April Coutts-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford.
Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the second, April was dead.
Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah’s world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide…including a murder.
The Review
THE IT GIRL by Ruth Ware
In THE IT GIRL, we’re following Hannah in two timelines. In the past, she is at school in her first year at Oxford with her infamous roommate and It Girl, April.
In the current timeline, Hannah is pregnant and married to Will who was in her college circle, back at Oxford.
One day she receives unsettling news that a killer she help put away has died. This news sends Hannah on a one-woman investigation as she searches the echoes of her past to make things right.
Reading this book felt a bit like chasing a ghost.
As the main character is working things out so are we, the reader and it takes a while.
The more Hannah digs into the past to discover the truth, the more precarious things become for her and everyone around her.
It creates this very effective unsettled feeling.
And although there were quite a few aspects to the story that was unbelievable they didn’t deter from the overall enjoyment of the book.
The It Girl landed somewhere between three and four stars, rounded up to four because overall I enjoyed the reading experience.
THE IT GIRL…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley Gallery Books, Gallery/Scout Press for the advanced copy!
In the vein of the Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick The Other Woman, Sandie Jones’s heart-pounding new novel The Blame Game will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Games can be dangerous. But blame can be deadly.
As a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse, Naomi has found it hard to avoid becoming overly invested in her clients’ lives. But after helping Jacob make the decision to leave his wife, Naomi worries that she’s taken things too far. Then Jacob goes missing, and her files on him vanish. . . .
But as the police start asking questions about Jacob, Naomi’s own dark past emerges. And as the truth comes to light, it seems that it’s not just her clients who are in danger.
The Review
THE BLAME GAME by Sandie Jones
I read the sampler, about 50 pages, of this book late last year and I had my guesses as to how it was going to play out.
I had no idea.
In THE BLAME GAME, we’re following Naomi. Naomi is a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse who may have a little trouble with boundary issues of her own.
She is currently seeing Jacob as a client and not only has things gone a little too far with him but when he and his patient files suddenly goes missing-THE BLAME GAME begins.
This was a lot of fun to read. Probably my favorite of the summer so far. I had a lot of theories and every single one of them was wrong.
I love when that happens.
Have you read a Sandie Jones book before? Which one is your favorite?
This one comes out on August 16, 2022
Be sure to add it to your list. Don’t miss it.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books for the advanced copy!
THE BLAME GAME…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
From the award-winning author of The Twisted Ones comes a gripping and atmospheric retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.
What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.
Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
The Review
WHAT MOVES THE DEAD by T. Kingfisher
In what reads like a fever dream come to life Kingfisher reimagines Edgar Allen Poe’s THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, in WHAT MOVES THE DEAD-out now!
This isn’t the kind of book I usually reach for, making it all the more fun.
Marketed as a horror, but it leans more toward fantasy. It’s short and packed full of lush gothic elements. It reminded me a little of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, partly because it features an ominous hare and feels disorienting and is similar to but not quite like our world.
I enjoyed this novella retelling and recommend you add it to your Tbr!
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for the advanced copies!
WHAT MOVES THE DEAD…⭐️⭐️⭐️
