ginasbookreport

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Mystery / Science Fiction Read This If You Love: Upgrade  by Blake Crouch / The Ferryman  by Justin Cronin / any Ben H. Winters book “I’ve spend ninety years trying to rid humanity of its selfishness, greed, and impulse toward violence.” The Last Murder at the End of the World  by Stuart Turton is a mystery wrapped in a science fiction novel. The world as we know it is no more. It was engulfed in a mysterious black fog that ended life. Well, except for the inhabitants of the village on a questionable isolated island. How did these souls survive and, when an unheard of murder takes place on this place free from violence, what will change? Written by the author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle , Turton certainly knows how to spin a story. There are tons of little mysteries for readers to solve and each one is layered and builds upon the next. Over the

Oye by Melissa Mogollon Publisher: Hogarth an imprint of Random House Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Literature / Fiction / Humor Read This If You Love: The Guncle by Steven Rowley / The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren “Pain! Beauty! Resilience! And silicone! All tightly packed in one.” Oye by Melissa Mogollon is a masterpiece of a humorous coming-of-age story with a twist. Luciana (Nana) is entering her last year of high school and is balancing figuring out who she is, being accepted, adjusting to her sister living away at college, and navigating her quirky family and their love. The book is a lovely, funny, touching tale of a young woman coming into her own voice and learning lessons from her fearless grandmother—a character readers are sure to love and NEVER forget. Oye opens with the quote  “Entre broma y broma, la verdad se asoma.” roughly…  “Many a true word is spoken in jest.”—Everyone’s Mother That quote sums up this novel so well. Nana pulls no punches with her

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Domestic Suspense / Thriller / Psychological Mystery Read This If You Love:  Megan Miranda / Alex Michaelides "I can't talk about Wild Meadows. Not yet." The Darling Girls  by Sally Hepworth is another psychological thriller from one of the masters of the genre. When a body is found on the site of the former foster home Wild Meadows, all the past trauma of the women who spent time there is unraveled. Who do the bones belong to and who put them there?  The majority of the plot is peeled back through the memories of three sisters who shared horrific years in foster care. While at the heart of the novel is the mystery about the deceased, what happened to Jessica, Norah, and Alicia and how that mapped out their current life and personalities is really the main focus of the novel. Hepworth does a great job exploring how our psyches adjust and evolve. It's fascinating to

Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk Publisher: Tordotcom Book Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Mystery / Noir / LGBTQ Read This If You Love: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue “I called out to the devil, and the devil came to me.” Even Though I Knew the End  by C. L. Polk is a supernatural noir mystery novella that tells the story of the mystic detective. Tasked with uncovering the White City Vampire in 1941 Chicago, this atmospheric sapphic novel is brilliantly crafted. The writing is so well developed and is matched by the superior character development. A new take on the gumshoe detective novel, I hope Polk delivers more stories with these characters!

One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole Publisher: William Morrow  Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Domestic Suspense / Mystery / Psychological Thriller Read This If You Love: The Other Black Girl “Come to find out the voice was already compromised by a whole damn castle full of other people and after everything I’d dumped on them, they disliked me as much as I disliked myself.” One of Us Knows  is an amazing book that I already have in the running for my 2024 book of the year. It is a mystery/thriller novel, but the way it is told and the dissociative identity disorder framing of it also sets it apart. It takes on some aspects of a horror novel or even a science fiction slant. It cleverly uses the storm trapped island trope and turns that on its head because our pool of potential killers isn’t limited. It’s a unique and fresh take on the mystery and thriller genre and I couldn’t get enough of it! ***Note: I’m not going to give any sort of synopsis on purpose. I want you to fully jum

