Where the Library Hides - Isabel Ibanez

** spoiler alert ** I went into this book so excited— but in the end, there were things I personally couldn't get past. As far as the plot, I loved it other than the fact that I felt like there were too many "surprises" - I can definitely appreciate a good twist, but I feel that book 1 accomplished that enough to not need to have several in book 2.

Character-wise, for me, Whit was SO frustrating. He swings between being overly emotional and completely closed off, and it's honestly hard to pin him down, and not in the mysterious way you'd want for a book boyfriend. & truthfully (this is just personal preference) his level of betrayal could NEVER be forgiven. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think much, much less of Inez when she started trusting him again.

Think about this logically- You've got a FMC that has been betrayed by literally everyone in the book thus far besides her uncle, was completely disregarded by the two people she wanted to be loved by more than anything, was treated like a spare by the family she was left with, with the exception of the cousin who died due to completely avoidable circumstances that could arguably have been the FMCs fault, was used by almost every newly introduced character for whatever scheme they were involved in, and Whit was either fully aware of it or personally watched it all happen and still betrayed her in the way he did without second thought. & to make matters worse, WHILE watching it happen, he manages to manipulate her into thinking the only person that has not betrayed her (Ricardo) actually has betrayed her, just to get what he needs in the moment. Unforgivable, imo.

She spends most of the book making reckless, emotion-based decisions, WHICH IS UNDERSTANDABLE considering the level of trauma she endured, but it did become exhausting after a while. Especially since her judge of character was almost never correct. I came to the conclusion that if Inez trusted them, I did not.

Overall, I'd say that if you loved book 1, you should still read this book. There's no denying that Isabel's writing is absolutely beautiful and very easy to follow. I devoured both titles, despite my own moral drawbacks with it. I just took personal issue with the FMC/MMC conflict.

Guess who's back... back again, again...

 I'm baaaaack! For real this time. It's 2025 and I fell off the 2024 train due to just... life. But I'm back and better than ever! I'll keep this baby updated with new reads.

The Gift by Freida McFadden

Okay, PUMPING the brakes on Freida McFadden after this one. Nothing at all against her personally and we all know I love her content but his novelette was Not. It. I was truly, truly not a fan. If I gave this story two stars, I'd be VERY generous. Mood shift complete! Time to switch up the genres for a bit! Stay tuned...

The Housemaid series books 1&2 by Freida McFadden

 GUYS!! I read both of the Housemaid books by Freida McFadden over the last few days (yes, I'm on a Freida McFadden kick if you haven't noticed) and I. AM. FLOORED!!! I had heard a lot about the series being some of her best works so of course I had to try it out. I was NOT disappointed! I also like that the second book melds perfectly with the first book BUT it feels like you could read it without having read the second book at all. It was just written so in detail that if you happened to pick it up first by accident, it wouldn't be the biggest deal. If you love mystery, thriller and suspense books.. you MUST try Freida McFadden. I'm feeling a mood shift coming on so different genres to come, but I'm going to continue to ride the McFadden wave until it dries out ✌

Never Lie by Freida McFadden

 This is my first venture onto the "Freida McFadden" train and I was not disappointed. After Iron Flame, I entered a severe book hangover. For those of you who don't know what a "book hangover" is, it's when you have to take time to get over a book before you can do anything else, or in this case, move on to another one. Any time I hit a book hangover, I read a suspense or mystery novel because it keeps me engaged. This book got me RIGHT out of my reading slump. 

This book followed a couple who went to an abandoned home (not dilapidated, actually abandoned) to view it and potentially buy it but they get stuck there for several days because an unexpected blizzard hits while they're waiting for their agent. They find a key, let themselves in and find that it was owned by a famous author and psychotherapist who went missing several years ago and all of her stuff is still in place, buried under years of dust. When mysterious things start to happen and a hidden room is found, several secrets are uncovered. I won't say anything else.. this is worth the read. Next stop on the Freida McFadden train? The Housemaid series. Let's go!