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vlwelser
House of Beth | Kerry Cullen
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Pickpick

This actually isn't that creepy. Despite the ghost and the possession.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Pub date is 7/15/25
#ARC #Netgalley

review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Pickpick

How do you steal an archive? One file at a time.

This is the story of a quiet, introverted archivist who had access to the most heavily guarded files in the world. Vasili Mitrokhin had started out as a communist party believer until he was transferred into the archives of the KGB. What he read there angered him to such an extent that he decided to copy the files, one by one, in his own shorthand code to be rewritten in his own time at home.

OutsmartYourShelf This work goes on for decades until one day, an old man presents himself at the British Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania & says that he has important information for them. Pages & pages of information about Soviet secret services & the infiltration of Western countries by sleeper agents known as Illegals, including names & codenames of double agents - all dutifully copied by Mitrokhin. 19h
OutsmartYourShelf What turned him into a dissident, a spy, & a traitor was a love for his country & hatred of the dark forces that were now running it.

A fascinating & informative look at the post-Stalin Soviet Union & the rule of the Chekists - we even get an introduction to a young Putin. Although it sometimes veered into academically dry territory, the author always managed to re-engage my interest,
19h
OutsmartYourShelf especially with the workings of the (sometimes seemingly inept) British MI6. A well-researched, accessibly written account. 4🌟

My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, 4th Estate/Williams Collins, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7617428178
Read 1st-6th Jun 2025

#ReadAway2025 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES
19h
DieAReader 😏Fascinating! 16h
23 likes4 comments
review
PuddleJumper
We Are the Match | Mary E. Roach
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Mehso-so

Helen and Paris‘ love story but make it sapphic and mafia.

I don't think the Greek mythology element works at all. It's barely present and labeling it a reimagining gives expectations that the book doesn't meet.

It's an easy, fun dark mafia romance. That aspect of it is pretty good, it's not to my personal tastes but I can imagine a lot of people will enjoy it.

⬇️

PuddleJumper What stops me from rating it higher is the writing style. It did not work for me. It was all tell, no show and a little bit cringey.

Thanks to #Netgalley for the #ARC This is one of my backlogs and has now been published
21h
PuddleJumper Oops, my mistake. It will be published 29th July 21h
28 likes2 comments
review
kezzlou85
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Pickpick

Wow this was such an emotional and heartfelt read. It really pulls at your heartstrings and almost had me in tears. Its so well written and captures the various emotions so perfectly. The ending although not how I wanted it to end, was the right one for the book. It finished the story beautifully. The story is told by the main characters and we see into each of their lives both past and present. The characters are all very likeable #Netgalley 4*

review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Pickpick

Emily was in a coma for 4 months following an accident & to aid her recovery somewhere quiet, she agrees to move from London to 'Larkin Lodge', a house on the Devon moors. She hopes that this will give her marriage to husband Freddie a fresh start, but when they arrive, far from the pretty country home on the website, the house is shrouded in mist & inside the house is either unbearably hot or achingly cold.

OutsmartYourShelf As strange things start to happen especially on the top floor in the empty suite, Emily becomes convinced that the house is haunted, but as the occurrences only happen when she is alone, Freddie thinks she is seeing things due to her meds. When four of her friends come to visit they drunkenly decide to use Emily's old Ouija board & it spells out the message 'Find it, find it.' Find what? And why is Freddie acting so oddly? 2d
OutsmartYourShelf My reading experience with this author has been a bit hit & miss, but this one is definitely a hit! It kept my attention from the start & the twists were excellent. I loved the short chapters which kept things moving, & those half dozen or so chapters from the raven's point of view are poignant. I really enjoyed this one & I recommend readers go into this one knowing as little as possible about the plot. 4.5🌟
2d
OutsmartYourShelf My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, Orion Publishing Group, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7463735725
Read 1st-2nd Jun 2025

#ReadAway2025 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES
2d
DieAReader 🥳Fabulous!! 2d
32 likes4 comments
review
BookishTrish
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Mehso-so

I‘m obsessed with hockey romance and curious if pickleball romance would scratch the same itch. It didn‘t. Shaw is a capable narrator breathing life into plucky MC Bex. The chemistry between the two characters didn‘t quite work for me - the grumpy/sunny vibe that I know loads of people will really love. Similarly the fake dating stakes felt low. My review makes it sound like I liked it less than I did.

41 likes1 comment
review
BookishTrish
Gaslight | Sara Shepard, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte
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Pickpick

I‘m consistently a sucker for a book about cults. Bex has escaped from the cult and started a new life. A visit from her former BFF brings up strong feelings, opens old wounds, and threatens Bex‘s new life. Since the audiobook features two MCs, I would‘ve preferred two narrators. Julia Atwood is an excellent and emotionally charged reader. Thanks #netgalley

38 likes1 stack add
blurb
Deblovestoread
Let Them Stare | Julie Murphy, Jonathan Van Ness
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#ReadYourKindle

Tagged is #NetGalley

And the other three #SeriesLove25

@CBee

blurb
BoleyBooks
Fifty-Fifty | Steve Cavanagh
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review
merelybookish
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Pickpick

Brothers Joel & Emmett have returned home to rural Kentucky. On sabbatical from NYC, Joel is a Marxist scholar who writes essays about the destruction of the South. Emmett is a wannabe screenwriter drifting from job to job who lands a gig at the nearby Amazon-like package hub. Neither brother is happy. Nor is Joel's idealistic wife Alice who wants to buy land and garden. They all flounder trying to find a way to something better. A book about 👇

merelybookish Family, place, and the hold they both have on you. A soft pick. Neither Joel, Emmett, nor Alice are particularly likable people and they spend most of the novel making terrible decisions. But I was invested enough to see how things would end. And I appreciated Cole's focus on writing a story set in rural Kentucky, and not reducing it to cliche or ignoring its problems. #netgalley 4d
Christine I didn‘t know he had a new one coming out! I really enjoyed Groundskeeping. 4d
merelybookish @Christine I haven't read that one but from what I can gather, this novel inhabits a similar world. 4d
50 likes1 stack add3 comments