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OutsmartYourShelf
The Resort | Sarah Goodwin
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Pickpick

Perpetual screw-up Mila & her husband Ethan are enroute to her sister's destination wedding. After picking up the hire car, Mila falls to sleep whilst Ethan drives & when she wakes up, they are lost. As they pull over to get their bearings, the car engine dies & they can't restart it. The weather is turning cold & snowy & no cars have come past whilst they have been there, so they decide to head down to a village signposted on a nearby post.

OutsmartYourShelf When they reach the village, it is obviously deserted but as it's too late for anything else, they decide to break into & sleep in one of the empty cabins. It's not easy but they finally fall to sleep, but when Mila wakes up hours later, Ethan has disappeared. The snow outside shows no sign of Ethan having gone outside so where is he? And why does Mila feel as if she is being watched by someone or something in the deserted village? 12mo
OutsmartYourShelf The narrative is from Mila's point of view & we get the present-day & an occasional flashback to Mila & her sister's childhood. Mila is a difficult main character to like at first as she seems to have been the 'golden child' whilst her sister was the scapegoat & she really played into that, but Mila really wants to make it up to her sister & give her the wedding of her dreams.
12mo
OutsmartYourShelf It did irritate me that the blurb & the cover make you think it's a deserted ski resort, but it's not really, it's just a deserted village of 6 small wooden cabins. It was also pretty easy to work out what was going on, I had worked it out really quickly as the clues are all there, & just kept waiting for the realisation to dawn on the MC. The final few chapters certainly made up for the rest of the book in intensity & nerve-racking tension. 3.5🌟 12mo
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5feet.of.fury Yeah you would think a book called “The Resort” spends the majority of the time at …the resort… lol 12mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 12mo
Andrew65 Excellent 🎄🎄🎄 12mo
OutsmartYourShelf @5feet.of.fury Exactly 😀 12mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 12mo
BookmarkTavern Sounds thrilling! 12mo
PuddleJumper 💙❄️💙 12mo
Catsandbooks ❄️🍭❤️ 12mo
29 likes13 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
Fir | Sharon Gosling
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Pickpick

The Stromberg family suddenly pick up & move from their comfortable life to an isolated house, surrounded by pine forests, in northern Sweden. Although their mother & father seem happy enough, the youngest Stromberg is angry at being torn away from their old life. At first the surprisingly large house is part-occupied by a group of children on conservation work, but when they leave, the Strombergs are left alone with just the weird housekeeper.

OutsmartYourShelf This is quite an atmospheric read. The author conveys the sense of isolation & feeling surrounded by malevolence quite well. The reader never learns the narrator's first name or anything else about them really, & maybe it's personal bias, but I felt as if it was a teenage girl. Not that it really matters. I enjoyed it & an extra star for choosing that ending. The author could have wrapped it all up nicely but the actual ending is rather bleak.
(edited) 12mo
OutsmartYourShelf A book that I will probably re-read at some point. 4🌟

TWs: animal death, gore, blood, mention of miscarriage.

Sorry to my team #HollyJollyReaders for going missing for the last week or so, but I tested positive for Covid on Christmas Eve & had been feeling a bit off before. Still not back to normal but I do have some reviews to catch up on.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3161110984
Read 17th-21st Dec 2023

#WinterGames
(edited) 12mo
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TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 12mo
BookmarkTavern Love this cover! 🖤 12mo
Texreader Also works for #foodandlit 12mo
Andrew65 Excellent 🎄🎄🎄 12mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 12mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 12mo
27 likes9 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Pickpick

BFFs Sam & Ally reunite with new friend, Sandy, (whom they met in Book 2 Camp Whispering Pines), when she invites the two friends to spend the weekend before Christmas at her family's house on Orcas Island. It doesn't take long before Sam manages to sniff out the rumour of a ghost at a nearby mansion, but this time, it seems the living may be the real danger. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf The sixth book in the series serves up another fun helping of Sam & Ally's antics. As Ally says, the mysteries just seem to find Sam, she doesn't need to go looking. This series of modern-day 'Nancy Drew' adventures continues to deliver & readers 8-12 years of age will love it. 4🌟

