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Friday, January 19, 2024

Kara's Book Cravings: Killer Content



I am not a TikTok girl. I don't like making videos, and I don't understand the whole influencer thing -- yeah, yeah. I know. I'm showing my age. And that's what this book is mostly about: teen influencers living under one roof, competing for sponsors, views, followers, etc. So, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book when I bought it, but it was only $5.00, and I figured I'd give it a shot.  

I'm glad I did. 

KILLER CONTENT by Kiley Roache is a YA thriller / murder mystery. As I said above, a group of TikTok influencers live together in a house and are doing sponsored ads and collaborations, etc. While I don't fully understand that life, I found myself oddly invested in it. 

But then one of the housemates ends up dead, and everyone inside the house becomes a suspect. Each person had clear motive to kill, and so it really was a crazy ride trying to figure out who did it. 

And then the twist is revealed, and my jaw dropped! Now, I've seen this twist used before (I don't want to spoil anything, hence the vagueness), but never done as well as this was. What also shocked me was that the reveal of "whodunit" was done near the middle of the book, rather than closer to the end. I thought that would effect the overall pacing and my enjoyment of the book, but it really didn't. If anything, it kept me engaged even more because I needed to know what was going to happen next. I really do love books that make me feel that way :-)

It's safe to say that I really liked this book. I don't know if this author has written anything else, but I plan to find out!


What was the last book you read that really surprised you?

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Kara's Book Cravings: Little Monsters



Again, I found this book at 5 Below and was super intrigued. Of course, I've seen this author's books at almost every bookstore I've gone to, so I knew her name, but I've never read any of her stuff. Until now...


LITTLE MONSTERS by Kara Thomas is a wild ride! This is another YA thriller / mystery that really hit all the right notes for me. 

Told from various points of view, this book kept me guessing right to the very end. Dealing with blended families, step-families, friends, and the pressures of those relationships, this was  both emotional and shocking. Sadly, though, the "friendships" in this book are all too realistic. When you think someone is your friend but they're really not... When nasty rumors start floating around that you can't disprove...  When you think you know someone but really don't...

The twist at the end of this book was fantastic! I didn't see it coming, which is always good, but when I look back on everything, it all makes sense. 

I really liked the author's writing style, too, so I'll be reading more of her books. I have THE CHEERLEADERS on my shelf, and I'll be diving into that one soon, but I'll definitely be investing in her other books, too. 

Have you read any Kara Thomas books? 

What's your favorite?

Monday, January 15, 2024

Kara's Book Cravings: The Game


 

This was yet another 5 Below find, and I read this is a matter of a day or two. Books like this are great to read in between longer series, and thankfully, I have a lot of books like this one.


THE GAME by Linsey Miller is a teen thriller. This book was very reminiscent of PANIC by Lauren Oliver, which I absolutely loved. The show on Amazon Prime was pretty great, too. Naturally, I was eager to dive into THE GAME. 

Every year, seniors play a game in which they have to "assassinate" their fellow classmates with a water gun. It's supposed to be very hush-hush, and there are some very strict rules that, if broken, will result in being disqualified. 

Our heroine has been waiting and planning for her turn to play this game for years, and she is prepared! But then someone starts actually killing the players, and she's being framed. 

The author did a great job making me guess who the killer really was, and the motives behind the killings was well thought out, too. And sadly, it's something that I'm sure a lot of teens feel. 

Overall, this was a good read and a nice break from the romantasy I've been reading. 


Friday, January 12, 2024

Kara's Book Cravings: Prom House



My girls love to shop at 5 Below, and so I'm often dragged along for the ride (and the money). LOL. It's always fun to look around, and naturally, I always stop at the their book table. Imagine my surprise when I found a selection of YA thrillers! I just had to grab them--I think I got 3 in total--and this was the first one...


PROM HOUSE by Chelsea Mueller is a classic teen slasher.  A group of friends rent a beach house for a weekend after-prom party. One by one, the friends end up dead. And to make matters worse, a hurricane hits, and so everyone is trapped inside the house. They soon realize that one of them is a killer, and they begin to turn on each other. 

This book reminded quite a bit of SCREAM, the movie, which is one of my all time favorites. The plot, while simple, kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn't figure out who the killer was until almost the very end. 

