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Theme Music
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
27 posts | 23 read | 38 to read
An utterly propulsive and unpredictable psychological thriller from stunning new talent T. Marie Vandelly For the lucky among us, life is what you make of it, but for Dixie Wheeler, the theme music for her story was chosen by another long ago, on the day her father butchered her mother and brothers and then slashed a knife across his own throat. Only one-year-old Dixie was left alive, infamously known as Baby Blue for the song left playing in the aftermath of the slaughter. Twenty-five years later, Dixie is still desperate for a connection to the family she cant remember, so when her childhood home goes up for sale, Dixie sets aside all reason and moves in, re-creating a macabre decor with her familys salvaged furniture. But as the ghosts of her family seemingly begin to take up residence in the home that was once theirs, Dixie starts to question her own sanity and wonders if the evil force menacing her is that of her father, or a demon of her own making. In order to make sense of her present, Dixie becomes determined to unravel the truth of her past and seeks out the detective who originally investigated the murders. But the more she learns, the more she opens up the uncomfortable possibility that the sins of her father may belong to another, and, perhaps most tragically, to Dixie herself. As bodies begin to pile up around her, Dixie must find a way to expose the lunacy behind her familys massacre and redeem what little remains of her soul.
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TamTracy
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Pickpick

A little horror, a little gore, a little paranormal, a little haunted house, a lot of thriller. Just my kind of book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

51 likes1 stack add
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TheLudicReader
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Mehso-so

Well, not scary, I can say that. It‘s really more of a mystery than a horror novel. The main character was annoying and that sort of undermined her story. As a toddler, her father hacked her mother and brothers to death and then slit his own throat, but left her untouched. 25 years later, the house where it happened becomes available and she decides to move in. As you would. 😬 The story had potential, but didn‘t live up to its promise.

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Robotswithpersonality
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
This post contains spoilers
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Panpan

Well that was unhinged. Some final girl elements, some haunted house elements, but felt different to either subgenre. Sadly borrows a lot from thriller tropes I've encountered: morally gray actions, people keeping secrets, everybody acting badly towards each other, unreliable narrator in the form of mental health issues and black outs, dragging out the pace (I think it's supposed to 'build tension'). 1/2

Robotswithpersonality 2/2 It did veer away from those lines in the closing act and ended softer than I thought it would, but it spent enough time masquerading as that genre to make me grumpy. If you don't mind things which span the thriller-horror borderlands, you may enjoy this.
⚠️terminal illness, suicidal ideation, assisted death(?), sexual assault/harrassment/stalking, gore, internalized misogyny, misogyny
12mo
2 likes1 comment
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Robotswithpersonality
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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So romantic. 🖤

5 likes1 stack add
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BeckyWithTheGoodBooks
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Mehso-so

This novel held such promise for me and seemed right up my alley. It started strong and Vandelly has a talent for ramping up the creep factor. However, the novel lagged as the story progressed, and I found myself just not caring that much at the final reveal. I also found some of the motives to be unsatisfactorily explored. I would read this author again, but, ultimately, I was left wanting more. 3⭐️

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candc320
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Pickpick

I‘ve had this one on my radar for quite a while and was excited to finally read it for a TikTok book club coming up! I ended up really enjoying it, even though it took me almost 3 weeks to finish it (it has really long chapters which always slow me down for some reason). Great haunted house vibes with a lot of gore and some twists I didn‘t expect. It also has that wonderful trope of “is our main character crazy or is she being tricked”. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

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ReadingOver50
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Pickpick

A graphic murder starts off the book. As we revisit the murders several times throughout the book, we get a healthy dose of violence. I felt the book wasn't really sure what direction to take. It is billed as a psychological thriller, but it also has strong horror elements, and that of a ghost story. For much of the book I wasn't sure if Dixie was seeing ghosts, was crazy, or if somebody was messing with her. The book was pretty interesting.

80 likes3 stack adds
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ReadingOver50
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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My bad dog has destroyed yet another library book! He really tore this apart.

