This was the slowest Freida book in existence. I typically turn to these when I need a pick me up or something quick and fun and this was just not it. I'm not sure if it's because this is the third book in a series or what the case was but I just didn't love this one as much as I do others. If this had been by someone other than Freida I probably would have DNF'd pretty early on. That being said, I did enjoy seeing Millie and Enzo together. And seeing their family and them getting to live a little after everything they went through in the first couple of books was nice. The plot of this one just didn't hit like her books normally do.

I'm 17 volumes deep into this series. I think that says enough.

Okay but can we talk about how I basically just sobbed for the last 10% of this book? Natalie writes so beautifully, both about her characters and the world around them. She makes these characters who you hope are real. You hope there are people who are just good for the sake of being good out there. I loved Gray and Roxie so much. So SO much. They were two completely different young women who both needed a little of the other to make themselves complete. Their friend group by the end of the book was just an adorable group that I loved watching on page. Natalie also always gives us a diverse cast of characters and I love the way she tells the story of her differently abled characters. This is so important (especially in mid-grade) to not only give these kids a way to see themselves represented in the media they love to consume, but also to help other kids learn that just because someone doesn't have the same abilities as we do, doesn't mean that they're any less of a person. And she shows how strong these kids can be when they stick together and learn to love themselves and see the beauty in those around them. I will forever and always continue to pick up Lloyd's books. And probably sob during those too.

The plot twist! Okay, there were multiple plot twists but there was a specific one that had me literally sitting here with my mouth agape in surprise! What a time. We love it when not only is the narrator unreliable, but every character you meet seems sketchy AF. There were just so many good plot twists and turns in this book that just gave me a fantastic reading experience.

This one was entertaining enough to keep me interested until the end, trying to figure out what was going on in the far past as well as the near past. The issue really was the execution of the murder mystery itself. We kind of knew who the bad guy was from the beginning, there was never any question as to who was pulling all of the strings, but who actually murdered Naomi? That was an out of left field reveal that there was no evidence to support throughout any point in the book. Here's the thing. When you have an out of left field reveal, the reader needs to be able to look back at the story and be like "Oh yeah, how did I miss that?" but when there's nothing. No vibes. No one off sentences. No evidence that things would have ever went in the direction they did, it just feels like the author got to the end of the book and then went "You know what would be cool?" but then never put in any threads to support the reveal. Overall this was an interesting take on how the rich can be absolute asshats and the 1% definitely have their hands in lots of shady shit. But just an okay murder mystery in my opinion.

--The next high concept horror novel from NYT bestselling author Christopher Golden. -- If by "high concept" you mean boring and unimaginative then sure, high concept. DNFing at 35%. Legitimately nothing has happened yet other than two insufferable MC's who appear to know nothing about economics trying to save the economy of a dying town in Italy. Neither of these characters were likeable or even interesting. They were mad that their friends weren't just uprooting their whole lives and moving to Italy with them. Talk about being oblivious to the rest of the world. I read through some spoiler reviews before deciding to fully DNF and I'm 100% okay with my decision.

This is one of those books where there are 5-10 suspects and they're all so fucking bat-shit crazy that any of them could be behind the crimes. And are all the crimes related or were they each committed by different people? Well, do learn that, you'll have to read that book. I've always enjoyed Megan's books and this one didn't disappoint. In fact, it may be my favorite of hers yet! I loved our MC Rosie. The number of times I was yelling about how absolutely nutty she was. The people in this were so insane as characters! Their choices are questionable at best, but that's what makes it fun! The plot was twisty and surprising. I was able to guess who the overall bad guy was at about the half-way point but how we got there and the extent of their madness? That was all a fun ride of surprise.

This was a fantastic entry by Freida! I listened to this whole thing today while at work and it was an absolute *RIDE*. We all know how much I love a dual timeline mystery and this one did not disappoint. Freida is a master at plot twists in the last quarter of the book. This time she absolutely had me believing every twist and turn! There were characters I never suspected as being bad, and characters I couldn't even figure out how they were connected to others. And the Epilogue? THE EPILOGUE. One of the best I've ever read.

Another solid entry into adult thrillers from KAM. This one has a secluded setting which usually works for me and I did find it interesting but the setting felt like it needed to play a bit more of a part to the overall story. Still good. The plot was entertaining and I have a good time reading through. I didn't find anything overly surprising or out of left field but I think if you like to solve the mystery as you read along, this book will work for you. I definitely prefer Kate's horror Mid Grade and YA to her adult thrillers, I wish she'd pull some of the horror vibes into the adult books, I think they would be all the better for it. But I did really enjoy this one. Learning about Theo's backstory was interesting and trying to piece together everything that happened to her when she was a kid was fun. I also liked the ending of the book and how everything turned out. An enjoyable read over all.

So, I did this as a buddy read with a couple of friends and I'm preeeeeeetty sure I'm the only one who actually enjoyed it. I feel like this was a "right book at the right time" moment for me. I haven't been invested in reading much lately and I've got heaps that I've started and haven't finished but this one just worked for me for some reason. This was a really fun read, very predictable, but fun! I enjoyed the banter/relationship between Freya and Bjorn and I enjoyed seeing them struggle with basically everything trying to figure out what was going on around them. There was a lot of travel and war within the pages and some of it was better done than others but overall an enjoyable read. I definitely want to see how things are going to play out in the sequel (I've already pre-ordered it!). What kept this from being a 5 star for me was the lack of depth to the side characters. There were a couple of characters that died during this book that I think had any of the side characters been more fleshed out, those deaths would have had a bigger effect on me as a reader. It would have been better served to move the plot forward had I an emotional response to their deaths rather than being like "Oh that person we've mentioned a couple of times is dead. That sucks."