Bibliophile Amber's Book Reviews

Title: The Secret Next Door  Author: Rebecca Taylor  Expected Publication: November 9,2021  Publisher: Source Books, RB Media  Genre: Mystery/Thriller  Pages: 352 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  Think about looking for the perfect home in the highest-rated school district. However, on the outside, while everything looks perfect and collected the other side of the grass is not always greener. Alyson is trying to give her son a life she didn't have: a stable home, a loving home, and a great school in a safe neighborhood. Alyson is trying to fit in in this neighborhood, while she has made one friend in the neighborhood she really wants to be in with the crowd. When Alyson was invited to the neighborhood book club, while trying to fit in with the club she wakes up the next morning with a hangover hugging her toilet. Later that morning while walking her son to school they notice an abundance of medical vehicles over by the lake, and later found out...

Title: My Mother, Munchausen's and Me Author: Helen Naylor  Expected Publication: November 25, 2021 Publisher: Thread Books  Genre: Non-Fiction/ Memoir/ Biography  Pages: 276 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  Wow! This is a crazy story and with Munchausen's becoming a popular topic ever since the Gypsy Rose case I knew I had to read this book! I was not disappointed at how this book was written, my heart is full of sorrow for the author because of everything she went through! The author starts off with when she was a child and the passive-aggressive side of her mother with her, and how she was basically left to fend for herself growing up because her mother needed her to sleep in the afternoon. Then when Helen overhears a conversation between her mother and one of her mother's friends about her father may die at any moment, her mother unknowingly gave her this complex that if her father was gone she would have to take care of her. As time went on Helen di...

Title: The Sorority Murder  Author: Allison Brennan  Expected Publication: December 28, 2021 Publisher: Mira/ Harlequin Trade Publishing  Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense  Pages: 448 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  So I am a huge true-crime podcast lover and these books that use a podcast as a way to work through the story and crime I am really enjoying! Let's start at the beginning. A very popular Sorority girl is murdered. Candace was at a sorority house party and when she left that night she was never seen alive again. Two weeks after that night her body was found. That was three years ago, now her murder is a cold case. Lucas is a forensics major and he is interning at the medical examiner's office. He is also obsessed with Candance's murder. While originally the suspect was a homeless drunk man he has not been seen since her murder, so that is kind of a dead-end there. While interning at the medical examiner's office Lucas finds some new infor...

Title: The Ex Hex  Author: Erin Sterling  Published: September 28, 2021  Published by: Avon & BOTM  Genre: Romance/ Fantasy  Pages: 320 pages Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  I kept hearing about this one and when BOTM offered it I had to grab it! I enjoyed that this was a second chance trope with the magical aspect. Vivienne had her heartbroken by Rhys when she was 19. With her cousin, while she was nursing her broken heart she half-heartedly cursed Rhys while she was nursing her broken heart. Nine years later Rhys returned to the hometown for an annual fall festival, to help recharge the town's ley lines, and while all that goes completely wrong! It as this moment that Vivi realizes that maybe her half-hearted hex actually worked. Now, Rhys and Vivi team up to try to break the Hex along with all the chaos that the hex has caused. I enjoyed this read and it was a fast funny read but there are definitely some heated moments. While I am not normally a R...

Title: The Only Good Indians  Author: Stephen Graham Jones  Published: July 14, 2020  Published by: Sega Press/Gallery Books  Genre: Horror/ Thriller  Pages: 310 Pages Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  So this definitely was not what I expected but I enjoyed it! A classic horror tale that follows four men after an incident where they went hunting and they killed a pregnant elk doe. First, we start off with Luis, who lived on the Rez for a long time. Luis had it all the beautiful wife, the great career, and a home. While it seems he has it all he seems to keep either having hallucinations or the spirit of the pregnant elk doe in his house. Then, his pet dog died and he was convinced it was the elk that had something to do with his dog's death. While slowly he's losing his mind and eventually commits murder, this is a slasher book at its finest. Then we get a chance of POV with the other guys on that hunting trip, it gets creepier and gory. This is a great ho...

Title: A Flicker In The Dark  Author: Stacy Willingham  Expected Publication: January 11, 2022  Publisher: Minotaur Books Genre: Mystery/ Thriller  Pages: 368 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  Edge of your seat thriller! Let's start with the background. When Chloe was twelve six teenage girls disappeared, and by the end of that summer, her own father was arrested. He was tried and convicted of being a serial killer. This of course was a difficult time for Chloe and her family to have to face what happened and to deal with the aftermath. Now skip 20 years later and Chloe is a psychologist at a private firm, while she seems to be having a few issues like getting a prescription under her significant others name. Along with getting ready for her own wedding, she seems like she's having anxiety and pressure about it all. Then another teenager goes missing and brings back all the memories and feelings about what happened 20 years earlier. I enjoyed this no...

