Pleasant Nights

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Set in the 1920s, East Cobb, Mississippi, is the perfect place for Black people to live. Everyone there is wealthy and prosperous and safe. However, when Thea and her husband move there, Thea realizes she’s expected to give up who she is to cater to her husband.

The town has a secret, though. Marah is one of several women who pull traumatic memories from the Black men to unburden them. The memories haunt the women of East Cobb and appear as visions. They have learned to ignore the visions, but Thea simply cannot. She cannot abide lowering herself to appease the town.

This book is outstanding. It’s perfectly paced with the dual storylines of Thea and Marah. And it’s a masterful portrayal of Black sisterhood and the expectations placed on Black women in society. I absolutely loved this book.

This book was so much fun. Evie is an SAT tutor who was supposed to do “great things” with her life, but she never managed to get it all together. When she arrives at a home to tutor one Sunday, she finds the parents dead and a woman tied up in a closet.

What follows is a road trip of unfortunate situations as Evie and the captive who refuses to speak go on the run. Evie knows she is not guilty, so she is waiting for the police to find the real killer, and then she will go back home. But it turns out everyone thinks she did it and has either taken the woman captive or is an accomplice.

Evie is a great character, full of snark and wit, and you really don’t want her to get caught during the road trip. She and her travel mate have to figure out how to continually evade the police while trying to uncover the murderer’s identity. Really great book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I loved Such a Pretty Smile, and although I didn’t love this one quite as much, it’s definitely a great, spooky book. Set in multiple timelines, we learn about the curse of the Dark Sisters and its origin.

In 1750, Anne and her daughter are accused of witchcraft and flee their home. However, their pact with an unknown entity unleashes a power that follows the town for centuries.

In the 1950s, Mary, a devout Christian, struggles with motherhood and the constraints of being confined to her home. Boredom sets in, and she finds a new, forbidden love.

And in the present day, a teenager and a preacher’s daughter, Camilla, realizes women in her town are falling ill, so she sets out to uncover why.

I thought this book was great. The way the stories are woven together to reveal the curse was excellent. This book is a great example of the strength of women and how they can stand up for themselves.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Nora is a young wife to her older husband, Will, and although they are madly in love, the wealthy social scene judges her intensely. However, she has a great best friend next door, and Will’s daughter actually likes her. But on his birthday, Will goes missing.

He disappears into his work at times, so Nora isn’t worried until a couple of days go by and no one hears from him. The social circle immediately judges Nora and deems her guilty, but the reader knows she is innocent. So it’s up to Nora (and us) to figure out what happened to Will.

This book was excellent. I loved Nora’s character. She’s fun and clever. And her best friend helps keep her sane during the entire situation. The plot kept me guessing, as well. I highly recommend this one!

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I like it when a haunted house isn’t really the focus of the haunted house story. As children, three sisters go into a creepy old house, lured there by a neighbor boy. What they see stays with them forever.

As adults, they are reckoning with the house that still haunts them, as well as their actual lives. In chapter one, the youngest sister, Claire, dies, but the two remaining sisters are suspicious of the events. They have to dig into her life and their own pasts to uncover what really happened. They begin to see a version of Claire “haunting” them, and can’t even trust their own minds. This was a good, solid story worth reading.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

People who keep secrets from one another is one of my least favorite tropes, but it works so well in this book. When bride-to-be Kaavi goes missing, her former friend, Amaya, is the lead suspect. Even though Amaya was invited to the lavish Sri Lankan wedding, Kaavi’s family isn’t happy to see her. Kaavi’s groom is Amaya’s ex-boyfriend. And something that happened several years ago led to Amaya being banned from ever contacting the family again.

Told in past and present timelines, and with interviews with security to figure out what happened to Kaavi, the story unfolds well. Amaya is clearly an unreliable narrator, but her secrets protect her from true damage. As the story progresses, we learn that many of the wedding guests have secrets and could easily have wanted to harm Kaavi for one reason or another. This book was excellently written. As each secret was revealed, the story took a turn that I never expected. Highly recommend this one!

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I love a good dystopian book, especially young adult ones. And this book was amazing. I absolutely loved it. It’s hard not to compare this to Squid Games, which is high praise from me. All the teen characters in this book are criminals, simply trying to survive.

Emerson’s family lives in poverty, but when she steals money to buy food, she is caught and given an opportunity. She can compete in a televised game, and the last person standing receives a cash prize and will avoid prison. But when the show begins, the teens realize those who lose are actually killed rather than imprisoned, as promised.

This book is outstanding. It is so tense, and I had no idea what to expect from one game to the next. Emerson is a good person, and you definitely root for her against the self-centered social media influencer characters. Definitely recommend this one.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Twins Arc and Daffy grow up in an unstable house full of drugs and sex work. As adults, they find themselves in the same struggles. They have friends, but their mother and aunt are barely around. Women begin to go missing and are found facedown in the local river.

This story draws from the real-life events in Chillicothe, Ohio, of six women whose murders are still unsolved. The women also struggled with addiction and didn’t have much value placed on their lives. However, the author has done an excellent job bringing their story to the forefront, even if this is a work of fiction. The book is dedicated to the six actual women who were murdered.

The story is beautifully written and full of scenes and words and phrases that still stick with me. Tragic and wonderful and captivating. Really enjoyed this one.