We’ll Never Tell | Blog Tour |ARC Review

Book Info:

We’ll Never Tell by Wendy Heard

Genre: Young Adult Mystery Thriller

Publishing Date: May 16, 2023

Synopsis

An ambitious and juicy whodunit doused in Hollywood lore, perfect for readers of sexy summer thrillers like The Twin by Natasha Preston and The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson.

No one at Hollywood High knows who’s behind We’ll Never Tell—a viral YouTube channel where the anonymous creators trespass behind the scenes of LA’s most intriguing locales. The team includes CASEY, quiet researcher and trivia champ; JACOB, voice narrator and video editor, who is secretly dating EDDIE, aspiring filmmaker; and ZOE, coder and breaking-and-entering extraordinaire.

Now senior year is winding down, and with their lives heading in different directions, the YouTubers vow to go out with a bang. Their last episode will be filmed at the infamous Valentini “murder house,” which has been left abandoned, bloodstained, and untouched since a shocking murder/suicide in 1972. When the teens break in, they capture epic footage. But someone trips an alarm, and it’s a mad dash to get out before the police arrive—at which point they realize only three of them escaped instead of four. Jacob is still inside, slain and bleeding out. Is his attack connected to the historic murder, or is one of their crew responsible?

A week of suspicions and cover-ups unfolds as Casey and her remaining friends try to stay alive long enough to solve murder mysteries past and present. If they do, their friendship may not survive. If they don’t, the house will claim more victims.

Review:

Its been a long time since I participated in blog tours and decided on a whim to restart it. This YA book about four teens was an engaging read from start to end. What I liked majorly about it was the premise. These days YA whodunnits are centred around kids in detention, pranks and anonymous blackmailers but this one was different in that it revolved around the teenagers behind a viral Youtube channel who film content in places that are hard to get into – for the thrill of it and “satisfying people’s curiosity”.

Zoe is the programmer who can hack into security systems to gain access, Eddie supplies the filming cameras and directs the shots while Jacob edits them and Casey – the narrator of the story, is the researcher and voice-over script writer. It all seems so cool, a bit unrealistic for someone like me but I get it.

The 4 misfits decide to shoot in an abandoned villa where a famous Hollywood couple were murdered, for their latest (last) video but things get out of control and one of them gets hurt seriously. The rest of the story is Casey trying to figure out who did this and why.

The plot also focuses on the murder from the past told in the form of news articles, letters etc. Among the characters, I loved Casey’s grandma and JJ, Jacob’s dad – both the adults that are more commonly mentioned in the plot.

The author is very good at maintaining the eeriness and suspense throughout the book which is really important to keep the reader engaged. Also I liked that the queer characters were the “main” couple of the story as its usually straight couples who rule the plot and queers are mere side characters.

I was able to predict how all the plots would be tied up but still this was an engaging and enjoyable read.

I rated it 4/5 stars!

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If you are interested in checking out the book, please do check the links given below.

Thank you to TBR and beyond tours for the opportunity to read this book early, I am also leaving a link to the tour schedule, if you want to check out what other reviewers have to say about this book.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | IndieBound

About the Author:

Wendy Heard is the author of suspense and thrillers for adults and teens, including THE KILL CLUB, SHE’S TOO PRETTY TO BURN, and DEAD END GIRLS. Wendy has spent most of her life in Los Angeles, California, which is on fire more than she would honestly prefer, and can often be found haunting local hiking trails and bookstores. She loves all things vintage and has a collection of thrillers and adventure books from the 80s.

Author Links:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | TikTok

Do people still read blogs?

It’s been so long since I posted anything other than books. Feels weird to write a blog these days when people have moved on to Instagram and Twitter. Well , when I started using Instagram, this blog started dying too. it was easier to post something short with a picture and easier to comment and follow others there. Blog-hopping and blog contests were long forgotten. When I occasionally check this blog’s email account and see a mail notification for life update blog posts from friends from all those years, it always brings me a smile. I keep wondering what’s going on in their lives. But I’ve also changed a lot in all these years and avoid as much interactions 😅

I started this blog ten years ago, wrote a lot of personal rants and then archived them to show only very few personal ones and concentrated on book reviews. Now it feels like I’ve come back here again, wondering whether I should start writing here bcos I keep going between having a lot to say and don’t wanna over share. Now Instagram is full of real life friends and internet friends that I’m reluctant to share more. I may frequent this space depending on how much I wanna word vomit coz who still reads these blogs anyways 😅

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow- Book Review

“It’s more than romantic. It’s better than romance. It’s friendship.”