Wellness by Nathan Hill Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Literature / Fiction Read This If You Love: Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow / John Irving novels “But it also explains why love sometimes feels fleeting, why it seems to occasionally go away. Because it’s a thing . And things can run out.” Wellness  by Nathan Hill is a story of marriage, evolving individuals, and the pursuit of what constitutes health and happiness. Spanning decades from childhood through middle age, the novel touches on 1990s nostalgia while examining the time via the evolved lens of today and also delves into our obsession with wellness culture. Jack and Elizabeth fell in love as neighbors before they even met. It’s a lovely story to the beginning of their life together, but was any of it real? Now decades into their marriage, they are facing the daily challenges of life while confronting the childhoods that shaped them. Elizabeth has always been an overachiever and now she w

Wool by Hugh Howey Publisher: William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Science Fiction Read This If You Love: The Ferryman by Justin Cronin “Each life might wear away a single layer, even as the silo wore away that life.” Wool by Hugh Howey is a post apocalyptic look at an alternative future world. Where once humans lived outside, now they live inside the world of the silo. The only view to the outside is a dreary landscape speckled with dead bodies…the cleaners. To be a resident of the silo, you must follow the rules of the Pact. Fail to do so, and you will become one of those bodies on the hill. When the current sheriff decides to go out, a mechanic named Juliette is asked to step into his spot. She has no interest in the job, but she does have an unending dedication to keeping the silo running. Shortly after accepting the job, crimes start to become a regular event and Juliette is questioning everything. Who built the silo? What

The Guest by B. A. Paris Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Domestic Suspense / Thriller / Psychological Mystery Read This If You Love: Ruth Ware / Liane Moriarty “I saw Laure standing at the top of the stairs.” In The Guest by B. A. Paris, Iris and Gabriel come home from a vacation to find their friend Laure helping herself to their house. Laure and Pierre are their best friends and Laure is despondent over a revelation and is unsure if her marriage will survive. As the secrets begin to unravel, everyone is feeling the pressure and the past is set to blow up the present. Paris is an auto-buy author for me. Her books are always fast-paced thrillers with short chapters that I consume in a day or two. She is a master at drawing in the reader with her psychological mystery vibe. 

She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica Publisher: Park Row Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Psychological Thriller / Domestic Suspense Read This If You Love: B. A. Paris novels “I did something bad.” Meghan is an ICU nurse and single mother to Sienna. When she gets overly invested in caring for her patient, she puts her life in peril. Meanwhile, a man is attacking women throughout the Chicago neighborhoods. This pulse-pounding novel will keep you on the edge of your seat. Oh. My. Goodness! If you love a good thriller, She’s Not Sorry  is the book for you. It’s a psychological whirlwind of twisty revelations. Need a “turn the page as fast as you can to see what happens” novel? This book fills that spot. On top of the palpable knife’s-edge intensity, the book is set against the atmospheric backdrop of Chicago. The city takes on a character of it’s own that adds to the story.  

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander Publisher: Minotaur Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Domestic Suspense / Thriller / Psychological Mystery / Crime Read This If You Love: Ashley Winstead books “The articles said: Charlotte Colbert escaped unscathed. Which is true. While the others were in surgery or stretched out in a morgue, I was in the shower, scrubbing their blood from my neck and shoulders.” Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead  is a gripping and unpredictable thriller. An elite graduate school suffers a horrific tragedy, Charlie Colbert has been running from that day ever since. Nine years later, the past can no longer be bottled away. A film is being made about the Scarlet Christmas tragedy, and Charlie must face the black holes in her memories. What did she do or not do during the missing time?  Told via narratives in past and present, interviews, therapy sessions, and news articles, the book kept me captivated from start to finish and I gobbl

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin Publisher: Atria Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Literature / LGBTQIA+ / Romance Read This If You Love: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine / Lessons in Chemistry / The Guncle “I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I want to be. I wish I were someone different.” Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin is a masterful piece of dark humor, wit, and emotion. Enid is finding her way in the world and it isn’t always easy when you see the world in a different way than those around you. Managing difficult family relationships, mental health journeys, and navigating accidental complicated romantic situations is full of pitfalls and Enid’s processing of it all will have you chuckling to yourself. Well, until something nefarious seems to be going on? Is someone after Enid or is she paranoid? Is it just her mind playing tricks on her because she is so obsessed with listening to true crime podcasts? Oh…and if you want to know i

