An avid reader whose current interest lies in mysteries and thrillers. Line 'em up!
Also personally love fantasies and any stories to do with magic, and a sucker for the occasional (good) romance.
One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. The car abandoned miles from home. The note found at a nearby hotel. The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together. It happens all the time. Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over. She doesn’t want to be found. Or at least, that’s the story. But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?
The night Molly disappeared began with a storm, running out of gas, and a man in a truck offering her a ride to town. With him is a little girl who reminds her of the daughter she lost years ago. It feels like a sign. And Molly is overcome with the desire to be home, with her family—no matter how broken it is. She accepts the ride. But when the doors are locked shut, Molly begins to suspect she has made a terrible mistake.
When a new lead comes in after the search has ended, Molly’s daughter, Nicole, begins to wonder. Nothing about her mother’s disappearance makes sense.
Nicole returns to the small, desolate town where her mother was last seen to find the truth. The locals are kind and eager to help. The innkeeper. The bartender. Even the police. Until secrets begin to reveal themselves and she comes closer to the truth about that night—and the danger surrounding her.
Welcome to another buddy review! This time we’re once again tackling another thriller. We have found that it’s nice to be able to discuss the suspense and our theorycrafting as we read through the book simultaneously. Below we have outlined the main elements of our discussion, enjoy!
Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.
APRIL 23: HOW READING AFFECTS MENTAL HEALTH (SUGGESTED BY KRISTIN @ LUKTEN AV TRYKKSVERTE)
Prompts: In what ways does reading affect your mental health? Does it affect your mental health positively or negatively at certain times, and why? How do you find a balance to keep up with reading while being mindful of your mental health? Do triggers, bookish controversies, and things like that affect your health a lot more than you let on?
This is such an interesting topic. I am not sure it really affects my “mental health” in the traditional sense of the word, but reading surely affects my mental state. As it should, right? To be so absorbed into a book where the feelings being elicited by the book are pretty much your own and not the character’s anymore.
I think there’s two ways to think about how it affects me (kind of similar to dreams and nightmares, to be honest): one, the book elicits a bunch of happy fuzzy feelings the same way a dream would, but then after I’m done, may leave me feeling a bit empty. On the other hand, dark and thrilling books always twist my gut and leave me (almost) anxious like a nightmare, but finishing it and waking up to reality is kind of like a refreshing relief. Anybody else know what I mean?
This always made me confused whether I preferred good or bad dreams, since the feeling of waking up and having the illusion dispelled is just a strong a feeling as having the dream in the first place. For what it’s worth, I tend to like reading mysteries and thrillers, so it seems like I value the feeling afterwards more.
Timing definitely matters a lot as well. Isn’t this the whole reason that as readers we’re not always inclined to read the same types of books all the time? There are times for the adventure, the mystery, the suspense. But at other times we also just want to chill with our favourite (possibly guilty) romance/romantic comedy novels. If you’re feeling anxious in real life, you probably aren’t going to want to increase anxiety by reading a scary psychological thriller. I think timing has always been an potent factor in determining whether a book is enjoyable.
To combat this, I think just picking books for what you feel like, and not pushing yourself too far tends to work best. There really isn’t a need to read a book when you don’t feel like it (most of the time). Yes there are probably some times where you have to power through for the sake of a deadline – but even then, pushing yourself too far is never good. Remember to be honest with yourself with how much you can take, mental health is so important to take care of.
Lastly, I think controversial topics that I read about in books do actually affect me a lot. Not to the point where it drastically alters my life or anything, but does sometimes leave me feeling cynical or jaded. While it’s not often that I actively hide such a feeling, I suppose I do not always volunteer these types of emotions either. I wouldn’t say they affect my overall mental health much, but I do admit that my mood can be heavily influenced by something I read.
I feel that in general reading books generally betters mental health though? Or at least I feel like I use books as an escape sometimes, and therefore it offers me reprieve from the harsh realities of the real world. So realistically, books shouldn’t make me feel worse, otherwise I would just not read them! What do you all think?
That’s a wrap for this week! Remember to follow Rukky and Dani on their respective blogs, which is linked above. Feel free to leave your own suggestions for LTB topics as well while you’re over there!
Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.
But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea.
It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?
Wow. Wooow. Honestly this was my favourite one so far! It’s a bit surprising that the third book in the series would be my favourite, but perhaps it’s that the characters have developed to such a point where I relate to them more now. Or perhaps I’m just more invested. Either way Andge and I both give this book a 5 Drink Me Potions rating, and honestly if you were at all on the fence about this series, by now you should know that we both seriously enjoyed this journey and highly recommend it.
Escaping From Houdini revolves our favourite dynamic duo, Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell, as they embark on the RMS Etruria to America. Their week-long journey is not without excitement though. A fantastical and mysterious magic show runs every night aboard this ship, with its entrancing masked leader Mephistopheles at its helm. As the first bodies start turning up, will Audrey Rose and Thomas be able to solve the mystery before more lives are lost?
As if I haven’t already praised the character development before, I was particularly beguiled by this book in the series (hence my highest rating too). I think for me it’s because we’ve exited out of that initial lovey-dovey excitement and into more of the communication and trust conundrums. The interesting relationships that exist between Audrey Rose and all the other characters also develop in unique ways, since everyone is stuck on this ship together. These all felt realistic really helped to push the series forward.
The whodunnit murder mystery part of the novel was also really good in my opinion. I love these classic “no one in, no one out“ types of scenarios so that you know the murderer is likely hiding in plain sight. The mystery unravels itself really nicely, and I found it hard to guess who the perpetrator was all the way till the very end. The way the denouement is handled is quite good too, I was overall very satisfied by the mystery and suspense portion of the novel.
Perhaps these things that I have mentioned so far may be more commonplace in an average murder mystery novel, but the highlight that sets this series apart is the historical aspect of this historical fiction. Set in the late nineteenth century, Maniscalco does a good job doing her research and including so many elements from the past. I think the more you know about the historical characters and events, the more you might enjoy the way the author has cleverly tied things together. There may be some facts slightly changed but nevertheless the tone is completely appropriate for the time and place, which lends itself to a whole new level of satisfaction in a murder mystery.
I think Andge and I both agree on this: there needs to be something extra special to earn our 5 star rating. And these books have it. The well-researched historical backdrop is just a great place for a YA mystery to take place. It is something we find extra special, in addition to all the other already great things about this series. Have I not gone on about this enough, read and enjoy for yourself!
Overall Recommendations
Escaping From Houdini (Stalking Jack The Ripper #3) once again follows our lovely duo, Audrey Rose and Thomas, as they embark for America aboard the Etruria. Set in the late nineteenth century, once again the two get wrapped up in a series of vicious murders aboard the ship. Follow along as they try and solve the mystery, will they be able to find the killer before they are targeted next? A riveting murder mystery where everyone is stuck on a ship for a week, where could the perpetrator possibly be hiding? We once again highly recommend this series here at Down The Rabbit Hole.