It comes as no surprise that I loved this book.

I’ve never read any book that was focused on platonic friendships with all its highs and lows told in a very compelling way. This book as it says in the cover, is not about romance but about love. Between friends and their love for video games.

Can I also say I’ve never liked any other book that talked about video games as extensively as this one? The book is well written and and keeps you invested in its characters – the kind of characters who are flawed and stay in our mind long after we close the book – and the games they develop, their creative process and how they design it.

Aside from gaming, the book deals with love, trauma, disability, grief, gun violence, sexism and Sadie & Sam’s on-and-off friendship that gets strained over the years. I could relate to their constant fights and periods of hating-each-other coz I do that with my best friend. At the risk of spoiling the book, I’ll just say I truly empathized with Sam when he learns about Sadie’s relationship.

Sadie and Sam were complex and annoying most times, Marx was easy to love. But Sam eventually became likeable. Even though he doesn’t like to talk about his disability or pain, they are cleverly constructed into the games they develop. At times, when Sam was suffering and Sadie couldn’t see through his pain or reach out, I resented her.

If you expect this book to give you the warm fuzzies, you will be disappointed. This isn’t a book you would ABSOLUTELY love, but it’s well-written and will

If you are looking for a character-driven, slow-paced coming-of-age book, this one’s for you.

Anxious People |Book Review

“We are just strangers passing each other, your anxieties briefly brushing against mine as the fibres of our coats touch momentarily on a crowded pavement somewhere. We never really know what we do to each other, with each other, for each other.” ⁣

I had the chance of listening to an Audiobook listening copy (ALC) of Anxious People by Fredrik Backman through Libro.fm

This book is probably the first Backman I managed to finish and even before reading his books I’ve shelved him in my favorite authors list.

Suicide , Anxiety, Depression

A bank robbery gone wrong, a hostage situation that shouldn’t have happened. That’s it – this forms the outline of this brilliant story that talks about how a bunch of strangers’ life gets interconnected with each other. The story line sounds simple, but its told in a kind-of-beating-around-the-bush, prolonging-the-ending kinda way. Which can be a little off-putting to some.

If you have seen any hostage movie, they generally have these emotional scenes about the captives and in some cases the people who held them hostages. (Stockholm syndrome, ofcourse!) So this book also follows the same but what makes it more beautiful is “a book is always better than a movie” and the writing that’s so satirical and whimsy and touching. It reads like a study on people, behavior of people who have some common ground experiencing the same thing but going through their own stuff, own back stories.

The book might trick you into thinking its lighthearted but some of the stories and anecdotes are so heavy but not kinda preachy. There are a lot of sensitive subjects discussed and some of them with a hint of humor. I don’t wanna give off spoilers but the way few characters life where interlinked without them being aware of it and the teeny tiny twists in the story will keep you engrossed. I also loved the emotional bonding between some of the characters specifically the father-son police duo Jim and Jack.

The book definitely made me laugh and dab my eyes at some places. So ofcourse I give it a solid 5 star!!

Regretting You – Book Review

Disclaimer : I’m a mad Colleen Hoover fan, so this review might be biased 😀

Regretting You is told in alternate perspective from a mother (Morgan) and daughter (Clara) duo who have a strained relationship which is further tested after a tragic loss in the family. Morgan marries her high school boyfriend Chris after getting pregnant with Clara, so all she wants for her daughter is to not make the same mistakes as her. With both of them left to manage their grief, certain devastating secrets are revealed and things get MESSY!!.⁣
I loved Morgan with all my heart, her story broke me and warmed me throughout the book. There is ofcourse romance, but I loved the relationship arc of the mother daughter duo. (WHO AM I KIDDING, I totally cried for an unrequited love story which I WIL NOT talk about). The book can turn out to be heavy, messy and deep but it overwhelmed me. Colleen Hoover’s writing always does. You get all the feels while reading it and gives you things to think about.. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣ ⁣⁣

I obviously rated it a 5 ⭐️. I have highlighted so many lines that (even though have nothing to resonate with me) pulled all the heartstrings. ⁣⁣
⁣and the reason I chose this quote, is precisely why I named my blog Little voids. ⁣

The House in the Cerulean Sea ~ Book Review

A female garden gnome with a beard 

A green blob who doesn’t have an identity but thinks he is a boy

A wyvern with hoarding affinities 

A feisty forest sprite and a boy who can turn himself into a dog (a were-dog?)

