The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
I thoroughly enjoyed this. I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads without question. You're kind of dropped right into the middle of the story when it's already well underway and I really liked that. I won't give more detail than that because I don't want to spoil it.
If you can stick through the first two or three chapters, it will start to come together. Promise.
I would describe it as Downton Abbey meets The Maze Runner, but I've also heard it compared to other books/TV shows.
I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella
This wasn't bad at all. It was predictable, but enjoyable. It's true chick lit. I didn't mind My Not So Perfect Life, two years ago. I didn't like Surprise Me at all, last year. But I will always, always, always read whatever she comes out with next. She's that author for me: the one I will always read no matter what.
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
I had such high hopes for this! I just couldn't get behind the YA factor. I found a lot of the characters really unlikable, actually. If I'd read it 10 years ago, I probably would've liked it more. I really liked the name Bronwyn, though.
Murder in the Stacks by David DeKok
This is a true crime non-fiction book. Apparently, there was a murder in the Pattee Library on the Penn State campus in 1969. I saw this book on a list or on a website somewhere years ago in Colorado. I added it to my TBR and, when we got to Pittsburgh, I found it in the Allegheny County Library system. I could never find it anywhere else.
Anyway. I'm a Penn State graduate, but I went to the Altoona campus. Scott went to the University Park campus. I remember going to the campus with him, and we'd walked through the stacks at the Pattee Library once or twice when he had to meet someone to work on projects or pick up books or whatever. THEY ARE CREEPY. I can't even describe it. It's like these hidden stairwells behind doors in the main library building and spiral staircases that go up and random doors for different rooms/levels of the classification system. The level of "lost" you could get without even trying is extreme.
The book outlines all the issues that would happen in the library: arson, especially. But anyway, there was a murder there in 1969 and this book, written by someone who lived in the same Michigan town as the victim and works in Harrisburg, goes over the history of the area, the campus, the murder, the state police, the investigation, etc. I can't imagine what the place looked like in 1969, but the one point the author made again and again was that State College was kind of in the middle of nowhere and the nearest reliable hospital was 40 miles away and technology, even for that time period, was sparse.
And, every time I go back, I agree: it really is just a college town plopped down in a farming region.
If you are from PA or from the area in general, you might enjoy the historical aspect of it. Or if you like real-life Dateline-esque stories, it's a good one.
Here's a Youtube video the author made if you want a quick overview.
Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison
This was good. It definitely kept me up til midnight (a grave, grave mistake) trying to finish it. A true thriller if you're looking for one, and that made me happy because I didn't like her first book that I read a few years ago.
I do feel that it could've been 80 pages shorter if Juliet would've stopped explaining and re-explaining the current situation to every character she came across. It was almost 500 pages.
Linking up with Jana and Steph!
