BULK REVIEWS: The House in the Pines, The Heroes, and The Cherished

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 1. The House in the Pines

Author: Ana Reyes
Publisher: Dutton
Date: January 3, 2023
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: ★★★⍣☆



SYNOPSIS

"Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they'd been spending time with all summer.

Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can't account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer--the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.

At her mother's house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father's book that didn't stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank's cabin...."

MY THOUGHTS

I love a good psychological thriller and the fact that the narrator was unreliable didn't bug me like it usually would. This is because she wasn't hiding anything, instead, Maya actively couldn't remember parts of her past. I think Reyes did this so well. She managed to spin the unreliable narrator trope in a way that made sense. Instead of growing to hate a character because of what you know they are hiding from you, we figured out things with Maya. What she didn't need to throw in there, was the drug addiction and alcoholism. Why do so many psychological thrillers with women as the main character fall victim to this same trope. The ending explained why Maya couldn't remember so why did she have to have alcoholic tendencies as well? 

I really liked the atmosphere of this book and it definitely fit the mystery/thriller genre. What didn't hit well for me was how Maya's past impacted the outcome of the book. We spend quite a bit of time in Guatemala, which gave the character more of a backstory and we got to understand more about who she was, but I didn't quite understand how her dads unfinished book played into her figuring out what was happening. All in all, the just felt rushed and not well thought out.


2. The Heroes (The First Law #5)

Publisher: Orbit
Date: January 27, 2011
Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Awards: 

SYOPSIS

"They say Black Dow's killed more men than winter, and clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbor, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given and the armies are toiling through the northern mud. Thousands of men are converging on a forgotten ring of stones, on a worthless hill, in an unimportant valley, and they've brought a lot of sharpened metal with them.

THE HEROES

For glory, for victory, for staying alive."

MY THOUGHTS

This was by far my least favorite of Abercrombie's books. I think this book suffers due to the short timespan it takes place over. While in the previous four books that spanned months from beginning to end, Heroes didn't allow the character exploration that I had grown used to. Instead, we get points of view from so many different characters, yet none of them we really got to know.

Instead we get so much action. Does Abercrombie write amazing action scenes? Yes, 100%. While reading those scenes, and there were a lot as we got to see the same sequences from different characters points of view, I was really able to visualize them well. However, that's all that it seemed to be. Although it was my least favorite of the First Law world that I've read but I will continue as I thoroughly enjoyed the first trilogy as well as Best Served Cold. The heavy handed war book just was not written for a reader like me who enjoys worldbuilding and character growth more.

3. The Cherished

Publisher: HarperCollins
Date: April 18, 2023
Genre: YA Horror, Fantasy
Rating: DNF


SYNOPSIS

"Jo never expected to be placed in her absent grandmother’s will—let alone be left her house, her land, and a letter with mysterious demands.

Upon arriving at the inherited property, things are even more strange.

The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd, just slightly…off. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house. And the things that her father used to talk about, his delusions… Why is Jo starting to believe they might be real?

But what Jo fears most is the letter from her grandmother. Because if it’s true, then Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay."

MY THOUGHTS

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review. When I tell you that I read 50% before DNFing I can solidly say that is abnormal. Usually I DNF by 25%. I really wanted to like this book because it promished dark horror, but when I read it was for fans of Wilder Girls, which I also DNFed, I should have known. There was ZERO horror in this book. Basically the creepiest thing was the tenants which were weird. I'm not sure if it actually displayed horror aspects later on, but if it's a horror book, it should be included in the first 50%. 

Another thing that absolutely turned me off of this book was the main character, Jo. She was insufferable. She came off very whiny and unappreciative. For someone that I think was 16, she should have acted a lot more maturely, or at least understood why her mom wanted to sell the house rather. She felt much more juvenile than she was written to be. There were also some very strange descriptions of characters that left me wondering if this book had enough editing. Overall, I do not recommend reading this if you want a YA horror, because it is not that. 




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