Tag: book blog review

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – The Divorce (Freida McFadden)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

You guys must be shocked to see another one of Freida McFadden’s books in my reviews again! She is on my list as one of my favorite writers to read! Out of all the thrillers that I’ve read, hers has so many twists and turns that you didn’t even expect to happen.

The story starts out by following Naomi, who is married to Jeremy, and they have a son, Teddy. Naomi thinks that everything is fine and well until her husband throws her out and takes custody of their son. Of course, this poor woman is sideswiped because she thought they were happy.

Instead, her husband wants to file for divorce and take custody of Teddy. Then Naomi finds out there is another woman he has been seeing, Veronica, or “Ronnie”, who is younger than her, that Jeremy has been seeing.

Naomi also doesn’t want to go through with the divorce because of the fact that she thinks there is a chance to save their marriage and thinks that Jeremy is going through a midlife crisis. However, Jeremy wants nothing to do with fixing the marriage and insists on the divorce, as well as pushing for her to get a lawyer so they can start the process.

When she goes out to find the best lawyer, Jeremy has already taken away most of her options. She also has no money, as she was a stay-at-home mom before all this happened, so her options are pretty slim.

I honestly was feeling bad for Naomi! Gets kicked out of her house, only gets her son part-time on the weekends, and now has to start all over by getting a job again, just to get back on her feet. Plus, while all this is happening, strange things keep happening at the new place she is living at, and she is thinking it was the new girlfriend that Jeremy is seeing again.

At first, I was on Naomi’s side, but then the book switches to Ronnie’s POV and talks about how she was struggling with drugs, but decided to get clean once she found out she was pregnant. Then, once she has her son, she ends up losing him because her boyfriend ended up doing drugs and passed out in the car while their son was in the back crying.

You are not going to believe who happened to take this poor little boy out of the car.

Honestly thought if you saw a passed-out dad in the front seat of the car with his screaming infant in the back, wouldn’t you have tried to wake up the dad before just taking the baby? Granted, he was passed out because he was shooting up, but still, I would at least have involved the police or something to that effect.

The crappy thing about this situation is that when Ronnie reported the baby being missing, when her boyfriend came back to the house, the cops didn’t do anything about it because they both had been arrested for drug possession, which I can understand why the cop didn’t make a report about it, but she also didn’t give birth at a hospital so there was no record of her son being born or having a birth cerifitcate.

Without spoiling it with you, I started to side more with Ronnie after that. I wanted Naomi to get what she deserved in the divorce and to have her son full time, but after knowing Ronnie’s side and what she has been through, I felt more for Ronnie than Naomi!

I really couldn’t believe it! I also don’t want to spoil how it ends or what else happens, but it’s like everything you thought you knew in the first part, the second part proves how crazy it really turns out to be. I love every second of it!

Overall, this was another one of her books that kept me on my toes for sure! I know a lot of people that I saw, it was hit or miss, but I’m a newly found reader of hers, so I’ll have to see how her other works are, but I really enjoyed this one!

I also am fairly new to thrillers, and I only started reading her works this year, which I also found out she writes like a few novels a year, which is amazing, and she’s a surgeon? How does she have the time to do both! I wish I was that talented!

Let me know down in the comments if you really liked this one or if you have another favorite/recommendation for me to check out of Freida’s work! I would love to know down below!

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

I figured I would switch it up a bit and review something that was actually really popular when I was in high school. Granted, I never read the book until now, but I did see the movies first, and with another movie coming out, I wanted to read the book before I see it.

Plus, they were selling special editions of the Hunger Games Saga books, and the covers were absolutely beautiful! I figured I would buy them and actually see if they followed the books more or if they left some things out.

Now, I’ve only read the book once, but I have seen The Hunger Games multiple times. So, I’m going to do my best to compare both of them, but this is more going to be a review of the book side, not the movie side.

The book is completely in Katniss’ POV, which I love because her energy is pretty much the same as shown in the movies. She lives in District 12, which is the poorest District to be in. Each District represents an industry that provides for all the others, as well as the Capitol, which is where the rich and famous people live, as well as President Snow.

