Happy First Week (or First-Few-Weeks) of Spring you guys!
I’m obviously behind on my “Winter Wrap Up”, and lets be honest the “Summer 2020” Wrap Up is extinct now! I thought I could try to bring it back to life.. but I mean it’s almost a year later.. all my “hot new shows” are old news now haha. Regardless, I will find a way to get that content I recorded & shot over the Summer.. to you somehow!
So since clearly the pressure has gotten to me, I’m just going to try shorter Review & Style Posts.. every month. I promise I won’t let you down. I also know NONE of you are judging me (hopefully) because this year has been a MESS from every single possible angle. For all of us.
So all my anxious self-hate and judgment aside… for some insane reason March came THROUGH as the “Best Reading Month” that I’ve had in years. I not only read like 10 books, but THREE 5-Stars/ Favorite books of all time!
So why not share them with you guys, and also show you some cute recent Fashion pics I just took. I’ve been loving the very “Clueless-Era” Sweater-Vest style moment. So here is that too, haha!
So here we go, THREE incredible books I read, over the last few weeks!
xo,
Carly
1.) “The Push”
By, Ashley Audrain
10/10
This is the FIRST book I’ve screamed OUT LOUD in wild enjoyment reading.. since “Gone Girl”.
“A mother’s heart breaks a million ways in her lifetime.”
― Ashley Audrain, The Push
Recently I was scrolling around on “Book-Tube”, and I heard one of my favorite channels talking about this book… well more like RAVING about “The Push”. I ordered it IMMEDIATELY. It sounded right up my alley! I’ve heard it compared to other incredible books like “We Need To Talk About Kevin” & “Baby Teeth”… so I was all in.
I want to tell you so much MORE about this book, but you need to go in completely blind. Told from different POV’s & surrounding slightly different years… It’s so gripping.
Without spoiling the plot.. I will say this. This book made me feel a creeping, horrifying, sickening anxiety. Normally this would be a negative… but oh my GOD this was a thrill. I loved the story so much, and the “twists” (which seems like the wrong word to describe what it was) were SHOCKING.
I will attach the Amazon Plot Summary below, but even if you don’t read any further.. PLEASE read this book! You won’t be sorry.
Amazon Plot Summary
(“Written with an unflinching eye and a stylistically sharp, tight economy The Push is a single-sitting read, as suspenseful as any thriller, as thoughtful as any literary novel, with an almost physical force behind each of its turns and revelations.”—Toronto StarA tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family, told through the eyes of a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for–and everything she feared.
Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, supportive mother she never had to her new baby Violet.
But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe doesn’t find the connection with her daughter she expected. She’s convinced that something is wrong with Violet–the little girl is distant, rejects affection, and becomes increasingly disruptive at preschool.
Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she is imagining things. Fox doesn’t see what Blythe sees; he sees a wife who is struggling to cope with the day-to-day challenges of being a mother. And the more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity…
Then their son Sam is born–and with him, Blythe has the natural maternal connection she’d always dreamed of. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth about herself, her past, and her daughter.
The Push is a rare and extraordinary gift to readers: a novel about the expectations of motherhood we’re taught not to challenge and what really happens behind the closed doors of even the most perfect-looking families. It’s impossible to put down and impossible to forget.)
2.) “The Obsession”
By, Jesse Q. Sutanto
9/10
The most INCREDIBLE “Stalker” Young Adult book I’ve ever read! “Dexter” meets “You”.. meets a teenage hellscape of emotions!
“A classic sort of love story… except somebody might wind up dead.“
Okay so you guys KNOW how much I love Caroline Kepnes’s series about Joe Goldberg titled “YOU”/ aka “YOU” on Netflix. This book is almost like a Young-Adult version of this.. but with also a MIND FUCK of a weird twist you never saw coming. Like “YOU” & “DEXTER” had a baby.
I started this out expecting your typical “stalker” book (whatever THAT means), and it took so many twists.. and completely threw the readers “reality” on its back. I loved every single thing about this. I loved being able to read from their separate second person POV’S, itwas GRIPPING.
Also be careful about spoilers with this one too. There is SO much more than what meets the eye with this one!
Amazon Plot Summary
(A classic sort of love story…except somebody might wind up dead.
Nobody knows Delilah like Logan does. Nobody. He makes sure of it by learning everything he can through her social media and watching her through a hidden camera he has trained on her house. Some might call him a stalker. Logan prefers to be called “romantic”.
But after Logan sees Delilah killing her abusive stepfather, he realizes there’s still more about her to discover. His sweet, perfect Delilah isn’t so perfect after all.
Delilah knows she should feel guilty, but all she feels is free. She’s so over the men in her life controlling her. Except Logan saw what she did, and he won’t let her forget it.
Delilah is done being the victim. And she refuses to be a character in Logan’s twisted fantasy. If Logan won’t let her go…she’ll make him.)
3.) “Every Vow You Break”
By, Peter Swanson
8/10
Peter Swanson is the Writer of my #1 Fav Thriller “The Kind Worth Killing”, and I HAD to pick up his new Thriller.
I will never forget the moment I read the LAST LINE of Peter Swanson’s SMASH HIT novel “The Kind Worth Killing”. I GASPED so loud, and had to lie down on the floor to recover. When I caught wind of his new book, I’ve never Pre-Ordered something SO fast.
Picture this.. Woman meets her dream man, goes on Bachelorette Party.. and makes a huge mistake with a charming stranger. THEN he starts harassing her, FOLLOWS HER ON HER HONEYMOON. It’s so fucked up, and just nightmare fuel. I can’t tell you more, because what’s wonderful about this story is the twists and turns. Just TRUST ME. Peter Swanson knows how to just thrill & traumatize you forever.
Also the SETTING of this book is so well described, and beautifully brought into the readers imagination.. that like I NEED to get to this island immediately!
Amazon Plot Summary
(A bride’s dream honeymoon becomes a nightmare when a man with whom she’s had a regrettable one-night stand shows up in this electrifying psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of Eight Perfect Murders.
Abigail Baskin never thought she’d fall in love with a millionaire. Then she met Bruce Lamb. He’s a good guy, stable, level-headed, kind—a refreshing twist from her previous relationships.
But right before the wedding, Abigail has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette weekend. She puts the incident—and the sexy guy who wouldn’t give her his real name—out of her mind, and now believes she wants to be with Bruce for the rest of her life.
Then the mysterious stranger suddenly appears—and Abigail’s future life and happiness are turned upside down. He insists that their passionate night was the beginning of something much, much more. Something special. Something real—and he’s tracked her down to prove it.
Does she tell Bruce and ruin their idyllic honeymoon—and possibly their marriage? Or should she handle this psychopathic stalker on her own? To make the situation worse, strange things begin to happen. She sees a terrified woman in the night shadows, and no one at the resort seems to believe anything is amiss… including her perfect new husband.)