Leftcoastzen 😱 3y
suvata Holy Moly 3y
LeahBergen 😱 3y
See All 15 Comments
Ruthiella Bad dog! 🐶 3y
Bklover Well, it‘s awful, but I‘m still sending a hug to the dog! 3y
Cathythoughts Oh dear ! This looks all too familiar, years ago our dog , Harry, ate books .. he went for all the intellectual ones .. 🙄.. 3y
Bookwormjillk Oh no! 3y
TheSpineView Yikes! 3y
BittersweetBooks Oh gosh, my dog did the same when he was a puppy. I was always embarrassed to tell the library so I could pay my fine 😳 #ithappens 3y
reluctantangeleno I audibly gasped when I saw this! Boohoo naughty puppy!! 3y
BookDragonNotWorm I guess that book's a pan from the pup! 3y
LittlebearReads I love to joke that my guinea pigs are consumers of fine literature (nobody chomps page-edges like my boys), but this really takes the cake 🙀 3y
TheRiehlDeal 😮😮 OMG. That‘s HORRIBLE! 3y
BiblioLitten 😨 3y
83 likes15 comments
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Aubgurl
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Pickpick

Picked this book up after reading Survive the Night for an Instagram readathon I‘m doing. I need a book about a haunted houses and this one was perfect. It was creepy and gory and I read the whole thing today! It is one of the goriest books I‘ve read so if you don‘t like gore, this book probably isn‘t for you.

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abookishbutterfly
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Panpan

Vandelly truly had a fascinating idea here, but the flawed execution eventually became a tedious task in reading. Perhaps I should have quit, but due to health issues and personal struggles, I initially chalked my disinterest up as the result of fatigue. It really wasn‘t until I worked my way through the second half of the book that I fully accepted that I wasn‘t a fan. By then, I‘d gone too far to turn back.

ShelleyBooksie Hope you are on the mend soon! 4y
41 likes3 comments
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abookishbutterfly
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly

“Bad things happened when someone took a bath in a horror movie. And though my tub wasn‘t one of those old-times claw-footed thingamajiggies, it would hold enough water to drown me. A shower was no good either. Psycho? Hello? My shower didn‘t have a curtain I could pull off the rings as bloody water circled down the drain, but it did have a drain.

“I opted to stay dirty and alive...” 😂

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LisaLovesToRead
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
Pickpick

Appropriately creepy for a Halloween themed bookclub choice!

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Kappadeemom
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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The perfect October scary read

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OriginalCyn620
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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#IfYouLikeThis #TheShining

I haven‘t read this, but now I want to! Sounds good!

Klou Me too!!! Love the sound of this!! 4y
Bklover Ooooooh!!!👍 4y
44 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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KimmyM
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Pickpick

This was an absorbing, intriguing read. Dark and a little creepy, and I think fellow Gillian Flynn fans would like this one.

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Sara_Planz
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Pickpick

So scary. So gory. So good.

37 likes1 stack add
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Sara_Planz
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Been on a psychological thriller kick lately. Starting this one today.

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LaceyDoesLit
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Pickpick
5 likes1 stack add
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Sara_Planz
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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@Liberty your podcast causes me to buy way too many books from my own store!!!

36 likes1 stack add
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kyraleseberg
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Panpan

Ugh this book made me cringe, and not because of the violence. The MC was a caricature of the unreliable narrator and the ending was completely predictable. While I'm all about suspending disbelief for an entertaining story, this one was built around convenient circumstances that had me rolling my eyes several times.

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Lisas.Library
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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When Dixie was one year old her father murdered her mother and brothers and then himself. Twenty-five years later and desperate for a connection to the family she can‘t remember, Dixie buys her family home and moves in. Soon she begins to question her own sanity and wonders if its an evil force or a demon of her own making.
Yes, please!!

Release date July 23, 2019
@penguinrandomhouse

85 likes5 stack adds
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BlameJennyJane
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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I love this question! My theme song is *Perm* by Bruno Mars.

🎶 Throw some perm on your attitude... Girl, you gotta relax... Let me show you what you got to do... gotta lay it back 🎶

It‘s a reminder I need all the time... and as a therapist it‘s kinda fitting 😜

@AsYouWish
#sundaysecrets

AsYouWish Love it!!! Thanks for playing!!!🎤 6y
40 likes1 comment
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AsYouWish
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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I personally believe that everyone should have a theme song. Maybe it is a song that makes you happy, gives you strength or just makes other people think of you.

