The Broken Girls

Title: The Broken Girls
Author: Simone St. James
Genre: Thriller
Source: Ebook - Netgalley
Rating: 3 out of 5 paws




The body of a young woman was found dead at a placed called Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for troubled young women.  Rumors are that the school is haunted.  Twenty years later Fiona cannot stop thinking about the events that surround her sister's death at Idlewild Hall.  Her sister's boyfriend was convicted of murdering her, but Fiona has the feeling that something isn't right about the situation and something else had happened.  During renovations to the old school, secrets arise that may shed some light on the rumors that surround the school.  Secrets that someone meant to keep hidden.  What lies behind the walls of Idlewild Hall.

When I picked up this book, I was excited to read it.  I have never read Simone St. James' work before and this one sounded so interesting, so I dove right it.  I admit I struggled to get into the story at first, it seemed to take a while to lead up to the climactic portion of the story. I wanted to give up on the book, but am glad I didn't.

The ghost story aspect of it felt weak and didn't live up to what I was expecting from it.  I wanted more than what we were provided, and there was potential for more, but I don't think it was explored enough.  The beginning is slow going but it does pick up the pace and gets a little more interesting.  There are parts of the book where the story gets rather dark, but St. James handles this in a professional manner and makes it interesting rather than cringe-worthy.   It jumped back in time and back to the present a bit and sometimes I had a hard time following along, even though it does tell you the time frame prior to beginning that sequence.  Breaking up of these sections gave the book a sort of broken feeling.  It might have been better accomplished with Fiona finding journals or letters from each of the girls rather than flashing back to them.

There seems to be a lot of different storylines with the four girls who lived at Idlewild Hall, but there were times when I wished it would have focused on Fiona or her sister's story more and told the rest of the girls' stories through them.  Sometimes too many characters tend to take away from the story and I almost feel like that happened here with this novel as well.

I love the supernatural and ghost stories and I felt like the idea was there, the pull/lure to bring readers into it, but I wasn't all that impressed with the writing style.  I would recommend it for those who enjoy a ghost story, thriller, even mystery.  Others have enjoyed the story immensely, it just wasn't the book for me.



The Forgotten Ones

Title: The Forgotten Ones
Author: Steena Holmes
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: Ebook from Netgally
Rating: 4 out of 5 paws


 ** I received a copy of this book from Netgally in exchange for an honest review**


Elle has grown  up with only her mother, a mother who keeps things hidden from her and seems to have emotional breakdowns at the drop of a hat.  Elle fears a part of her mother exists within her.  She tries to hold on to the memories and fairy tales her mother used to tell her to help chase away the bad dreams.  When Elle discovers she grandfather is alive and on his deathbed within the hospital where she works.  Against her mother's wishes she visits him and hears his stories.  But as he tells his story, there are more questions and secrets.  As frustration builds she tries to push her mother to remember a past she dreads.  As horrible as the past was, Elle continues to listen to his stories to discover the secrets that lie deep within her family, within her.

The Forgotten Ones  is one of the most compelling novels I have read so far this year.  It is one of those novels that will break your heart and suck you into the story and refuses to let go. I was interested in the story from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down, not even to go to work.  I wanted to know more find answers the same way Elle wanted answers.  The emotions this book evoked within me hasn't happened in a long time.  This was my first novel by Steena Holmes, and my first "women's fiction" novel and I have to wonder why I haven't read Holmes before.


The book goes between David and Elle's perspectives, and at the beginning of each chapter it tells you who is thinking/speaking so you know how's mind we are in each time.  This gives the reader the ability to get insight on both characters and their emotions and feelings.  While the past David talks about is haunting and chilling, it is beautifully written in a way that brings tears to your eyes.  He peels back the layers of family drama, but he reveals to Charlie it is only 1 aspect of the family's past he is revealing.  So I have to wonder...is there more?  What else could have happened in this family with Gertie's mental health and Anna Marie?


I don't know if you would say the story was fast paced, nor was it slow.  It progressed at a sensible rate, I just read it fast.  I devoured it as the suspense at finding out the deep family secret was killing me. I was getting frustrated that no one was giving Elle the answers she so desperately needed.  I thought I had one detail of the book figured out, but it appears I may have been wrong, I am not sure, I will have to go back to read the ending again to be sure.


