Hey bibliophiles, I am back but with a twisted plot. Can you guess what’s the twist?
It’s February, month of love, and I decided to read what I actually love reading and living as me, this month I planned to love me.
And what is my favorite genre that I read this month? Psychological Thriller, Atmospheric Horror, Self-love. So let’s untied the book list I wanted to share with you all.
I Decided to Live as Me by Kim Suhyun
This is my February vibe. I Decided to Live as Me by Kim Suhyun
Have you asked yourself how you want to live?
Author discussed so many things that may look like small incidents but carved great impact in our life. These everyday things are not easy to handle.
What makes this book apart from others is the topic here raised and explained relevant to everyone, unlike any other self-help books this book is not bound to hear corporate working people or students but it gives us insights to deal with everyday incidents that are happening with teenagers, house wives, non working people. Beyond professional life, there are various things happening that we all have to deal with great efforts, and we are not open to talk about those things, those small things snap our mind and create depression. This book helps us to free ourselves from our own thoughts and over thinking.
Kim selected her topics from everyday life and narrates them with candid expressions which helps to build a warm, welcoming ambiance. Alongside the cute illustrations with witty, sarcastic dialogue makes the reading fun with full of actionable activity and check box this book doesn’t feel like a self help book rather it infused a cheerful vibe in readers heart while making it an interesting read.
I was just blown away while reading it, it felt like graphic novel, seriously, and the way Kim added her personal life experiences, and blended them with hilarious style, it gives an amazing touch of reliability, very warm, effective in boosting readers confidence naturally. The way it is written, doesn’t feel like someone gives you advice or you are taking a transformation journey, it articulated like author is talking infront of me and we are having fun discussion over coffee. I really loved this book.
Rating – 4/5
The Quiet Wife by Diane Saxon
The Quiet Wife by Diane Saxon is a scintillating, gripping psychological thriller that will give you cold sweat, you will feel spine chilling horror running down through your nape in every chapter.
“I, Soriah want to be ordinary. To fade into the shadows where no one notices me and live a quiet life. A normal life.
But I am not ordinary. Not anymore.
I’ve been keeping a secret. From my colleagues, my friends and most importantly, my husband – who knows nothing of my past life.
Twenty years ago, at college, a boy became obsessed with me. Craig Lane believed he could make me love him back if he just tried harder. When I rejected him, he did something so horrifying, it’s the stuff of nightmares. All my nightmares.”
Story goes back and forth whilst giving us agonizing chills that happened 20 years ago and present day’s suspense simultaneously, because strange things have started to happen, Soriah receives flowers that have been left on her doorstep, her cat keeps going missing. Someone is watching.
But, something even more sinister could be stalking her from the shadows. Because Soriah has another secret…
Blood chilling, dark twisted plot with rising suspense, toxicity and vulnerability will envelope you as you started getting through the pages. This book also explores the patriarchal thought process that determines dangers in women’s lives and presents a short argument in a compelling way.
You know who is after you but you are not sure…
Love that race!
It was never intended to be an unpredictable thriller, everything was predictable but it was all about the thrilling race, everything was hinted and quite understandable but the extreme fearful ambiance makes this page turner.
An absolute engrossing thriller that will leave cold numbness for a long time.
Rating 5/5
Just laid back and enjoy slow life with Barnaby. Barnaby and his dysfunctional family and his search for a good family. A planet with patchwork of life slowly engulfed me. Barnaby lived In a sleepy town called Baltimore and worked at “Rent a Back”. As I stepped into the layers of this book I realised we all crave his laid back life, how he finds excitement in small work totally makes us envious, this is the happiness we all want and yet we couldn’t relax.
The book starts where the blurb ends, so definitely I am in dilemma how to review it without spoilers! Well, his wife left him because of his unconventional attitude towards life, his laid back, relaxing lifestyle couldn’t afford good education for his child and a good life for his wife also he isn’t ready to take his family fortune and someone finds him interesting to live with but also not trustworthy. Hmm now that’s sounds interesting and complicated right?
This is my first book of Anne Tyler and I loved how she created her character with so much love and clarity. This book has lots of layers and author narrated with utmost simple narrative which is praiseworthy.
Barnaby and his quirky idiosyncrasy made a long lasting impression, one thing that I didn’t like, the book ended abruptly.
Rating – 4/5
The House of Light and Shadows by Lauren Westwood
The House of Light and Shadows by Lauren Westwood is a profound historical mystery blended with gothic horror elements with a dash of romance, also this book delves into lost and found theme in the settings of family mystery.
When Kate goes to look after her estranged sister’s children in their creepy old house, she takes a photo of what seems to be a ghost. Frightened yet intrigued, Kate undertakes to uncover the secrets of the house and the two mysterious sisters who lived there over a hundred years before.
But like the illusions of light and shadow in the sisters’ strange and disturbing Victorian post-mortem photography, Kate discovers that all is not what it seems. Someone – or something – has their own plans for Rookswood House – and for Kate.
With a potential developer circling around, her teenage niece in danger from an unseen force, and new love on the horizon, Kate must unravel the secrets and lies of her own and Rookswood’s past before she loses everything she holds dear.
Let me tell you a vital point about this book, this gripping story is a delicate dance between horror, epiphany and historical event that staged in a mysterious old house named Rookswood. This book also explores the headless Photoshop trend from the Victorian Era, early 19th century was buzzing in this fun photoshop fashion, Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Father of Art Photography, and the author masterfully used this theme in her gothic horror environment.
This book is highly atmospheric, will make you engrossed immediately in a perfectly blended story line which is an interesting amalgamation of history, horror, sisterhood, it reminds us historical mysteries by Eve Chase, Rachel Burton and Harriet Evans, you’ll love Lauren Westwood.
With beautifully articulated characters and well crafted mystery this book is a page turner.
Rating 5/5
The Couple at No.9 by Claire Douglas
This is the first slow burn, cozy mystery book that I have ever enjoyed. I have always said that I don’t like cozy mysteries, they always make me yawned and I hated feeling that, but this book, oh my my, I loved reading this. It’s a finest blend of deeply rooted characters and intriguing mystery in every chapter with atmospheric narrative, and the final twist, I didn’t know it was coming!!
It all started when Saffy inherited her grandmother’s cottage in a sleepy village. When her grandmother goes to care home she starts living in that cottage. Saffy always loved low profile, peaceful life, she thought her dream life just began but everything rolled upside down when they dug up the backyard for renovation and unearthed two rotten corpses.
Authors’ aim was not only to investigate the murder mystery but also to explore human relationships. This book brilliantly unfurled a complex relationship between mother and daughter, psychopath, and relaxing ambiance of village life. Author not only gives us answers to solve mystery rather it nudges us about how we feel less concerned about our close one, our lifestyle doesn’t give us the opportunity to pay attention to our people.
With multiple perspective narration every character is felt strikingly warm, insightful, and alive, it’s a beautiful combination of novel and psychological thriller, every chapter comes out with some revelations about characters and some twists that make the book page turner and of course ending twist was jaw-dropping, I skipped a heartbeat on that point, I have to stop reading for a while.
Rating – 5/5
Verdict: Highly recommended
