What_Kel_Reads

Here we are-the last book of 2019.  I bought One Day in December by Josie Silver because of the hype in the bookstagram community.  It was the last book in a year of trying to branch out.  If only it wasn't garbage.  If you liked this book-great.  I'm going to come out right now and say that I definitely didn't.  I wanted to throw it across the room.  If you want to know why, keep reading.  If you don't want me to ruin this book for you, please go read any of my other blog posts.  Don't say I didn't warn you. Laurie is standing on the bus when she sees a guy at the bus stop and falls in love with him (because that's apparently something that happens to people).  He doesn't get on the bus, and she searches for him for over a year before giving up.  Cue her roommate and bestie Sarah, bringing home her new boyfriend who she thinks could be "the one."  GUESS WHO IT IS.  I know, I was shocked too. *EYE ROLLLLLLLLL* Laurie never says anyth

Anything for You was released by St. Martin's Press on November 12, 2019.  I was given a copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. One summer night, a neighbor calls in about an intruder next door.  When police arrive, they find it's Adam Grant, a very well known prosecutor.  Cue Valerie Hart, tasked with finding the killer while trying to ignore her connection to Grant.  Everything points to an ex-con he jailed years ago, but is that really the truth? Knowing this was the third book for homicide detective Valerie Hart, I read the first two prior to this one.  I think that's probably why this one was just okay for me.  I liked her in the first two books.  She was flawed, but real.  This book just made it seem like she was settling into cultural norms, acting like people expected her to.  I kind of hated it.  I wanted her to be the same "hungry for her career" detective she was in the first books.  It bummed me out a little. This book sou

The Passengers was released by Berkley Publishing on August 27, 2019.  I was given a copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. A hacker is able to access the computers of eight self-drive cars, and he changes their GPS destinations so that they'll all collide.  The public will now have to decide which of the passengers they want to save with the limited information provided by the hacker.  The problem is, not everything is at it seems with the passengers. This book was so incredible and I'm kicking myself for taking so long to get around to it.  I was annoyed that I couldn't sit around and read it all day.  If I would have had the time, this would have been finished in one day.  You have an aging TV star, pregnant woman, war hero, abused wife, illegal immigrant, a suicidal man, and a husband and wife in separate vehicles all at the mercy of the public and the hacker.  It was truly terrifying to watch the public's "mob mentality" form t

Paranoid was written by Lisa Jackson, released by Kensington Books on June 25, 2019.  I was given a free copy by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 20 years ago a group of idiot teenagers played a ridiculously stupid game, and Rachel was blamed for killing her step-brother Luke.  Now, with the 20 year anniversary upon them and the creation of their high school reunion committee, people from that eventful day have started getting murdered.  Rachel has lived her life filled with guilt, even though she was eventually acquitted.  She starts receiving text messages from an unknown number.  Is she being paranoid, or is everything happening in the town related to that fateful day when Luke was killed? This was a good book, but I had problems with it.  There were a LOT of main characters.  It wasn't always the easiest to keep them straight.  The kids were complete and total idiots.  I get that teenagers are dumb, but the ones featured in this book were unbelievably stup

The Dead Girls Club was released by Crooked Lane Books on December 10, 2019.  It was written by Damien Angelica Walters.  I was given a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. ===================================================================== Synopsis from Goodreads (It was too good to summarize myself) Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face... In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it. That belief got Becca killed. It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fat

I was given a copy of The Guilty Mother in exchange for my honest review.  This book was written by Diane Jeffrey and published by HQ Digital on August 2, 2019. 2013- Melissa Slade is the mother of twin baby girls.  When one dies of SIDS (cot death), everyone believes her.  When the second dies of SIDS, she is sentenced to life in prison for the murders of her baby girls. Present day- The court has been presented with new evidence that could mean release for Melissa.  Reporter Jonathan Hunt gets roped into reporting on this woman again.  As he digs deeper into the people around her, he really starts to question Melissa's guilt. If she didn't kill her babies....who did? First off-I feel like my experience reading this book was vastly different than the majority of readers on Goodreads.  It was just okay for me.  There were a lot of scandalous plot threads woven into the book, and I don't feel like they all got properly resolved (Kathy, the stepdaughter, Holly and

I was given a copy of That's What Frenemies are For by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  The book was published by Random House on July 30, 2019, written by Sophie Littlefield and Lauren Gershell. Short plot synopsis-Julia tries to have it all and rule her rich mom circle by finding the "next big thing," which just happens to be the fitness center called Flame.  This leads to her trying to do a Mean Girls makeover on Tatum, a young and dumb instructor.  Naturally, the plan backfires. Look.  The book isn't terrible...but it isn't the best thing ever written.  The whole time I was reading it I kept thinking that this plot has been done before, and better at that.  In a world where Mean Girls AND Heathers exist, this book isn't really anything special.  Julia is a rich snob.  She has everything, but she's still so miserable.  OMG, CRY ME A RIVER.  When it came to Tatum, I knew exactly what type of girl she would end up being. I don&#

I was sent a copy of Anyone by Charles Soule, courtesy of Harper Perennial.  Anyone was released today, December 3rd, 2019. If you could be anyone, who would you choose? In a barn in Michigan, a scientist accidentally switches bodies with her husband during experiments meant to find a cure for Alzheimer's.  20 years later, people are using "flash" technology to transfer to other bodies for whatever they want (legal and illegal).  "Be anyone with Anyone" is the slogan for the company offering these insane out of body experiences.  Just like everything in the world, there's a dark side to the "flash" technology.  People can rent out their bodies, or rent other bodies on the black market and do whatever they want, with no consequences.  Ultimately the story follows one woman and her quest to put an end to Anyone, and everything they do.  This novel will test your limits and make you rethink all you thought you knew about technology and mo

I was sent a copy of this book from the author, Luke Richardson in exchange for my honest review. Leo is an anxiety ridden man, recently unemployed and hung up on his ex Mya.  Mya disappeared over 2 years ago.  At his lowest point, Leo is approached by a millionaire who offers him money to go to Kathmandu and find his elusive daughter.  Thinking this could be a way to find Mya again, Leo jumps at the chance. Allissa is desperately trying to run from her family and the secrets she is forced to carry.  The last thing she wants is to be found. Leo and Allissa soon meet and realize they just might have to rely on each other to escape the city that is not as peaceful as it appears. This book was very fast-paced.  As I read it, I felt like the pages were coming to life.  The descriptions were so well done that this read like a movie.  The plot was great.  Character development was definitely there.  I was interested in not only Leo and Allissa, but the secondary book chara