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre:  Suspense / Thriller / Mystery Read This If You Love: The Other Black Girl “And so, she was caught by surprise when it all changed.” Theo decides to pursue her dream of being a writer and uproots her life to move to Lawrence, Kansas where her brother has relocated. When she decides to use the local bar, Benders, as her home base to write her novel, she befriends Dan Murdoch. Dan is a mysterious man who has his own successfully published mystery books who reveals he is reading conspiracy sites for inspiration. Soon, the stuff of fiction starts to happen to Theo and those around her. Why are dead bodies piling up? Why are there so many conspiracy theories running rampant? What is happening and who is responsible? It’s a twisty layered story that is fast paced and action packed from the first page to the last. I was thoroughly immersed into the world of The Mystery Writer and it t

Selling the Dream: The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans by Jane Marie Publisher:  Atria Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Non-Fiction Read This If You Love:  The Dream  podcast / Cultish by Amanda Montell "...as many as 99 percent of those who do join [MLMs] make no money or even lose money." Selling the Dream by Jane Marie is an exploration of the MLM (multi-level marketing) industry and dives even deeper than her hit podcast The Dream . If you have ever received a message from a former classmate who is looking to help you "build your dream life" or "become your own boss" and you just rolled your eyes until they stuck, then this is a book (and podcast) for you. How and why do these companies prey upon mostly women who are looking to make extra money to help their families? What tactics are applied to get smart people to sign up, pay a huge fee, and then get trapped in the cycle of needing to sign up more and more people each mont

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera Publisher: Caledon Book, a division of MacMillan Publishers Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Psychological Mystery Read This If You Love:  Megan Miranda / Fans of true crime podcasts “A podcaster has decided to ruin my life, so I’m buying a chicken.” Lucy’s best friend was murdered and everyone thinks she did it. But it could never be proven. Hell, even Lucy isn’t sure she DIDN’T do it. Enter podcaster Ben who sets out to solve the case many years later. It uproots the life Lucy had managed to carve out for herself (dark humor intended), and she is thrust back into the black hole of her life that she simply cannot remember. What Lucy does know is that she has a little voice in her head constantly saying, “Let’s kill…”  I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having been in a mini reading slump, this was the right book at the right time for me. It’s a very fast read and I was hooked from the first page. Unlike other “podcast” based

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Domestic Suspense Read This If You Love: Samantha Downing / Tarryn Fisher Cassie and Billie are the best of childhood friends, but sometimes even best friends grow apart. What they do and for each other is a complicated web of love, jealousy, and deceit. Not so much a mystery…more of a mystery mixed with drama. I constantly flipped my allegiance…. While Cassie lives an influencer life and is defined by the adoration of strangers, Billie has this amazing job where she gets insane trips. However, Billie doesn’t share and boast on her private accounts about this aspect of her life. A stark contrast that had me screaming at Billie to see that she had an amazing existence and didn’t need to cling to the old familiar. Have you ever had a friendship run its course and turn toxic? Did you find it hard to extricate from the situation? This book is the extreme, but oddly relatable. 

Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Fantasy / Romantasy / Young Adult Read This If You Love: Divine Rivals / Iron Flame “The magic still gathers, and the past is gilded; I see the beauty in what has been but only because I have tasted both sorrow and joy in equal measures.” Ruthless Vows picks up immediately after the events in Divine Rivals. Kitt and Winnow managed to survive Avalon Bluff, but the actions of the gods continue to rip fractures in their world and love. Will Roman be able to overcome what has happened to him and the position in which he finds himself? Will Iris be able to help save her home through her dedication to reporting? How will these lovers find one another when everything is built against them? How will they turn the tides? “In war, there are always debts.” ***While I often will read series books as a standalone or out of order, I would highly recommend that you read Divine Rivals  before venturin

