snugglesandpages's reviews
250 reviews

If I could only recommend one book this year to satisfy your inner dark side, it would without a doubt be book 2 of Cain's Fallows Creek series, Wicked Walking.

From the dark and vivid imagery, enchanting characters and the utterly creepy plot, Wicked Walking is the perfect blend of magic and paranormal horror.

The story picks up on the heels of Lovely, Dark and Deep (5⭐ read) as Cassandra and her family are faced with a dark and otherworldly threat beyond anything they have ever faced before. With magic, body possession & some epic action scenes, I honestly have never been so encapsulated by every aspect of a story before!

Think...
Stranger Things / Charmed / and the darkness of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Sounds epic right??

This is definitely one for my thriller lovers who are open to something a little more intense, for what is at times terrifyingly gruesome. It had my pulse racing and my feet were itching to run (the end of chapter 12 😱). I also really enjoyed the element of a slow-burn romance that doesn't overshadow the main plot.

Seriously, Claudia Clain is a hidden gem who deserves so much more hype! Her writing is magic!
I devoured this book in what would have easily been a single sitting if only sleep did not get in the way. I'd even give it 6⭐ if you'd accept it.

I have now also bought all three books in Claudia's earlier vampire series and can't wait to get stuck into those.

Support an indie author go and go grab the series. It's the perfect Halloween treat!

Out of Breath is well written and easy-to-read, and while I found it initially on the slower side, it picks up the pace about halfway through, delivering suspense and intrigue.

I love anything with a cult vibe so the premise really drew me in. There are some tense moments that perhaps could have been more thrilling if they were played out a bit more, however, the mystery elements were well thought out and the harsh Aussie Outback makes for an atmospheric read.

The plot is similar to The Bay by Allie Reyolds, so if you enjoyed that one as I did, you will like Out of Breath as well. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for providing me an eARC of Out of Breath for review. 

The plot structure of the book is so unique and fun to read. A book within a movie script within a book? It's very bookception, in a meta way. I really enjoyed the snippets of the movie script which I think accentuated what was already a creepy and atmospheric setting.

This one takes a little to get going, but once it does it rolls fast. There were some pulse racing moments very reminiscent of the horror/slasher movie genre that had me looking over my shoulder and at one point, getting up to double check the power was working. 🙀.

I will note that, because of the self-referential style, there is some predictability and repetition which I urge you to look beyond because it is still a very entertaining and thrilling read.

If you enjoy horror movies, possible unreliable narrators and isolated settings, you will enjoy the ride which is Run Time. 

Lovely Dark and Deep is book 1 of a dark urban fantasy that sucks you in from the very first line. Its terrifyingly creepy plot captured my mind and kept me on edge the entire time.

Things I LOVED about this book
🖤 Strong Female MC
🖤 The family dynamic
🖤 Stranger Things vibes
🖤 Chilling mystery element
🖤 Modern eerie and dark setting

I am a very visual person, so I mostly watch fantasy rather than read it due to the genre's tendency for overwhelming worldbuilding, but everything about this book is captivating.

Cain's superb writing swept me away, igniting my mind with vivid imagery and a darkly alluring atmosphere. It's such an easy and inviting read and I couldn't help but bond with Cass and her siblings, who I now want to protect with all of my soul. I have found my new fave series and there is nothing you can say to change my mind!

Oh and let's not forget that cliffhanger! 😱 🤯
Thankfully, book 2 will be available from 30 Aug, so you won't have to wait long to scratch that itch. (Psst, it's flipping perfection! My review will be coming soon so keep an eye out )

Andrea Oliver returns in the follow-up to Karin Slaughter's hit novel (and Netflix mini-series), Pieces of Her.

📖 Now a rookie US Marshal, Andrea is assigned to Longbill Beach, her psychopathic father's hometown, to watch over Judge Esther Vaughn, a Reagan appointed Judge who has been receiving death threats. With a hidden agenda, Andrea starts to investigate the 40-year-old unsolved murder of the Judge's teenage daughter, Emily Vaughn in hopes of finding a connection to her father and using it as a cause to protest his upcoming parole hearing.