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/193069793
Read 19th-20th Dec 2023

Holiday Read - 25
Readathons - 150
Words - 1070
Post - 1

Total - 1246 pts
12mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 12mo
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Ruthiella Sounds like a fun one! 🎄💀🔪🎅🏻 12mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 12mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 12mo
BookmarkTavern Wow! 🎉🎉 12mo
25 likes7 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
In a Holidaze | Christina Lauren
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Pickpick

Now, I think it's fair to say that I'm not a reader of rom-coms so I approached this one with a bit of trepidation. I am surprised by just how much I enjoyed this. I think the time loop premise helped, but it also had some funny moments & some rather steamy ones. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf The only real issue I had was that Andrew is almost 30 & Mae is 26, yet I had to keep reminding myself that they weren't older teenagers or early twenties as they both seemed kind of immature at times. Minor quibble though. Can't say I'm in a rush to read more rom-coms but this was a good one. 4🌟

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4390446192
Read 11th-13th Dec 2023

#WinterGames #HollyJollyReaders @Laughterhp
12mo
PuddleJumper ❄️💙❄️ 12mo
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Laughterhp I read this one a couple years ago. It wasn‘t my favorite either. 12mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 12mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 12mo
BookmarkTavern Cute! 💖 12mo
Emilymdxn I thought this one was fun too! 12mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 12mo
27 likes9 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
What January Remembers | Faith Gardner
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Mehso-so

Julianna, Josiah, Jesse, & Jada all return to the family home for Christmas. Following their mother's death, the family grew apart & the last Christmas they were together two years ago, erupted into violence when Jesse attacked his father's companion bot, January. January has been repaired & her memory wiped, but when Julianna sees her flinch in Jesse's presence, she wonders if January remembers after all. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf It may not be all she remembers as all the Jagger children received an anonymous note before they arrived telling them that their mother was murdered.

I was looking forward to reading this one as the author's first book 'Amen Maxine' was excellent whilst novella 'Eve in Overdrive' was very good. I'm a bit meh on this one though. All the family are dysfunctional in some way & I didn't really like any of them.
12mo
OutsmartYourShelf The most realistic friendship was the one between January & the-bot-next-door, June (Six) who is being mistreated by her owner. There's some elements which examines what it means to be human, how humans are viewed by the bots, & how they view their version of death (being recycled). For me, it just didn't have the impact that Amen Maxine had though. 3⭐

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5020127951
Read 8th-11th Dec 2023
12mo
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DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 12mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 12mo
BookmarkTavern Sounds interesting! 12mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 12mo
21 likes7 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
Secret Santa | Andrew Shaffer
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Pickpick

Ever since Lussi Meyer lost her job in a restructuring of the publishing house where she worked, she has been desperate to find another. Last hope is prestigious, yet decidedly staid, Blackwood-Patterson. Still beggars can't be choosers & Lussi vows to knock them dead. Literally as it turns out, when old Mr Blackwood keels over during the interview. Still at least Lussi manages to get a job out of the tragic situation (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf however, her colleagues are a strange lot. At the office Secret Santa gift exchange, Lussi is surprised to see a gift with her name on it, but when she opens it, it's a small demonic looking doll, a percht - similar to one that she remembers her grandmother owning. It's an odd gift but never mind, but then accidents start happening to her colleagues, & Lussi becomes convinced that the doll is behind them. 12mo
OutsmartYourShelf This was a quick, fun read set in the 1980s. I enjoyed it although it was a little tame for a horror read & personally I thought some elements such as the doll were underused. If you like your horror to not take itself too seriously rather than being dark & ominous, then you'll probably like this one. 3.5 stars (rounded up)

TWs: murder, death, blood.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3690726856
Read 8-10th Dec 2023
12mo
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TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 12mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 12mo
BookmarkTavern Saw this cover and immediately thought of Goosebumps. 😅 12mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 12mo
24 likes7 comments