Review: Watch Her Run

Watch Her Run by Jennifer Moorhead
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Narrated by Jess Moran, Pete Cross
Presented by Brilliance Audio

An underwhelming thriller but still a twisty sort of read with lots of red herrings and plenty to keep you guessing!

I think my biggest issue was I just didn't like the protagonist from the outset. She's the rich girl with the overbearing mother who is all about reputation, and her footballer fiance who is more concerned with his career than his impending marriage. And for some reason, everything is being done on camera, because our girl is a STAR despite seemingly having no interest in anything that's going on.

I won't lie - this is an audiobook I did eventually find myself tuning out of. It's a Misery -esque set up, where Jade finds herself waking up in a stranger's house after a dramatic accident. The woman claims she's only helping Jade, but things don't seem to add up.

Added to this, there's a lot of patchy references to Jade's secret past that never quite deliver enough to be satisfying OR intriguing. None of it seems relevant, even though we all know it will be eventually.

So I guess the setup, while intriguing, didn't really work as much as I wanted it to. It felt a little too jumbled and there were a lot of things mixed into the story that made it more confusing rather than interesting.

The twists and turns were many, and eventually I think I kind of stopped caring. I enjoyed the videographer narration but even that fell flat for me towards the end, so by the time his identity was revealed I'd kind of forgotten we cared who it was.

This may be one that would have entertained me more if I'd physically read it. I think the narrators did a fine job, and they injected plenty of character into the voices, but there wasn't really enough excitement in the read to keep me captivated. I may have had better luck trying to puzzle things out through a physical read.

It's not a bad book at all, and I think crime fans will still enjoy it. It was just a little underwhelming to hold my attention the way I wanted it to.

With thanks to NetGalley for a copy

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Review: The Thicket

The Thicket by Noelle W. Ihli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed the story, but it was definitely an underwhelming finish.

It begins with murder, and we leap pretty quickly into the viewpoint of the killer, so there's not a whole lot of mystery there.

This is more about how one deals with grief and guilt, as the sister of one of the victims is our main protagonist. She feels responsible for what happened to her brother, and she doesn't quite know how to move on. So she re-visits the site of the murder - The Thicket - hoping to find closure, but gets more than she bargained for.

The Thicket of the title is a Halloween spectacle, full of terror and twists that have people screaming constantly. It includes haunted horror cabins and a spooky corn maze, plus food trucks that sell mini-doughnuts because that is also important.

We get a few different eyes on things - the sister, Norah, her classmate, Taylor, and of course, the Killer. It gives us a well-rounded look at the thing, from victim, perpetrator and bystander. I enjoyed that aspect of this story, because it did help really round it out.

Naturally, the killer comes back for round 2, otherwise this wouldn't be much of a horror story. What follows is underwhelming in execution, though it does feel necessary to the story.

I think maybe it was trying too hard to clean things up. My favourite part of the story was getting to know the characters, and how they all felt about the initial murder. The rest felt inevitable and it was fun enough but it just didn't quite hit the mark.

Still, a great Halloween read with a great setting and some interesting character exploration.

With thanks to NetGalley for a copy

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Review: Until the Last Light Goes Out

Until the Last Light Goes Out by Courtney Gould
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Crazy addictive! Could not get enough of this, but also couldn't read before bed because it was spooky! 😂

An abandoned island resort is our setting where, 25 years earlier, all but 5 students from an entire senior class were found dead. Now the daughter of one of those survivors has returned for a memorial, only to discover her best friend has gone missing. Paige knows KJ was obsessed with the mystery, so she has no choice but to enter the resort that haunts her if she wants to see her friend again.

This is a supernatural horror that still manages to feel quite real, and I really enjoyed embracing the story. From the get-go, things are strange and don't seem to add up, and as a reader you're really left scratching your head, trying to figure out what's happening.

The tension is real, and I genuinely had to put it down early to avoid nightmares! This is the kind of story that creeps under your skin and makes you think about all the 'what if's. I loved it!

The character progression and growth was quite interesting, and I enjoyed the dual timelines as it gave more questions than answers and I was keen on unravelling the mystery.

