Hello friends and happy Monday. I had a really great weekend and I am gearing up for a very busy week. I have deadlines on deadlines at work, as well as some fun social plans, like going to see Ocean’s 8 with my girlfriends and watching the season premiere of Big Brother with my mom. Don’t you worry, though. I’ll be sneaking in as much reading time as possible. 🙂
Last week, I finished three books, but I’m only going to be talking about two here. The third one, A Storied Life, will get its own review on Wednesday, so stay tuned for that!
Books Finished
Title: Running Blind
Author: Cindy Gerard
Format: Library e-book
Published: 2015
Rating: ★★★★☆
Plot Summary: When Jamie and Rhonda are tasked to take on a high-stakes security mission together, the sexual tension that has been brewing between them becomes too much to resist.
My Thoughts: This wasn’t my favorite book by Gerard because it got off to a slow start and I wasn’t quite sure if I even liked either hero at first. There was this distance between me and them, so it was hard to really grasp their internal motivations. And the first 50% of the book was pretty slow, which is unusual for a Gerard book. Her books are usually pretty fast-paced from beginning to end, but for the first half of the book, I really didn’t know where it was going. When the book finally picked up, however, it didn’t slow down at all and I couldn’t put the book down for anything. I wish the book had had a bit more character development, but all in all, a pretty good romantic suspense novel.
Title: Final Girls
Author: Riley Sager
Format: Library audiobook
Published: 2017
Rating: ★★★★★
Plot Summary: Quincy is the sole survivor of a brutal massacre that happened while on vacation with friends when she was in college, and as such, she becomes a final girl. She becomes a media sensation, just like the two final girls before her – Lisa, who survived a massacre at a sorority house, and Sam, who survived a massacre during her shift at the Nightlight Inn. Quincy has built a life for herself in the ten years since, but then Lisa turns up dead and Sam shows up at her home. Sam is a force to be reckoned with, demanding Quincy relive that frightful night and spilling out so many truths and lies that Quincy doesn’t know what to believe anymore. Or if her memory of the night a decade ago is even real.
My Thoughts: Oh boy, oh boy. I loved this thriller so damn much! I don’t think I’ve been so shocked by the twists and turns a book has taken in a long, long time and I can tell you that Riley Sager knows how to deftly craft an incredibly complex novel. I listened to this book on audio and it was perfect. I never wanted to stop listening because I never knew what was going to happen next, which is the true sign of a great book because I can usually stop and start audiobooks easily. I loved Quincy and Sam’s push/pull dynamic because I honestly never knew who was telling the truth or what to believe. Highly recommend!
What I’m Reading This Week
- 1984 by George Orwell – I have about 150 pages left of this classic sci-fi novel and I think the reason I am loving it so much is that it feels so terrifyingly real. I have highlighted so many passages that resonate with me, solely based on what has been happening in politics ever since the worst human became president.
- Fool Me Once by Katee Robert – When I need a break from 1984, I’m reaching for this sweet contemporary romance. It’s a short book (under 200 pages) and not particularly well-written, but it’s a nice palate cleanser.
- The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang – Once I finished 1984, I’m going to start the book I picked out from June’s Book of the Month (<– affiliate link) selections. I am so excited to dive into this one!
What are you reading?
Have you read Handmaids Tale or Brave New World? If you like freaky as fuck dystopian novels, they are good ones. 😉
Haha! I have read The Handmaid’s Tale, but not Brave New World. I’ll have to add that one to my list!
The Kiss Quotient is on my TBR list too! Can’t wait to read it since it’s such an underrepresented perspective. Right now I’m reading this random book I found on Overdrive called ‘A Man of Character,’ in which a woman discovers that the men in romance stories she wrote as a teen have come to life and are pursuing her. Nothing special, but it’s very cute!
I hope you love The Kiss Quotient. It was such a cute and fun read, and I really love the perspective of a woman on the autism spectrum. That’s just not a perspective we get to read about enough!
I loved Final Girls & am on the library waitlist for all of Riley Sager’s other books!
Final Girls sounds like something I would like! I put it on hold at the library 🙂
I just finished California (and liked it!) and started Deena Kastor’s book, Let Your Mind Run.
So glad you loved Final Girls as much as I did! Can’t wait for his new book next month. I was shocked to find out that the author is a man!
We talked about The Kiss Quotient at book club tonight as one girl got it from BOTM. It sounds good!
I’m reading ‘The Emsemble’. It’s a new release debut novel that has gotten a lot of buzz. It’s about the lives of the members of a string quartet. It’s kind of a coming of age story. It’s been a fast read but I don’t know that I am loving it as much as others who raved about it…
Adding Final Girls to be to-read list!
I also just read Half-Broke Horses after you suggested it and it was really, really good.
I am adding Final Girls to my to-read list 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation.