Search Results for: read bait


Favorite Mystery/Thriller Tropes & Plots

Posted April 10, 2023 / Discussions, Features / 0 Comments
Favorite Mystery/Thriller Tropes & Plots

Here again with another chat about mysteries and thrillers! My new fave genre. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this category surpasses romance or contemporary fiction for me this year. Okay, maybe not, but it will definitely come closer! Some related posts for further or introductory reading – I’ve spoken about my favorite mystery/thriller reads (I still lump them together because I’m really bad at remembering the difference…) – both adult and young adult – in recent weeks. Way back in the day I also talked about some of my struggles with YA mystery/thrillers (and just had a general discussion about my favorite tropes back then). As for today, I thought I would go through some of my favorite tropes and plot points in mystery/thriller books. (Similar to my read-bait series but I’m being lazy about the formatting and just calling this a discussion 😉 lol). What are some of the keywords, plot points, and tropes in a mystery or thriller synopsis that lead me to pick the book up? Back when I posted my original discussion about YA specifically, I listed the following tropes and types of books within the genre: Historical fiction mysteries Political thrillers Disappearances Memory loss Long series of mystery novels Paranormal elements Boarding school / secret societies I think these are still fairly accurate but not a perfect representation today. For example, I couldn’t tell you the last time I read a historical mystery, paranormal mystery, or political thriller. (There are some notable exceptions like The […]

ARC Reviews: What Might Have Been and The Hookup Plan

Posted October 13, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
ARC Reviews: What Might Have Been and The Hookup Plan

I’m always, always a sucker for a “what might have been” story, where the book splits into two timelines and plays out what might happen to the MC depending on a certain decision they make. In WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN (appropriately named), Lucy has a decision to make once she abruptly quits her job. Should she STAY in her beachside hometown, live with her sister, save money, and pursue writing her novel full time? Or should she GO live with her friend in London in her spare room and take on the cushy advertising job she’s also dreamed about? Lucy runs into her ex Max, who she believed was her soulmate before he inexplicably broke up with her toward the end of college, and this spurs her decision-making. In the STAY timeline, she decided to put Max in the past and pursues the cute guy Caleb she also met the same night. The two have to work through some things, like Caleb’s pending divorce, but she finds herself very happy pursuing her writing dream and spending more time with her sister and nephew. In GO, she reconnects with Max and the two have to try to figure out how to make their relationship work once some major secrets get revealed. These books usually go one of two ways: the two timelines result in the MC ending up in the same place and/or with the same guy regardless of their decision, OR they end up in two very different places but […]

ARC Review: Nothing More to Tell

Posted August 22, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
ARC Review: Nothing More to Tell

Karen M. McManus is truly the YA mystery queen. She hasn’t let me down yet and NOTHING MORE TO TELL was no exception. With a setup that included a private school, New England town, true crime TV show, and a murdered teacher, I knew I couldn’t go wrong. Brynn returns to her old hometown of Sturgis, MA after spending a few years with her family in Chicago. She’s come back to the St. Ambrose School with a small secret: she’s interning at a hot true crime show and trying to figure out who murdered their teacher, Mr. Larkin, four years ago. She falls back in with Tripp, one of her closest friends before she left who tried to push her away; she knows he’s hiding something. Tripp, along with two popular kids Shane and Charlotte, were the ones who found Mr. Larkin dead in the woods behind the school. As I said, I really enjoyed the setup for this one. There were lots of read-bait elements for me. I had a theory from the beginning as to whodunnit (and only about a quarter of the motive) and my suspicions did get confirmed and fleshed out later on. But honestly, there are a ton of twists in this one. There are so many characters who are semi-involved with things in ways you’d never be able to predict. I finished this book as the first in my “read 7 books in 7 days” challenge I worked on this month and it was […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #332: Funny Titles

Posted March 23, 2021 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #332: Funny Titles

