This book gave major "The Yellow Wallpaper" meets The Turn of the Screw vibes, and I was here for it.

You Did Nothing Wrong is C.G. Drews' adult debut, and it's a thriller that takes a new approach to the haunted house story. I read The Haunting of Hill House a few months ago, which was my first "haunted house" book, but this is also the third C.G. Drews book I've read, and I think this one is similar in the imagery and prose that drag you in and never let you leave. I'm not super familiar with the thriller genre (I only read this because I would read anything C.G. Drews wrote), so I think this isn't necessarily my favorite of their books, but I did really enjoy it, especially considering it's outside my comfort genre. That being said, I don't think any C.G. Drews fans will be disappointed in this book.

Elodie has it all: a brand-new, golden retriever husband who is currently renovating his family home for her and her autistic son, Jude. Her life is perfect, her past forgotten, until Jude starts complaining of hearing things within the walls of the house, and Elodie can't figure out if the problem is with the house or with Jude. The first half of the book is a bit slower, though it does pick up around about the 65% mark. I also will say (and I saw another review mention it too) that this is the first Drews book I've read where I did get a little tired of the prose halfway through, but that could also have been because my interest in the first part of the book relied almost entirely on my enjoyment of the prose. As far as plot twists go, I don't think it was the most unpredictable, but I definitely didn't guess it as early as I did (mostly because I'm stupid and misread a clue early on, then spent the rest of the book hyperfixating on said misread clue so I missed a bunch of others). However, I think the lack of a shock factor actually works in the book's favor; you're watching a train wreck happen, and you know how it'll end, but you're powerless to stop it. I liked the thriller elements a lot, and I enjoyed the minor mystery of trying to figure out who to trust. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending yet, because I think it's satisfying, but I don't necessarily like that? Regardless, I think this was a great intro for me into the thriller genre.

Something I've seen other readers complain about but don't have a problem with is the unlikable nature of literally most of the characters. I usually struggle with unlikable characters; I appreciate their depth and complexity, but my hatred for them overpowers any respect I could have for how well-written they are. In this book, though, I found the characters unlikable, but I appreciated their complexity more than I hated them. Did I facepalm every other page? Yes. Did I wish the house would eat them and be done with it? Maybe. Elodie needs to get a Reddit account because she would go viral on r/AITA... I liked seeing into her mind, but at the same time, I did not like her as a person...which was the point. I think of all the characters, I hated Bren the most. Maybe I just don't like men who try to occupy both 90 Day Fiancé and HGTV spaces...actually, maybe I just don't like men. Jude is the only character who is not unlikable, in my opinion. He's just a baby, and he needs to be protected at all costs.

Fans of C.G. Drews' beautifully terrifying prose will not want to miss You Did Nothing Wrong, their adult thriller reminiscent of "The Yellow Wallpaper," The Haunting of Hill House, and The Turn of the Screw. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

4.25/5

So glad my worldbuilding method of “just write a textbook” isn’t completely insane…

Welcome back to Abby not realizing something is a spin-off series...in my defense, it says absolutely nowhere that this is a continuation of the author's previous world.

The Obsidian Tower is the first book in an epic fantasy series featuring a young woman who kills everything - and everyone - she touches. The premise sounds a bit like Shatter Me, but I liked the execution of the magic a bit more here, plus it's fantasy (not dystopian/sci-fi) and the FMC is in her twenties. I do wish it were better advertised that this is an expansion of a world previously established in the author's earlier series, because while I do think the worldbuilding can stand on its own, it feels kind of weak at times, and I've seen in other reviews that there are a lot of helpful easter eggs that I missed.

Ryx's family has only ever had one job: protect the mysterious artefact hidden in the tower of the castle, and, of course, Ryx is the one to ruin it. After she accidentally kills a visiting dignitary and accidentally unseals the door that she's been told to keep closed her entire life, Ryx's life is thrown into chaos. This book had the potential to be really interesting. I already mentioned that I like the way Ryx's power is addressed; she can't ride horses and has to find other modes of transportation, and she walks on one side of the hallway to prevent running into people. However, this aspect of the book is rendered useless pretty early on when Ryx gets a "jess," basically a magic nullifying bracelet that eliminates the tension of her magic. Most of the plot is focused on politics, which means most of the scenes are endless conversations. I found the pacing to be super slow, and the lack of suspense made me struggle to be invested in the story, and I just wanted it to be over. I read 150 pages in one sitting for a book club, and I felt like the plot was in the same place as it was when I started reading. The ending was a little bit more exciting, but it was such a small portion of the plot that it didn't really impact my rating. As of now, I don't have plans of continuing the series (which is kind of rare for me), but I feel like I can predict the ending enough that I'm satisfied to leave it where it is. It's not a bad series by any means, but I don't think I'm the right reader for it.

I might've rated this a bit higher, too, if I cared about the characters. I didn't hate Ryx as much as some readers did, but I also didn't really love her. I agree that she was very passive; she was constantly getting pushed around by the plot and did very little in terms of decision-making until her hand was literally forced. Severin was bland. I expected more from him, but he's also not in any of the fanart I saw, so I was hesitant to get attached, but it doesn't look like it matters anyway? The Rookery reminded me a lot of the Cike from The Poppy War, with them being a secret spy group of odd people. I didn't really care for any of the Rookery members either, though I did think Bastian was cool. I almost wish the Rookery were the main characters of the book because I would've liked to follow them more than Ryx. I don't even really remember the other characters...I was just meh about all of them. I also want to mention that although the book is tagged as LGBTQIA+, I found the queer rep to be pretty minimal. I'm expecting it to be more relevant in later books, but in this one, it isn't super noticeable.

The Obsidian Tower is the first book in an epic fantasy series, perfect for fans of Year of the Reaper or who liked Shatter Me but thought Juliette was annoying.

3.25/5