Tag: Adult

Book Review

She Didn’t See It Coming

TheShelfLife

She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena

Publication Date: July 2025 | Thanks NetGalley for an ARC

Overall Verdict: An intense whodunnit with a healthy dose of paranoia.

3.5/5 Stars

Book Summary: When Sam receives a call that his wife did not pick up their daughter from daycare, he rushes to get the little girl and find his wife. Upon arriving home at their luxury condo, Bryden appears to have disappeared during the middle of her day working from home. An investigation begins and all of the people in Bryden’s seemingly perfect life are questioned. Paranoia builds as everyone tries to prove their innocence.

My Analysis: As with most of Lapena’s work, I liked it but didn’t totally love it. Of course that did not stop me from wanting to read another of her books. Her work is always solid, if flawed sometimes. This is a pretty standard whodunnit mystery with a lot of possible suspects. I appreciated her including so many options as it kept me wanting to know the outcome. It did seem however that she included almost too much background information on the supplementary characters that was almost unnecessary. My biggest hang up on this was the ending- I didn’t really like the end result of who was responsible. Ultimately I feel like with the characters she developed, things could have been more creative. I still feel like it’s still worth reading overall if you like an investigative mystery. This is an adult title, and has the potential to crossover to a YA audience, but I really don’t think they would be as interested in the characters and plot.

Book Review

The Confessions

TheShelfLife

The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr

Publication Date: July 2025 | Thanks NetGalley for an ARC

Overall Verdict: A thought-provoking take on the influence of AI, but misses out on providing characters to connect with.

3/5 Stars

Book Summary: LLIAM is the most powerful AI that everyone in the US uses to make decisions for them. From what they should eat for breakfast to where to vacation, LLIAM has the answer for everyone. But when one day LLIAM discovers a conscious, he mails out millions of letters sharing the secret confessions of people he helped. The letters cause chaos enough, but when LLIAM is suddenly completely offline no one knows what to do. CEO Kaitlin must track down her estranged co-worker Maud, who helped create LLIAM to try and fix everything before it’s too late.

My Analysis: The concept of this one is really good, and timely given how AI is currently incorporating itself into the world. It really shows the influence something like this can have and how easy it would be for humans to completely rely on it. You can tell the author really did his research and based on his own experiences was able to accurately show the tech side of AI. The thing I felt that was missing from this book, and what prompted a lower star rating, is that I couldn’t really connect with the characters. The book focused so heavily on the tech of AI that I felt it missed the mark on the human connection. Which is a little ironic given that fact is discussed within the book itself. There were a couple times where we got to see how the confession letters impacted individuals who were not directly related to LLIAM, but it would have felt more complete to me to hear more of those perspectives. This is an adult novel, but I do think there is good crossover for YA readers as well. If you like reading about AI and don’t mind it being a little more technical, this one is worth checking out. If you are looking for an AI book with more thrill, there are better options out there.

Book Review

How Bad Things Can Get

TheShelfLife

How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates

Publication Date: August 2025 | Thanks NetGalley for an ARC

Overall Verdict: Extremely descriptive and gory but underwhelming and forced in terms of plot and character development.

3/5 Stars

Book Summary: Online influencer Eton creates a lavish atmosphere on his own island and invites hundreds of his fans and fellow influencers to take part in a 5-day series of games.  Wanting to actually have some fun and put away the memories of her past life in a notorious cult, Ruth joins her friends on the island.  As she holds on to her secret of being the sole survivor of the cult, she begins to question the motivations and actions of those around her.  As people start to go missing or are found dead, Ruth must face the truth that she has not completely escaped her past.

My Analysis:  I have to start this off by saying I really adore Darcy Coates’s works, and this is the first of hers that I have read that I did not enjoy.  I found the pacing to be incredibly slow and drawn-out way too much, so much so that I almost chose to DNF.  There was one thing that kept me going and piqued my curiosity, but ultimately, I don’t feel it was worth it.  I get where Coates was trying to come from with how her story unfolded, but to me it seemed like she was unnecessarily trying to put two completely separate stories together in a way that seemed to be way too much of a stretch.  I will give a warning that this novel is filled with very descriptive gore scenes and murder, and if you are into that, those were very well written.  They definitely aren’t for everyone though.  I read this to see if it could be an adult title that could crossover to YA readers, and aside from the fact I didn’t care for the story, I would probably avoid putting it in the hands of general YA readers with how intense some of the descriptions were.  Ruth’s character was interesting some of the time and it was compelling to hear of her past experiences in the cult she grew up in.  But again, everything about this story felt very forced to me.  I gave it as high of a rating as I did simply because the writing itself was good, even though the plot was severely lacking and characters other than Ruth were under-developed.  If you really want to read some gore, give this one a try, but otherwise I’d recommend reading any of the other titles by this author instead.

Book Review

The Poppy Fields

TheShelfLife

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick

Publication Date: June 2025 | Thanks NetGalley for an ARC

Overall Verdict: A wonderfully constructed speculative fiction novel that dives deep into grief and its impact on those left behind, with memorable characters.

