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OutsmartYourShelf
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Mehso-so

Hannah has some misgivings as she leaves for a luxury weekend away with her husband, her brother Mako & his wife, & best friend Cricket & new squeeze. As the six friends arrive, the weather changes & the group are stuck in the isolated cabin. Furthermore there's something a bit off with their rental owner & the house has a tragic backstory. As the weather cools outside, inside tempers heat up, & it seems someone has a deadly agenda. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf This author's books seem to be a bit hit & miss for me: I really liked Under My Skin but wasn't keen on Last Girl Ghosted. This one sits in the middle, it's quite good but I didn't really like it much. The characters are necessarily mostly unlikeable & the reader experiences most events through Hannah's eyes but the second strand of the story which is told by a character called Henry takes you out of the secret-filled cabin which dilutes the 14mo
OutsmartYourShelf tension. The stories do eventually dovetail but it only partly works. 3⭐

TWs: self-harm, infidelity, miscarriage, drug use, violence, animal cruelty/death.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4804684971
Read 27th-30th Oct 2023

Readathons 600 pts
Post 1pt
Words 2370 pts
Genre 10 pts

Total 2981 pts

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14mo
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30 likes7 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Mehso-so

Following the loss of a lucrative contract due to internal rivalries, a group of seven feuding office workers are sent on a team-building weekend by their boss. On the way there the private plane develops engine trouble & the group wake up marooned on a deserted tropical island. There the rivalries become magnified as the group struggle to locate water, food, & shelter plus look for a way off the island.
(Continued)

OutsmartYourShelf The synopsis to this sounded great but it never really got going for me. The tensions were pretty petty & became annoying really quickly. It's quite a short book at just over 200 pages & I think the characters weren't really given time to develop so the reader isn't really invested in what happens to them & the conclusion was very quick. It was OK but I think many things could have been improved on if it had been slightly longer. 3⭐ (edited) 14mo
OutsmartYourShelf My thanks to #NetGalley & publisher, BooksGoSocial, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5876804406
Read: 27th Oct 2023

Readathons 192 pts
Post 1pt
Words 290 pts
Genre 10 pts

Total 493 pts

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14mo
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DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 14mo
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27 likes7 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
The Dark | Linda Cargill
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Panpan

Bianca wakes up in hospital & is confused as to how she got there. She is told that she was babysitting, someone broke in & killed the maid, Mrs Ingersoll, & tried to kidnap baby Katie. Bianca grabbed Katie & ran to get help but can't remember any of this. Now she is terrified of the dark but when her memory starts to return, the killer is worried that Bianca will be able to identify them & decides to shut her up for good. (Continued)

OutsmartYourShelf I think this is possibly the worst book in the Point Horror series. I've read most of them & I can't remember another that made me want to speedread through it like this did. Almost no characterisation, everyone was really shouty, prone to sudden violence, & really weird. Very much doubt I will bother with the sequel. 1⭐

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5937920166
Read 28th - 29th Oct 2023

14mo
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review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Panpan

Maddie has had an inkling she may be a witch since she was little. She is able to see people's short-term future in a cup of coffee & she is shocked to see that one of the visitors to her coffee truck has a meeting with the grim reaper very soon. Colleague Suzanne talks her into warning customer, Joan, of her impending demise but they can't track her down. The next day they find out that Joan was found dead that morning so decide to investigate.

OutsmartYourShelf Now I wasn't expecting this to be Agatha Christie, but come on. The plot was far too simple & you can work out the killer in oh about three seconds. There was very little peril apart from a half-hearted warning note to stop investigating, & finally, the guilty party is caught in a flimsy lie & suddenly they're admitting to everything like Wonder Woman put the Lasso of Truth on them - not even to the police detective but a barista with no evidence. 14mo
OutsmartYourShelf Overall it's too cheesy even for me & the plot is way too obvious. If you like undemanding kinda twee cozy mysteries then you might like this. Best character - Trixie the persian cat. 2⭐

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4835342473
Read 28th Oct 2023

