Down With The Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn

Blurb from Goodreads:

There's a reason they say "be careful what you wish for." Just ask the girl who wished to be thinner and ended up smaller than Thumbelina, or the boy who asked for "balls of steel" and got them-literally. And never wish for your party to go on forever. Not unless you want your guests to be struck down by debilitating pain if they try to leave.


These are things Lennie only learns when it's too late-after she brings some of her uncles' moonshine to a party and toasts to dozens of wishes, including a big wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was abducted and murdered six months ago.

Lennie didn't mean to cause so much chaos. She always thought her uncles' moonshine toast was just a tradition. And when they talked about carrying on their "important family legacy," she thought they meant good old-fashioned bootlegging.

Things I liked:

1) Lennie-  I like how naive she was about what she could do. Also she was really relatable in my opinion.

2) The Uncles- They were rather interesting to say the least. I felt like they were so weird but for some odd reason I really liked them a lot.

3) I found this book to be rather funny. Not sure if that was a good thing but I was okay with it. 

Things I was not fond of:
1) Although I really like the premise of this book it was rather unrealistic and most of the time really just made no sense.

2) The ending I was not fond of. This is what stopped me from giving this book a 5 stars.


My rating: 💜💜💜💜

*I received this book from Edelweiss on a read and review basis*

In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Goodreads Blurb:

What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.

Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her “nest” of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?”, Nora (Lee?) tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora (Lee?) must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.

Things I liked:

1) Lenora- I did feel as though she was really naive about some things but I still thought she was a great character and the book would not have been the same without her.

2) The writing of this book was done so well. I felt as though it was really suspenseful and sometimes gave me chills.

3)  I liked the way the book was split up in what was happening and then what already happened and you were just left wondering what was going on.

Things I was not fond of:

1) Another rushed ending that really didn't get explained well. 

2) I thought some of the characters were lacking in personality and just were really there for no reason.

My rating: 💜💜💜💜

The Fever by Megan Abbott

Blurb from Goodreads:

The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community.

As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security.

Things I liked:

1) I really liked the writing of this book. It was heartfelt and sometimes humorous.

2) I also liked the family and friendship dynamic that each one of these characters had.

Things I was not fond of:

1) I went into this book thinking that it was going to be something scary and epic and that it was not. 

2) A lot of this book was just mundane day to day life. I didn't really think it picked up until the last half of the book. 

My rating: 💜💜💜