Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, is a young adult mystery thriller set in Ellingham Academy, a famously selective boarding school in Vermont. True crime obsessed Stevie Bell applies to the school for one reason: to solve the murder of Albert Ellingham’s wife and daughter, who were killed years ago when the school first opened. The killer, known as Truly Devious by the public, is supposed to be long gone.
The Lost City of Z, a nonfiction historical biography, written by David Grann, tells a story of exploring the dense Amazon rainforest. Percy Fawcett, an explorer who wanted to find the “Lost City of Z”, believed that there were indigenous groups of people living in the Amazon and had built a great city. In the forest, Percy must overcome many challenges such as disease carrying mosquitoes, vicious animals, starvation, and exploring uncharted territory.
This book is brilliantly bizarre. Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell, had presented itself as something different to me, but although it's not my favorite genre, this book kept me hooked and waiting for the next twist. Each twist was riveting and unique, and my jaw dropped several times. The plot unraveled beautifully at the end, in a way that made you think, "That makes sense." I felt that the book explored the antagonist beautifully, if not too in detail.
Growing up in an unconventional place, the main protagonist Kya Clark is outcasted as the “marsh girl”—Delia Owens's novel Where the Crawdads Sing takes place in North Carolina in the 1960s. The tale is similar to the classic fable “Boy Who Cried Wolf”, where Kya calls an isolated marsh her home. Abandoned by her family at a young age, we start from the very beginning of Kya’s unfortunate upbringing. This story then goes chronologically, telling the story of Kya’s life through a first-person perspective.
This mystery thriller, Ink and Ashes by Valynne E. Maetani, follows the story of a girl named Claire Takata, who lives in a family of four with her mom, stepdad, and two brothers. On the anniversary of her dads death, Claire finds a letter from her deceased father that was written to her now stepdad. Turns out, Claire's father is a part of a Japanese crime syndicate. Her new discovery opens up many previously closed doors, with secret agents coming at her left and right.
If I could read this book all over again for the first time, I would. Delia Owens did such a beautiful job capturing themes of isolation, love, and trust. The captivating imagery and word choice throughout the book contributed to the whole plot of the story, and it made me feel as though I was with Kya in the marsh. At first, I didn’t think I would enjoy the book. The build-up to the climax was more of a slow burn.
Avery Kylie Grambs is barely scraping by, trying to make money from her job and make it through high school, but her future changes in an instant when Tobias Hawthorne, a millionaire philanthropist, leaves her with a billion-dollar fortune. The downside is Avery has no idea who Tobias is and on top of that, in order to receive her inheritance, she must move into the mysterious Hawthorne House, full of unexpected riddles and puzzles. Forced into a world of wealth that is unfamiliar to Avery, she must play their games to survive.
Nothing More to Tellis a mystery book by Karen McManus. The book is about how a teacher named Mr. Larkin who was mysteriously killed in the woods. Four years after the event, Brynn, one of Mr. Larkin’s students, decided to investigate the event. After tirelessly finding as much as she can, she stumbles upon the killer, and it’s someone that nobody expects. This is an enjoyable book. I do not like romance and all that stuff, but it is still a 4.2 out of five.
I really loved this book. I was guessing what would happen the entire time and I love Lisa Jewell as an author. This was one of the first Lisa Jewell books I read and it was so captivating. The story follows a mother, Laurel, whose daughter, Ellie, went missing. Years later, Laurel starts a new relationship and finds a young girl who is identical to her missing daughter. Laurel then begins to uncover what truly happened to Ellie and who was involved. The story was so interesting and the way she is able to connect the characters is so impressive.
I really, really loved this book. The Family Upstairs is about a young woman who inherits a house with a dark past. As she uncovers the history of the house and its former residents, secrets and mysteries begin to surface. Soon they connect her life to a series of unsettling events. It was everything I like my thriller mystery books to be. Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors and this is one of the best books by her I've read. The creepiness and twists of this book are unmatched by anything else I have read.