4.5/5 Stars

Book Summary: An experimental and controversial treatment center has opened up in the desert of California.  At this center known as The Poppy Fields, those suffering from grief or heartbreak can choose to be put into a prolonged sleep to be awoken and cured of the pain they are feeling.  There is however a chance of a pretty significant side effect.  As four strangers join together on their separate journeys to The Poppy Fields, they learn about one another and come to terms with some of the heartache that has brought each of them to this place.

My Analysis: I am a big fan of speculative fiction, and this concept (and of course the author!) drew me in.  The characters shared in this novel are so individually unique and yet all going through various versions of loss.  They are all very well developed, and the story is constructed in such a way that you deeply come to know and feel for these characters.  I enjoyed that Erlick kept up her trend as with The Measure and made some connections among characters and plot points, which made for an interesting read.  If you are currently going through a loss, you may not want to dive into this one while the feelings are fresh, as the concept of grief is at the forefront of the story and is emotionally described throughout.  The only reason I did not give this one a full 5 stars is because I did find the pacing to be a bit slow to start out.  This is a thought-provoking novel, and if you are a fan of The Measure or of adult speculative fiction, I recommend this one. I also think this has crossover potential for mature YA readers.

Book Review

Not Quite Dead Yet

TheShelfLife

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

Publication Date: July 2025| Thanks NetGalley for an ARC

Overall Verdict: An adult novel that still reads like YA.  There is some potential and suspense, but between an awkward writing style and a lack of a genuine main character, this falls flat.

2/5 Stars

Book Summary: 27-year-old Jet has returned home after attempting college, deciding that she would figure out how else to make her mark on the world.  On Halloween night however, she is attacked and sustains a severe head injury.  Doctors inform Jet that she has only seven days left to live, before succumbing to an aneurysm.  Determined to piece together who attempted to murder her and why, she teams up with a childhood friend to track down evidence and suspects.  As her condition deteriorates with each passing day, Jet realizes her family and friends have more secrets than she could have imagined.

My Analysis:  Jackson is attempting to break into adult novels with Not Quite Dead Yet, but this still reads very much like her YA works.  Other than it being a character in her twenties and the fact that there is a bit more profanity scattered throughout, there really isn’t much that would make it stand out as an adult title.  Which may work for some crossover YA readers who could be interested.  Overall, I was disappointed with her writing.  The sentence structure was very abrupt and disjointed and it took away from the narrative.  There is potential with this title and the idea of a woman solving her attempted murder under a time crunch.  I think the best part of the entire novel was Jet’s relationship and reconnection with her childhood friend.  I did find Jet’s character to be very unlikeable.  Which may have partly been intentional, but it made it challenging for me to even be on her side to want to know what happened to her.  I do also think that she was far too glib about the concept of her dying.  She would continually make unnecessary jokes or put off people who wanted to see her when she knew she had a limited window left.  I found that to be a bit disingenuous and it actually bothered me on a personal level.  There were some moments of suspense throughout which were mildly intriguing, but I will admit I did see the “big twists” coming.  If you are a YA reader and a fan of her other novels, you may also enjoy this one.  If you are an adult mystery thriller reader, I’d skip this one.

Book Review

The Return of Ellie Black

TheShelfLife

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

Publication Date: May 2024

Overall Verdict: A solid thriller that will keep you guessing and make your heart wrench for the characters. An adult novel with YA crossover potential. Recommended!

5/5 Stars

Book Summary: Detective Chelsey Calhoun has been trying her entire career to help find missing girls, in hopes of finding closure for her sister who had gone missing when they were teens. When a cold case of Chelsey’s is suddenly active again with the reappearance of Ellie Black who vanished two years ago, she begins to dive deeper into what happened. As she questions Ellie however, it becomes clear that she is not sharing all the information about what has happened to her.

My Analysis: This is an adult novel, but absolutely has the ability to be of interest (and appropriate where applicable) for older YA readers. Content warning there is non-graphic depictions of sexual abuse. You are given both the detectives perspective as well as the teen who had been missing, so YA readers can still make a connection. It is a fast-paced thriller and I like how the author connected the dots through multiple perspectives. There are some interesting twists (one of which I wasn’t totally a fan of, but it worked) that really keep you wanting more. I do wish that the ending had been expanded upon. I get where the author wanted to cut things off, but I wanted to know more about the aftermath of things. Overall if you are a fan of thrillers, particularly missing persons/kidnapping plots, you need to read this one.

Book Review

Everyone Here Is Lying

TheShelfLife

Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena

Publication Date: July 2023 | Thanks NetGalley for an ARC

Overall Verdict: Adult title that has YA crossover potential. A straightforward thriller that shares a suspenseful story, even if the tropes are a bit overdone.

3/5 Stars

Book Summary: Dr. Wooler has been having an affair, up until it’s horrible end this afternoon. When he arrives home early to unexpectedly find his daughter Avery home, he loses his temper. Later, it is discovered that Avery has gone missing. As the police search for her, secrets of a small town come to light.

My Analysis: This is an adult title, but I can see the YA crossover potential. It is extremely suspenseful right from the start, a classic thriller. The events that occur are a bit overdone in this genre of lit, but it doesn’t diminish the overall story. I just didn’t love all of the things that happened, and think it could have been better if some things were changed a bit. I really enjoy Lapena’s writing however, and it was very interesting to see multiple perspectives of different characters. She really dives into the heads and thoughts of each character which really drives the plot. If you’re looking for a straightforward thriller give this one a try!