Readathons 160 pts
Post 1pt
Words 450 pts
Genre 20 pts

Total 631 pts

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28 likes7 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Pickpick

1889 & it's the day of Kitty Gray's marriage to business owner Charles Maclean. Kitty wanted to attend university & become a doctor but her mother vetoes that & Kitty found herself hurriedly engaged to Charles. Things soon go sour & Kitty finds herself exiled to her husband's holiday home, Ardbray House, in the Scottish Highlands. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise as Kitty involves herself in the world of herbal medicine. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf 2003 - Greer has been the caretaker at Ardbray House for as long as she can remember & her mother & grandmother were caretakers before her. She despairs of a new owner ever being found, when Caitlin Black, a young American woman looks around & decides she wants to restore it including the gardens. As the two women look into the history of the house & its former occupants, a double tragedy is uncovered. 14mo
OutsmartYourShelf I wasn't sure what to expect but this is a wonderful historical fiction read. It deals with some heavy subjects including the place of women in Victorian society, child death, & sexual assault but they are dealt with in a sensitive way. Kitty's story is by far the most interesting & I loved her as a main character. Greer was a little harder to like, she's more of a 'spiky' personality & it takes a while to warm to her. 14mo
OutsmartYourShelf The book also had a slightly paranormal edge with the appearance of a ghost or two. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a paranormal edge. 4.5🌟

TWs: child death, sexual assault, misogyny, suicide.

My thanks to #NetGalley & publisher, Storm Publishing, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5813770173
Read 20th-24th Oct 2023
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review
OutsmartYourShelf
The Twelve Days of Murder | Andreina Cordani
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Pickpick

A group of friends from university days are invited to a Christmas Masquerade murder mystery break at a remote hunting lodge. At the last one, the 'victim' disappeared from a locked room & was never seen again. This time it is based around the song 'Twelve Days of Christmas', i.e. Lord Leapworth. As the game begins, past secrets are revealed & friendships are strained until on Christmas morning, Lady Partridge is found hanging from a pear tree.

OutsmartYourShelf The present narrative is told from the point of view of Charley, the outsider in the group of friends. Charley came from a working class background whilst all the others were from rich families & she was treated rather badly by most of the group. Even in the Christmas Masquerade she is playing 'Miss Colly', the only servant in the game & her costumes are dull & boring. 1y
OutsmartYourShelf The reader gets some background from chapters set twelve years ago one from each of the friend group & as their secrets are gradually revealed you see that none of them are particularly nice people . I did actually guess the guilty party but not the whole reason. I thought it was a diverting, entertaining read & if you like 'locked room' murder mysteries I would recommend this one. 4🌟
1y
OutsmartYourShelf My thanks to #NetGalley & publisher, Bonnier Books/Zaffre, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5641748023
Read 17th-20th Oct 2023

Readathons 585 pts
Post 1pt
Words 2310 pts
Genre 10 pts

Total 2906 pts

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(edited) 1y
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26 likes7 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Pickpick

The third book sees Harry, Hermione, & Ron about to start their third year at Hogwarts. On the way there they encounter Professor Lupin, their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, when a Dementor, one of the feared guardians of Azkaban searches the train. Harry seems to be the worst affected of anyone. It seems that a prisoner named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban & is after Harry to take his revenge for what happened to (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named & the Dementors will be a fixture around the school for a while. The story also takes in werewolves, secret maps, animagi, the trial of Buckbeak, & Gryffindor's quest to win the Quidditch Cup.

