KINDIG

THE CHALET CATHERINE COOPER ***** When a body is found on the ski slopes of the French Alps it will change the lives of the guests forever – what secrets are about to be revealed? From its blurb and cover I was expecting ‘The Chalet’ to be a quick and predictable standard murder mystery story. I feel bad for making this assumption as it was actually a well-constructed thriller that kept me hooked throughout. We get chapters which alternate both character perspectives and time

IMAGINARY FRIEND STEPHEN CHBOSKY ** I must admit a book blogger’s worst nightmare with Imaginary Friend, I requested the ARC back before the hardback version came out and it’s been sat on my shelf until just before it will be published in paperback! So sorry to the publishers, I guess I was a little apprehensive at starting this 700 page tome but I’d heard some good things and wanted to get the review done before my second deadline at least! We’ll start with the positives; Im

THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER STUART TURTON ***** Having read and raved to anyone who would listen about The Seven (and a half) Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle which was Stuart Turton’s debut book I had very high expectations of The Devil and The Dark Water. Firstly, the books are in no way related to each other, besides the author’s skill at creating a complex and thrilling plot. The Devil and the Dark Water is set in the 1600s as a ship sets sail with a curse aboard. We meet a t

THIRTEEN STOREYS JONATHAN SIMS ***** I was really excited to start reading the ARC for ‘Thirteen Storeys’ as I’d been hearing a lot of chatter and excitement about it and boy, it did not disappoint! Jonathan Sims really hooks you in at the beginning with an obituary to Tobias Fell, a billionaire who built and lives in ‘Banyan Court’ where the story is set. Banyan Court is an interesting setting, part fancy, expensive block of flats and part slum. I would have loved a picture

THE INHERITANCE GAMES JENNIFER LYNN BARNES ***** When Avery finds out she’s inherited a fortune her life takes on a drastic change, but having never met the man who left his entire wealth to her, she is left to battle with his family to find out the truth… Having never read a book by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, I was compelled to request The Inheritance Games due to its plot. This book really is very similar to the movie of Knives Out, with a young adult and romance spin on it. I l

THE YEAR OF THE WITCHING ALEXIS HENDERSON ***** Blood. Blight. Darkness. Slaughter. Four plagues have come to the small village of Bethel – but who summoned them and who can stop them? The Year of the Witching is a great standalone fantasy story. Personally I much prefer standalone book to sprawling epics with endless installments and unknown publication dates. I’m also likely have forgotten everything about the last book by the time the next one comes out! This book packs a

Q CHRISTINA DALCHER ***** ‘Are we born like this? Or are we taught? Either answer is horrible in its own way’. When Elena’s daughter is downgraded to a feared State School because her ‘Q’ level isn’t high enough, she risks everything to find her. But what dark secrets will she uncover along the way? Having missed out on getting the ARC of Vox also by Christina Dalcher recently I was really excited to read Q instead. It reminded me heavily of the Black Mirror episode ‘Nosedi

THE BURNING MEN WILL SHINDLER ***** I often mention in my reviews that Crime Thrillers are a very over-saturated genre. It seems every 5 minutes there’s a release of ‘the first book in the series of DI OldSchool GrizzleMan and his partner DC Woman WithIssues’. As much as I love the genre it does get a bit waring sometimes but every now and again I find a series I genuinely want to read more of that makes a competent and great start at pulling me in. The Burning Man is a great

CHOSEN ONES VERONICA ROTH ***** ‘Sometimes Sloan wondered if the world had been worth saving’ 10 years after a band of five teenagers saved the word from the evil of the Dark One, they are struggling to live in the real world without the threat of death lurking behind every corner. But have they eradicated the threat completely? Chosen Ones is Veronica Roth’s adult debut and after the popularity of her best-selling Divergent Series, I was excited to see her take on something

THE SILENT TREATMENT ABBIE GREAVES **** Frank has not spoken a word to his wife in 6 months, so will Maggie trying to take her own life spur Frank on to reveal what he has not been able to say for all of this time? The Silent Treatment was a surprising heart-breaking read for me. I was expecting a thriller type story – a dark and hidden family secret to be revealed but instead we got the story of a relationship; it’s origins, the marriage and the trials of parenthood. The boo