Here is a List of each District to give you a clearer picture:

  • District 1 – Luxury Items made for the Capitol
  • District 2 – Stone Mining (Makes weapons and trains Peacekeepers)
  • District 3 – Technology, Computers, and Electronics
  • District 4 – Fishing and Seafood
  • District 5 – Generates Power and Electricity
  • District 6 – Transportation and Trains
  • District 7 – Lumber and Paper Goods
  • District 8 – Textiles and Clothing
  • District 9 – Processes Grain
  • District 10 – Raises Livestock for Meat
  • District 11 – Agriculture, Fruits, and Vegetables
  • District 12 – Coal Mining

To keep the peace within the Districts, they select 2 children, one female and one male, from each District to fight to the death in their annual Hunger Games. Every child aged 12-18 will have their name drawn once, but if you are in the poorer Districts, your name might be drawn multiple times if you end up needing food.

Oh, and the whole thing is broadcast for everyone to see. Actually, you are forced to watch it, from what I gathered in the book, no matter who you are. I couldn’t imagine being a mother in that society and having to watch any of my children compete in that arena.

In the book, Katniss talks about the games and that today is the day of the reaping and that this is her little sister Prim’s first time being a part of the reaping, as she is 12. Of course, Katniss tells her that she shouldn’t worry about being picked because her name is only in there once.

However, her name gets picked, and Katniss volunteers as a tribute, protecting her sister from having to endure the Hunger Games. Since she’s in District 12, volunteering only usually happens from the first two Districts. Mind you, the tributes being picked and everything is being broadcast to the Capitol; this is like their Wrestlemania or Super Bowl.

Once Katniss and Peeta, who were chosen, get selected, they have a few minutes to say goodbye, and this is when the movie doesn’t show. Katniss gets visitors from Gale, Prim, and her mother, but she also gets Mage, who gave her the Mockingjay pin, as well as Peeta’s father.

Which I sort of understand why they didn’t include those; I don’t even think you see Peeta’s parents or hear about them at all through most of the other movies, except in the scene where Peeta’s mother yells at him for burning the bread.

Then they are off to the Capitol, where they have Haymitch and Effie. They will do what they can to help get both Katniss and Peeta prepared for what they are about to endure. Also, side note, Haymitch is my favorite character, both in the book and in the movies. He’s also the only living District 12 tribute and now mentor to both Katniss and Peeta.

Anyway, they are at the Training Center for about 2 weeks, and then they are released into a giant dome where the games will happen. So, they get a little taste of what it’s like to be in the Capitol before they are ultimately killed.

Since this is a “TV show” to the people of the Capitol, they have all the tributes interviewed so that they can get to know them. As Haymitch says, “You want to get people to like you.”, which is needed to get sponsors that could help you in the middle of the games.

During the interviews, Peeta also confesses that he’s been in love with Katniss; she doesn’t take it well because she thinks it makes her look weak, but instead Haymitch tells her it makes her more desirable. This is when the beginning of the “Star-Crossed Lovers from District 12” starts to begin.

Throughout the time after the interview and during the games, you can see Katniss warming up to Peeta, but she’s still confused about her feelings throughout the entire book. Which I get and don’t get because of the society they are in; if she were to do something that pissed off the Capitol, everyone around her would be in trouble.

Plus, she also has mixed feelings about Gale; although they are close, she sees him more like a brother than a lover. I’m also not a huge fan of the Gale and Katniss couple. Yes, they are similar, but Peeta understands her a little bit more, in my eyes, just because they both endured a lot of PTSD from the games.

The one thing that got me when Katniss was in the games is that she had Rue (from District 11) as an ally, whom she wanted to protect like her little sister. Unfortunately, she was too late to save her, but stayed with her until she passed so she wasn’t alone.

Overall, the movie followed the book, missed a few things, but was pretty close to other books that didn’t do the book justice; this one did. I really also enjoyed the author’s writing style as well; usually that determines if I’ll read the book or not. I honestly wish I had read it when I was in high school because then it would have made seeing the movie even more exciting.