This is a re-read & my original rating of 4 stars stands. I'm not a big fan of the Buckbeak storyline in general (Buckbeak is fine, it's the whole 'animal in peril' thing) & I don't particularly like Professor Trelawney
1y
OutsmartYourShelf (I agree with Hermione's assessment here). On the plus side, there's Quidditch, the Marauders' Map, & the introduction of characters (Lupin, Black, etc) who will appear in further books on the side of either good or evil. It's not my favourite of the series but it's still good. 4🌟

Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/747560089
Read 14th-19th Oct 2023

1y
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TheSpineView Fantastic!🖤🪄 1y
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33 likes8 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
When Ghosts Call Us Home | Katya de Becerra
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Pickpick

Sophia Galich was twelve when she starred in her older sister Layla‘s amateur horror movie 'Vermillion' filmed in the house their parents were renovating. Originally owned by a rich couple who held wild parties & seances until the tragic death of the wife, it stood empty for years before the Galich family moved in to renovate it. The movie gained a cult following online alongside a website which people use to travel 'The Path'. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf Layla disappeared two years ago & it seems that she was still obsessed with Cashore & Vermillion & the last known sighting of her was at the house. Now seventeen, Sophia agrees to star in a remake being filmed at Cashore in the hope that this will lead her to the truth of what happened to Layla.

This had a slow start but once it got going it was a good read. The narrative is told from Sophia's point of view mostly in the present,
1y
OutsmartYourShelf although the reader experiences Sophia's returning memories as she starts to film the remake. Suspicious of everyone & their motives, including Arthur the director's son, as they start to film scenes Sophia starts to remember more of what happened five years before & realises her sister wasn't telling her the complete truth. She also realises that she is now travelling The Path - but what or who is at the end? 1y
OutsmartYourShelf It wasn't terrifying but it was a spooky unsettling read. 3.5🌟

My thanks to #NetGalley & publisher, Macmillan Children's Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5761905163
Read 13th-17th Oct 2023

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1y
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review
OutsmartYourShelf
My Brother's Keeper | Tim Powers
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Pickpick

The Brontes & werewolves - even before starting it, I knew this would be either a triumph or a disaster. It's definitely going to polarise opinion as it's a required taste, but I loved it. I particularly like the way that the author wove actual events into the supernatural narrative, such as when Branwell paints over himself in the portrait of himself & his three sisters. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf Branwell comes off the worst here as he comes across as petulant, cowardly, & self-centered & I really didn't like him. The others were as you would expect & I felt the author got Emily's character just right. Read it with no preconceptions & no expectations of what a book featuring the Brontës should be like & you may be pleasantly surprised. I thought it was extremely entertaining. 4.5🌟

1y
OutsmartYourShelf My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, Head of Zeus/AdAstra Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5722038873
Read 12th-14th Oct 2023

Readathons x Hours Read 902 pts
Post 1pt
Word Challenge 3160 pts
Genre 20 pts

Total 4083 pts

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1y
OutsmartYourShelf My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, Head of Zeus/AdAstra Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5722038873
Read 12th-14th Oct 2023

Readathons x Hours Read 902 pts
Post 1pt
Word Challenge 3160 pts
Genre 20 pts

Total 4083 pts

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1y
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24 likes9 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Mehso-so

1913 sees the deaths of Scott and his 4 companions who set out to reach the South Pole only to find that Roald Amundsen had gotten there first. Demoralised, defeated, & despite their efforts suffering from varying degrees of frostbite & malnutrition, they fail to return. Fellow explorer Cherry-Garrard hikes out to One Ton depot as agreed but sees no sign of them. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf Their bodies are found a year later just ten miles from the depot & Cherry-Garrard lives with feeling of guilt for the rest of this life.

1969 - WWII orphan Falcon Grey who grew up on Cherry-Garrard's estate is left a small bequest in the will which includes a red notebook found in Scott's tent. This diary tells a different story to the official version & it seems that Scott & his companions were sabotaged & their deaths were cold-blooded murder.
1y
OutsmartYourShelf I love books based on true events especially mountaineering or Arctic/Antarctic exploration, so this fictional mystery take seemed tailor-made for me. The sections on the Scott journey were indeed riveting & it was a pity that so much of the book was focussed on Grey's private life leading up to being bequeathed the diary. It was very slow & the pace didn't really pick up until about 70% of the way through, which was disappointing. 1y
OutsmartYourShelf I really didn't care about his relationship with Sofya. A missed opportunity for me.
3⭐

My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5722042573
Read 2nd-13th Oct 2023

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