I fell in love with this book, I find it difficult to put into words how wonderful this book was.  I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys women's literature, family secrets, and a good suspenseful tale.  I loved it.

Dead Girls

Title: Dead Girls
Author: Graeme Cameron
Genre: Mystery
Source: Netgalley ebook
Rating: 3 out of 5 paws


Two months have past since detective Alisha Green was left for dead by a serial killer.  Her mind no longer feels like it is her own.  While the killer thinks she is just another dead girl on his list, Ali is determined to show him that he did not destroy her.  But now she not only has to fight with the man who attempted to kill her, but she also has to fend off her failing memory. As new evidence arises, everything seems to be compromised now and Ali begins to question herself and her memory.  She must force herself to remember the horrors she went through in order to catch this killer.

 **As mentioned earlier, I received a copy of this book for an honest review from Netgalley and the Publishers**


Everything about this book promotes and screams chilling tale.  Gripping and suspenseful, the cover art is what originally drew me into the story and made me want to read it to see what will happen within this tale.  When I read the synopsis, I thought it would be a book right up my alley lately, but it seemed to fall a little flat for me.  I am not 100% sure why it seemed to fall flat for me but unfortunately it did.  I wasn't able to get into it as much as I had hoped I would.


The book starts out fast, right into the action.  Normally this is a good thing, but I didn't feel like I was able to get to know the character well enough before being thrown into the mix of things.  I like a little bit of complexity of my characters before we are thrown into the story without fully knowing her background.  It gives the feel of not having enough time to know everything or everyone that is related to the story.  This makes it harder to really get engrossed in the story, because sometimes readers will have to go back a few pages just to be able to understand what is happening.


After a while characters began to run together and I lost track of who was who, I struggled to understand what was happening in the story, and I felt so disconnected from the story.  I like a story that compels me to read more, one with depth to the characters.  I expected more from Ali, more depth as she struggled with her self and what was real or imagined.  It felt disorganized and choppy as it jumped from one scene to another without much of a smooth transition.


While it felt well written the novel just fell short of my expectations.  There is too much going on and too many characters in the story to keep my interest going beyond wanting to finish the book. While I may not have been a fan other mystery/thriller/suspense fans might enjoy this novel.

Dead Fish

Title: Dead Fish
Author: Ruth Carrington
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Source; Ebook via Netgalley
Rating: 2 out of 5 paws




Upon arriving home, Geoffrey Quinn is immediately arrested on the murder of his wife and children  His wife was found burned in the boiler, the children remain missing.  Alison Hope is a young defender assigned to the case, she is skeptical about his innocence as the evidence is compelling.  As she continues to investigate the crime, she discovers a darker world within the wealthy in the community.  Time is running out fast and Alison must unravel the mystery before it is too late and Quinn is convicted of a crime he didn't commit.

I had such high hopes for this novel, and sadly was disappointed.  Not only does the story come off as cliché, it isn't compelling enough to keep me engaged.  I found it difficult to finish the novel and almost didn't on several occasions.  There are some interesting ideas throughout the novel, but they were not portrayed in a good manner.


The flow of the story was rather choppy, it would be fast paced and exciting one minute then sluggish and slow the next.  I struggled to stay interested in the characters as they seem too ordinary, there was nothing that made me relate to them or feel any emotion towards them.  I think if Carrington went back through and added more depth to the characters this would be a different story.  It honestly does start off well, but then slowly drops off and declines.  There was a lot of different vices used throughout such as alcohol, drugs, sex etc, I understand that was the point, but it came to feel like it was a bit too much, too difficult to keep track and interested.  There were WAAY to many red herrings, and I began to wonder when we were going to get to the point of the tale.


Overall it was an interesting idea, granted one done before but I had hoped Carrington would do it differently, add a unique twist to it that made me go "WOW" unfortunately that did not happen.  While I think there are people who would enjoy this novel and would recommend other readers to give it a shot and see it fairs with them.  It just was not my cup of tea.




