Tag: #throwbackthursday

Throwback Thursday: Find Her by Lisa Gardner #TBT

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Goodreads|Amazon
Release date: February 9, 2016

Publisher: Dutton

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb: 

Flora Dane is a victim. 


Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure.


Flora Dane is a survivor.


Miraculously alive after her ordeal, Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who’s never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she’s become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who’ve never made it home.


Flora Dane is reckless. 


. . . or is she? When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime—a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him—she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? And with her firsthand knowledge of criminal behavior, could she hold the key to rescuing a missing college student whose abduction has rocked Boston? When Flora herself disappears, D.D. realizes a far more sinister predator is out there. One who’s determined that this time, Flora Dane will never escape. And now it is all up to D. D. Warren to find her. 

Review: 

I’m joining in again with Throwback Thursday which was created by my good friend Renee at It’s Book Talk. She started this weekly feature as a way to highlight old favorites and read books that have already been published. I have so many older books on my TBR that get ignored in favor of review copies and I figure participating in Throwback Thursday will help me to read at a least one older title a week!

It’s a bittersweet feeling now that I’m caught up on this series. Find Her was an absolutely amazing read, but now I have to wait awhile for the next installment (February of next year to be exact) and I’ll truly miss D.D., there really isn’t any other fictional character out there quite like her.

Once again Gardner tackles some heavy, disturbing subject matter this time focusing on abduction. Flora was such a highly complex character, she has literally been through hell and back and I thought Gardner did a fantastic job of portraying a kidnapping victim and their possible mind frame. Flora is very bold in many ways, she chases danger and at times seems unafraid of anything. But then there are times where she is terribly fragile and vulnerable, totally understandable and wholly believable to boot. Her and D.D. clash, but then again who doesn’t tend to butt heads with D.D.? Their dynamic was tense and fascinating, I’m excited to see what happens between them in the next book. 

Gardner uses her trademark graphic, gritty writing style and many parts of this was hard to read. Flora tells her story via flashbacks and seeing as how she was contained in a coffin for most of her time in captivity, things were claustrophobic and stifling. Gardner is a prolific writer with a fluid style that keeps you turning pages long past bedtime. Per usual delving too far into this twisty plot would ruin things, but if you’re a Gardner fan and haven’t read this yet, I highly recommend it. If you’ve never read her before I still highly recommend it, it’s an outstanding read and I feel like every crime fiction fan should have the pleasure of meeting D.D.

Overall rating: 5/5

#ThrowbackThursday Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

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Goodreads|Amazon
Release date: July 26, 2016

Publisher: Crown

Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller

Blurb:

“Are you happy with your life?” 


Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. 


Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. 


Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.” 


In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.


Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.


From the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy, Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human—a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.

Review: 

I’m joining in again with Throwback Thursday which was created by my good friend Renee at It’s Book Talk. She started this weekly feature as a way to highlight old favorites and read books that have already been published. I have so many older books on my TBR that get ignored in favor of review copies and I figure participating in Throwback Thursday will help me to read at a least one older title a week!

Dark Matter is a book way outside of my usual preference and one that I’ve had sitting on my Netgalley shelf for far too long. I originally requested it last year because everyone I knew was raving about it and I have a serious case of fear of missing out. I finally decided to grab it this week and I’m completely blown away. I am SO glad that I took a chance on a book that’s outside of my comfort zone, it paid off in a big way. 

This book was like nothing I’ve ever read before and that may be because it’s not my go to genre but I don’t think so. I still firmly believe that DM is highly original and insanely creative even within it’s genre. It defied all of my expectations and then some and has such an insane premise that I’m not even going to attempt to speak to it because I know I wouldn’t be able to discuss it in the manner that it deserves. Just think mind bending matrix/inception type of stuff, it’s actually best not to think too hard about the details anyway. 

The biggest surprise for me here was how deeply and intricately complex this book was. Yes, it’s highly intelligent and deals with topics that are beyond my normal level of comprehension but Crouch details scientific methods in a way that even a dummy like me could understand. This was a surprisingly emotional read for me, no one warned me that it would make me cry! It was so thought provoking and touched something right at my core, I’m just mind blown by how much I loved this book. 

