Book 49 of 2025 🎧 Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 10 July 2017
Emily and Elizabeth spend their childhood locked in a bedroom and terrorized by a mother who drinks too much and disappears for days. The identical twins are rescued by a family determined to be their saviors.
But there’s some horrors love can’t erase…
Elizabeth wakes in a hospital, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak. The last thing she remembers is finding Emily’s body in their bathroom. Days before, she was falling in love and starting college. Now, she’s surrounded by men who talk to themselves and women who pull out their eyebrows.
As she delves deeper into the mystery surrounding Emily’s death, she discovers shocking secrets and holes in her memory that force her to remember what she’s worked so hard to forget—the beatings, the blood, the special friends. Her life spins out of control at a terrifying speed as she desperately tries to unravel the psychological puzzle of her past before it’s too late.
From the get go, this book reminded me of one of my favorite books from one of my favorite authors. I figured I’d already knew what was going to happen, but I liked Berry’s stories so I read on anyway. While I was correct in most of my predictions, she did throw me for a loop at the end! This was quick to get through, and kept my rapt attention.
Book 50 of 2025 📖 Th1rt3en by Steve Cavanagh (4.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 1 January 2018
It’s the murder trial of the century―and Joshua Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house. He has done everything in his power to make sure the wrong man goes down for the crime. Because this time, the killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury.
But there’s someone on his tail. Defense lawyer and former conman Eddie Flynn doesn’t believe that his movie-star client killed two people. He suspects that the real killer is closer than they think―but who would guess just how close?
Holy moly this was a good one! I’d attempted the audio book at one point, but couldn’t get into it. I think I had even physically removed it from my TBR list. For whatever reason, I had it saved in a list on my public library account, so I decided I’d request it from there and give it one last go. SO glad I did!!
It is like the 4th in a series, and even though there were some minor things I didn’t understand due to not reading the previous books, it wasn’t anything that I felt made this specific story hard to understand.
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
.
Book 51 of 2024 📖 The Tenant by Freida McFadden (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 6 May 2025
There's no place like home…
Blake Porter is riding high, until he's not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone he shares with his fiancée, he's desperate to make ends meet.
Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She's exactly what Blake's looking for. Or is she?
Because something isn't quite right. The neighbors start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets...
Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it'll be far too late. The trap is already set.
While this was nowhere near the top of my list of fave McFadden books, I did enjoy it. By now I know what to expect from her, so even though it’s predictable that a twist will come, I’m still held in suspense wondering what it will be.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW: The thing I didn’t like most about this book was how Amanda just *happened* to have “stole” Whitney’s identity. It was too far-fetched for me to find it believe. That being said, the ending did change my stance on that a little bit! I’m glad that last twist wrapped that part up for me.
Book 52 of 2025 📖 Reading Above the Fray: Reliable, Research-Based Routines for Developing Decoding Skills by Julia B. Lindsay
📚GENRE: Non-Fiction / Education
🗓PUBLISHED: 19 April 2022
Dr. Julia B. Lindsey’s evidence-based routines help young readers decode words efficiently so they can spend more energy on comprehending—and enjoying—what they read! You’ll find: 1. Need-to-know essentials of how kids learn to read. 2. Principles of high-quality foundational skills instruction. 3. Teacher-approved instructional “swaps” to improve early reading instruction. Dr. Lindsey addresses content learning, culturally responsive practices, and the importance of engaging readers from the start.
Hmm. This one was hard to rate, so I decided not to rate it. I didn’t feel like I got a whole lot of new information from it, but I’ve also done A LOT of research and reading into the Science of Reading, and while I’m well aware I don’t know everything, this book didn’t really touch on much I didn’t already know and wasn’t already implementing. All that to say, if I had read this book before all the others, I might have found it very informative, though I will say I feel like all the other books I’ve read had more valuable information than this one. The writing was very straight-forward, and gave plenty of routines and ideas that could be implemented into a reading classroom right away.
.
Book 53 of 2025 🎧 My Brother Jason: The Untold Story of Jason Corbett’s Life and Brutal Murder by Tom and Molly Martens (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: True Crime
🗓PUBLISHED: 18 May 2018
In August 2015 Limerick man Jason Corbett was murdered by his wife, Molly Martens, and her father, ex-FBI agent Tom Martens, in the bedroom of their luxury North Carolina home. He had been savagely beaten to death with a baseball bat and brick while his children slept nearby. For his sister, Tracey Corbett-Lynch, and the rest of his family in Ireland it was just the beginning of the nightmare that would involve a custody battle for his orphaned children, an online hate campaign by Molly Martens and, ultimately, the gripping trial that would lead to her conviction, alongside her father, for his murder.
My Brother Jason is the story of how this seemingly all-American girl from a picture-perfect family targeted the widowed Jason Corbett, becoming nanny to his children in a desperate bid to create the family and security she craved, thus setting in motion a series of events that would lead to Jason's brutal killing by the woman he had once loved.
Here, for the first time, Tracey Corbett-Lynch tells her family's side of the story in a book that contains shocking revelations about Molly Marten's history of strange behaviour and the lengths she was willing to go to in order to get custody of Jason's children.