Title: Killing November  Author: Adriana Mather  Published: March 26, 2019 Published by: Knopf Books  Genre: Mystery/Young Adult/ Thriller  Pages: 368 pages Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  Wow! I enjoyed this one definitely something different! I haven't read anything like this before but oh man once I started this book I literally couldn't put it down! This book has murder, romantic interest, and action! It has it all! November is sent to a secret society-type boarding school after her dad said that her aunt was in trouble, but this is not your average school with average classes. There are classes from archery and poison to dagger throwing. So while November is completely in the dark, one of the rules of the school is that you cannot tell personal information. November is trying to figure out the rules and everything, she sneaks out one night to meet with Ash, to learn more about the history of the families. While sneaking back to her room she stumbled upon ...

Title: The Resting Place  Author: Camilla Sten  Expected Publication: March 29, 2022 Publisher: Minotaur Books Genre: Mystery/Thriller/ Horror  Pages: 336 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  This is the second novel that I have read by this author and she has a way of making slow creepy thrillers that are soo close to horror it's not even funny! When Eleanor walked in on her grandmother's murder she came face to face with her killer but, she has prosopagnosia, so she couldn't recognize the killer. (Prosopagnosia is a disorder where a person can not recognize faces) Knowing she came face to face with the killer or whether the killer would return haunts her dreams and makes her kind of paranoid. So when the lawyer calls telling Eleanor that her grandmother had left her a house a house tucked away in the woods. When they first arrive at the house while all the furniture is antique the house is in pristine condition, clean, and everything. Slowly while they are...

Title: The Ickabog  Author: J.K. Rowling  Published: November 10,2020 Published by: Little Brown Books Genre: Fantasy/Children's/ Fairytale  Pages: 290 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  I loved it! It was a cute fairytale type of book! I've always been a fan of J.K. Rowling, this book is soo cute!  While this is supposed to be a children's book I definitely enjoyed it! This book is about Cornucopia a place in an abundance of gold and good food.  However, there have always been whispers of the Ickabog, a monster that lurks around and is often used as a cautionary tale to keep kids behaving. The whispers go from a monster that breathes fire to roaring in the mist sneaking its meals of stolen sheep and children. Now,  when the King's best friends realize the power the tale has over the people they use it to their advantage after the King actually sees the Ickabog.  They use the power of the fear of the people to raise taxes and falsely t...

Title: The Night She Disappeared  Author: Lisa Jewell  Published: September 7, 2021  Published by: Atria Books/ Book Of The Month  Genre: Mystery/ Thriller  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pages: 401 pages  Review:  This is an edge-of-your-seat thriller! I enjoyed it immensely, so much I couldn't put it down! The story goes back and forward between 2017 and 2019. In 2017 Tallulah is a teenage mother, living with her boyfriend and mother. She goes out one night and neither she nor her boyfriend return home. Kim(Tallulah's mother) never gives up and tries to keep the search up for her daughter and boyfriend even though there are no leads and the last place they were seen everything doesn't add up. In 2019 Kim is still looking for her daughter and trying to find clues or anything to go on to keep the investigation alive! Sofie is new to the town after her boyfriend took a position at the school and she is also an author. While she is getting involved and trying ...

Title: Rock Paper Scissors  Author: Alice Feeney  Published: September 7,2021  Published by: Flatiron Books/ BOTM  Genre: Mystery/Thriller  Pages: 295 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  So Alice Feeney has a magical way of writing thrillers where the pages turn themselves and you are soo hooked that you will sit down just to start the novel and 3 hours later you finished it! Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been having issues for a while, Adam and Amelia are taking a trip they won to Scotland. After ten years of marriage all the secrets, lies and tricks are coming into the light.  This weekend is the one thing that will make or break their marriage either they will reconnect or they will end their marriage.  Adam has a medical disorder where they can't recognize anyone's face. Although once they get to the place where they are supposed to stay the doors are locked and then once they made a once around the doors were open. While they warmed up s...

