kdickerson38's reviews
426 reviews

The Red House by Roz Watkins

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Multiple POVs; clever plot with lots of twists; suspenseful; I liked the unique aspects of the face blindness and the video games; definitely far-fetched and the MC was kind of annoying but it was entertaining and held my interest; kind of reminded me of a Freida McFadden book

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

A whodunit with multiple POVs, composed entirely of emails, texts, etc. (so obsessed); a lot of characters but loved it and it didn't take too long to get them all sorted out; not an easy/quick read tho... requires focus; a compelling and complex plot; definitely a page-turner, although I feel like it could have been shorter; regardless, very entertaining, clever, and unique 

Little Heaven by Nick Cutter

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

Cosmic horror; body horror; cult and supernatural themes; slow burn with tension and feelings of dread; ominous and unsettling; atmospheric; not a big fun of the western vibes and the dialogue, and I kept getting confused with jumping timelines; I zoned out a lot, all throughout the book, but I at least started enjoying it more in the second half and I liked the ending.

I'm thinking I may have liked this one better if I had read the physical book rather than the audiobook (also, the pics are pretty epic in the book).

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

Multiple POVs; thought-provoking and emotional; a mix of My Sister’s Keeper and The Green Mile; didn’t hold my interest well- probably because I'm not interested in religion and that was such a large part of this book; I did enjoy the main plot twist but it felt brushed over almost- I wish it had more of an impact; never a fan of the unnecessary romantic subplot

Run by Blake Crouch

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

Terrifying and gripping apocalyptic thriller; reminded me of Bird Box (but with more gore); an underlying theme of a family becoming a family again; pacing was weird and choppy at times, but I was constantly on the edge of my seat- sometimes I seriously couldn't put it down; every time I thought things couldn't possibly get worse for the family, boy was I wrong; such a nail-biter and I loved the creativity in the fight for survival.

Special thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for a DRC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This re-issue releases 10/22/24!

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

So entertaining and captivating; amazing character development; amazed at how quickly I became attached to this world and these people, just within a group of short stories; the MC is an unlikeable character, yet I'm pretty obsessed with her; this made me excited to jump into the series now

What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

Dual POVs and timelines; short chapters; psychological aspects; so many twists! Including a pretty huge reveal right at the beginning regarding the characters (so glad the author decided to make this a twist rather than giving it away in the book's blurb); definitely super far-fetched but I found it entertaining, engaging, and addictive; kind of a mind fuck

Sync by Ellen Hopkins

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Dual POVs; deep, heartwrenching, and challenging topics; truly felt for the two main characters and went through a rollercoaster of emotions; was fully hooked and never wanted to put it down; a masterfully written, captivating, impactful, and inspiring story with tragedy, hope, trauma, and redemption; the ending gave me goosebumps; my only gripe is that I wish it were longer- I needed more!

Hands down my new favorite Ellen Hopkins book 🩶

⚠️ check trigger warnings ⚠️

Special thank you to Penguin Group/Penguin Young Readers Group/Nancy Paulson Books and Netgalley for a DRC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Releases 8/27/24!

Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose

mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Dual POVs and timelines; family secrets, a will/trust, missing/dead people, and tons of mystery; I started to lose a little interest at some point in the middle (felt kind of repetitive), but overall it was a solid plot that kept me hooked with interesting characters and an engaging format; nothing groundbreaking but a fun, quick, and twisty thriller

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

So much depth; emotional and thought-provoking; everything that these characters went through and everything about this story was equally beautiful and heart-wrenching; at first I was worried about keeping all the characters straight again, like with Beartown, but it got easier and, as usual with Backman's storytelling skills, I became fully immersed in the story.

Such a great experience and I'm going to be so sad when I finish the last book in this trilogy 😭