Funny & Punny Book Titles Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I always find books with super long names to be really funny but it’s even better when a title has a pun in it. I thought including funny and punny titles would be a good time here this week. Books I’ve Read IT’S KIND OF A CHEESY LOVE STORY may not have the funniest name, but I really enjoy how it plays into the pizza parlor setting and main focus of the book. It’s honestly not cheesy at all, compared to some romances, but I enjoy it 😉 A PHO LOVE STORY is a great pun despite the classic stretch of having “pho” sound like “faux” instead of “fuh” like it’s actually pronounced! IN A HOLIDAZE was one of my favorites last year, holiday or otherwise, and I enjoy the “holidaze” play on words (since she’s in some kind of weird Groundhog Day time loop daze). TWEET CUTE is arguably one of the best punny book titles ever, combining “meet cute” and tweet, since the two kind of meet/argue on Twitter as they fall for each other. On My TBR FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT is about a suspense novelist […]

10 May Releases for Review

Posted February 22, 2021 / Book Lists, Features / 4 Comments
10 May Releases for Review

I finally updated my review copy spreadsheet with some of the books I’ve acquired and never put in from 2020. I’ve been great about updating as things happen in 2021 too. This is my process: when I get a book approval from Netgalley, I immediately send it to my Kindle and update Goodreads shelves (“ARC Kindle” and “owned Kindle” – I know it’s not the same to have a review copy as owning the book, but the “owned” shelf represents ALL of the books I have on my Kindle, so when I need a Kindle book to read I can just select the one shelf). I then go to my 2021 Books spreadsheet and add it in the Acquired tab. And finally, go to my Database of Review Copies spreadsheet and add it in there according to the pub date. I did this the other day when I got four approvals within two days (woof) and realized I currently have TEN review copies to read that are May releases. I share my acquired books and review copies each month, but thought it would be fun to do a round-up of these books, why I’m excited, and when I think I’ll read them! Yes, part of the reason I’m posting this is to hold myself accountable to some kind of schedule to be on time with all of these. I have four publishing on the 4th, three on the 11th, one on the 18th, and two on the 25th, and technically […]

2021 Popsugar Challenge Potential TBR

Posted February 17, 2021 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments
2021 Popsugar Challenge Potential TBR

I’ve posted ideas for this challenge each year that I’ve participated in it. I’ve taken different approaches to it but it primarily serves as a jumping off point for me (and maybe others) to think of books that fit certain prompts. I tend to fill out this challenge as I go, when I read a book and then check the list to see if it fits something, but sometimes I need a little inspiration. Published in 2021 This one is honestly too easy for most people. I’m not even going to suggest any books because I’m sure the majority of people have something for this on their TBR 😉 Afrofuturist Books in this genre “addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture and science fiction” according to Wikipedia. SLAY was on my TBR already and seems to fit the prompt, per the author! I’m really excited about this one. Heart, diamond, club, spade on cover I did a whole post on hearts on book covers for the Valentines Day TTT so check that out for some heart-based image ideas. Knowing me, that’s the direction I’ll go. I’m putting THE HEART PRINCIPLE here because I missed it on my post and it’s probably the one I’m most excited about reading this year. Author with same zodiac sign as you Apparently there are a ton of great Virgo authors! I still have two books to read by Angie Thomas (featuring CONCRETE ROSE here) and a ton of Agatha Christie books […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #294: Anticipated Releases

Top Ten Tuesdays #294: Anticipated Releases

Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2020 Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I feel like so many pub dates have shifted that a lot of my books from my post for the first half of 2020 would move into this list! I’ve decided to keep this list away from those books (to highlight more), since I already posted about them. I also am going to avoid review copies AND books from my Summer TBR posts (here and here). Therefore, we’re looking at books being published between late September and December. I absolutely couldn’t put down Dear Martin when I read it so you know Dear Justyce is on my list. I hope it’s equally impactful and quick to read! I’m super excited for A Deadly Education because it sounds similar to Harry Potter with a wizarding school. Gorgeous cover too! Simmer Down focuses on the food truck scene, which is something I’m super into in general, so this will be awesome. Another fun cover too! I love books set over the course of one day, and This Is All Your Fault involves saving an indie bookstore too. Sounds right up my alley. The Truth Project is another one that drew me in because it’s a bit of Lauren-bait. DNA results come back and […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #273: Almost-Five-Star Predictions

