Search Results

The author of the fantastic Wrong Place, Wrong Time is back with a smart, twisty mystery that's wonderfully Famous Last Words  is another smart, twisty mystery from Gillian McAllister. McAllister's Wrong Place, Wrong Time relied on an intriguing time-travel element as its twist. But Famous Last Words doesn't use--or require--that structure; the twist is largely internal.

Much of The Safekeep feels claustrophobic, quiet, and hopeless, but unexpected shifts late in the story turn accepted histories on their heads, opening the door for newly imagined futures of the characters' dreams. It's the summer of 1961 in the rural Dutch province of Overijssel, and rigid Isabel is a spinster in self-prescribed rigidity, adhering to strict schedules and a quiet life in her late mother's home--where she resides at the whim of her brothers, who, as men, own the house (but do not live there). When her playboy brother Louis drops his gauche girlfriend Eva to stay--for at least a month! in their mother's old room!--Isabel is more than a little upset. Isabel is already paranoid that her meek weekly maid is stealing from her. She becomes obsessed with the small items that begin to disappear after Eva's arrival...then she becomes obsessed with wild Eva herself. Eva's curiosity, enthusiasm for the world, and embracing of new experiences begin to seep into Isabel's experience. Isabel is initially annoyed, then inexplicably drawn to Eva--and eventually a torrid love affair begins between the women. Yet most of their feelings and hopes and thoughts are unexpressed. Theirs is largely a halting, unsure, almost silent, sexually driven relationship. A mix of unexplained actions and conflict, Louis's imminent return, and Isabel's discovery of what seems to be Eva's greed (in the form of a detailed hand-written ledger of Isabel's household items) come to a head and cause the women to dramatically split. Isabel is physically ill for a long period as a result, and Eva disappears. But approximately three quarters of the way through the book, the story's perspective changes to Eva's, exploring her past, her reason for having pursued the foolish Louis, the truth of her unexpected but real affections for Isabel, and her deep link to Isabel's family and home. Shocking revelations shifted my thinking about the book's various relationships and made me question the basis for the story's loyalties and for the accepted family histories that drive the characters for much of the novel. Eva's tone as shown in this section was surprisingly chatty, and she is shown to be savvy and determined--whereas for the majority of the book she has presented herself as silly, naive, and guileless. For a resolution to their personal and romantic troubles, both women will need to be more brave and more emotionally open than either has ever dreamed. This felt almost gothic in its initial darkness and hopelessness, then took me by surprise by blooming into a story about coming into one's own and defying expectations to find healing and love. I listened to The Safekeep , which was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, as an audiobook. I'd love to hear your Bossy thoughts about this book! This is Yael van der Wouden's first book.

I was taken with the main characters of the past storyline here: a young boy at a children's home and his unlikely best friend. When his sister tries to solve the mystery of his death, she and her own unlikely companion unravel secrets and danger. Almost thirty years ago, Dennis, a young boy from a children's home, washed away in the rough waves of an Oregon beach, and his body was never found. Now his sister Amanda, a young adult who first learned of Dennis while researching her birth mother, is trying to find out how Dennis escaped the children's home and what happened leading up to her brother's death. She and Larry, a new local friend--a recent widower and a former police officer--begin trying to find out the truth, but they meet with dead ends everywhere they turn. They believe that Dennis had an unorthodox friendship with a custodian at the boys' home, but can find out little else about Dennis's short life. Disturbing facts begin to emerge regarding the horrifying behavioral modification methods used at the home--and those who enacted them. Amanda and Larry are closer than ever to uncovering the whole, heartbreaking truth. I loved this premise At times, particularly in the middle of the story, things felt disjointed to me and jumped around in a way that I found jarring. While I enjoyed the trip to Alaska (I love an Alaska storyline) and the polar bear-focused parts of the story, it felt far afield from the main plot. I didn't suspect that Amanda was coping with cognitive challenges until late in the book when multiple mentions were made regarding this; maybe I simple missed the earlier clues? Things wrap up in quite neat fashion at the close of the story, but I didn't mind because of the justice being served and the mysteries' resolution. I'm haunted by Denfeld's author's note about the real-life--and recent--use of abusive confinement methods in some therapy. I mentioned Rene Denfeld's great book The Child Finder in the Greedy Reading List Six Chilly Books to Read in the Heat of Summer. Side note: I've read and reviewed another book called Sleeping Giants; that one was a science fiction story by Sylvain Neuvel. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Rene Denfeld is also the author of The Enchanted, The Child Finder, and The Butterfly Girl.