Thoughts :💭
Told across dual timelines and perspectives, I became engrossed in Emilys chapters. Warning: There are a lot of hard-hitting themes in this book, so be prepared to feel enraged over the utterly depraved treatment of Emily Vaughn.

Karin is an expert at taking sensitive topics and stripping them down to their cold and brutal reality. It's one of the reasons I love her writing so much, it's gritty intense and confronting, yet you just can't look away.

Girl Forgotten is book 2 in the Andrea Oliver series and while having read or at least watched Pieces of Her will provide context to Andrea's backstory and some of the people in her life, it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone.

I am a sucker for anything cult themed, so the present-day chapters were a guilty pleasure for me. Filled with shady characters and buried secrets, all the pieces of the past clicked together to deliver a satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to the team at @tandemcollectiveglobal for hosting another fun & interactive #tandemreadalong and to @harpercollinsaustralia for #gifting me a copy of Girl, Forgotten.

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of J.P's work.
He has a remarkable talent for writing crime with such depth and atmosphere, and The Wrong Woman is no exception. This dual timeline/ POV small town crime mystery will have you flying through the pages like a Dodge Challenger on an open highway. (IYKYK)

Reid is an ex-cop turned Insurance Investigator, hired to look into the circumstances of a single vehicle accident that left Eshana Stiles in a coma, and resulted in the death of her husband, Oliver Stiles, a 30 something yr old college professor.

Enticed by a hefty bonus, Reid returns to his hometown from which he was exiled, only to learn about the disappearance of two teenage girls, one of whom is the daughter of his former boss, the Chief of Police.

It doesn't take much digging before Reid starts making connections between the missing girls and the crash. So why have the police written it off as an accident? Suddenly, Reid finds himself entangled in something much bigger than a car crash, and the demons of his past start bubbling to the surface.

I really enjoyed Reid's character. An exiled PI whose moral compass seems to land him in complicated situations. The snippets of Reid's backstory were dark and traumatic & I can't help but feel like there is an opportunity to explore this deeper. Perhaps in a prequel or even a PI series! *hint hint* J.P 🤪

Through Eshana's POV, we learn that all was not as it seemed in her marriage to Oli, with all the lies and accusations unravelling in the lead up to the crash. The timeline connected seamlessly with Reid's investigation, delivering a few twists and red herrings along the way.

Now, let's talk about that literary mic drop moment...The major curve ball I did not anticipate at all. 😱 There is a reason why J.P is the king of misdirection, and his signature twisty plot in The Wrong Woman did not disappoint 👏

Thank you @hachetteau for sending me a #gifted copy for review. This was my most anticipated read of the year!

Hidden Pictures ticks all the boxes for a compulsive and spine-tingling reading experience.

☑ Murder mystery
☑ Unreliable Narrator
☑ Eerie paranormal themes
☑ Great character development 
☑ Creepy and dark Illustrations 

I was utterly engoressed in this mystery chiller. It is dark, creepy and terrifyingly unnerving, yet I just couldn't put it down. The final chapter even had me teary-eyed 🥺 Talk about a wave of emotions.

The big reveal had me gobsmacked 😱
I did not see it coming at all. Truthfully, I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it as it seemed like there was a complete flip of a switch in the last section of the book where everything just went crazy. I cant say much as it may spoil the ride, but I am interested to see what everyones thoughts are once you have read it.

The illustrations were my favourite part of this book and found some of the more detailed work to be quite stunning in a dark/gothic way. The visual element really captures the mind of the reader by elevating the creepy and dark atmosphere to a whole other level. 

I definitely recommend reading this during the day!

Thank you to @hachetteau for #gifting me a copy of Hidden Pictures. I can't get the images out of my head!

