The Family Reunion - Karen King

Another ARC by Karen King! A few months ago, I read the ARC for The Mother-In-Law, which I absolutely loved, so I was very excited to receive the The Family Reunion from NetGalley. Once again, Karen King did not disappoint!

In The Family Reunion we follow Mary, a retired nurse who recently lost her husband. Apart from her husband's death, there's only one thing on Mary's mind: finding her long-lost first-born daughter, Hope. Just having ended a whirlwind relationship with a boy who didn't turn out to be who he said he was, 15 year-old Mary was forced to abandon Hope in a phone-booth merely hours after she gave birth to her. She never told anyone, not Hope's father, not her husband, not her children, Joanne and Jason, who now both have families of their own. At first, Mary is delighted to reunite with Hope, who now goes by Cathy. But not everything is what it seems at first glance. When more and more suspicious things start to happen, Mary must face the truth. Does she truly know Cathy? And can the family trust her?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Family Reunion. Throughout the book I had a few suspicions of what could be happening and while I did get one part right, the other parts of the plot came as a surprise. Once again, King managed to get some great twists into her book. Every time you think you might know what happened, there's another twist to get you to rethink everything. King's writing is gripping. This may be a personal preference, but I love that she writes short chapters. I'd much rather read 300 pages split into 70 than 20 chapters. When the story was almost finished, I still felt like something was wrong, but the last twist solved it for me. I did think we started off a bit slow. I wouldn't have minded to go a bit faster in the first half, but especially once we get to the cabin, the ball really starts rolling. I read those last 100 pages in one sitting. Definitely recommend to people who enjoy slow-burning domestic thrillers.

TW: mention of suicide, child abandonnement and alcoholism

Stars: 4

Period of reading: 18/01 - 24/01

@karen_king on Twitter

I Am ACE - Cody Daigle-Orians

First of all, I want to make clear that I as an allosexual person do not pretend to be able to tell you how this book can help asexual folks. I can say how I received it and what I thought, but if you want to know if this book would be a good guide for you as an asexual person, I would suggest trying to find reviews by other asexual people, there are quite a few of them on websites such as Goodreads.

I think I Am ACE is a good guide if you're just getting introduced to the topic of asexuality. Even as an allosexual person, you can still learn a lot through this book. I do think that if you're looking for a very thorough guide or description of asexuality, it might be a bit too simple for you. On the other side, I quite liked that it wasn't very heavy or difficult to get through, aso some non-fictional books tend to be, I read this in about 2 days. I really liked that the author started every chapter with a personal anekdote. I do feel like I got to know Cody and he kind of became a friend to guide me through the topic. Definitely recommend to other allo people who cant to get an introduction into asexuality.

Thanks very much to NetGalley, Cody Daigle-Orians and Cody's team for providing me with an ARC! This did not change my review of the book in any way. The author wanted my genuine opinion so that's what I have given here.

PS: as Cody's pronouns are he/they, I tried to call Cody by his name or "the author"

Stars: 4

Period of reading: 17/01 - 18/01

TW: some descriptions of different queer-phobic comments / actions

Devil's Way - Robert Bryndza

Charlie was 3 years old when he disappeared from a campsite in 2007. Now, eleven years later, his grandmother, Jean, wants answers. After meeting private detective Kate Marshall in the hospital, Jean wants her and her business partner Tristan to find her lost grandson. Will a cold murder case, an old farm house and a disturbing short story help them to discover what truly happened to Charlie eleven years ago?

Right off the bat, I'm going to say that Robert Bryndza doesn't ever disappoint me. His writing is gripping and his plots are haunting. That's why I immediately requested this e-book when I saw it on NetGalley and I was so excited when I got the news that I could read it before the rest of the world had a chance to.

Even though I haven't read a Kate Marshall novel before - this is the fourth book in the series - I knew before I even got started that I was going to love Devil's Way. Luckily, I was right. I was so intrigued by the disappearance of little Charlie that I couldn't put the book away, I just had to know what happened. Rob has a way of sucking you into a book and making sure you don't go anywhere until you've finished it. Do I have exams to prepare for? Yes. Do I first need to know if Charlie's still alive? Absolutely!

Devil's Way is full of twists and turns. You think you know what happened? Think again and here's a big plottwist to confuse you even more. I'm a huge fan of thrillers that keep me on the edge of my seat and constantly provide new information, so this really was a book for me. The characters felt fleshed out and real. Kate has a swimming accident at the start of this book and nearly drowns. Her struggle to get back in the water after this felt painfully accurate to me. The last chapter had me blinking some tears away.

If you are very aware and attentive, you might get what really happened to Charlie somewhere in the last 25% of the book. Even though I did have a pretty good guess towards the end, that didn't stop me from enjoying those chapters as much as I had the previous ones.

Overall, I'm really glad I read this book and I would definitely recommend it to fellow crime-loving readers. It's not too graphic, but still manages to creep you out every now and then. Devil's Way gets a well-deserved 4.25 stars from me!

Thanks very much to NetGalley, Robert Bryndza and Bryndza's team for providing me with an ARC! I'm looking forward to more of them in the future :)

TW: child abduction, child death, murder, bipolar disorder

Stars: 4.25

Period of reading: 11/01 - 12/01

Rob with the book
source: Robert Bryndza's Facebook