All in all, it was a brilliantly creepy book, perfect for the Halloween season! Highly recommend for horror fans who don't mind a twist of the supernatural.

With thanks to NetGalley for a copy

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Review: The Serial Killer Survivors Club: The Bold and Heartstopping Thriller from Bestselling Author Fiona Cummins

The Serial Killer Survivors Club: The Bold and Heartstopping Thriller from Bestselling Author Fiona Cummins by Fiona Cummins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun new take on serial killer tropes.

I enjoyed getting know the cast, though I did want a little more of the awesome foursome rather than just Sulky and Bliss.

The in-between chapters were well written, and I thought it was cleverly detailed.

The tension stays solid in those chapters, but the rest of the story is more about trauma bonding and friendship.

At times the story felt a little slow, but it did well with character exploration in those moments so I didn't mind.

Honestly, I enjoyed it from start to finish, and it had some great moments. I'd easily recommend it for crime fans.

With thanks to NetGalley for a copy

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Review: Witches of the Wheel

Witches of the Wheel by Lindsay Merbaum
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Narrated by Rylie Jackson
Presented by Dreamscape Media

Honestly this was a horrendous, weird lil lesbian orgy from start to finish and I spent most of it waiting for an actual plot of any kind while generally feeling uncomfortable.

Also there's just, like, an unnecessarily high frequency of the word 'butch' and other various stereotype terms. So much cringe.

The story begins with our protagonist copping abuse and being used by her mother, and is generally horrible. Gold tends to go along with it because what else can she do? But this book also has dumb moments like multiple references to 'reading' people (i.e. psychically) and then our main character being like, 'huh? why is she asking about what books I read?' BRUH.

So we're not dealing with a smart book here.

Gold finds herself at an underground lesbian bar, and from there it just gets weirder and nastier while moving no further.

I won't go into details - safe to say it was not my cup of tea.

There didn't seem to be a lot of plot beyond multiple love interests and some weak ideas around powerful goddesses. Honestly? I tuned out a lot because there's so much vulgarity. But most of the book takes place at or around the bar so there's not a lot of variety here at all.

I could forgive the book if it had a strong story, or some powerful women doing impressive things, but this is mediocre people and weak characters being used as an excuse to go into smutty details of sexual debauchery.

Not for me, folks, and not one I can really recommend, though queer readers might appreciate it a little more than I did.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: Monstera

Monstera by Delilah S. Dawson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Laura English
Presented by Tantor Media

Not quite the horror story I was expecting - mostly two lonely girls with secrets pasts getting to know each other.

I was hoping for some creeping vines, plants taking over, some kind of eerie botanical horror, but this really is more about the budding romance between Lucy and Saskia. I didn't mind it, but it wasn't what I came for.

There's some 'horror' in the sleazy landlord and his behaviour, but it's so commonplace for women to experience this that it wasn't horrific so much as a sad fact of womanhood. Beyond that, there's a seed here and there but not much more.

I did enjoy the conclusion, but there wasn't enough substance to the rest of the story to leave me feeling satisfied. I think fans of F/F romance might enjoy this slightly creepier contemporary love story, but horror fans might be disappointed.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: Winterset Hollow

Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Narrated by Alex Wyndham
Presented by Hodder & Stoughton Audio

Just as good second time around, and the audio was fantastic!!

I really love this book, and it was so much fun revisiting it in audio format.

Yes, I love the homicidal animals, but there's also a lot of depth to the story with important themes penetrating deeper than the surface horror.

My original thoughts can be found HERE so this will just be a review for the audio version and my thoughts on a second reading.

I love that this is a story of belonging, and of connections. Friendship is big, and I liked being able to appreciate these things even more on a second read. Yes, it's a horror story, but it's not horror for horror's sake.

I was surprised by the choice of narrator at first, but it perfectly suited the story and I found it to be an entertaining performance that sucked me right in. No distractions while listening to this one - I wanted to catch every single word. The characters were well defined by voice, and there was just the right amount of urgency and drama as it was needed.

This really cemented my love for this story, and I can't recommend it highly enough. It's the perfect blend of cute fairytail and slasher horror.

Horror fans should get a kick out of this truly original offering.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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