I want to know yours! It can be an actually theme song or just a song, doesn‘t matter, it is yours!

*Also I have questions like these that I am going to be posting on Sundays, but I am not loving the SundaySecrets name, so if you have any suggestions let me know!*

#SundaySecrets

AsYouWish My song currently (because it does change) is Beautiful Disaster by Jon McLaughlin 6y
Klou What a question!... I thought it'd be easy to answer but it's actually quite difficult! Um... well, I don't know about it being my theme song, but it is one of my all-time favourites. A Voice Within by Christina Aguilera 💖🎶 6y
Sharpeipup Good question! My happy song is “can‘t fight the feeling”by JT but the song that makes people think of me 🤔 6y
See All 11 Comments
AsYouWish @Klou it is difficult, mine changes all the time. I think for me it depends on my mood and what is going on. Thanks for playing!!! 🎤 6y
AsYouWish @Sharpeipup love that song and JT in general!! Thanks for playing!!!🎤 6y
BlameJennyJane Cool questions! I‘ll post and tag you. One # thought could be #sundaysentiments ... could be secrets but could also be just thoughts that weren‘t necessarily private/intimate. Looks like it isn‘t used. Just a thought tho... or sentiment... lol 6y
AsYouWish @BlameJennyJane Thank you so much for the suggestion!!! 6y
LiterRohde Ok. So I geeked out a little bit. Ok. A lot. And looked at Sunday in other languages. In Basque, it looks like Sunday is Igande. You could pair that with Inquiries for IgandeInquiries. I know, it‘s too much and people wouldn‘t understand. But it was fun trying. Many things alliterating with Sunday have this private meaning but three I thought of were surreptitious, supplication, and solicitation. 6y
AsYouWish @LiterRohde I am glad that you geeked out, because I got to learn something new. I never thought to look in other languages. I like all the suggestions!!! Thanks!!! 6y
Klou @AsYouWish yes. There have to be many factors for something like that! No problems 6y
Klou problem* 6y
40 likes11 comments
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Alfoster
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Pickpick

Like Stephen King?? If so, this debut novel is for you! It‘s a creeper though: Dixie‘s family was butchered by her father when she was a toddler; he then slit his own throat. Fast forward 25 years as Dixie buys her old house, looking for answers. Part ghost story, part horror, it‘s gruesome and gory but the storyline is worth it (think The Shining)!
Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for granting this wish with an ARC!

RohitSawant Sounds intriguing! Stacking! 6y
85 likes7 stack adds1 comment
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Liberty
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Happy reading to all of you participating in the @DeweysReadathon today! Whether you read for 24 hours or 24 minutes, the point is to HAVE FUN. Be sure to stay hydrated, eat snacks, and get up and move around. (“I‘ve seen her dehydrate, sir. It‘s pretty gross.) I‘ll be here in the Dewey‘s secret volcano lair for the duration. I‘ve got my reading nest all stocked. I‘m kicking things off with THEME MUSIC. What‘s your first book? 📚

annahenke Going to continue my current read 6y
Karkar Looks like your kitty is being a great helper! 😻 6y
Zelma “Will milk be made available to us?” 6y
133 likes1 stack add3 comments
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DeweysReadathon
Theme Music: A Novel | T. Marie Vandelly
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Welcome and happy reading to all of you participating in the #readathon today! Whether you read for 24 hours or 24 minutes, the point is to HAVE FUN. And please be sure to stay hydrated, eat snacks, and get up and move around. (“I‘ve seen her dehydrate, sir. It‘s pretty gross.) I‘ll be here in the Dewey‘s secret volcano lair for the duration. I‘ve got my reading nest all stocked. I‘m kicking things off with THEME MUSIC. What‘s your first book? 📚

rmaclean4 Everything Under: Daisy Jones 6y
kaysworld1 The Kray twins are my obsession 💖 6y
Samplergal The Round House. 6y
77 likes3 comments