And there’s the devil’s spawn , Antichrist! 

Meet the 6 kids that steal your heart and light up the world in this beautiful book. Get ready to be sucked into their innocence and the fiercely protective Arthur ❤️

Shield your heart, Mr.Baker, because that is what they go for first!

You know who should read this book? JKR, no offence! Bcos this book is all about treating people, especially marginalized ones, equally and understanding that they belong to this world as much as anyone else. And for someone who hardly reads between the lines because of my privileged ass, Even I found so many parallels comparing to the real world and bawled my eyes out! 

if you want to read something deeply satisfying and at the same time educative, you must absolutely pick The House in the Cerulean Sea. It will forever be on my favourites shelf and for sure will be the book I read to my future kid.

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Let me tell you this book has some of the best characters you will fall for and cherish. Chauncey melts my heart and I can’t even start about Theo, the wyvern. The amazing character arc of Linus Baker and this gem called Arthur Parnassus and the naughtiest kid Lucy. I’ve highlighted so much in my ebook that I’m badly aching for a physical copy , but damn you Quarantine! You just need to read to understand why!.

If its not already obvious, All the stars in the world !!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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A Very Large Expanse of Sea |Book Review

|Best Books of 2018| YA Fiction|

Author – Tahereh Mafi

Other books by author – Shatter me series, Furthermore Duology.

Publisher : HarperTeen

Get the book from Amazon.in

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi was a book gifted to me by a lovely friend (@natsinbookland )in Instagram.

If there was one YA book I would recommend to anyone, this would be it! I loved this book, I loved it for it’s representation of post 9/11 America, I loved it for the way it depicted the glorious pre-Facebook days, I loved it for showing how devastatingly painful, the life of a Muslim American teen can be in those days.

This books is a must read, y’all!!!

#OwnVoices – Tahereh Mafi has written this book to share her own experiences of being stereotyped and her struggle with racism and her love for breakdancing. This book is brutally honest and makes you ashamed, angry and regret the things we knowingly or unknowingly do against a community.

“I was stuck in another small town, trapped in another universe populated by the kind of people who’d only ever seen faces like mine on their evening news, and I hated it.”

Shirin is the angry teen who is tired of moving around, transferring to multiple schools before completing high school and is forever pissed off about people asking her questions about her hijab. She puts on a tough exterior so that people will leave her alone and not make small talk or pass racist comments that they think would affect her. She doesn’t shy away from talking back and this applies to English teachers who think she is out of place in an Honors class. Shirin isn’t entirely perfect too, she is prejudiced against people just like they are against her. And thats what makes it more relatable.

When socially-awkard Ocean and Shirin are paired for Bio, there isn’t any sparks flying. There isn’t any Insta-love, exchanging of numbers and planning dates by the end of the week. This is early 2000, mobile phones and talk times are costly and people just don’t reveal everything on social media.

I loved how Ocean and Shirin start interacting, each knowing so very little about the other. Ocean is a sweet guy, who is ignorant of the hatred and whiplash Shirin gets around school and slowly learns about her world. I loved all the mixed emotions going on in their minds. So raw and heart-warming!

Just like Shirin and Ocean, I loved Shirin’s relationship with her brother Navid, #goals!!

This book isn’t mainly about the love between two young people, but about how people around perceive it and treat them based on it. If not for the story line, read this book for its characters, pick it up to see how they affect you , resonate with you long after you finish it.

The more I got to know people, the more I realized we were all just a bunch of frightened idiots walking around in the dark, bumping into each other and panicking for no reason at all.
So I started turning on a light.

All the stars for this book!! 5/5 rating.

 

 

 

My February Wrap Up

My February was rather too busy with family and work and I was able to read only four books. Sigh!!

I hope to read 3 wonderful books last month but due to lack of time, I have moved them to my March TBR. Fingers crossed !!