If you’re like me and have been on the fence about this one, give it a try. I don’t think anyone will be disappointed, it’s intense, profound, smart and extremely well written. I can’t say enough good things about how this book made me feel and that’s one of the main reasons I love to read in the first place, to feel something outside of my everyday life. 

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy. 

#ThrowbackThursday You by Caroline Kepnes 

26 Comments


Goodreads|Amazon
Release date: June 16, 2015

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler

Genre: Thriller

Blurb:

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.


There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.


As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

Review:

I’m joining in again with Throwback Thursday which was created by my good friend Renee at It’s Book Talk. She started this weekly feature as a way to highlight old favorites and read books that have already been published. I have so many older books on my TBR that get ignored in favor of review copies and I figure participating in Throwback Thursday will help me to read at a least one older title a week! This week I chose You as it was highly recommended by many people and it won the poll I posted on Twitter haha. 

I have a confession to make. Sometimes when a book is super over hyped I refuse to read it just to be stubborn. Why? I don’t even know really, sometimes I think it’s because if I wind up hating it I’ll just be irritated that I gave in. Or maybe it’s because I like knowing I have a highly recommended book in my TBR to look forward to. So that’s why I’ve avoided You for the past two years but I finally felt like it was time for me to see what all of the fuss was about and I’m really glad I quit being so damn stubborn and gave in.

Joe has one of the most oddly unique and powerfully strong voices I’ve ever read. It’s told in the second person as he is speaking directly to the object of his obsession, Beck which gave this such an intimate feeling. He rants, raves and rambles incessantly but it really works well here. It also gives you an extremely in depth look into the mind of a sick and deranged individual, so why in the hell did I like Joe so much?! I really did, despite his many flaws I enjoyed him and was kind of charmed by him even though it creeps me out just typing that. He captivated me and I couldn’t wait to see what he would do or think or say next. 

This is a super dark tale of obsession and manipulation that had me feeling uneasy and nervous the entire time. The creepiness level is at an all time high, some of the lengths Joe will go to are downright disturbing. It is sexually explicit with strong language, just a heads up for people that may not like that. But it’s also insanely well written and has an almost hypnotizing style, it’s honestly not like anything I’ve ever read before. I’ll be picking up the sequel, Hidden Bodies very soon!

Overall rating: 4.5/5

#ThrowbackThursday Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

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Goodreads|Amazon|Author Website

Release date: July 6, 2010

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.

Still Missing interweaves the year Annie spent as the captive of a psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfold through sessions with her psychiatrist, with a second narrative following the events after her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.

Review:

I’m joining in again with Throwback Thursday which was created by my good friend Renee at It’s Book Talk. She started this weekly feature as a way to highlight old favorites and read books that have already been published. I have so many older books on my TBR that get ignored in favor of review copies and I figure participating in Throwback Thursday will help me to read at a least one older title a week! I read my first Chevy Stevens book a few months ago, Never Let You Go and LOVED it, so I’ve been wanting to go back and read her earlier books ever since.

This is told using a really cool narrative style, each chapter is actually a session between Annie and her therapist as she details the day of her abduction and the year she was held captive, then it follows her up to the present day. Annie had such a strong, unique voice and I loved the conversational feel it had. Her ordeal was harrowing and at times very uncomfortable to read about, but I was still very gripped, this was an addictive read. 

There were plenty of shocking events, I was dying to know how Annie managed to escape and I did not predict that whole scenario at all. I love abduction stories and I’m especially intrigued by the aftermath and Annie’s growth and development was great. It was horribly sad and tragic to see how much she changed and how damaged she was, it broke my heart. 

This was one creepy read with unpredictable twists and turns galore, I can’t wait to read the rest of Stevens books and have a feeling they’ll be coming up on my TT posts quite a bit in the future. 

Overall rating: 5/5