I will be reading the sequels as well; the only ones I haven’t gotten yet are the two newer books, but I plan on getting them with the special edition covers. I’m also super excited to read and watch the newer movie about Haymitch because he’s just my favorite!

I also must be living under a rock because I wasn’t sure if I could post GIFs!

What did you think about The Hunger Games? Did you end up seeing the movies first before reading the books? Who is your favorite character? Let me know down below!

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – Regretting You (Colleen Hoover)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

I did finally take a break from thrillers! (I know you are shocked!)

This one was actually recommended to me through Kindle Unlimited, and I did know there is also a movie for it. I saw the trailer for it, and when I saw it was based on a book, I wanted to read it before I saw it. I tend to see movies before I find out they are based on a book.

Plus, my friend had read the book and seen the movie and said it was definitely worth giving it a go. Mind you, this was the same friend who recommended all the thrillers I’ve been reading!

Before I go any further, I will be comparing both the book and the movie, so if you haven’t read or seen either one, a spoiler alert is in place!

The book first starts out with Morgan, Chris, Jonah, and Jenny when they were teenagers. Morgan is dating Chris, while her younger sister Jenny is dating Jonah. You can tell that Jonah has feelings for Morgan, and to be honest, they seem more compatible with each other than Chris and Jenny.

Anyway, Morgan finds out she’s pregnant after she graduates high school; Chris and her get married and raise their daughter, Clara, together. It fast-forwards to Clara being 15; Morgan and Chris are still happily married, and her sister, Jenny, ends up having a baby with Jonah, and they are engaged to be married.

It starts back out at Morgan’s birthday, where they are all gathered to celebrate. While they are waiting, Clara is running late because she helped her crush, Miller, get home. He was moving the speed limit sign closer and closer to his grandfather’s house, just so they would be able to get pizza delivered.

Clara ends up calling her Aunt Jenny to tell her all about it, just like any other teenager; they would rather tell anyone else but their parents because, in their minds, they don’t understand what it’s like to be a teenager.

Which is something I used to say to my mother when I was a teenager. Granted, when I look back now, she did understand, to a point; however, she was a teenager in the 90’s while I was a teenager in the 2010’s.

Moving forward to the following day, Morgan ends up watching her nephew since Jenny is going back to work, as her maternity leave is over, since Morgan is a stay-at-home mom. So, Chris, Jonah, and Jenny all go off to work. It’s all fine until Morgan gets a call saying that Chris has been in an accident.

When she gets to the hospital, she sees Jonah there, and she finds out he was called because Jenny was in a car accident. Come to find out, Chris and Jenny were both in the same car that killed them both.

At first, both Morgan and Jonah were confused about why they were in the same car together because they thought that Jenny was going back to work today at the hospital and Chris was going to work as well.

However, after they got calls from the hotel saying that Chris’s vehicle was still there and Jenny’s bag was waiting to be picked up, they found out that Chris and Jenny were having an afair that no one knew about. Of course, Morgan doesn’t want to believe it and tells Jonah not to tell Clara why Chris and Jenny were in the car together.

As a mother myself, I understand exactly why Morgan wanted to keep that information hidden from Clara. She always thought of her dad and aunt so highly, and if she found out that they died in a car crash because they were having an affair, it would crush her. However, telling her what happened would’ve prevented Clara from acting out against her mother.

Since Morgan didn’t want to tell Clara the truth about what happened, she started to resent her mother. This is when Miller comes into play. At first, he has a girlfriend, but is off and on with her until it finally ends; that’s when they start getting closer, not just as friends, but more.

So doesn’t Jonah and Morgan- Jonah finally confesses that he’s always had feelings for her and that he knows deep down she did too as well. Of course, Morgan is too stubborn to admit them, but over time she finally does. Clara ends up catching them kissing and thinks that her mother and Jonah were having an affair, and ends up convincing Miller to have sex with her for the first time.

Which I give props to Miller because he asked several times before they got ready to do the deed, and she just told him yes. Of course, Clara wasn’t ready, and Miller was more mad that any time her mother pissed her off, she would use him to get back at her. Which any other guy would just leave and not talk to her about it, but he ends up staying with her and comforting her.