Overall, this was a quick read, and I could easily picture this as a movie in my head. The only thing I didn't like was the last couple of pages felt like the author was giving me a lesson and it felt a little "preachy." But it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book as a whole. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes slasher flicks / books. 

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Kara's Book Cravings: Playing With Fire

 


This was another thrift store find that I snagged at the same time I'd bought The Girl in the White Van by the same author.  I think I'm quickly becoming a fan of this author's work...


PLAYING WITH FIRE by April Henry is another young adult thriller and just as faced paced as the author's other book I read. This one really checked all my boxes -- "stranded" setting in that they are trapped on a hiking trail while trying to outrun a wildfire, survival elements, a romance, and a random group of people thrown together and forced to work as a team if they want to live. 

There's quite a bit of danger and mystery in this book, which I loved. I do have to caution you, though, that the backstory of our main character is intense. She survived a house fire as a child, but her baby brother did not. The circumstances surrounding that are much darker than the blurb leads you to believe. So, if child death is a dealbreaker for you, then you might want to skip this one because the author does not shy away from this trauma. I will say that it's handled well, but as a mom, this was hard to read about. Thankfully, the flashback chapters are minimal. 

Overall, this was another quick read that's a good addition to my YA thriller collection. 

Monday, January 8, 2024

Kara's Book Cravings: The Girl in the White Van

 


In one of my many trips to a my local Goodwill and used bookstore, I stumbled on THE GIRL IN THE WHITE VAN by April Henry. This is a young adult thriller, which we all know is one of my favorite genres!


The cover is okay, but the blurb is what really grabbed my attention. Basically, this is a story about a teenage girl who is kidnapped while walking home from Tae Kwon Do class. She's kept prisoner in a ratty old RV, along with another teen girl who'd disappeared almost a year prior. 

This was on the shorter side, less than 150 pages, and I was able to read it in one evening. The pacing was tight, and the tension was incredible!

The concept of this book is every woman's nightmare, and definitely every mom's fear. My heart was racing at points, and I had a surge of adrenaline at the end, which is always a sign of a good thriller. 

What I really liked about this book, though, was that the author didn't fall back on the girls being raped or sexually assaulted in anyway. They were simply being held captive by a deranged man with some very messed up ideas about gender roles. I also really enjoyed seeing the two girls take control, fight back, and save themselves. Yes, they have help eventually, but for the most part, they don't just sit around and wait. 

I also snagged another book by this author, and I'm excited to dive into that one next. 


Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Kara's Book Cravings: ACOTAR Series

 


So, I have finished all five books in the A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES Series by Sarah J. Maas. If you want to catch up on my thoughts about book 1 and book 2, you can do so HERE and HERE. All set? Okay, then let's move on to books 3-5, and boy do I have some thoughts...


In book 3--A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN--we get a lot more fantasy aspects with the Fae courts and politics and the eventual big war. While the pacing was good and I was fully engaged, something about this book fell flat for me. In the first two, we're just learning about Rhys and Feyre and becoming invested in their love-hate relationship. In this book, they are fully mated and together. From a story telling perspective, I get the need for that, but as a reader, I really missed the tension between them that had been so strong in the first two books. 

The 4th book--A COURT OF FROST AND STARLIGHT--is a really short companion book that takes place after the war and shows Rhys and Feyre settling into their lives. This also focuses a bit more on Feyre's sisters, Elain and Nesta, which leads into the fifth book. While this was a quick read, it wasn't my favorite. It lacked any real conflict and romantic tension. 

A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES, the fifth and (so far) final book in this series is a beast. It's by far the longest, and it took me a while to get through it. Not because it was bad, but because we shift from Feyre and Rhys's story into Nesta and Cassian's story. The shift took a big of adjustment, but once I got into it, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. 

Nesta gets a lot of hate from a lot of people, and with good reason, but she has the best character arc, in my opinion. The amount of change she goes through, both internally and externally, is astounding. I came to really like her by the end of this book, and I was rooting for her.  She knows she hasn't been a good sister, or person overall, but she works hard on herself and by the end, this book had me in tears. I'd venture to say this final book was probably my favorite of the entire series. And the romance between her and Cassian --- wooooo! Make sure you have a fan handy. Or access to a cold shower.