** I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest review**

The Bone Curse

Title: The Bone Curse
Author: Carrie Rubin
Genre: Thriller, Supernatural, Medical
Source: eBook via Netgalley
Rating: 3 out of 5

While in the catacombs in Paris, med student Ben Oris gets cut by a old bone .  His friend Laurette feels there is danger and evil lingering in his blood because the wound will not heal.  She believes he is cursed.  Ben scoffs at the idea of a curse and heads home to resume his life as normal.  When people in his life are suddenly falling gravely, terminally ill Ben begins to wonder if there is some truth to Laurette's fears.  He agrees to meet with Laurette's friends and family who practice Vodu (not to be confused with Vodoo) to find a cure for the disease he unwittingly has unleashed.  All the while he must fend off a dark priest who wants to use Ben's blood for his own evil purposes.

I will start this off with that I received this novel from Netgalley for an honest review.  That being said the cover and synopsis drew me into the story.  The occult is something that I find interesting and fascinating  and Carrie Rubin does a good job at bringing it alive in her novel.  You honestly don't know what you are getting into when you begin this book.

What i liked about this book is that it dealt with something a little different from somethings I have read in the past.  When Voodoo is mentioned in novels is portrayed in a specific way, Carrie Rubin does it differently and makes it a point to have Laurette express the difference between Voodoo and Vodou and the spiritual aspect of it.  When Laurette expressed her fears about the curse, the reader feels that fears. I found it interesting that it seemed the book was portraying the idea that the search of knowledge does not being with what you do or don't know but what you are willing to accept.  Until Ben was willing to accept the idea of a curse and Vodou was he able to appropriately begin his search for answers.

The story takes a little while to develop as it takes a while for Ben to come to terms with the idea of the occult and the possibility that curses exist.  Carrie Rubin does a great job at bringing his skeptism alive as he searches for medical answers to why his cut won't heal, or why people in his life are conveniently become ill with a mysterious disease.  The characters are interesting enough, but I am not sure if there is much character development within them.  They appear to be somewhat of one dimensional, but then again the focus of the novel is on the curse not so much the characters themselves.  Almost as if the curse itself was a character.  

It is one of those books that pulls you into the story and makes you wonder where the story is headed and what roles certain elements will play later in the novel. If you are looking for something a little different than the normal, something that goes outside the typical subject of the occult then pick this book up.  If you enjoy medical thrillers, then give this one a shot.

Wicked River

Title: Wicked River
Author: Jenny Milchman
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Source: Kindle Ebook from NetGalley
Rating: 2 out of 5 paws


Natalie and Doug have just gotten married and are spending their honeymoon in the Adirondack mountains.  This is a chance for them to start a new life together, to become something new.  They begin to explore their own hearts and dive deeper than they ever have before.  But the couple learn quickly that they are not alone.  Something or someone more sinister lurks between the trees.  The mountains are a beautiful place to be, but also a place where someone can hide, or for someone to go missing without a trace.  Someone watches them, waiting for them to come closer.  Then he will ensure they never make it out of the mountains again.

I couldn't be more excited to have received this book from the kind publishers and those at NetGalley for an honest review. I am always excited to find new authors and potential find something out of my normal read.  That was my hope with this novel.  The synopsis makes it sound so thrilling and exciting to read, sadly it missed the mark.


From the beginning readers will see the sentence structure is a little different than what we may be used to with sentences like the first one "Twigs and branches tore at her arms like razor wire, so fast she was running."  The second part of that sentence is what made me stumble a little bit, but the structure does get easier to read.  Also some of the vocabulary makes it feel like the author is trying to hard at something.  Some of the words in the first few pages I had to look up because I never seen them used before like "fleeter" which she could have used something more common like "nimble". 


The story takes a very long time to develop and the characters weren't all that interesting aside from Mia, but she's a secondary character.  The idea for the story is interesting in itself, but I don't think Michman executed as effectively as she could have.  About 8-9 chapters in and readers are still basically at base camp of the story, and find themselves wondering when will the action begin.  It almost feels like you are pushing yourself to read more just to get to "the good part."


I wanted to enjoy this book so much, but I was really disappointed in it.  The excessive use of uncommon vocabulary was rough, but you get used to it, the drab characters happen sometimes, as so the slow moving story, but all of it mixed together makes for a book that is really difficult to finish.  I don't think I would recommend this book.