Book Review: Wendy Webb - The Haunting of Brynn Wilder (published in 2020)

 

Oops, this is what you get when you read a book based on the cover and title. My expectations and what the book served were completely out of sync!

 

This novel is about Brynn Wilder who makes her way to Wharton to stay in a B&B for the summer. She has recently lost her mum due to the cancer and she needs to escape her normal life for a while. In Wharton she meets a lot of different people, including Dominic and Alice. He is her broody and handsome next door neighbour and she is the ex-wife of another resident who suffers from early-onset Alzheimers. However, she also seems to know more about Brynn than Brynn would have expected. 

 

I started reading this book believing it would pan out to be a suspenseful gothic horror novel. I actually really liked the characters. Their banter is so genuine I found myself laughing out loud a few times. A suspenseful horror novel it is not though. At the last 80% of the book I started wondering what it was the novel was actually working towards. The finale brings a bang, but one I had expected. 

 

This novel reminds me of something Nicholas Sparks could have written. The setting at Wharton and Lake Superior sounds magnificent. The characters are all incredibly likeable and well-developed. The plot is a slow burn and everything gears towards a tragic and romantic ending. 

 

I'm giving this book 2.5 stars not because I didn't enjoy it. It's because I feel it's out of sync with what it's advertised to be. If you can go into it wanting a paranormal romance, you'll enjoy your experience much more than I did. 

2.5 stars

Statistics:

Date read: November 18, 2020

Date published: November 1, 2020

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Format: eBook

Pages: 272

Genre: Paranormal

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

Goodreads

 

Book Review: Zaina Arafat - You Exist Too Much (published in 2020)

 

I didn't know what to expect from this novel, but the storytelling is incredibly compelling. I had no defence, it pulled me right in. 

 

We follow a young Palestinian-American woman who is exploring her sexual and cultural identity while struggling with the demons from her past. We are propelled from love story to love story, but all of them hurt and none of them stick.

 

This novel explores so many complicated subject without scruples and with a lot of thought. It might seem like we're propelled into a "Sex and the City" kind of tale with a bit more hurt and rehab than you would expect from the TV series, but it's actually so much more than that. All the while our narrator is likeable and easy to relate to and understand, even if you have almost nothing in common with her. That I feel is the strength of good writing. Zaina Arafat has done her main character justice. 

 

An added bonus is that this novel doesn't only take place in the US, it also takes place in Palestine which brought back memories to my trip there in 2019. 

 

My review might seem a bit more disjointed than it normally would be, but I loved the novel. The storytelling. The setting. The hard-hitting elements. I hope you will too. 

 

Many thanks to the publisher Little, Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: November 13, 2020

Date published: November 19, 2020

Publisher: Little Brown Book Group UK

Format: eBook

Pages: 272

Genre: Contemporary

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

Amazon 

Goodreads

 

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Book Review: Ruth Ware - One by One (published in 2020)

 

I've read one book by Ruth Ware and even though I liked it I wasn't a fan.  I read The Turn of the Key  this year, and I found the story to be a bit boring. Some of the storylines were introduced and then abandoned straightaway and I didn't love the reveal. I actually wanted to give the ending of the book 1 star. Imagine, gothic horrors are my favourite genre….

 

Anyways, you're reading a review for One By One so let me tell you that I actually (surprisingly) liked it much more. I see some reviewers who prefer her gothic books, I think I'm not one of them. Instead I thought this book was deliciously thrilling. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and most importantly it kept me reading and fully enthralled with the story. 

 

It's about an off-site company retreat in the snowy mountains of the Alps. Snoop is company owned by millenials and the owners and co-workers try to make big decisions during this retreat. There are two hosts present as well, Erin and Danny. And then the chalet is buried by an avalanche. What is worse, the co-workers disappear one by one. 

 

The story is told through the eyes of Erin, the aforementioned host, and Liz, one of the shareholders. I thought this was clever because it didn't muddle or slow down the narrative too much. I think two characters' perspective out of the ten people present was plenty. 

 

I expected a whodunit, but really this a story about survival. It reminded me a bit of some of the scenes of No Exit by Taylor Adams. I liked the atmosphere, and I think it's a great read if you're wondering what to read now that most of the world is going into a second lockdown due to Covid-19. 

 

I'm now considering reading Ruth Ware's earlier works, if they're anything like this one I think I will enjoy them. 

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: November 4, 2020

Date published: November 12, 2020

Publisher: Harvill Secker

Format: eBook

Pages: 384

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 2

Amazon 

Goodreads

 

Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing