Monthly Wrap-Up: September 2017

Oh my god, spooky season has arrived, YES! I love it!

Review: The Knife (Fear Street #14) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Knife

Series: Fear Street #14 (Can be read as a standalone)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: January 1991

Published by: Pocket Books/Simon Pulse

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Quiet—hospital!

Sshh. There are a lot of things they want to keep quiet at Shadyside Hospital. In fact, just about every private room holds a private secret of its own.

Poor Laurie Masters. The student volunteer innocently happened to stumble onto the hospital’s sickest secret of all.

Laurie has seen too much—and now the doctors and nurses are taking a close look at Laurie.

What they come up with is a deadly diagnosis. Laurie may not be sick, but she’s getting a prescription anyway—a prescription for horror!

My rating: ★★★★☆

In this hospital people have been dying—to get out!

Weird things are going on at the hospital where Laurie is volunteering. There, Laurie meets a sick little boy who is acting strange. Laurie thinks there might be something seriously off about his home life. Also, people keep sneaking into the hospital wing that is still under construction. And then Laurie stumbled upon a murder. Could it be the new volunteer Rick, who is acting strange and is being very suspicious?

Review: Pink Lock Picks and Sequined Witch Hats by Carla Rehse

Title: Pink Lock Picks and Sequined Witch Hats

Series: Pink Lock Picks and Sequined Witch Hats #1

Author: Carla Rehse

Genre: YA, paranormal, urban fantasy

Publication date: July 2017

Published by: Carla Rehse

Source: E-ARC for review from author via Netgalley

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Buy it: Amazon

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old homecoming queen, Gracie Mason, is a budding burglar.

While attempting her inaugural break-in, Gracie blacks out and wakes up far away from the scene. It turns out she accidentally intruded on a male witch’s “circle of power,” and now she’s bonded to him for life.

Gracie quickly learns that dissolving the bond with Asher, admittedly a very handsome and charming witch, is more complicated than she initially thought. To break the bond, Gracie must delve deeper into a society of witches that involves a secret club, a shadowy council, and all sorts of magical mischief. And right when it seems things can’t get any worse, witches start turning up dead.

It’s clear that Gracie is out of her depth as her quest to sever the bond magically turns into a murder investigation. But if Gracie and Asher don’t quickly uncover the killer, they might be next on the list.

My rating: ★★★★☆

“Just boy troubles.”
That sounds far simpler than the truth that I've had a crush on my almost stepbrother for several months, which led me to try to commit burglary, but instead I've somehow become shackled to an honest-to-goodness witch.

We all know how much I love magic and witches. And this book—I really liked!

Review: The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Masked Truth

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: October 2015

Published by: Doubleday Canada

Source: Own paperback

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.

Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn't dare reveal.

The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with "issues." But that's exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage.

The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree.

Riley and Max know that if they can't get out, they'll be next--but they're about to discover that even escape doesn't equal freedom.

My rating: ★★★★☆

First my father gets shot in the line of duty. Then I’m in the house when my babysitting clients are shot to death. Finally I get taken captive—by armed men—in the therapy camp that's supposed to help me deal with all that trauma. Ironic, huh?

That is Riley’s life right now. Her awful, awful life. Just enduring one trauma after the next. I very much enjoyed reading this, but it was brutal and so heartbreaking! It had a very intriguing mystery though, and it was tense AF! There were also many insane plot twists I did not see coming. The reveals were just very shocking and it just goes to show how people can be... even to their own family. It was unbelievably horrible.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #102: Assassins and Demon Hunters and Witches, Oh My!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date and Unleashing Reads.