1. Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen
Date published: January 31, 2023
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Rating: ★★★⍣☆
SYNOPSIS
"Everything you've heard about vampires is a lie. They can't fly. No murders allowed (the community hates that). And turning into a bat? Completely ridiculous. In fact, vampire life is really just a lot of blood bags and night jobs. For Louise Chao, it's also lonely, since she swore off family ages ago.
At least she's gone to decades of punk rock shows. And if she can join a band of her own (while keeping her...situation under wraps), maybe she'll finally feel like she belongs, too.
Then a long-lost teenage relative shows up at her door. Whether it's Ian's love of music or his bad attitude, for the first time in ages, Louise feels a connection.
But as Ian uncovers Louise's true identity, things get dangerous--especially when he asks her for the ultimate favor. One that goes beyond just family...one that might just change everything vampires know about life and death forever."
MY THOUGHTS
I really enjoyed this book. Mike Chen is definitely one of my auto-read authors. After thoroughly liking all of his other books I've read, he has become a steady 4-star author for me. And while Vampire Weekend may not be exactly 4-stars, I still liked it. While many vampire books depict the supernatural creatures as sexy and immortal, or scary and blood-thirsty, Chen takes a different and almost human approach. Life as a vampire in this book isn't too different than normal human life, except for the fact that they cannot be exposed to direct sunlight and they drink blood.
Louise was a great character to read from the perspective of. Sure, at times I found myself annoyed that she only seemed to care about music and didn't have any other hobbies, but hey, some people are fixated on one thing their whole lives. The book was full of typical "quirkiness" that sometimes grates on me when there is an MC like Louise, but I found myself enjoying reading about her somewhat bland life as a vampire. She wakes up, goes to work, plays her music, walks her dog, and that's pretty much it. I thought the flashbacks could sometimes be confusing as they weren't set apart from the rest of the book. One paragraph would be set in the past and the next sentence would be in the present.
It was very heartwarming and centered on a family that I felt was very relatable in their problems. I absolutely loved the ending. On a sidenote, I couldn't help but think of the band Vampire Weekend every single time I picked up this book. Great band and really great book.
2. All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
Date published: January 10, 2023
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Rating: ★★★★☆
SYNOPSIS
"One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.
Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.
Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads."
MY THOUGHTS
I sometimes get annoyed by books that revolve around motherhood. I was so happy that this subverted my expectations. It sort of flipped the unreliable narrator on it's head because she wasn't some drunk wine-mom like many thrillers I've read before. Instead, Isabelle's unreliability was due to her inability to sleep and her lifelong habit of sleepwalking. I definitely enjoyed this more than A Flicker in the Dark, as the unreliable narrator trope was much better and not due to dumb decision making and the inability to confide in someone. Instead, Isabelle actively was trying to work with the police, who believed that instead of her son going missing, she had simply killed him and gotten away with it.
It would be rather scary to sleepwalk and not know what you did the night before. I'm not entirely sure that this depiction was scientifically accurate, but it was still entertaining and added suspense and mystery to the book. Not only did this have a present day mystery, much like her last book, Willingham weaved in a mystery from the MC's past. This book really explored guilt and the toll that lifelong secrets can take.
Overall, I thought it was very atmospheric and successful in capturing that suspense I crave while reading thrillers. It was a step up from her last book so I am very much looking forward to continuing with what she puts out next. The ending was a bit messy for me, but I did think it wrapped up both mysteries very successfully.
3. A Novel Disguise by Samantha Larsen
Date published: May 16, 2023
Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★☆
SYNOPSIS
"When Miss Tiffany Woodall assumes the identity of her half-brother after his death, she realizes she isn’t the only one with a secret to hide in this historical series debut, perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Sherry Thomas.
1784 London. Miss Tiffany Woodall didn’t murder her half-brother, but she did bury him in the back garden so that she could keep her cottage. Now, the confirmed spinster has to pretend to be Uriah and fulfill his duties as the Duke of Beaufort’s librarian while searching Astwell Palace for Uriah’s missing diamond pin, the only thing of value they own. Her ruse is almost up when she is discovered by Mr. Samir Lathrop, the local bookseller, who tries to save her from drowning while she's actually just washing up in a lake after burying her brother.
Her plan is going by the book, until the rector proposes marriage and she starts to develop feelings for Mr. Lathrop. But when her childhood friend, Tess, comes to visit, Tiffany quickly realizes her secret isn’t the only one hidden within these walls. The body of a servant is found, along with a collection of stolen items, and someone else grows mysteriously ill. Can Tiffany solve these mysteries without her own disguise being discovered? If not, she’ll lose her cottage and possibly her life."
MY THOUGHTS
I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
This was just what I needed. A cozy mystery which I will definitely be looking for more books that are similar. A Novel Disguise was a charming historical mystery set in the 18th century before women or racial and ethnic minorities had the same rights as white men. They were seen as lesser than, and this book did not shy away from that fact. The author included a lot of notes and cited references at the end of the book that highlighted some of the horrific treatment minorities were subject to. It was clear she did a lot of research while writing this book, and while they were mentioned in it, the book still managed to maintain that cozy feeling that mysteries of this type often need.
This was very original, as I hadn't really read anything of this vein before. Historical mysteries may now be my favorite type of mystery. It followed a "spinster" whose brother dies, so she takes over his identity to remain living in the way she had grown accustomed to. The mystery aspect that of this was really cool. People being poisoned with no one knowing how or why or who was doing it. I enjoyed uncovering the mystery with the Tiffany. She was smart and capable, and it definitely made me glad that I was born in the time period I was. The historical aspects furthered the plot and I was glad that the romantic subplot wasn't the highlight. Overall it was a really great book and I look forward to reading more from Larsen as well as the books she writes under the name of Samantha Hastings.
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