Title: The Chain  Author: Adrian McKinty  Published: July 9, 2019  Published by: Mulholland Books Genre: Mystery/Thriller/ Suspense  Pages: 357.pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  Wow! This book was intense! Rachel dropped her daughter Kylie off at the bus stop for school and headed her on her way to start her day with her doctor's appointment. Everything seemed like a normal day until she received a phone call on her cell from an unknown caller. That moment is when her life changed forever! The unknown caller tells Rachel that they have kidnapped her daughter and that she must continue on the chain or they will have to kill Kylie. Rachel must pay a ransom (that's the easy part) but she must also find another child to kidnap to continue the chain. Now, this chain is not something that they can easily get out of. The victims, the parents, must turn into criminals and kidnap someone else's child and with this the person running the chain is making a lot ...

Title: We Were Never Here  Author: Andrea Bartz Published: August 3, 2021  Publisher: Ballantine Books  Genre: thriller/mystery  Pages: 304 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  Emily has had a bumpy relationship with Kristen especially after their last trip but determined to smooth over the relationship they decide to take a holiday together in Chile. The best friends for over ten years were having the time of their life until one night Emily comes back to their hotel suite covered in blood. Kristen makes up a story and Emily helps her hide and bury the body. Coming back home Emily tries to put some space between her and Kristen, but Kristen is determined to keep her close and she even hijacks Emily's birthday weekend she had planned with her boyfriend. Now this story has twists and turns and it's definitely a crazy tale! This is definitely a story about what happens when your friend or who you thought was your friend decides to manipulate and twist and...

Title: Daughter  Author: Kate McLaughlin  Expected Publication: March 8, 2022 Publisher: Wednesday Books  Genre: Young Adult/ Thriller/ Mystery  Pages: 336 pages Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  This was definitely a different type of book, it has a very unique storyline. I don't think that I have ever read a book quite like this one but, it was worth a read! Scarlet is your atypical teenager, she is being raised by her really helicopter/overprotective mom. While Scarlet seems to be your regular teenager with regular problems her mother has been keeping a very big secret away from her! Scarlet finds out the reason for her mother's overprotectiveness when the FBI shows up at her house, and Scarlet finds out her father is a notorious serial killer and he is losing his battle with cancer. To make things more challenging about turning the life of Scarlet, since her father is losing his battle with cancer he has agreed to tell the names of his victims only to his da...

Title: Flamer  Author: Mike Curato  Published: September 1,2020 Publisher: Henry Holt/ Co. BYR Paperbacks  Genre: LGBT/ Graphic Novel  Pages: 368 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  Wow! The message in this graphic novel is phenomenal! While I am not the intended audience this book is amazing, it shares the inner thoughts of a kid who is kind of in denial about being homosexual. His surroundings and religion have him in the thoughts that there is something wrong with him and he is wrong for who he is. There is also apprehension about starting high school, which is a totally normal thing. This book is brutally honest and written very well. It's one of those books that you wish would find its way into the kid's hands or adults' hands that need it. The message is very powerful and it's great, there is nothing wrong with you and you are enough!   I definitely recommend this book! While there are some difficult parts to read along with a lot of bullyi...

Title: The Midnight Man  Author: Caroline Mitchell  Expected Publication: October 13, 2021 Publisher: Embla Books  Genre: Mystery/ Thriller/ Horror Pages: 311 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐  Review:  This is the first book I've read by this author but it started off with a bang! It is a totally Amytiville Horror and Urban legend type of book with all the suspenseful feels! Starting off with a bang! "If you open your door to the Midnight Man Hide with a candle where ever you can Try not to scream as he draws near Because one of you won't be leaving here" One Halloween night after trick or treating a father goes on a murderous rampage killing the whole family. Fast forward to where the small town is shaken to its core when a group of 5 girls goes into the Blackhall Manor on Halloween to play the Midnight Man.  However, while 5 girls went in only 4 girls came out and now Detective Sarah Noble has to find out what happened. While the characters are all su...

Title: I Know Who You Are   Author: Alice Feeney  Published: April 23, 2019 Publisher: Flat Iron Books Genre: Mystery/ Thriller/ Suspense  Pages: 288 pages  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review:  So this is a novel that I kept seeing and I knew I wanted to read it but I just never got around to it until I did! Aimee Sinclair is an actress that everyone knows but they just can't pinpoint where they know her from. That is part of her actress charm! So while filming a new movie Aimee comes to the realization that her husband has just disappeared and while she files the police report about the whole incident one of the investigators is completely convinced that she had something to do with it. While all this is going on there are flashbacks to when Aimee was a kid, when she was basically kidnapped and how everything went when she was a kid. Now that on its own is something crazy! The whole ordeal and the twist and the turns give a complete shock at the end that I co...