Truly, Darkly, Deeply is a serial killer thriller of a different kind, focusing on Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose's relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Matt Melgren. Handsome, charismatic Matty, who is now serving life in prison for the gruesome murder of 9 women and a child during the 1980s.

For the last 20 years, Matty has maintained his innocence, and Sophie has continued to wrestle with the burden of guilt and spiralling doubt. Did Matty really kill all those women? How did they not realise they were living with a monster? Could she have been wrong? Could Matty have really just been the man she knew, the father she never had and always wanted?

The chapters are short and snappy, intensifying my eagerness to get to the truth with each turning page. The reflective style of the narration made it challenging to discern between timelines at first, as there are no past or present chapter titles, but once I was able to differentiate between them, I was so absorbed that I flew through the book in two sittings.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of news articles, broadcasts and blog posts, eliciting a deeper layer of realism as time went on.

I definitely had my doubts about where things were leading, with all the subtle clues falling into place over the last 5 chapters, as it all came together with such climatic finality.

Thank you @hachetteaus for sending me a #gifted copy for review. This was right up my alley and I sense it will play on my mind for quite a while.

𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨…

It is not very often that I will ignore all my adult responsibilities to devour a book in a single day, but that is exactly what Insomnia made me do. 👏

Insomnia is extremely intense, eerily suspenseful and an absolute mind f*ck! Which is just the way I like my thrillers. 🖤

The story takes place in the twelve days leading up to Emma's 40th Birthday, the day Emma is convinced she will completely lose her mind, just as her mother did. When Emma's sister arrives back in town unannounced, she persuades her to visit their dying mother, if only to gain closure on their traumatic childhood.

Unfolding at a rapid pace, Emma's entire world begins to fall apart at the seams. She can't sleep, she's becoming highly paranoid and is losing pockets of time. To add to the mayhem, her 5yr old son is drawing disturbing pictures of someone smothering him with a pillow 😱 and her husband is acting highly suspicious. You can't trust anyone, not even Emma.

I thought the chapter title countdown to Emmas 40th was a brilliant touch, acting as a sort of metaphorical time bomb 💣 and ramping up the intensity with each passing day.

I honestly thought I had the ending figured out. I had only ever watched the TV series based on one of Sarah's earlier books, Behind Her Eyes, so I was somewhat prepared for the inexplicable, but still, the ending blew my mind 🤯. Needless to say, the next day I picked up another of Sarah's books and I am so eager to read it! *also, there is a connection between Behind her Eyes and Insomnia you may pick up on in the epilogue.

Ahh, seriously! 😱
There is just so many aspects I want to mention but I don't want to spoil the experience for anyone else.

If you love unconventional thrillers with unreliable narrators and chiller vibes, you MUST read Insomnia. It will keep you reading all through the night.

If I had to describe My Best Friends Exorcism in movies it would be Beach's meets Heathers, meets the Exorcist... What an epic combo 💥

I think it will come as no surprise that the cover art for this book is what drew me in. I grew up obsessed with 80s horror and love the no boundaries, anything goes thrills you get from classic films. You definitely get those vibes in this book!

We first meet Abby and Gretchen as two awkward kids in the 4th grade. The writing in this section felt a little YA in my opinion, but Hendrix encapsulates their blooming friendship with such realism, it feels fitting.

The main portion of the story is set in 1988, during the height of the satanic panic. The girls are older now and in the 10th grade. But it's not until about a third of the way through that shit starts to get real. There were some pretty icky and shocking moments (I may not drink vanilla milkshakes for a long loooong time) and of course, an exorcism!

I experienced no shortage of nostalgic feels while reading and if you are a fan of the 80s era too, you will feel right at home between all the pop culture references. I especially liked that each chapter title references an 80s hit song.

Ultimately, the only gripe I had with this book was that I still don't know HOW Gretchen's possession came to happen, which is really frustrating. It's a gaping hole in the narrative that the author never really answers. But, as the core of the story is the unbreakable friendship that stands up against the harsh realities of young adult life and demonic possession, I guess I'll just have to roll with my own theory.