want more (I know I BEGGED for a second book but I need a third one NOW).
Her books are so amazing, from her characters, to her settings, plot, and just everything in between. Even the words she chooses, and the way she writes, and just the feeling you get while you read her books, is absolutely amazing. Please read anything and everything by her that you can get your hands on.
Overall - ★★★★★ 
Find my review of Vicious (Villains #1) here!

Review: Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab

Title: Vicious (Villains #1)

Author: V.E. Schwab

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 368 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Tor

Publication date: September 24th, 2013

Synopsis from Vicious' Goodreads page

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. 

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

THOUGHTS

This book is one of my all time favourite books. Ever. I thought that the first time I read this book four years ago, and I still feel that it will be one of the best books I will ever read in my life.

The entire book is so well done, there is not one single thing that I would change if I had the opportunity.

Firstly, the characters. Victor Vale is so dark, evil, and malicious, but not in an evil way - if that makes sense. He doesn't want to kill people for no reason, but the viciousness (see what I did there?) does come out when they hurt him.

Victor is the type of person that when his roommate comes up with a theoretical idea that if they kill themselves in specific ways and then save themselves, they will get powers, and become ExtraOrdinary, he does it, no questions asked. He is not afraid of death, if he can get what he wants. He is so malicious and evil, but he doesn't see himself that way, and that's the thing that I love most about him. He does evil things, but he does them for the right reasons. He gets out of jail and wants to kill his old roommate - but it's not only because he has a vendetta against him - it's because that roommate is killing people and Victor knows he needs to stop that.

The other characters in this book are also so amazing, so creepy and strange, that it's impossible to not love them. They are all messed up, they all have something wrong with them, and they have all been through such horrible, awful things, that the people they've become seem reasonable when faced with their pasts. They are all amazing, and I love every single one of them.

The setting as well is perfect. There is not a lot of descriptions of places, because there are really only a few main places that this book takes place in, but they are all perfect for what is happening during that chapter, that they are all perfect.

The entire plot itself is also absolutely amazing. Everything about it is dark and vicious, and it all runs together so seamlessly. I usually am not one to like it when a book jumps back and forth between a few times, but this book could not work without it. The way this book jumps the way it does is absolutely perfect, because you find out something about the character in the present, and then we get to see the backstory and see why they are the way they are, and what made them that way.

I have nothing but praise for this book, and V.E. Schwab is honestly one of my heroes because of how much I love this book and how perfect every single thing in this book is.

Overall - ★★★★★ (the easiest 5 stars I have ever given)