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang Publisher: William Morrow Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Literature / Thriller / Psychological Mystery Read This If You Love: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow “What more can we want as writers than such immortality? Don’t ghosts just want to be remembered?” Athena Liu is a literary success. June Hayward can only wish to achieve the same accomplishments. Well…maybe she could literally have Athena’s writing to help her earn the praise she so seeks? When Athena tragically dies, June takes Athena’s newest manuscript and claims it as her own. Publishing it as Juniper Song, which is all sorts of inappropriate and misleading. What unfolds from there is an exploration of the publishing industry, respecting cultural stories, and what we will do to be successful. I loved this book! Writing an entirely first-person narrative and making it so immersive and engaging for the reader is a high bar, but Kuang does it so effortlessly. The messages in Yellowface ab

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson Publisher: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Literature Read This If You Love: Tom Lake  by Ann Patchett “She turned off the light and backed out of the room, full of the understanding that her children were going to be totally f*#@ed up.” Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson tells the story of the Stockton clan. Told via sisters Darley and Georgiana and their sister-in-law Sasha, readers are taken on a journey through the layers of what it means to be a member of an old-money family. Darley is a mother of two rambunctious and entertaining children that made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions. She is navigating having put her own career ambitions on hold. Georgiana is making her way from youth to maturity via a bumpy road filled with bad choices and heartache. Sasha is treated as an outsider by the Stocktons who, not so secretly, refer to her as The Gold Digger. Can these three women find support

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell Publisher: Anchor Books, Penguin Random House Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre:  Domestic Suspense / Thriller / Mystery / Satire Read This If You Love: The Block Party  by Jamie Day “She deserved better than to die there. To die because of him.” The Other Half  by Jenny Jackson is a quick-paced mystery wrapped in a satire about an ultra-wealthy British friend group. Full of toxic characters and attributes, everyone is a suspect when a dead body is found in the polished garden. DS Caius Beauchamp and his co-workers Matt and Amy are a delight to have as the guides through this story. Thank goodness, because I really didn’t like any of the other characters. Yikes! I almost  stopped reading after the first two chapters, but I’m glad I didn’t. It was an entertaining read and the car scene toward the end was one of my favorite scenes in any book I’ve read in the last year. This book was part of the Crime by the Box subscription, which is run by Abby

My Murder by Katie Williams Publisher: Riverhead Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre:  Domestic Suspense / Mystery / Fantasy Read This If You Love: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch “What did it feel like to meet my murderer? It’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask. Somehow, it felt like nothing at all.” My Murder  by Katie Williams is an unusual mix of murder mystery and science fiction. Louise was murdered by a serial killer, but she is alive now. Isn’t she? Is she really herself? How did she become a victim of Edward Early and a line in the poem about his killings? She sets off to find out the truth behind her murder and who she is. This book brought to mind Dark Matter , for me. That is a book that I loooove.  My Murder didn’t hit as successfully for me. While I was very intrigued at the beginning of the book, by the end I was conflicted and found the ending to be unsettling and somewhat predictable. I do appreciate the efforts to tell a unique story and the world-building

The Women by Kristin Hannah Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Historical Fiction / Literature / Feminism Read This If You Love:  The Nightingale / The Alice Network “Men keep us in boxes, make us wear starched virgin white, and tell us that docs are gods. And the worst part is, we believe them.” The Women  by Kristin Hannah is a breathtaking epic novel that delves into the women who served in the Vietnam War. Francis McGrath has lived a privileged life, but longs for something meaningful. After she suffers a great loss, she trains to be a nurse and finds herself out of her depth and in the muck in Vietnam. The grueling work and fighting is in stark contrast to what is being reported in the news. While the days are long and bloody, Frankie makes the tightest bonds of her life befriending her bunk mates and fellow nurses. She finds love, loss, death, life, joy, and pain. Through her story of service and return to state-side life, Hannah weaves a h