Finally, both Morgan and Clara sit down and talk about what really happened between Jenny and Chris, not to mention that the “baby” Jonah and Jenny had, Chris was actually the father. They really had a heart-to-heart about it.

Now, the movie does follow the book fairly well; the only thing that it missed, which I’m glad it missed, was the film project Miller and Clara were working on. I honestly didn’t really care about it when I read it, but the prom video Miller made for Clara was perfect.

Overall, both the book and the movie were really good. I honestly loved the mother-daughter relationship and them both learning how to cope with not only the death of their loved ones, but also having to learn to move on without them in their lives.

I did watch the movie with my mom; she didn’t read the book, but she liked the movie as I did. We both ended up crying at the end too. I actually preferred the movie over the book. The book also was slow getting into it, and it did take me longer to really get into versus other books that I’ve flown right through.

What did you think about the book? Or did you see the movie first and then read the book? Let me know in the comments down below!

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – Locked In: Season One (Katelyn Taylor)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

I thought I was going to take a break from thrillers, but my friend convinced me to read this one. I got more curious about it when she mentioned it was similar to a reality TV show, but it’s not like any other reality TV show.

She said it was sort of the same thing as “Love Island”, which I’ve only ever seen clips of, but I did cave and download the app when it first came out; although it wasn’t my cup of tea, I figured reading about a reality show might be more appealing than watching it.

As per the title, “Locked In” is a reality TV show that Courtney’s sister gets signed up for; her little sister signs her up for it, as Courtney has been working 3 jobs to help pay for her sister’s medical bills. Plus, there is a grand prize where the last couple standing will win a grand prize, as well as being able to get married to the person they locked in with.

So, it seems pretty simple, right? Well, it is nothing like what you expect it to be, that’s for sure.

First, when everyone gets to the island, they are pretty much drugged on the plane, so they have no idea where they are going. They end up waking up on a random island with 16 other people, 8 guys and 8 girls.

The book’s POV is mainly in Courtney’s, but you also get Noah and Landon’s POV’s as well. Before I go any further, a SPOILER ALERT is needed because I have a little bit of ranting to do about these.

When Courtney is meeting everyone, Noah and her are almost perfect together, and end up being the first “couple” to hook up. I honestly was rooting for these two to be locked in together. However, because this is a reality TV show, some drama happens that shocks you as to why they don’t lock in together.

Not to mention, the girls are the one who picks the guy they are locked in with. So, when it comes time for that, Savannah ends up picking Noah. Mind you, she ends up getting with him the night before anyone even locks in.

Don’t get me started about this Savannah character! As soon as she is introduced, you know that she will be the drama starter from the beginning. Especially how she treats Courtney when they first meet, you know she’s nothing but trouble.

Oh, I forgot to mention, it’s also a mix of very smutty scenes as well.

Anyway, by the time it gets to Courtney’s chance to pick, she picks Landon. Now, they didn’t start off on a good note. Landon was a bit of an ass to her in the beginning, but he ends up agreeing to be locked in with her, especially because of what Noah and Savannah did to her.

This is when the Noah POV’s go away, thankfully, and Landon steps in his place. Landon and Courtney aren’t as different as you think; they actually have more in common than they realized. They slowly start to fall with each other over time.

They pretty much have to stick together and complete the challenges to be the last couple standing; if not, they are eliminated. Again, this isn’t like any normal reality TV show where they go back home.

Courtney and Landon find out that when a couple is eliminated, they are eliminated for real.

After finishing the book, I had to look back and ask, “What the fuck did I actually read?” I was completely zoned in; it kept me on my toes for sure! I also really can’t wait for the second one to come out because there were a few unanswered questions about the end that I really hope get answered.

Overall, I liked the mix of romance, smut, and thriller that was in this book. There was also a lot of drama as well, which made the book more appealing as well. Not to mention, I loved how Landon and Courtney’s relationship goes from haters to lovers.

Was this a book that had you questioning what you were reading? Or is this something you can’t wait to read? Let me know down below!