• Verity By Colleen Hoover – I was a good bean and even wrote a review for the book. Go check !!
• Second book February also had a review post – Newcomer by Keigo Higashino.
• Third one was an audiobook I started listening to during the family things that kept me away from social media. Its ‘Meet Me There’ (Ridgewater High #1) a YA book where two teens who hate each other meet accidentally in a dark Chemistry lab not knowing the other person’s identity and develop a secret friendship that turns into something more. Its cute, with a lottt of a eyeball moments and I rated its 3 star. No review yet!
• And last but the best.. The winter of the Witch!! My most anticipated read of the year…Review to definitely follow.. The best-est writing and amazing end to a series.. I can’t even find the right words to describe this trilogy.

And thats a wrap for February!. How many books did you read ?

Once and for all – Book Review

I was in a terrible reading slump and decided to go for my favourite Ya author of all times – Sarah Dessen. I knew I would be out of the slump in no time but I also knew I would be crying heaps.

Source: own Pic

Synopsis:

Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that’s why she’s cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm’s length. But Ambrose isn’t about to be discouraged, now that he’s met the one girl he really wants.

Sarah Dessen’s many, many fans will adore her latest, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story that has everything—humor, romance, and an ending both happy and imperfect, just like life itself.

The book revolves around wedding planning and should have been happy, because weddings are! But then Sarah Dessen is known for her books on family dynamics and how each story is so much relatable. The mother of the protagonist is a wedding planner but her own marriage life ended tragically and she is cynical when it comes to happily ever afters. So is her parter at work, William !! You can’t expect Louna to be any different given her tragedy in life.

Ambrose is fun-loving, easy-going and everything that Louna isn’t and she finds him irritating at the beginning. There wasn’t any Insta-love, and their relationship progresses slowly and beautifully.

Louna’s tragic past struck close to home because of me losing a friend couple of months back – the desperation of not-knowing and the falling apart after knowing.

The book is written in alternate time formats – past and present, but the beauty of it is, there aren’t any chapter titles to let you know its from the past and they aren’t exactly alternating… And that caught my attention because I liked reading about the Louna from both times and I liked being surprised to find myself reading an extract from the past after reading two chapters from the present. One was cynical and the other was love-struck. And especially after the tragedy is revealed, it hurt so much read to about it, I was bawling my eyes out 😦

Beautifully written, satirical and yet touching at the same time!

My rating : 4 stars

More about the book

Author: Sarah Dessen

Publishers: Viking Books for Young Readers

Published on: June 2017

Source: E-book purchased from Amazon.in

Pages: 363

Standalone|YA Contemporary|

 

Debut authors I Read in 2017

Helloooo..

Just popping by, dusting up the blog and making promises to myself that I will frequent it more 😁

This post is actually based on this week’s top ten Tuesday.

I read merely 38 books last year and I’m not exactly proud of it. 😐 I used to read so much more. The first half of 2017, I made great progress and read books of new authors I’ve never tried before. I’m used to having a comfort zone with certain authors/genre but I’m slowly coming out of it. So below’s the list of the authors I’ve started reading in 2017 for the first time.

Tricia Levenseller

I read Tricia’s Daughter of the Pirate King in October 2017 and I really loved the book. I’m definitely positive about the sequel and cant wait to read it in 2018.

Julie Buxbaum

Tell Me Three Things was such a cutesy read and I loved the way it was written. Julie has become one of my default buy authors. Although I didn’t enjoy What to say next as much as the TMTT, I still love her writing.

Wendy Brant

I read Wendy Brant’s debut book Zenn Diagram through NetGalley. I loved the book overall, not sure why many people haven’t heard or read it but I’m looking forward to more books from her.

Jandy Nelson

I’ll give you the Sun is very much liked by every bookworm I know. Though I personally didn’t like the book very much, thanks to the flowery language used throughout the book, this was the first time I read her work and I think maybe I would give a second chance.

Emery Lord

When we Collided by Emery Lord was a hell of an emotional rollercoaster and I’m not sure if I’m ready for the author’s other books.

Stacey Lee

There was something beautiful about The secret of a heart note that I cant help myself from liking it. Stacy Lee’s Magical realism was flawless and the concept of a aromateur was very good.

I still read few more debut authors but these are the ones that I’d like to list out for now. Happy reading 🙂