Posted February 4, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 16 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #273: Almost-Five-Star Predictions

(ALMOST) Five Star Predictions Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. View my previous post on Five Star Predictions HERE! King of Crows / Girls with Razor Hearts / Four Days of You and Me / 10 Things I Hate About Pinky Lucky Caller / Chasing Lucky / My Calamity Jane / The Happy Ever After Playlist In Five Years / You Say It First / The Switch Up / One of Us is Next Because I’ve written about this annually for a few years now, I thought I would come up with a slight spin on the topic. I posted my 2020 Five Star Predictions already so now it’s time to predict the other books that MIGHT get five-stars from me, or will ALMOST hit five-stars. I feel like it’s hard to think of which books will be perfect, but there are plenty of books I will read this year that could hit somewhere around 4+ stars. So here we go! Layoverland by Gabby Noone | I’m a huuuge fan of any book set in purgatory or in between life and death / heaven and hell. This is an unproven author because it’s a debut, but I have a really good […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #269: Anticipated Releases

Posted January 7, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 13 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #269: Anticipated Releases

Most Anticipated Book Releases for the First Half of 2020 Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I recently made my anticipated sequels and next-in-companion-series post the other day, so today you will find ONLY standalones or series-starters for the first half of 2020. I usually also try to avoid books that I already have review copies of, but no promises if I’m THAT excited for them 😉 Throw Like a Girl by Henning | Big fan of sporty girl books, especially when football is the main topic! Infinity Son by Silvera | Adam Silvera has broken my heart in contemporary novels, so I can’t wait to see how he pulls it off in his new fantasy series! Lucky Caller by Mills | I’m a little bummed I won’t be spending my third New Years Day in a row reading an Emma Mills novel, but I’m still incredibly pumped to read this one! Her books are so wonderful. Off Script by Watson | I’m always a fan of books taking place around Hollywood and rich people. This is an Emma retelling apparently, where a teen starlet plays matchmaker to her friends. Layoverland by Noone | Another trope I’m a sucker for: purgatory! Or, the place […]

2020 Releases I Can’t Wait For

Posted October 21, 2019 / Book Lists, Features / 13 Comments
2020 Releases I Can’t Wait For

Here to fuck all of your TBRs up again, y’all! Sorry, I am definitely not sorry. We’re all in this together. I recently saw a decent amount of 2020 releases get announced and/or obtain gorgeous covers, so I thought I’d throw some of them your way. I’m only doing January for June because my list got a little out of control.   We Used to be Friends by Amy Spalding | January 2020 Synopsis excerpt: Told in dual timelines—half of the chapters moving forward in time and half moving backward—We Used to Be Friends explores the most traumatic breakup of all: that of childhood besties. This book will probably be sad and I hope not super confusing – going forward and time for some chapters and going back in time for others sounds right up my alley though! As you’ll probably hear a million times in this post, I love this cover too. Lie to Me by Kaitlin Ward | January 2020 Synopsis excerpt: Ever since Amelia woke up in the hospital, recovering from a near-death fall she has no memory of, she’s been suspicious. Her friends, family, and doctors insist it was an accident, but Amelia is sure she remembers being pushed. Then another girl is found nearby — one who fell, but didn’t survive. I’m a sucker for mysterious-accident-related-memory-loss books! I’m intrigued by the boyfriend that the other half of the synopsis mentions. I’m pretty bad about actually reading mystery books after they get put on my TBR so hopefully […]