White's twisty mystery is set against the backdrop of an unforgiving winter on an Australian island, White offers cleverness with timelines that create an intriguing twist, and I didn’t predict the denouement

The twist in The Other Side of Night is fascinating, but I wanted to feel more for the characters, who The Other Side of Night offers an intriguing, dramatic twist that I definitely didn't expect as it edges The Twist and the fascinating concept backing it up was a highlight. Yet for me, the text that follows The Twist feels like a "here's what happened; see, it really does make If you're into books with twists, check out these Bossy Bookworm-reviewed titles.

I felt a little manipulated regarding the "twist" Whitehead introduces late in the book, but the living

With a twist! When we created Absalom, we weren't trying to build a time machine. I did not see the fascinating twist of the book coming, and it's laid bare for the reader relatively

In this nested story that spans centuries, Mandel explores a pandemic, moon colonization, the universal connection of music, the temptation to change the past, portals and time loops, loyalty, fear, love, and wonder. I listened to Emily St. John Mandel's newest book, Sea of Tranquility. In this science fiction novel, Mandel plays with time and time travel as well as mysteries surrounding what may be a portal linking individuals through time. Mandel explores an emerging pandemic in a future with a colonized moon, considers the universal connection of music, and digs into the difficulty and danger in changing the past. In 1912, Edwin St. Andrew, a second son, is exiled by his family from England to Canada for voicing unpopular opinions at the dinner table (don’t get too invested in him; he’s here to allow St. John to set the 1912 piece of the puzzle). In 2020, we meet Mirella and Vincent (characters from The Glass Hotel). They are also not richly developed, but they're important to the structure and the odd interconnectedness at the heart of the mysterious events here. Much later, during a period of extensive moon colonization (and the beginnings of further flung settlements), author Olive Llewellyn is traveling on a book tour to promote her book Marienbad, about a pandemic. (The plot of this book within a book sounds somewhat similar to that of Mandel’s Station Eleven, a book I loved). But all of these players and times feel mainly to be in place to serve as a structure for our true main protagonist, Gaspary, and we see the most depth and development and change; loyalty and love and grief; wonder and danger; resignation and hope in his portion of the story. This was where I was captivated and delighted and emotionally engaged. Scorned Edwin has an odd experience in the forest with inexplicable futuristic visions and sounds; two centuries later (our current day) Olive writes about an almost identical personal experience; and detective Gaspary from the future's Night City investigates their mysterious intersections through time--and becomes inextricably linked to a timeline connecting all of them. The time travel and multiple story lines and odd, interesting, untethered moments that kept me from settling in time reminded me a little bit of David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks, but at a slim 255 pages (Bone Clocks is 624 pages), Sea of Tranquility is a story shaped by its structure, without as much room or page time to meander as Mitchell's story. Sea of Tranquility is strange and ethereal, with a surprise toward the end that I delighted in. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Do you like books that play with time? You might like the books I list on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories or Six Riveting Time-Travel Escapes or these Bossy reviews of books that play with time. Click here for my review of Mandel's Station Eleven.

