Jithran

Three months ago, Quinn's life was turned upside down by a traumatic brain injury that left her unable to retain new memories. Her days are now filled with sticky notes and alarms to navigate her world. One evening, she witnesses a murder behind the shop where she works. The police need her to piece together the crime, but how reliable is her shattered memory?

My thoughts:
This book felt like an unexpected deep dive into the workings of memory. And I might also have gained some knowledge about how the bits and bytes of my memory lane work.

Where to begin, this was a roller-coaster ride, but not always in the best way. Having listened to the audiobook, I found the first part especially challenging due to the whiny tone of Leah, which made her quite unlikable. Additionally, the initial chapters were very slow-paced, which made me almost put down the book as I thought it was mainly about her life with a cheating husband.

However, as the story progressed, these issues became less significant. The pace picked up, and the introduction of another point of view added a lot and made it a whole lot more enjoyable. Although I'm generally not a fan of multiple POVs, it worked well for this story.

But then, unfortunately, we came down to the end, which left much to be desired. While I understand that in some cases concessions have to be made to come to a closing point, this was just far from believable. I really hoped this story would end with a big bang, but that didn't come.

In conclusion, the writing style was very good, the story was not half bad, the plot was a bit disappointing, and it needed some time to get going.

In the unhinged dystopian world of Gloam, where the police have long since laid down their last law, we meet Harlow. After a series of dramatic events, Harlow decides to trade in her relatively safe existence for the gritty, gun-slinging streets of the most badass city around. Her goal? To become a hired gun and seek justice for the upheaval in her life.

I love a good dystopian setting, the world is intriguing, but with a bit more context of the world it would help the story really come to life. Nonetheless I liked this adventure and the progression that Harlow experiences throughout the story. I give this ook 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thanks to BookSirens and Jennifer Withers for the ARC.

It's an ordinary week in a picturesque cul-de-sac in New Jersey. Ten-year-old boys Ethan and Billy are camping in a tent on a Friday night in July, as they do every week. But this week, Ethan wakes up in the morning not with Billy beside him, but with a large cut in the side of the tent.

Thirty years later, Ethan returns to his childhood home still haunted by the same question: where is Billy?

This wasn't the first nor the last book I've read from Riley. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, especially the first major part of the book. Without giving away too much of the story, I hoped the tension and mystery from the beginning would carry through to the very end.

The writing style, characters, and depiction of the neighborhood really pull you into the story. There are plenty of twists and turns that constantly make you second-guess what's really happening, leading you down different paths of suspense.

Overall, it's a great book with just two minor complaints: I wished for a bit more mystery towards the end, and I wasn't ready for it to end when it did.

Alone in the Dark tells the story of Abi, a young woman who's still trying to move on from a bad relationship. One night, she witnesses a hit-and-run. She gets help for the victim, but when she goes back to the scene, the body is gone. She was sure he was dead, was she? So what happened? With no body, the police has trouble believing her. Has Abi accidentally gotten herself involved in something way more complicated?

This book is a real page-turner. It's fast-paced and keeps you guessing. I really liked Abi, even though some of her decisions made me shake my head. But hey, if everyone did the logical thing all the time, where's the fun in that, right?