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – The Perfect Divorce (Jeneva Rose)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

So, since I finished The Perfect Marriage, I saw there was a sequel and had to know how that one turned out. The first book didn’t necessarily turn into a cliffhanger, but I really wanted to know what was going to happen after Adam’s trial since the only thing we knew was that he was charged with the murder of Kelly Summers and was sentenced to death.

If you haven’t read The Perfect Marriage, I really suggest that you do first before reading this review because there is a HUGE spoiler that I’m going to talk about that happened in the first book, and I would hate to ruin that for anyone.

Spoiler Alert is in place.

At the end of The Perfect Marriage, I never would’ve thought it was Sarah. Out of all people, I honestly thought it was Bob, which I was half right about because it was both of them working together to pin the blame on Adam.

I also figured the sheriff had something to do with it because he was always lingering around the Kelly Summers case and seemed to want to close it as soon as possible, just because he didn’t want anyone to know that his DNA was also in Kelly Summers, as well.

The beginning of the book starts out with Sarah and Bob talking about getting a divorce because Bob cheated on her- how fitting. Her first ex-husband had a full-blown affair while her new husband had a drunken one-night stand.

I honestly don’t blame her for wanting to divorce Bob over it. Of course, Bob is trying to fight for the marriage and saying they can work on things since he only made one mistake versus what Adam did way worse. It is still cheating, and I can understand her not wanting to forgive or deal with what Bob did.

Now, the tricky thing is they do have a child together, named Summer. I was honestly shocked that they even thought about naming her that, knowing they both killed Kelly Summer. Anyway, the more Bob keeps delaying the divorce, she is asking for more and more out of the divorce as well as full custody of Summer.

Here is where everything starts to cause problems.

While this is all happening, the former sheriff who was on the case for the murder of Kelly Summers ends up in a car crash from drinking and driving, kills someone, and they end up having to arrest him. Which then means his DNA is entered into the system, and lo and behold, it shows up as the mystery 3rd DNA that was in Kelly Summers, so then the case is reopened.

Then, the woman that Bob had a one-night stand with goes missing, Stacy, and the last texts she sends to her roommate say that she was meeting up with Bob. Bob gets interviewed, and the only person he can think of who would be blamed for this kidnapping would be his wife, Sarah.

Knowing that they both worked together to kill Kelly Summers and pin the blame on Adam, he knew that she could do it again, but this time, pin the blame on him so that she could get full custody of Summer and not have to lose anything in the divorce.

However, Bob is the only one who could blow the secret out on the Kelly Summers case and the kidnapping of Stacy. This would make sense why Sarah would want to get rid of him; getting rid of him would get rid of the only other person who knows the truth about Kelly Summers.

Not to mention, a surprised visitor shows up at Sarah’s house in the middle of all this crazy stuff going on: Adam’s mother. Yes, the mother-in-law from hell shows up to Sarah’s door because she wanted to not only give her crap about how she didn’t defend her son as best as she could, but also to sue her for defamation because of her comment to the press about her.

Don’t worry, she isn’t in the picture for long, but I was shocked that she was back, and all I could think of was, out of everything going on and in her old age, why would she even bother with suing Sarah? That woman is impossible, I swear.

Anyway, without spoiling what happens at the end, it isn’t as shocking as the first book, especially when you know Sarah was the murderer and you already expect it, but they do try to pin the blame on Kelly Summer’s ex-husband, or you even think it’s Bob at one point.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad sequel; I still will add this to my shelf just because I did like both of them a lot. I also really like the author’s writing style too; I was completely zoned in. However, I zoned in on the first one a lot quicker than I did the second one.

Plus, having read both of these, it has added a few more books of thrillers to my recommendations for my Kindle Unlimited. Which I’m not mad about; I actually have come to really like them. Although my friend has recommended 2 more thrillers to check out, and then I might go back to the cheesy romance stuff because I might need a break in between!

What did you think about the sequel? Did you like the first one more than the second? Also, have I gotten you in the “thriller-kick” more than what you are normally used to reading? Let me know in the comments!