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett Publisher: Del Ray, Penguin Random House Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Mystery / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / Science Fiction Read This If You Love: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow “You’re saying someone weaponized a contagion?” The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is an excellent urban fantasy mystery novel. Set in the Empire of Khanum, Din (an apprentice investigator and engraver) is assigned to the quirky and mysterious Ana Dolabra. An Imperial officer is dead and the investigation into his possible murder threatens to unravel a plot that could bring down the Empire. While everyone else is focused on the dangers of approaching leviathans, Ana and Din must solve the mystery before the entire security of realm is in jeopardy. Ana and Din are a fantastical version of Holmes and Watson with hints of Nero Wolfe. From Ana’s brilliance and eccentric investigation techniques to Din’s clever ways to manage situation

The Quiet Boy by Ben H. Winters Publisher: Mulholland Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 Genre: Science Fiction Read This If You Love: The Policeman trilogy by Ben H. Winters / Fans of Blake Crouch This was a buddy read book that I read and so did my husband, Patrick. You will find our individual takes on the book here. Gina’s Review of the The Quiet Boy “He’s got the future inside of him. It’s got to come out.” Wes suffers an injury that locks him into his 16-year-old body. He doesn’t change, sleep, eat…just walks continuously, but how can that be? Does he really have the mysterious Syndrome J? Was it a result of malpractice? Is there a way to reach Wes? Jay Shenk takes on the case to try and get a legal and financial verdict for Wes’s family and swears to always be their lawyer. Decades later, Jay’s son Ruben is an investigator who picks up the case when Wes’s dad is in need. But while The Quiet Boy  still is locked in his own mind, a mysterious man and his followers have a new

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross Publisher:  Wednesday Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Fantasy / Romance Read This If You Love:  Fourth Wing / Iron Flame "No God--No Creature--NoWar--Can Come Between Them" Divine Rivals  by Rebecca Ross tells the story of two young journalists determined to tell the truth about the war among the gods that is tearing apart their world. Roman Kitt comes from an influential family. Iris Winnow has a brother fighting in the war and she is determined to hold together what little her family has left. These two are rivals in the newsroom, but soon find common ground…some in very unexpected and magical ways. Can they survive the war and find love? Will the dark forces at work tear them apart? This is a young adult novel that has taken over a lot of best of lists and I know many an adult woman who has read and enjoyed this book. It is a touching story of young love, life during a war, and the power of family and truth. Divine Rivals is a s

The Collective by Alison Gaylin Publisher:  William Morrow Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Thriller / Suspense Read This If You Love:  Samantha Downing / Tarryn Fisher "I want him dead...for real." The Collective  by Alison Gaylin is a dark tale of revenge and deep grief. What happens when justice isn't upheld or it just isn't enough to dent the pain of loss? What if that grief is left to fester until it eats up the humanity of a collective group? Things can turn gruesome, deadly, and dark very fast.  When Camille's daughter died, the circumstances surrounding the death were gut-wrenching. Try as she might to move on, the grief she feels consumes her, and when she is approached by a mysterious woman with means of support, she jumps on the bandwagon. But, it's not for real, right? This is just venting and being able to say all the dark thoughts you can't in society. Right? What unravels is a twisted plot that will leave you questioning what is rig

Diva by Daisy Goodwin Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️.5 Genre:  Literature / Historical Fiction Read This If You Love:  Maria Callas “…but in the end, we all fall silent.” Diva is an historical fiction novel about the story of real-life opera singer Maria Callas. Callas is said to have one of the most beautiful voices ever, but her life off the stage was an opera fit for a diva as well. From her dramatic childhood during the war and her complex relationships with her mother and sister, to her long-running relationship with Aristotle Onassis, Callas led a fascinating life. Unfortunately, Diva  somehow falls short in entertaining the reader, IMHO. The book reads more like a biography than a fiction novel that uses a real-life person and events to center around a larger plot. For instance, The Rose Code  was set against Bletchley Circle and had many characters who existed in our world. However, there was a central event that The Rose Code  addressed. Because D