Category: 2 star

2 star

ARC Review: Cruel is the Light by Sophie Clark

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

An epic new fantasy about a demon hunter and a foot soldier thrown together in a centuries-old war… and the forbidden love that could change the course of history.

A bloody war between demons and the Vatican has waged for more than a century, with two elite soldiers now at its center: Selene Alleva, a high-ranking exorcist running from a dark family legacy, and orphan Jules Lacroix, recruited by the Vatican and unrivalled on the battlefield.

When their paths cross over a series of unprecedented demon attacks, the distrust–and unwelcome attraction–they have for each other is immediate. But to get to the bottom of the breaches they strike an uneasy alliance to avoid suspicion. With Jules posing as Selene’s estranged fiance, they head to the Vatican in search of answers. But even as Selene questions who her most dangerous enemy is, Jules has begun to suspect that it’s him.

Now Jules’ very existence challenges every truth Selene thought she knew, and suggests a terrible conspiracy at the heart of the Vatican. Unable to ignore their growing feelings, the two must make an impossible choice between love and duty.

They say love conquers all – but can it win in a war between demons and exorcists? Or will it tear them apart…

**Cruel is the Light comes out May 20, 2025**

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book had such an intriguing premise, and perhaps at just the most perfect time in the current news as well with the Catholic church. Regardless though, this book just did not deliver in any way. I thought maybe it was just me, but I think after scouring a couple of other reviews, I don’t think I’m the only one who was left confused in this story.

Cruel is the Light is about a war between demons and humanity, “exorcists” who use magic to fight off demons. If you’re thinking some sort of video game premise, you’re basically on the nose. This story revolves around our two main characters, Jules and Selene. Selene is an exorcist who is very powerful due to a mysterious reason. Jules is an orphan soldier, who is also powerful . . . due to a mysterious reason. They serendipitously meet in a demon war-ravaged Vatican, and so their relationship and journey begins. Both are intrigued by the other’s power, and how it could be beneficial to them.

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2 star

Review: The Good Sister by Gillian McAllister

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

An electrifying novel about the unyielding bond between two sisters, which is severely tested when one of them is accused of the worst imaginable crime.

Martha and Becky Blackwater are more than sisters–they’re each other’s lifelines. When Martha finds herself struggling to balance early motherhood and her growing business, Becky steps in to babysit her niece, Layla, without a second thought, bringing the two women closer than ever. But when Layla is found dead one morning, at only eight weeks old, Becky is charged with the unthinkable: the murder of her sister’s child.

Nine months later, Becky is on trial and maintains her innocence–and so does Martha. Unable to shake the feeling that her sister couldn’t possibly be guilty, Martha sets out to uncover exactly what happened that night, and how things could have gone so wrong. As the trial progresses, fault lines between the sisters begin to show–revealing cracks deep in their relationship and threatening the family each has worked so hard to build. With incredible empathy and resounding emotional heft, The Good Sister is a powerhouse of a novel that will lead readers to question everything they know about motherhood, family, and the price of forgiveness.

This is one of the ones I just picked up the library since it was free to read and I had the time. The premise was super interesting and engaging, and reading back, it still was. Unfortunately, this book didn’t execute in the way I thought it would. I still made it through, and I wouldn’t call it terrible, but I certainly call it good—at least for my standards. Read on to maybe see if I was being too harsh.

The Good Sister is a courtroom mystery thriller that revolves around a tragic family incident, the death of Martha’s child, Layla. Worst of all, Martha’s sister, Becky, is on trial for the murder, and the odds are not looking good. Once each other’s closest lifelines, inevitably the family is literally and emotionally split apart as the trial threatens to reveal all the deep secrets of the family’s past, and air out every time detail of one’s personal life for all to see. Needless to say there cannot be a winner in this court game.

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2 star

Review: What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door in a chilling story of murder and intrigue set in a well-to-do DC suburb.

Sometimes the darkest acts occur in the most beautiful houses…

When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.

But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.

In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair and Alexis must reexamine their friendship and decide how far they are willing to go to preserve the lives they have so carefully constructed.

Desperate Housewives does meet The Couple Next Door in this novel, but mostly just Desperate Housewives, in my opinion. Everything about the premise gave me the sense of your average thriller, but unfortunately, it was anything but. Read on to find out why.

What the Neighbors Saw is an apt title, as it does revolve mostly around what the residents of a secluded but very grand and affluent neighbourhood all see out their windows. One of the main protagonists, Alexis, has just barely made ends meet to reach and live in a nice new neighbourhood, which has long been her goal. Blair, the other POV we get to see, is already a resident, and is Alexis’s neighbour. Shortly after Alexis arrives though, a man is found dead, and more suspicious things start happening. Was Alexis wrong to choose this seemingly lovely neighbourhood to move into?

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