Summer Sale! Save 25% off a BookBrowse Membership, offer ends soon!

Recent Reader Reviews

Best Recent Reader Reviews

See also First Impressions, for member reviews of upcoming books
Trisha

family secrets that kept me hooked
"everyone is an unreliable narrator."

Ooooh this one was SO GOOD. It had me hooked from the start. Olivia is in a really tough spot. She's burned some bridges recently in her ghost writing career and the industry has canceled her for it. She's in a bit of a bind, financially, and is wondering if she'll work again.

When a surprise offers is extended. After leaving her father's house years ago, she's never been back, never spoke to him again. As a famous horror author, she felt he'd neglected her and she'd rather having nothing than forgive him for his mistakes. But now he's asking her to ghostwrite a story with himmore
Trisha

What a wonderfully, dark, gothic story.
"There is no saying what horrors might lurk in those black waters."

What a wonderfully, dark, gothic story. A bog, a surfacing body, an autopsy and madness. Lucy's been called to her sister's home by her sister's husband. Her twin sister, Sarah, is very unwell. But it's not a cold, Sarah is prone to bouts of "hysteria" and Lucy comes to help her out. Last time, it was when she'd lost a child. Now she comes because she wants to ensure Sarah doesn't lose her husband and house. Sarah's greatest fear is being committed.

This was a dark read and I loved it. Lucy's love for Sarah is tested again and again. She has tomore
Power Reviewer Jill

There’s no place like home.
BEFORE DOROTHY
by Hazel Gaynor

I loved Hazel Gaynor’s 2023 release, The Last Lifeboat, so I wanted to read this historical fiction read by her. From only seeing Auntie Em in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, as an older woman, it was nice to see her transformed to Emily Gale — a vibrant young woman who journeyed from Chicago to the Kansas prairie. We see her as a newlywed ready to move where Henry wanted to farm — the Great Plains. Emily had a special bond to her sister, Annie, which became strained by distance, secrets, and the paths that each chose. When tragedy strikes and Dorothy lands on Emily and Henry’smore
Emily (Emmie Mere)

Loved this take an Auntie Em!
I grew up completely obsessed with The Wizard of Oz but truly never wondered what Auntie Em was like before we knew her, so I love that author Hazel Gaynor thought of it for us!

Before Dorothy explores Emily Kelley before and after she becomes Emily Gale, including how Dorothy comes to live with her and Uncle Henry. With dual timelines of 1924 Chicago and Kansas a decade later, we learn so much about Emily as a young woman, a new wife, and an aunt who becomes caregiver.

I just adored Emily and was fascinated at the thought of her as a youthful, modern, city woman who more than willingly gives it up to become amore
Power Reviewer Jill

Speculative Fiction Read
THE POPPY FIELDS
By Nikki Erlick

Narration was well done by the cast of: Marin Ireland; Dan Bittner; Stacey Glemboski; Graham Halstead; Mia Barron; Callie Dalton; Janina Edwards; Shawn K. Jain; Christian Barillas; Jason Culp.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for the
ALC

I was drawn to the unique premise of this speculative fiction novel exploring grief and healing through the treatment center, The Poppy Fields. I liked it being told through multiple POV and transcripts from the various applicants to The Poppy Fields. Ellis the enigmatic founder of The Poppy Fields, just wants to leave her mark on themore
Power Reviewer Jill

A Southern Crime Thriller
KING OF ASHES
By S. A. Cosby

Narration by Adam Lazarre-White is always spot on.

A fast-paced dark gritty southern crime thriller set in a run-down Virginia town, Jefferson Run. Roman Carruthers has been called home because his father is in a coma after a car accident. He finds his younger brother, Dante, in debt to dangerous thugs and his sister, Neveah, trying to hold the family and the family business together. When Roman learns his father’s car crash was not an accident and because Dante’s immaturity and recklessness has put the family in extreme danger, Roman knows he must now step in. Also, there is a mysterymore
Power Reviewer Jill

A Raw and Emotional Read
THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG
By Leila Mottley

This is a raw and emotional read portraying teenage motherhood in a small town on the Florida panhandle. Centered around three young women navigating the complexities of raising children while they are basically children themselves. Young girls making decisions they shouldn’t have to be making at their age. You see the struggles and hardships they face, but also the sisterhood, bonds, and hopes they share. Each of these young mothers share their perspectives, thus making their experiences raw and authentic. A character driven story that does not shy away from the heart-more
Power Reviewer Jill

How Many Red Flags Is Too Many?
DON’T LET HIM IN
By Lisa Jewell


Aisling (Ash) Swan’s father has suddenly died, and her mother begins to date again —Ash quickly becomes suspicious of her mother’s new companion.

This creepy psychological thriller intricately weaves the lives of three women—Nina, Ash, and Martha—who become drawn into the lives of two elusive men, Nick and Alistair. Do you ever truly know those you let into your life? How many red flags is too many? Not knowing too much about this book and going in totally blind and letting this twisted story unfold is best.


Lisa Jewell’s plot unfolds through multiple points of view, buildingmore
Power Reviewer techeditor

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature
Blake Crouch is the only science-fiction writer I will read with any regularity. That is because his plots and subject matter are never ridiculous. That is more true of UPGRADE than of any of his other books that I've read. He succeeds in making his main character and narrator sound like a scientist when he talks about genealogy and DNA.

Logan lives happily with his wife and child and never wishes for more. He is a scientist but now works as a special agent for the Gene Protection Agency. It is his job to find and arrest anyone who tries to modify genes.

On one of Logan's raids of a "dark gene lab," he is impaledmore
Power Reviewer ABeman

One family, three alternate versions of their lives
One family, three alternate versions of what 35 years in their lives might be like. Cora's newborn needs a name, and her husband expects (commands) her to stroller downtown to the registrar and register the baby as Gordon, which is his name and his father's name. But Cora likes the name Julien. And their 9-year-old daughter Maia prefers Bear.

So the novel narrates between the three possible timelines that result from the consequences of Cora's three different choices of name. And since Cora's husband is a respected local physician by day and a controlling, violent monster by night, the three choices havemore

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Ghostwriter
    by Julie Clark
    From the instant New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight and The Lies I Tell comes a dazzling new thriller.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Ordinary Love
    by Marie Rutkoski

    A riveting story of class, ambition, and bisexuality—one woman risks everything for a second chance at first love.

  • Book Jacket

    Making Friends Can Be Murder
    by Kathleen West

    Thirty-year-old Sarah Jones is drawn into a neighborhood murder mystery after befriending a deceptive con artist.

Who Said...

The low brow and the high brow

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

C K the C

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.