With full access to Jason's letters, emails, keepsakes and photographs, it is the story of how an ordinary, loving family was torn apart by the brutal murder of their beloved brother.
I don’t remember where I got the recommendation for this book from. I would say it was probably from a podcast episode, but perhaps I stumbled across it in the comments of a Facebook post or TikTok video.
I think I found interesting was how I hadn’t heard of this case. It was tried in Davidson County when I lived in an adjacent county down in Tennessee. This was free with my Audible subscription, so I made sure to squeeze it in this month before I cancel.
It was hard to listen to at times, and I feel like maybe the purpose wasn’t super established? The book was written as a way to get Jason’s story out and have him remembered as the sister remembered him, and not how his widowed wife (+ family) portrayed him. So it kind of read like a memoir, and kind of a true crime story, only without a lot of the investigative information like a book written by a journalist would be. All that to say, it gives the overall summary of the happenings from the victim’s family, but there is definitely a lot missing. It did make me want to dig in and watch other episodes and documentaries I could find one the case, such as A Deadly American Marriage on Netflix.
Book 54 of 2025 📱 Stranded in Iceland by Victoria Walker (3/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Contemporary Romance
🗓PUBLISHED: 14 November 2023
Felicity Thorne's writing career was on life support—or so she thought. When her publisher reveals her books have unexpectedly skyrocketed to bestseller status in Iceland, Fliss is catapulted from obscurity to a whirlwind book tour in Reykjavik. Leaving her teenage children with her ex-husband, she embarks on what promises to be the adventure of a lifetime.
Enter Brun, a soulful Icelander more comfortable strumming his guitar in the local bar than playing tour guide. Tasked with shepherding Fliss around Reykjavik, Brun quickly realises that she deserves more than a cookie-cutter tour of bookshops and libraries.
As Brun unveils the hidden wonders of his homeland—from secret hot springs to the local open-mic night—Fliss awakens to a world of possibility she'd long forgotten. Against the backdrop of Reykjavik's twinkling Christmas lights and snow-dusted streets, an unexpected connection begins to spark.
The books in this series are great palette cleansers. They don’t invoke great emotion one way or the other. You know there’s going to be a happy ending for the characters, and watching their journey to get there is light hearted and happy, even when the “bad thing” happens. The language still throws me off however, and I’m anxious to see how Icelandic people actually speak English.
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
Book 55 of 2025 📖 Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Contemporary Fiction
🗓PUBLISHED: 6 May 2010
Tessa Russo is the mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon. Despite her own mother's warnings, Tessa has recently given up her career to focus on her family and the pursuit of domestic happiness. From the outside, she seems destined to live a charmed life.
Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie--a boy who has never known his father. After too many disappointments, she has given up on romance--and even to some degree, friendships--believing that it is always safer not to expect too much.
Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, the two have relatively little in common aside from a fierce love for their children. But one night, a tragic accident causes their lives to converge in ways no one could have imagined.
I think I’ve only read one Emily Giffin story, and if I remember correctly it was set in Nashville which was why I picked it up. She is an author I see pop up often however, so when I spotted this book at Goodwill I snagged it.
This writing style was unique to Giffin, but reminded me a lot of Jodi Picoult. I feel like I read a lot of books that are specifically thriller or specifically romance - whereas while this one included romance and included suspense, I would just classify this as fiction.
Spoilers to follow: this was interesting because I genuinely liked all of the main characters, even when their actions were questionable. Like I wanted ____ to end up with Nick, but also I wanted Tara to be happy, whether she was with Nick or not with Nick. The ending was so bittersweet. I wanted ___ to end up happy with Nick, but also I’m so glad that he and Tara decided to work on their marriage. My feelings are complicated!
Only $1.99 on Kindle! (link above!)
Book 56 of 2025 🎧 Appetite for Innocence by Lucinda Berry (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Dark Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 17 March 2017
TW: honestly, pretty much everything
A serial rapist is kidnapping teenage girls. But he’s not interested in just any teenage girls—only virgins. He hunts them by following their status updates and check-ins on social media. Once he’s captured them, they’re locked away in his sound-proof basement until they’re groomed and ready. He throws them away like pieces of trash after he’s stolen their innocence. Nobody escapes alive.
Until Ella.
Ella risks it all to escape, setting herself and the other girls free. But only Sarah—the girl whose been captive the longest—gets out with her. The girls are hospitalized and surrounded by FBI agents who will stop at nothing to find the man responsible. Ella and Sarah are the key to their investigation, but Sarah’s hiding something and it isn’t long before Ella discovers her nightmare is far from over.
This book is definitely not for everyone, though very few of Berry’s are. It’s dark and covers a lot of triggering topics. I didn't find it very graphic, but it’s best to have a strong stomach to go into this tragic and heart-breaking book. It was very well-written, and kept my attention. I liked the varied perspective, but it does take a second to keep track of who is who when listening to the audiobook version.
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means when you purchase something through that link, you're helping support this blog (and my reading addiction!) at no additional cost to you!*
(Summaries are from Amazon, but all thoughts about them are my own!)
Reading Challenge: 56/120 books read in 2024
You can find previous book reviews here and add me on Goodreads here! Also, if you use StoryGraph, you can add me here!
No comments:
Post a Comment