This is a character-driven mystery with a twist. This is a character-driven mystery with an interesting twist.

geek, the best friend intrigued by him, the meathead, the "it" girl, and an omniscient narrator with a twisted I loved the bizarre twist on high school nostalgia. I liked the sassy twists at the end of the book and the way the story is wrapped up, and I enjoyed the

Gillian McAllister offers a smart, intriguing, twisty story that plays with time and offers second chances Gillian McAllister's twisty mystery Wrong Place Wrong Time plays with time, and I love books that play McAllister's twists never feel like red herrings, nor do they make me feel irritated by manipulation. and Six Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories highlight some of my very favorite books that twist

This third book in McManus's young-adult mystery series keeps the surprises coming, ties new twists into key to book three; One of Us Is Back primarily progresses the plot of the series and introduces some twists

This is a character-driven mystery with a twist. This is a character-driven mystery with an interesting twist. I never would have predicted the twists. The unexpected twists and turns kept me riveted while Pip's unfailing bravery and her hero's struggles Jane Harper's The Dry (Aaron Falk #1) is set in small-town Australia with dark secrets and twists and

This five-star retelling of the story of Rumpelstiltskin offers kickass female protagonists, haunting twists magical and irresistible tale includes protagonists with kickass girl power; multiple and haunting twists

There are twists I didn't see coming, which I was willing to suspend my disbelief regarding; and my mind

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters In this gothic Victorian tale, Waters offers a slow build to heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at love, and, finally, clarity and satisfying revenge. The story offers heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at unorthodox love, and, finally solid historical fiction details of Victorian London, which I love, within a creepy mystery with dark twists (And there's a twist and a double twist I loved.)

happily turning the pages to see who would get what was coming to them in this cross, double-cross, twisty Not everyone's motivations are clear or remain constant, which allows for the twists and turns. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters In this gothic Victorian tale, Waters offers a slow build to heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at love, and, finally, clarity and satisfying revenge. The story offers heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at unorthodox love, and, finally

Maud Dixon offers clever twists and turns and presents interesting gray areas about the roles of hero A twisty and turny, compelling read. This book reminded me a little bit of my recent read The Plot, but Maud Dixon had clever twists and turns

Against the straightforward, duty-driven work, Hall sets a complex, twisted set of past affections, heartbreak

an adult title but felt to me like a dark young adult postapocalyptic novel, and it offered several twists really interesting, and also character driven, which feels unusual given one of the aforementioned twists The Boy on the Bridge offers adventure, twists, turns, love, scientific exploration, betrayal, and an odd twist of hope.

environment, a loss of human connection, and threatening pandemics--then turns all of it on its head with a twisty environmental implosion, fascinating imagined technological advancements, and more, while offering great twists

The story began to feel more juvenile in tone to me as it evolved into a twisted fairy tale, which I There are twists, and I enjoyed Grace's strong stand at the end, but by that point I had lost my feeling

ICYMI: Morton offers a strong historical fiction mystery, with assumed identities, dual timelines, twists

The Last Painting of Sara de Vos twists through betrayal, love, lots and lots of art, loss, fear of

Tragedy and looming doom are twisted through this story of a hard-fought love story between Gaunt and

Sandwich made me laugh, twisted my heart, and kept me interested throughout.

There's a twist/double twist in Goddess in the Machine that I didn't see coming, and I found the whole potential for unreliable narrators, characters who are hiding important information, and many resulting twists

revealed backstory in the second part of the novel was dark and strange and creepy, with surprises and twists

children existed, her daughters are led to consider their own paths and choices, as well as life's twists I loved the twist in the story and the girls' reactions to it.

I didn't anticipate the twists Johnson provides, and I was delighted by each of them. I didn't anticipate the twist/double twist here, and I loved being surprised again and again. vulnerability and then her growing doubts, her self-reliance and quick thinking, and the shifts and twists self-reliance, romanticized ideas, quick thinking, and strength of character, along with the shifts and twists

, disturbing premise--but I was fascinated with the character depth, explorations of grief, and the twist But the truth of what has occurred is horrible, terrifying, twisty--and absolutely fascinating. There was a twist that I didn't see coming, and I thought it worked beautifully.