THE PERFECT WIFE JP DELANEY ***** When Abbie wakes up with no idea who she is or what has happened to her, her husband Tim is more than happy to fill in the gaps. But what secrets are hiding within her past? The blurb of The Perfect Wife is a little misleading; I had the impression that Abbie would have no idea what she was – a woman woken up from a traumatic accident and told bits about her life only to find something more sinister lurking beneath the surface. However, 3 pag

THE WAREHOUSE ROB HART ***** Welcome to The Warehouse – a company that encourages its workers to become a part of the family. With housing, medical facilities, entertainment and food all in one place for workers to enjoy it seems like heaven to so many but what shady activities are lurking beneath the surface? As a lover of books such as ‘The Circle’ and tv series such as ‘Black Mirror’, I was so excited to get the ARC for The Warehouse by Rob Hart. The blurb really pulled me

LOCK EVERY DOOR RILEY SAGER *** When Jules is offered a dream job house sitting a beautiful large apartment she jumps at the opportunity – but what is the catch? I really enjoyed The Last Time I Lied, Riley Sager’s last book (see my review here - https://www.kindig.co.uk/post/review-the-last-time-i-lied) so I was excited to receive the ARC for Lock Every Door. Skimming over the fact that the title actually has very little to do with the plot, I was a little disappointed with

DON'T TELL TEACHER SUZY K QUINN ***** Lizzie and son Tom have moved away and are desperate to start a new life but what is lurking under the surface of the perfect new school that Tom has been enrolled in? I must admit that I read a lot of psychological thrillers during the year and I’m getting to the point now where I can guess the twist and occasionally even guess the entire plot a few chapters in! Every now and again however, there comes a book that completely knocks me ba

THE KINGDOM JESS ROTHENBERG ***** Ana is a Fantasist, a programmed Disney-style Princess who lives with her 7 sisters in The Kingdom – a theme park where all of your dreams come true. But what darkness is lurking under the surface of paradise? The Kingdom is easily one of my ‘Kindig Gems’ for this year. Think of it as Westworld meets The Belles – two of my favourite universes and you can see that I had little choice but to love it! I devoured it in a day over two sittings, th

THEN SHE VANISHES CLAIRE DOUGLAS ***** When Jess goes to investigate a double homicide she finds her childhood friend at the centre of the allegations – but what actually happened and why? I was excited to get to read Then She Vanishes as I have read and enjoyed one of Claire Douglas’ other books – Do Not Disturb (read my 5* review on my blog here: https://www.kindig.co.uk/post/review-do-not-disturb). I’m happy to say that even with high expectations going in I wasn’t at all

MY LOVELY WIFE SAMANTHA DOWNING ***** Millicent and her husband are a team in everything they do – whether that’s buying all organic food at the supermarket, going to gala nights with their upmarket housing community or luring and killing women together… My Lovely Wife is an absolute rollercoaster of a read and one I really enjoyed from beginning to end. I enjoyed the way that Samantha Downing keeps the book completely in the narrative of the husband, and it is only now in wr

SLEEP C.L. TAYLOR ***** After a serious car crash Anna is struggling to sleep; she feels guilty and paranoid that someone is after her for what she has done. She moves to the remote island of Rum to make a fresh start and forget all of her troubles – but have they followed her there? I really enjoyed The Fear by CL Taylor last year and was very excited about her latest offering – Sleep. I certainly was not disappointed! Sleep is a great Thriller which, ironically enough keeps

THE DOLLMAKER NINA ALLAN ** I found The Dollmaker to be a very disjointed and strange read. The core story is Dollmaker Andrew’s journey to see his pen friend Bramber who lives in an odd institution in Bodmin Moor. I must admit I didn’t find this story very interesting; it was mainly flashbacks on Andrew’s life mixed with letters from Bramber and dull details about his journey. I found Andrew to be very forgettable to say he is the main character – I had forgotten his name an

THE TAKING OF ANNIE THORNE C.J. TUDOR **** When Annie disappears and then shows up again a day later she seems to be completely changed from the girl her brother knows and loves. What happened to her and how can her brother Joe, now so much older stop history from repeating again? The Taking of Annie Thorne is my first book by C J Tudor and that perhaps explains why it surprised me and was very different to the book I thought I was going to read. I had imagined it to be a chi