THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR by Shari Lapena 4 / 5 stars
A page turner to start the 2023 reading year off! This domestic thriller was the quick read I needed to set the tone for the new year. With a baby kidnapped, a mother suffering through postpartum depression, the father with a failing business, the neighbors who don’t like children- everyone involved has a reason to do it. The short chapters and cliff hangers had me wanting more with every page. As the story unfolds we are given twist after twist to where you can’t guess what will happen next- I certainly didn’t. The last few pages had me freaking out! I will say, Detective Rasbach was my favorite character in the book- I would’ve loved to learn more about his backstory or for him to have his own storyline. Gave me all the “True Detective” vibes.
ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS by Stacy Willingham 2.5 / 5 stars
Oh I wanted to love this one so badly. SO BADLY. I flew through Willingham’s debut novel, A Flicker In The Dark, and enjoyed it immensely. However, this one wasn’t as great as I had hoped. This book moved so slow. The build up didn’t really feel like a build up to much of anything. Just repetitive thoughts and feelings over and over again. I normally really enjoy Willingham’s writing styles, however the use of metaphors in this were reaching at best. I’m also over the theme of the unreliable narrator in her novels, using this concept in back to back books feels like a cop-out. I will be picking up her next novel, this one just fell flat for me.
IN FIVE YEARS by Rebecca Serle 4.5 / 5 stars
I loved this book. A story of life, loss, heart break and friendship. I didn’t know how much this book was going to impact me when I first picked it up. To be fair- I don’t think anyone really knows what this book fully entails until you read it. The blurb on the back is very misleading. This novel holds some very heavy and hard hitting topics and isn’t the stereotypical fluff fiction it may appear to be. A story based around a controlling lawyer, who has every detail in her life planned out, has a dream that takes her into the future of what her life will look like in five years- and it’s not the future she’s currently planning. I’m not much of a crier when it comes to books but this one got me good, multiple times! This one will stick with me for a long time.