Cult Classic is a sometimes darkly funny, suspenseful story of love, memory, and mind control with a twist—and then a double twist.

In this gothic Victorian tale, Waters offers a slow build to heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant The story offers heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at unorthodox love (I recall

Space Between Worlds. 03 In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren In a Holidaze is a romantic holiday time twist I didn't anticipate the twists Johnson provides, and I was delighted by each of them. I didn't anticipate the twist/double twist here, and I loved being surprised again and again.

mysterious stories from 1900, 1975, and 2005 and a vivid setting, interesting characters, and enough twists

Jane Harper's The Dry (Aaron Falk #1) is set in small-town Australia with dark secrets and twists and I love Aaron Falk stories and I loved the twisty interconnectedness of the characters in Exiles.

But in taking on the first cold case of his career, Strike doesn't bargain for the current-day twists It was nicely paced, and I liked having time to dig into the characters' evolution and the mystery's twists

But in taking on the first cold case of his career, Strike doesn't bargain for the current-day twists feels nicely paced, and I like having time to dig into the characters' evolution and the mystery's twists Voiceless and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers--and discovers a dark, twisted conspiracy to take

The modern-day timeline follows Caroline and Patrick through twists and turns, through the ins and outs

I love Aaron Falk stories and I loved the twisty interconnectedness of the characters in Exiles. Jane Harper's The Dry (Aaron Falk #1) is set in small-town Australia with dark secrets and twists and For my full review, check out Exiles. 02 The Wife and the Widow by Christian White White's twisty mystery White offers cleverness with timelines that create an intriguing twist, and I didn’t predict the denouement mysterious stories from 1900, 1975, and 2005 and a vivid setting, interesting characters, and enough twists

Dave offers unexpected twists and turns and complex relationships in this great mystery. The story offers unexpected twists and turns without manipulating the reader or relying on red herrings

Twisted humor and awkwardness constantly underlie the situation as Greta continues regularly listening Yet in a twisted fashion, these lies seem to free her to be honest about everything else.

The relentless pacing, romantic obsession, twists and turns, dramatic setbacks, exhilarating success, Words by Gillian McAllister The author of the fantastic Wrong Place, Wrong Time  is back with a smart, twisty Famous Last Words  is another smart, twisty mystery from Gillian McAllister. McAllister's Wrong Place, Wrong Time  relied on an intriguing time-travel element as its twist. But Famous Last Words  doesn't use--or require--that structure; the twist is largely internal.

Winternight trilogy, here shares a mysterious, haunting historical fiction story with a speculative twist

an adult title but felt to me like a dark young adult postapocalyptic novel, and it offered several twists really interesting, and also character driven, which feels unusual given one of the aforementioned twists The Boy on the Bridge offers adventure, twists, turns, love, scientific exploration, betrayal, and an odd twist of hope.

Voiceless and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers--and discovers a dark, twisted conspiracy to take She's also the author of The Blood of Stars series and multiple Twisted Tales books.

The Boy on the Bridge offers adventure, twists, turns, love, scientific exploration, betrayal, and an odd twist on hope. Carey's The Boy on the Bridge offers adventure, twists, turns, love, scientific exploration, betrayal , and an odd twist on hope.

But this book has a major twist. Yet listening to the twist occur in the audiobook may have made the unreliable narrator aspect even more After the story's twist becomes clear, the rest of the book is a waiting game; the reader stands by while Molloy is also the author of The Perfect Mother, which has its own twist and unreliable narrator. How did you think the structure of the twists compared?

The story takes us inside the claustrophobic, twisted, abusive, extremely disturbing compound where Ellie

A wonderfully twisted tale, with double-crossing, codependence, and dark turns. What a wonderfully twisted little tale this was from Stephanie Wrobel! There are some wonderfully playful dark twists and turns as the plot evolves and characters' layers of